The city of Orario came into view, and the tall wall surrounding it seemed extremely small in comparison to the one in the dragon valley.
But I wasn't able to focus on the thought for long. As we descended toward the city, I could already see a crowd gathered near the gates. Even from this distance, I could make out the distinctive red hair of Loki, standing beside her were Astraea and Hermes, along with what looked like most of our familia who'd stayed behind. The Astraea Familia members were also present, as were some from Hermes Familia.
Great. A welcoming committee. Just what I needed when I looked like I'd been dragged behind the wyverns for the entire journey. Tank landed smoothly, and I dismounted with all the enthusiasm of someone heading to their own execution.
"WELCOME BACK!" The shout came from multiple voices at once.
"You guys made it!" Ardee rushed forward, her eyes scanning the group. "Everyone looks... well, mostly intact."
"Though you all look exhausted," Loki cut in, her crimson eyes sweeping across our group. Her gaze lingered on me for a moment longer than necessary. "Especially you, Arin. You look like someone kicked your puppy, stole your lunch, and then kicked you for good measure."
"What the heck is up with everyone comparing me to a puppy?"
"Just calling it as I see it." She grinned, but something was calculating in her expression. "Anyway! Dragon slaying calls for celebration! We're throwing a party at the manor tonight!" she announced—probably looking for an excuse to get drunk again.
"Loki, shouldn't we first inquire if they even have the energy for it or not?" Astraea stepped forward, observing my expression as she chided Loki.
Loki looked distinctly unhappy about the delay. And not just her—everyone's attention turned toward me, their expressions expectant
Well, at least someone should enjoy this. "Thank you for the concern, Astraea, but it's fine. I'm sure everyone wants proper food after days of bread and soup."
"Yay!" Loki jumped, high-fiving with Hermes, as he turned to address us.
"Then we should get going, and not block the main road for long," as he mentioned, we were still standing near the main gate of the city, while the Ganesha familia members were already handling the Wyverns.
"Yup, let's go!" Loki cheered, hearing that.
A chorus of cheers went up from the gathered familia members, though I noticed it was mostly the ones who hadn't been on the expedition doing the cheering.
As we made our way through the streets of Orario toward the Twilight Manor, I tried to blend into the middle of the group. The familiar sights of the city should have been comforting, but all I could focus on was the four of them walking ahead of me.
Riveria walked with Astraea, discussing something about the expedition, most likely, but her posture was unnaturally stiff. Every few steps, her head would turn slightly—not quite looking back, but close enough that I could tell she was aware of exactly where I was in the formation.
Asfi was walking with Lydia, who seemed to be chattering away about something. But she wasn't really listening. I could tell by the way she kept repeatedly adjusting her glasses—once every few seconds—and how her cyan eyes would dart backward, then away, then back again.
Ryuu was sandwiched between Alise and Ardee. She fixed her gaze firmly on the ground in front of her, but her shoulders were tense, and every time someone laughed or spoke loudly, she'd flinch slightly.
And Ais... Ais just kept turning around to look at me. Without any subtlety or pretense. Every ten steps or so, she'd glance back over her shoulder, her golden eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my chest tight. Then she'd turn back around and keep walking, only to repeat the process.
Do they want to talk? I thought, observing their reaction, "...maybe not." I muttered under my breath. Despite taking pride in my ability to read people, I wasn't so confident when it came to a situation like this, mainly because of my lack of experience in romance. And the last thing I wanted to do was to read the signal wrong and make things more awkward between us.
The celebration was in full swing by the time evening settled over Orario. The main hall of the Twilight Manor had been transformed—tables overflowing with food, barrels of ale and wine positioned at certain intervals, music playing from somewhere in the corner where Raul and some others had set up instruments, and adventurers from three different familias mingling and celebrating the successful dragon hunt.
I'd managed to find a corner spot near one of the tall windows, nursing a drink and trying my absolute best to be invisible.
It wasn't working.
"Arin!" Tiona bounded over, somehow still radiating energy despite the long journey. "Stop hiding in the corner and moping! Come celebrate with us!"
"I am celebrating. Right here. In this corner."
"That's not celebrating, that's sulking!" She grabbed my arm with surprising strength. "Come on!"
"Tiona, I really don't—"
"There he is!" Loki appeared, her face flushed from alcohol. "The guy who almost died like five times! Let me buy you a drink!"
"Like I've told you a million times, I don't drink."
"Then get another one! You can't celebrate a dragon kill with just one drink!" Is she even listening?
Before I could mount any effective protest, I found myself pulled into the crowd, Tiona on one arm and Loki on the other, both completely ignoring my half-hearted attempts to escape.
The next hour passed in a blur of forced socializing. People kept approaching—members from all three familias—to congratulate us on the dragon kill, to ask about the battle, to share drinks and stories. I smiled when appropriate, nodded, gave brief answers, and tried very hard not to look at the four of them scattered throughout the hall.
The keyword being 'tried', since I failed spectacularly.
