"Let's— steer clear from the windows and door," warned John as he asked me to sit in the middle of his room.
I obliged and sat with him on the floor as we whispered as softly as we could; as though we were about to do something entirely illegal or something.
"So, what you wanna know? Why we decided to not stay here instead?" he asked softly as I nodded to him.
"Well, the final decision was all Daffodil. I gave her a choice whether she wanted to raise our child here or in the City Of Pines. She— actually have a strained relationship with her parents. Her parents were opposed to our marriage as they wanted her to marry one of their own species instead of some monkey," he sighed.
"Let's— not call ourselves that, please. Hard for me to stop myself from laughing," I held my laughter.
"Right. Either way, things were pretty rough for me to convince her parents, even though I'm the Viking Lord, it didn't seemed to matter since I'm not an elf. It was a tough period indeed, Daffodil almost called everything off when she was at her wits end. I did my best to convince her that I will only take her as my wife, even if we have to elope somewhere else. She finally managed to convinced her parents when she promised her parents that she'll marry an elven husband when I passed on," he sighed.
"W— what?! Is that really something you're willing to accept?" I asked him with concern.
"Shhhhh— keep it down. Obviously, I'm was not happy about it. But when I think about it, our lifespan is so short anyway. What does it matter if she wants to marry another down the road? We won't be there for our partner and if she finds someone she wishes to get along with, I would be happy for her. Although, she did promised me that it's her utmost priority to care for our children, no matter the cause. Truth be told, I don't even know whether she will actually find someone else. That promise will only comes into play if there's a candidate," he smiled sadly.
"Gee— I never knew you had such a marriage condition. I guess that's why you're trying for another child, isn't it? Perhaps she preferred to be further away from her parents that to stay here I suppose," I sighed.
"Oh, that's not even the main cause. Come closer," he gestured me to lean in which I obliged.
"Apparently, the lifestyle here is not as magical as we thought," he whispered.
"Huh? Is there— something I'm not aware about?" I asked him curiously.
"Well, the elves have placed a sort of compulsory training for every elven child that inhabits here. And they start their training at a very young age. And their trainings are— brutal. I'm sure you've noticed the children having scars as we passed by? Those are not from hunting; it's from their trainings," sighed John.
"That's— strange, I don't remember seeing any on Lily before," I answered.
"I never even knew you saw her in all her glory before. Maybe she got lucky or something. Daffodil had a couple of them and, let's just say it wasn't pleasant to look at," he sighed.
"Are you trying to tell me that your wife isn't beautiful or something? What're you trying to say?" I questioned him.
"What? No, no! You got me all wrong. What I meant to tell you is that— seeing those scars, doesn't bring pleasant ideas, y'know? And it certainly doesn't bring back pleasant memories for her too. She never told me what she's been through as she doesn't wish to relive it again," he explained.
I just nodded in agreement. And here I thought that grandfather's training was brutal. Turns out the elves had it even worse. But why though? Why the need for such brutal training? John wasn't kidding about those scars as I had saw a few children living here that have scars on them, some of them even looked fresh.
"Thinking from their perspectives, at least their children is fit for combat when they leave here? Won't your children be less combat ready when they're at the same age?" I asked curiously.
"Well, Daffodil and I will personally be training our kid. We have Uncle Zen and Aunt Rose for additional training as well, isn't it? She made it very clear that she will not subject our child through what she's been through." he explained.
"Fine, you train mine and I'll train yours. I'm on board for that. Provided Daisy wishes to be an adventurer in the first place though," I sighed.
"Do tell, she's already ten, right? But she— looks like she's five or something. Did Lily's resurrection affected Daisy or something?" he asked.
"I wished I knew, brother. The elves won't talk, Lily refuses to tell me, I'm in a pinch here, John," I sighed.
"Guess we all have our own problems to deal with, huh? Let's keep our backs covered. You know where to find me whenever you need help. We monkeys have to stick together," he laughed.
"Gosh, stop calling us monkeys!" I shouted at him.
Footsteps could be heard approaching closer outside of John's room. Is it who I think it is? We kept quiet as we're being careful so as to not offend any of the elves when we're here. A knock could be heard opposite us calling for my name. I guess it is them. I thought they'll be celebrating longer since the General was supposed to be the main person for that event.
I checked the time and it was about 6pm. Still pretty early, all things considered. I guess I should greet them rather than keep them waiting.
