"Just read her memories, and we'll know the problem, okay?" Luna whispered before she rang the bell.
"Worry not. I'll fix everything," Arlott lightly slapped her butt.
The door opened a second later, and they saw Luna's mother, who greatly resembled Luna.
Her light green eyes blinked at the guests before she smiled. Her mature face was gorgeous and sharply shaped. Her slim and shaped figure spoke the charm of her genes that Luna clearly inherited.
[Oh? She is powerful. An Elite-class mage, but not in the leaderboards.]
'Well, the leaderboards have people who went to register or make an entry by defeating someone pushed down the ranks. But some people don't want to appear in leaderboards.'
[Yeah, those criminals and forces of organization might have many Elite-class mages or even Master-class mages, but not all of them would be on leaderboards.]
'Of course. As a matter of fact, there are no big names I know in the top 100 hundred leaderboards who are from the top ten ancient clans. Those assholes like to hide everything.'
"Luna, you should've called that you're coming with friends, " she said, putting a lock of her blue hair, slightly darker than Luna's.
"It's lunchtime, so I could prepare a feast for us," she added.
"I forgot, Mom, but we can still have lunch, right?" Luna quickly entered inside while saying and then turned around as she pointed at Arlott, "Hehe...and you know who he is?"
"Oh my, is that Arlott?" Luna's mother turned to Arlott before she gently smiled, "So, you are my doll's boyfriend, eh?"
'This kid is eighteen years old?' Zinnia was internally amazed. 'He looks more like over twenty and even has such a lean, muscled physique. He must have good genes.'
Arlott didn't know Luna's mother knew about him since Luna never mentioned it to him.
"Hello, Auntie Zinnia. I almost thought you were Luna's sister at first," Arlott said with a light chuckle as he stretched his hand, "I am Arlott Vorken, Luna's classmate and…her boyfriend."
"My life partner, " Luna chirped.
Luna's mother chuckled, although her eyes slightly showed some helplessness when she heard Luna.
Arlott captured that, 'Don't tell me…'
"Nice to meet you, handsome young man," Zinnia shook Arlott's hand before she saw the other girl stretching her hand toward her.
"Hello, lady Zinnia. I am Iris," Iris smild. "Arlott's elder sister."
"You siblings are truly cream of corp in terms of looks," Zinnia said with a light chuckle. "Come in."
"You are not any less beautiful, Auntie Zinnia."
Zinnia lightly chuckled, "Come, sit here."
Everyone sat on the comfy sofas in the living hall.
"We can also have lunch together if you haven't eaten yet."
"Yep. Let's order something good, Mom."
"Alright, honey. You all sit here. I'll quickly make an order."
As Zinnia left, Arlott sent this thought to Iris and Luna, 'We'll talk about the matter during lunch.'
Luna nodded with a thumbs up and a hopeful smile.
Zinnia returned shortly, and they all talked for ten minutes.
She was naturally curious about Arlott's strength and progress, and Arlott didn't hide his Aracne Path progress, making her impressed.
But she was amazed when Luna spoke about Arlott having all primary affinities and already being capable of creating five Advanced elements.
"Hehe, Arlott's Genome progression is even more powerful than his Arcane progression, Mom. He can slap a Grade-3 Minion to death."
"That fast?" Zinnia was shocked to the level of thinking that Luna was blowing the trumpet of her boyfriend.
'If he was a core heir of some big families or organization, I could understand that, but…'
Arlott clearly saw doubt in her eyes and internally chuckled.
He didn't want to hide his powers of Arcane and Genome Path due to the talks he would do during the lunch.
"I was just lucky," Arlott said with a modest smile. "I went through a positive genome mutation during my birth so I could progress faster in this area."
'By drinking milk,' Iris thought.
"Oh, I see… That's amazing," Zinnia raised her eyebrows before smiling.
While they talked for a bit more, the food delivery soon arrived, spreading an aromatic smell of some high-quality meat and mixed fragrance of sweet, sour, and spicy.
Everyone sat at the dining table and started eating.
After some talk of the food, Arlott abruptly said, "Where is uncle?"
"He went out for some work and probably won't return for a few days," Zinnia said with an awkward smile.
[Tell her that you have the intention to truly marry Luna, and that's where the talk will begin.]
"Eh? I just saw him this morning when we came to pick up Luna," Arlott was surprised before adding with a casual smile, "By the way, Auntie, I am serious about Luna and making her my wife. My parents already know about her and don't mind it."
