'Well, this will take some time,' I thought, seated on a chair with both Mira and Eleanor looking at me with vigilant eyes. One wrong move and I'm sure an attack would be launched by the two towards Aria. Well, not like they can hurt her.
"So why don't you tell us what's going on, Austin?" Eleanor spoke in a tough tone, and Mira nodded her head in agreement. Seeing this, I made a difficult expression as I started to speak.
"I can, but the two of you shouldn't overreact too much and should control your reactions..."
Upon hearing my words, the two of them nodded. Seeing this, I spoke out loud to Aria.
"Okay, you can turn back to normal."
Just as I finished saying so, Aria transformed back into her human form and jumped onto my lap, hugging me tight. Her words echoed in the room.
"Yes, Daddy!"
Both Eleanor and Mira's faces stiffened up, their eyes glued to Aria as she happily rubbed her head against me while I patted her head. Looking at their reactions, I could see that their brains seemed to have temporarily frozen. So, to add to their surprise, I continued.
"Yup, this is Aria Dramoon."
There was no response from the two of them as they continued to look at me. It took a few seconds for their brains to snap back to reality. Eleanor was the first to react, her expression turning harder. A subtle killing intent emanated from her body, and she had a betrayed look as she spoke with rough words.
"What's... going... on?"
On the other hand, Mira seemed to have her whole world crashing down around her. She saw the idol she respected on my lap, calling me Daddy and rubbing her face against her chest like an animal.
"Sigh... Before you all blast off, listen to what I have to say."
Before both of them could explode with their own agendas, I started explaining everything that happened, from meeting Aria to her entrusting me with the duty of looking after her. Of course, I added my own twist, accidentally falling deeper into an ice territory where I encountered her.
Once my explanation was over, a stunning silence filled the room. Eleanor nodded her head with a difficult expression, seeming to understand that Aria's actions stemmed from a child-like mind. However, the prospect of a legendary beauty sniffing around me couldn't be accepted by her. On the other hand, Mira kept looking at Aria with respect and, if I'm not mistaken, with a hint of jealousy.
It was funny how both Mira and Eleanor momentarily displayed the same look of jealousy, but it quickly faded as the weight of Aria's existence began to sink in.
"Th-This can change the entire dynamics of the world..." Eleanor said with a heavy tone, her eyes still lingering on Aria's actions toward my body. Mira nodded in agreement, her gaze shifting between me and Aria as she tried to come to terms with the fact that the legendary mage was calling me her nephew Daddy.
"Sigh... I need a stronger drink." Mira said as she took out a drink and started chugging it down. Eleanor followed suit. Seeing these two, I let out a small chuckle. Eleanor asked me in an annoyed tone, "What's so funny?"
"It's just the fact that I was worried about what to do ever since I was entrusted with her. But speaking with and seeing the two of you made me understand how lucky I am..."
Upon hearing my words, two beautiful smiles bloomed on their faces.
"You and your sweet mouth," Mira said in a light tone as she placed the bottle back on the table. Her eyes never left her idol as she asked, "How much time until she regains herself?"
"About two weeks more," I replied. Both of them nodded, seemingly trying to find ways to deal with the issue at hand. "So, what should we do?" I asked. They could only remain silent for a moment before Eleanor spoke up.
"How about separating her from you for a moment to kee-"
"Never!" Aria shouted out in rage before Eleanor could finish her words. Her anger infused everything around them, pushing both Eleanor and Mira away as a trickle of blood ran down their noses. The strength between them was too intense for either of them to take lightly.
Looking at their figures, I could see the subtle reminder in front of them that the one I am holding is among the 11 legendary heroes, one who had reached the lower power level of dragons.
"Shushh... don't worry, Daddy's not going anywhere," I replied in a loving tone while patting Aria's head. The grown woman chuckled at it as her mood directly changed to happy, shyly laughing at my attention. Seeing this, I turned my attention to the two of them, mouthing the word sorry, to which they just shook their heads, showing me that they were fine.
"This is more dangerous than I thought," Eleanor said as she gazed at Aria acting like a spoiled child. I nodded in agreement. It would be catastrophic if she threw a very powerful tantrum and accidentally wiped the entire flying city off the map. Though that wouldn't happen with the churches being here, though extreme loss of life is a real possibility.
"I have a plan..." I said, capturing their attention. Seeing this, I looked towards Aria and asked in a funny, loving tone, "Aria, dear..."
"Yes, Daddy?" she responded.
"Can you turn yourself into a little child?"
"Um... how?" she asked. To this, I took out a photo of a 9-year-old-looking Grace, an image I had kept hidden in the past. Seeing this, Aria nodded her head.
"Then turn into a younger figure," I told her. Soon a subtle light covered her body, and she transformed into a super cute 9-year-old girl. Her body now fit in my lap better as she hugged me tightly.
"Did I do well?" she asked me with expectant eyes. I patted her head once again, then turned my head to the stunned Eleanor and Mira, and spoke.
"Say hello to Aria Lionheart, a distant relative of our family."
My words quickly brought the two women out of their daze as their clouded eyes began to understand the depths of my idea.
"Should I call Grace over?" Mira asked. I replied, "Please..."
With that, the plans I had long set would have to be changed a bit and put into motion soon.
"Wow, that's..."
"Bullshit?" I completed Grace's words. She sat beside me, looking at Aria who was stuck to me like a koala. Her change made it easier for me to handle her.
After understanding bits of my plan, I had Grace called over. Her reaction was not any better than Eleanor's or Mira's. In fact, it took more time for her to even process the information of a girl who was the spitting image of Grace sitting on my lap and calling me Daddy. After all, even the adult Aria had a similar look to Grace.
One might even call them sisters if they stood close to each other-a very uncanny resemblance if I say so myself.
'There is some secret behind this, isn't there?' I asked the system.
[Of course,] the system replied. Even when I had first seen Aria's images, I had made fun of Grace, saying they looked alike. Heck, many people even said that Grace might be the reincarnation of Aria. But I took that as just normal jabber among the common folk. However, I could no longer do that. How could I when Aria turned towards Grace and called her.
"Mommy?"
'Fuck this shit...'
...