"Alright, parents-in-law awaits. See you tomorrow, John," I stood up and headed to the door.
"All the best, brother," he locked his door as soon as I left.
"Apologies, Noah and Violet. I was hanging out with my friend. Allow me to open the door for you," I quickly opened it.
"No worries, we were— just excited to hear about her. After all, you're the only one here who had met her after all these time," said Violet.
"Before— I let you in, can we cut down on the flirting, please, Violet?" I asked sincerely.
"I'll keep her in check," sighed Noah.
"W— what? Don't I have a say in this?" asked Violet as she stared at her husband.
"No," he gave a firm answer.
***
"Wished I can offer tea but— water is all I have here. Would that suffice?" I asked funnily.
"Water will do. Zen, do tell us. How is she? Is she safe? Is she— in this continent?" asked Noah.
"She's fine. Doing well actually. She's in the East though, training under Peter Borage himself," I passed each of them a glass of water.
Both of them gasped and Violet embraced Noah. How lucky for Lily to have parents that worry about her this much. I wonder if my parents would behave the same way if they're still alive.
"Never in my wildest dream would I expect her to become a student of one of the Great Powers, yet even agreed to marry one. She was always timid and a slow learner when she was young. We were so worried about her when she had to leave the forest to become an adventurer," sighed Noah.
"Is it— alright for me to be informed on why she decided to become one? She could had stayed here and chose a different path, right?" I asked both of them.
"Of course, as our future son-in-law, we can certainly indulge you with what she's been through in her childhood. Lily was— a rather quiet child. She was always scared of something which we could never figure out. Doesn't help that men disturbs her despite still being a child. Many of them were hoping that she'll grow to be a beauty like me and they wished to form some sort of bond with her as early as they could to stand a chance. I'm not arrogant, if that's what you're thinking; I just know full well of what I am and what effect it had on Lily," she explained.
"We did our best to protect her however we could. But it was just impossible to stop them from disturbing her even when they shouldn't. Alas, since we knew keeping her here would only make things worse, we decided to request her to become an adventurer. To leave here and see the world for her own," Noah continued.
"One thing you should know about us is that— we have a rather harsh training that all elven children must go through with no exceptions. All of us horrible suffered scars from those trainings when we were growing up. We tried our best to prevent Lily from joining, using our status to supersede what we could or even telling them that her health was in a bad condition; because we knew she will not survive the trainings. But deep down, we knew that we couldn't protect her forever, so we had to do something. There was only two choices for her, risk her life with those trainings, or leave here and become an adventurer," answered Violet.
"We took a gamble, since we had taught Lily on ways to defend herself, we decided for her to test her luck in becoming an adventurer. The road towards the city was relatively safe so we assumed it was the best choice for her, but we never expected that she would encounter bandits on her way who tried to kidnap her. We would like to thank you and the current Viking Lord for saving her life that day," bowed Noah.
"The both of us were so distraught on the day she left. We were so worried that we armed her and prepared her in whatever way we could before praying for her safety. But when she came back to visit us a few years later, your name was the first thing she spoke of. We were surprised at first that who she was speaking of was actually a human. Being her mother, I teased her that she might be in love with you but she denied it at first. However, she eventually caved and asked me whether loving a human was actually something we could accept. I won't lie, I was genuinely surprised when she asked me that question and pestered her to tell me more about you. But I knew full well that she was already deeply in love from the way she spoke of you. Noah here was completely caught off guard when I told him that our daughter had fallen for a human male," she smiled.
"No wonder Lily wasn't proficient in combat when I first met her. And why she was rather clingy to us despite only meeting the first time. I never knew we were her first friends. But, with all due respect, you were mistaken about her. Lily is a brave woman who was willing to use her own body to protect the Viking Lord. And I can assure you that she's no longer the woman you once knew. She daresay she's even stronger than me now," I told them.
"We know, Zen. After all, she was the one who asked us to wage war on the City Of Pines just for you. It's all for you, Zen. She found purpose in life because of you. Which is why we're glad that you're willing to accept her. We didn't want our daughter to continue with this rough culture of ours. Nor any of our grandchildren for that matter," Noah gave a sigh of relief.
"If I may, why don't the elves just change their way of life then? Reduce the intensity of the trainings and such. Isn't it difficult for the elves to conceive in the first place? Is the mortality rate high for these trainings?" I asked them.