"Ah…is that so?" Zinnia was slightly taken aback. She turned to Luna and caressed her head.
"Yes, Mom!" Luna was pleasantly surprised that Arlott said something like that. 'But when will he talk about the problem?'
"We'll talk about it when your dad returns, okay?" Zinnia smiled, albeit her voice was clearly a bit down, and Arlott captured a bit of sadness in her.
[The problem is the Dad and his family. I've read her memories, and their quarrel is related to Luna.]
'Jeez, don't tell me it's the usual big family making a decision about marrying? They did that for good offspring in my first life, but now that there's also a geno path, I should have known that alliance marriage would be more famous among big families, especially the top hundred ancient families.'
[It's exactly that. The Crowfer family wants to marry Luna to the Kaitos Family's third son, who is two years older than her.]
Arlott lightly sighed. 'Fuck, I hate it.'
[Zinnia has no power because her family died in the…umm, the recent catastrophe. She was not from 100 ancient families, but her family was still old and powerful, and most of all, just. They helped many people, but all of them died except for Zinnia.]
[She was above average in talent and top beauty, so the Crowfer family's son married her, and that's how they got Luna. But as you may have guessed already, this is the reason why she can't go against Crowfers or her husband, even if she doesn't want Luna to marry a clear asshole.]
[She wants to change things but has no power. But she really hates Crowfers after all these years. Hehe, I even saw in her memories how she would destroy them….only if she had power. This is also why she is working too hard to gain power, training hard daily to increase her Arcane Core, though she also has to take care of Luna because that bastard of her father is not home most of the time.]
'Sigh…Now, I don't want to do this the usual way.'
[Just do whatever you want, honey.]
Arlott suddenly didn't want to beat around the bush after knowing the situation.
"Dad's say won't matter! I will be with Arlott, and that's final," Luna shouted with a pout.
Zinnia was about to say yes just to comfort her, but before she could speak, Arlott chuckled and said, "That's what will happen, Luna. Don't worry."
Zinnia looked at Arlott and smiled, her voice tinged with a bit of helplessness. "I also wish that Luna's wish is completed."
"It will be," Iris grinned. She got Arlott's thought message and continued as her expression retreated into a somber one, "Lady Zinnia, we won't keep it secret. We are here because Luna told us that there was some problem between her Mom and Dad."
Zinnia was startled. A peng of anger rose in her, but more than that, she felt sad and helpless. 'So, Luna finally told someone…'
She looked at Arlott and Iris and sighed, 'They are still kids.'
"I know you feel concerned, but don't worry. You kids should focus on more important things. Leave these matters to elders, okay?"
"Alright, let's focus on eating now," Zinnia smiled.
Luna bit her lips, and she looked at Arlott.
'What do you want, Luna?' Arlott gently asked, sending his voice to her head. 'Just think of speaking to me with your thoughts, and I'll hear it.'
'I-I don't know. But she is sad.'
'I am sending you memories of your mother so you'll know your family's situation.'
Luna still didn't know about the matter, but the memories that quickly infused her soon told her about the whole matter.
Arlott wanted to know Luna's intentions first.
But Luna couldn't control herself after knowing the situation.
"M-Mom!" Luna uttered in a low, trembling voice while her eyes started pouring tears.
"What?!" Zinnia was startled. Luna immediately hugged her and sobbed.
Iris was also startled and turned to Arlott, 'Hey bro, tell me about the situation too. I am in the dark.'
'Alright.'
Iris soon got the memories as her eyes turned teary upon knowing all the history and the present. She finally understood why Luna had such an outburst.
"Why you didn't tell me about this?! It's related to me, so I should know! Why are you working hard alone to save me?"
Zinnia turned teary, but she was confused as to how Luna found out about it.
"Calm down, Luna," Arlott said unhurriedly, his voice slightly deep and gentle.
Naturally, his voice contained some soul essence that spread to Luna's soul and slowly calmed her emotions.
"How did you know about this, Luna?" Zinnia asked while wiping Luna's tears. "Don't cry, okay? I'm sorry for not telling you, dear."
Zinnia was daily pressured to tell Luna about her marriage, but she was hiding it deliberately, and that also escalated the quarrel between her and her husband.
He told her that she wouldn't be able to change the outcome and was telling her to inform Luna about it, or he would do it himself and forcefully take her to the Crowfer family base, but Zinnia still wanted to buy more time.