Kikidori stretched his arms with a satisfied sigh as he and Ere'ana descended the grand staircase of the castle. Ere'ana trailed behind him, her cheeks still faintly flushed from earlier, though she tried her best to keep her composure.
"That was... something," Kikidori said, shooting a sideways grin at Ere'ana.
"Don't talk about it," she muttered, avoiding his gaze.
"What? You're acting like I just stole the moon or something," Kikidori teased, sliding an arm around her waist. "Come on, we're adults. We're married. It's normal."
Ere'ana sighed, her wings fluttering slightly in agitation. "It's not about being married or normal, Kikidori. It's just—"
She didn't get to finish her thought, because as they entered the dining hall, Yumi was already there, sitting cross-legged on the table with her phone in hand. She was trying—and failing—to hide a mischievous grin.
"Oh, hey, lovebirds," Yumi said, barely looking up from her phone. "How's your... evening been?"
Kikidori smirked, leaning casually against the doorframe. "Fantastic, thanks for asking."
Ere'ana, on the other hand, shot Yumi a suspicious look. "Why are you smiling like that?"
"Smiling like what?" Yumi asked, her grin widening.
"Like you know something," Ere'ana said, narrowing her eyes.
Yumi shrugged, setting her phone down. "I don't know anything. Just wondering why you two were upstairs for so long. Sounded... eventful."
Ere'ana's face turned bright red, and she quickly turned away, pretending to busy herself with straightening her dress. Kikidori, of course, found the whole thing hilarious.
"Oh, we were just... catching up," Kikidori said with a smirk.
"Catching up?" Yumi repeated, raising an eyebrow. "That what we're calling it now?"
"Yumi!" Ere'ana snapped, her embarrassment reaching its peak.
"What? I'm just saying, you two were up there for hours. Kind of hard not to notice."
Kikidori chuckled, ruffling Yumi's hair as he walked past her. "You're too nosy for your own good, kid."
"Not my fault you two are so obvious," Yumi muttered, though she was clearly enjoying how flustered her mother was.
As they sat down to eat, the tension in the room slowly began to dissipate. Ere'ana focused on her plate, determined not to make eye contact with anyone, while Kikidori and Yumi chatted about random things—mostly Yumi's college life and the chaos of trying to rebuild after the war.
After dinner, the family lingered at the table for a while, chatting and laughing like old times. Despite the awkward start, Ere'ana found herself relaxing, reminded of how much she cherished these simple moments with her husband and daughter.
Eventually, they decided to call it a night. Kikidori and Ere'ana headed upstairs, while Yumi stayed behind in the dining hall, scrolling through her phone.
As Kikidori and Ere'ana got into bed, Ere'ana let out a small sigh of relief. "Well, that was... a day."
Kikidori smirked, pulling her close. "You're still thinking about it, aren't you?"
"Of course I am," Ere'ana said, her voice muffled as she buried her face in his chest. "It's hard not to."
Kikidori chuckled, running a hand through her hair. "You're too uptight, you know that? You need to learn to relax."
"I'll relax when you stop being so shameless," she muttered.
"Not gonna happen," Kikidori said with a grin.
Ere'ana sighed, though a small smile tugged at her lips. "Goodnight, Kikidori."
"Goodnight, my angel," he said, kissing her forehead.
Downstairs, Yumi finally put her phone away and headed to her own room. As she climbed into bed, she couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"Hope it's a girl," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. Then yumi giggled and shouted from her room "Hey, I could hear the creaking on your bed from downstairs while you where having sex"
From upstairs kikidori shouted back "Good for you"
And ere'ana groaned
And with that, the castle fell into a peaceful silence, the chaos of the day fading into the background as the family drifted off to sleep.
The End of Chapter 10