[Third Person's PoV]
"Yuno, why did you intervene? Our mission is simply to capture the dungeon. In other words, we must reach the center of the treasure hall as quickly as possible. We don't have time to bother with them," said Klaus Lunettes, a member of the Golden Dawn with light silver-blue hair and glasses, placing a hand on his hip.
"Hey, Yuno, what's up with the rude four-eyes?" Asta asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Senior member," Yuno answered plainly.
"Four-eyes!? And you're the rude one! I am a noble; don't speak as if we're equals!" Klaus retorted, offended by Asta's nickname.
"Hey, Noelle!" Mimosa, another member of the Golden Dawn, greeted with a happy smile. "I haven't seen you since the Royal Family Dinner last year. It's good to see you!"
"You know her?" Asta asked curiously.
"Yeah... kind of," Noelle responded awkwardly.
"I heard the Black Bulls are a barbaric group. Are you alright?" Mimosa asked, happily skipping along beside Noelle.
"What about you, Mimosa? Someone as–"
Stephen snapped his fingers, pointing at Mimosa. "So you're Mimosa…"
Noelle and Mimosa both looked at Stephen in confusion.
"Do you know her as well, Stephen?" Asta asked, tilting her head.
"Ah! So you're Stephen!" Mimosa exclaimed in surprise.
"And how would you know members of the rowdy Black Bulls, Mimosa?" Klaus asked.
Mimosa rubbed the back of her head, blushing slightly. "Well... Stephen's supposedly my fiancé..."
"WHAAAAT?!" Klaus, Asta, and Noelle screeched.
Even Yuno wore a shocked expression as he looked between Stephen and Mimosa.
Stephen sighed before Noelle grabbed him, shaking him back and forth with a crazed look. "How the hell are you engaged to my cousin?! I won't allow it, I won't allow it!"
Annoyed, Stephen pushed her hands away from his collar. "I don't know what idea that woman put in her head, but I never agreed to this."
"Eh? But our engagement was approved by the Wizard King," Mimosa said, tilting her head in confusion.
"IT WAS WHAT?!" they all shouted, including Stephen and Yuno.
"What do you mean it was approved by the Wizard King?" Stephen asked, his eyes narrowing as his expression grew serious.
Mimosa wore an awkward expression. "She called me yesterday to inform me about it. She said she asked the Wizard King for a favor to make it official."
Stephen gave her a straight look. "Your mother's annoying."
Mimosa scratched the back of her head slightly. "My mother can be a bit overbearing, but she means well. I'm sorry for any inconvenience she may have caused you," Mimosa said, bowing slightly.
Stephen let out another sigh. "You don't have anything to apologize for. I'm sure this is as much of an inconvenience for you as it is for me. I'm sorry you got dragged into this."
"Enough of this!" Klaus interrupted. "You can discuss your marriage another time. Right now, we're on an important mission, and all we're doing is wasting time. Mimosa!" Klaus ordered.
"R-Right," Mimosa said, stepping back as her grimoire floated in front of her.
[Plant Creation Magic: Magic Flower Guidepost.]
A large flower sprouted from the ground, and as it opened, a hologram of light appeared above it, displaying the layout of the dungeon.
"Alright, I've got it. I memorized the layout of the dungeon," Mimosa nodded.
"Yuno!" Klaus ordered once more.
"On it…" Yuno replied in his usual tone.
[Wind Creation Magic: Celestial Wind Ark.]
A large boat made entirely of wind manifested, and Mimosa, Yuno, and Klaus boarded it.
Asta pointed at Yuno with a grin. "How about a race? Let's see who gets to the treasure hall first!"
"Don't stay too far behind," Yuno smirked.
Before they left, Mimosa gave Stephen a small wave with a smile. "It was nice meeting you, Stephen," she said before flying ahead through one of the many passageways.
"I still can't believe you're engaged to my cousin," Noelle said in disgust, looking at Stephen.
"I didn't want to be engaged. This was done without my knowledge too," Stephen said, clearly annoyed.
"Alright, so which way do we go?" Asta asked, glancing at the surrounding passageways.
"Don't worry, I remember the map Mimosa created," Stephen said, creating an illusion of the hologram Mimosa had shown earlier.
"You're amazing, Stephen! Now I might really beat Yuno!" Asta said excitedly.
…
Mimosa stood by the Wind Ark with a slight blush on her cheeks, looking down. 'Mother was right… He is handsome.'
She glanced at Yuno, recalling the earlier interaction between Stephen and Yuno.
"Say, Yuno, do you know Stephen well?" Mimosa asked, curious about her supposed fiancé.
Yuno smiled as he looked ahead. "Stephen, Asta, and I grew up in the same orphanage in Hage Village. Stephen sees and treats us like brothers."
"Your mother got you engaged to a commoner from a village in the forsaken realm? What was she thinking? There are better options out there," Klaus scoffed.
Both Yuno and Mimosa shot Klaus a glare, but it was Mimosa who spoke. "Watch it, Klaus. Although our engagement was recent and done without our consent, that's still my fiancé you're talking about."
Yuno smiled slightly but remained silent.
"Right… I apologize. I didn't mean anything by it. But if your mother was going to engage you to someone, shouldn't it have been someone like Yuno? He's the one with the Four-Leaf Clover. What's so special about Stephen that your mother felt he was the better option?"
"Because Stephen's stronger than I am," Yuno said, looking ahead.
"You can't be serious," Klaus said, his brows furrowing in shock. Even Mimosa seemed surprised.
"Stephen is the reason I'm strong in the first place. Ever since we were little, Stephen has always been training and getting stronger. Asta and I wanted to do the same, so he began to guide us. He helped me with my magic and trained Asta physically."
"But that was before you gained your grimoire right? Surely after you received the four leaf clover you're stronger than him" Klaus retorted
But Yuno shook his head, "Our grimoires have nothing to do with this, if it didn't then I would be still lose since even though I have a four leaf clover, he has a six"
"I thought that was just a rumor?" Klaus asked in shock.
Yuno shook his head, "Even with the Four leaf clover I wasn't stronger than Stephen, at least not yet anyways, before the start of the Magic Knight exams Both Asta and I challenged Stephen to a fight… We were beaten thoroughly"
Mimosa was now even more surprised, 'If he can beat someone with a four clover grimoire, just how strong is he?'
…
As Stephen, Asta, and Noelle were speeding through one of the dungeon corridors Stephen stopped and looked off to the side, "Luck is in trouble"
Asta immediately didn't care about the challenge with Yuno as he said, "Lead the way!!"
*******************************************
+31 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3