"There's not— many recorded deaths so far, but you definitely won't emerge unscathed. The biggest problem with these trainings are that, all children must attend and finish it, despite their circumstances. However, not all children are physically fit or even meant for such trainings in the first place. Our main issue is that we don't like to change. But that's not to say that there hasn't been elves that raised this concern," he explained.
"So— I take it that the councillors decided to ignore the concerns of their people? I guess it's common for old folks to be stubborn despite being different species," I shrugged.
"I would lower your voice if I were you. But that's not the only thing we are facing, we have conservatives that refuses to change even a single thing of our culture. Which is why we have elves who would rather choose different species for their partner just to avoid embracing our culture any longer," he sighed.
"I guess that's why you're glad that I decided to marry her. Thank you, for giving me your blessings. I was sort of caught off guard earlier when it happened so quickly. Please don't expect a grandchild anytime soon," I bowed to both of them.
"We were surprised as well. Last she told us was that you chose Rose as your partner and you have absolutely no interest in having another. You— broke our daughter's heart, Zen. You never knew how sad she was even after what she did for you. Thinking about it, I should give you a spanking for making her cry," she chuckled but Noah glared at her.
"I'm— incredibly sorry. Circumstances had changed my perspective and principals. I'm— not sure whether you can tell me if I had stopped aging due to what Lily did to me? I never seems to aged even a bit ever since that day. Will I actually live longer than what a normal human should?" I asked them curiously.
"We really have no answer for you on this. Not because we can't speak of it, but we really don't have an answer for your case. Hang on a minute, are you— marrying Lily because you think you'll outlive your wife? Is that the only reason why you're marrying her?" asked Noah as he raised his voice.
"Absolutely not. I didn't choose to marry Lily on whim. Hear me out before you murder me. I chose Rose as my wife because she was a human and I know we have the share similar lifespan. I also realised I love her more so than Lily, despite my feelings for Lily is stronger. It's a little hard to explain what I'm trying to say but I'll try my best. As I come to realised, if I were to live longer than Rose, then who's gonna care for my daughter? I know full well that I'm not fit to care for anyone, since I'm so slow to realised things. I thought that if I might live longer somehow, having Lily at my side might be the best, and perhaps I can actually be together with her longer. I hope that makes some sense?" I shied myself.
"We won't harm you, Zen. It will be good news if you can actually live longer than a century as you will have more time to spend with our daughter. Sigh, we do hope Lily would be able to resolve her current predicament so that we can celebrate your wedding here. I will ensure it'll be the most extravagant wedding you will have in your entire life. Leave all the preparation to us, we will ensure that it's ready when the time comes," he assured me.
"Zen, you're not as bad as you say you are. You willingly raised Rose on your own despite your circumstances. I don't believe you're a bad father when you're so worried about your daughter. You are an excellent father, Zen. Don't think otherwise," smiled Violet.
"I— thank you. I really appreciate you saying that," I bowed to her.
"Alright, we have taken much of your time. Thank you so much, for spending time in informing us about our daughter's condition. We're really glad that she's safe and sound. Have a good rest and prepare yourself for tomorrow's planning; we are definitely going to need your insight," both of them bowed before leaving which I gladly returned.
"I'll do whatever I can. Goodnight, my future parents-in-law," I chuckled a little which made them laugh.
They exited my room and I heard them knocking on John's door. Perhaps they wish to convey their thanks to him as well. I laid on my bed and thought of our discussion about Lily. She had been suffering a lot, huh? Damn my stubbornness for not marrying her earlier. I might had been able to help Lily in many ways after she decided to resurrect me. Perhaps I could had helped her in reducing her sentence or something. Damn it, I really wished she would tell me what actually happened to her. Knowing how stubborn she is, I really wonder if there would come a day where she will actually tell me. Maybe I should force her to tell me before we get married, set a condition before we tie the knot. Heh heh.
But I am amazed at how fate had linked us together. If I left a day later or sooner, I would had not met Lily, John or Rose. It just felt like it was due to circumstances that we met but I'm sure it was all because of fate. Maybe I was actually fated to marry Lily in the first place but meeting Rose changed that? Ah well, what's the point in thinking about possibilities when it already occured.
Should I even sleep so early? Felt like too early for me to hit the sack. But what can I even do here? Hmm— oh, I thought of something! Will he even entertain my request? Doesn't hurt to ask I suppose. A bit of training in their turf sounds fun to test my skills. Let's go.