Riveria stood near the main table with Astraea and some elven familia members, but her attention kept wandering. Quick glances in my direction that she'd cut short the moment I looked back. Each time our gazes accidentally met, a small crease would form between her brows before she'd force herself to turn away.
Asfi had been cornered by Lydia near the food table, nodding along to some lengthy story. Her hand betrayed her—adjusting her glasses every few seconds, her purple eyes flickering toward me even as she made appropriate responses to whatever Lydia was saying.
The Astraea Familia had surrounded Ryuu, Alise and the others, chattering excitedly about the expedition. But Ryuu's posture remained rigid, her responses minimal. And yes, her ears were still that bright shade of red they'd been since morning. Every time someone laughed too loudly or gestured too wildly, she'd flinch and her gaze would dart toward me before snapping away.
And Ais had abandoned all pretense. She'd positioned herself across the hall with a clear line of sight, holding an untouched plate, and simply stared. When Tione tried to engage her in conversation, Ais answered without breaking eye contact with me. When Lefiya approached with a question, Ais responded while still watching. Her expression—which I'd learned to read with difficulty—told me nothing in this moment.
"Alright, spill." Hermes's voice came from beside me, making me jump. When did he get there? "What happened out there?"
"Nothing happened."
"Arin, I've been a god for millennia. I know when someone's lying—even someone with resistance to divine powers." He took a sip from his cup, lips curled into a carefree smile as he leaned on the wall. "And it's not just you. Those four have been acting weird all evening." He gestured with his cup toward them. "So what happened?"
"It's… something personal."
"Too bad. I'm a god—we're nosy by nature. And I've had just enough to drink to be persistently annoying about it." He studied my face. "So what'd you do? Confess your feelings or something?"
I choked on my mango juice, coughing violently.
"Oh." Hermes eyes widened in genuine surprise, and that insufferably smug grin spread across his face. "Oh, you actually did it. You absolute madman!" He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "To which one? …Wait, let me guess based on how they're all acting..." His gaze swept the hall, landing on each of them in turn. His expression shifted from amused to shocked. "All of them. You confessed to all four of them at once," he spoke, staring at me with wide eyes.
I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.
"You absolute lunatic." He sounded somewhere between impressed and bewildered. "No wonder you all look like someone died. That's... that's either the bravest or stupidest thing I've ever witnessed. Possibly both." He paused. "So how'd they take it?"
"They haven't said anything."
"At all?"
"Not a single word."
"Ouch." He took another drink. "That's... yeah, that's rough, I guess."
"Thank you. Your sympathy is overwhelming."
"Hey, I'm being honest." He studied me for a moment longer, then his expression softened. "But you know... silence isn't always rejection. Sometimes people just need time to process something that big. Give them a chance to figure out their own feelings before you write yourself off, yeah? After all, a true man never loses hope!"
He walked away, laughing, leaving me alone with my thoughts and my barely touched drink.
No one approached me for the rest of the time. I stayed in that corner for another thirty minutes, watching the celebration swirl around me like I was standing in the eye of a storm. The noise, the laughter, the music—it all felt distant, muted, like I was experiencing it through thick glass.
I need some air.
I slipped out of the main hall as unobtrusively as possible, heading down a quieter corridor toward one of the manor's side entrances. The cool evening air hit my face as I stepped outside into a small courtyard garden, and I breathed deeply, trying to clear the fog in my head.
A small fountain burbled in the center of the courtyard, water catching moonlight as it fell. I sank onto a stone bench nearby, the cool stone seeping through my clothes. The sounds from the party—laughter, music, celebration—felt muted here, like they belonged to a different world.
I dropped my head into my hands.
Did I really mess up? Was I impatient? Should I have waited a little more?
I don't know how long I sat there—minutes, maybe longer—just listening to the fountain and trying not to think about golden eyes and red ears and adjusted glasses and disappointed looks.
"Arin."
The quiet voice made me look up.
Ais stood at the garden entrance, silhouetted against the warm light spilling from the manor. Her golden eyes were steady on mine, and in her hands, she twisted the hem of her shirt—a nervous gesture I'd never seen from her before.
Everything else—the fountain, the garden, the distant party sounds—faded to nothing.
Behind her, three more figures emerged from the corridor.
Riveria, her jade eyes unusually uncertain.
Ryuu, her hands clasped tightly in front of her, knuckles white.
Asfi, adjusting her glasses one more time, her cyan eyes not quite meeting mine.
They'd come together.
All four of them.
Not individually. Not sending one representative to let me down easy. They'd come as a group to face this—to face me—together. That had to mean something, right?
Or was it worse this way? Four rejections at once instead of spread out over agonizing days?
No, stop. I need to listen properly!
Riveria stepped forward slightly, and I could see the way her jaw was set—that look she got when she was steeling herself for something difficult. "We need to talk to you," she corrected gently. "About that night. About what you said."
Ryuu's hands tightened their grip on each other. She took a small breath, gathering courage, and her ocean-blue eyes finally met mine—vulnerable and conflicted and determined all at once. "We've been trying all day," she admitted quietly. "But we didn't know how to start. How to... say what we needed to say.
Asfi's hand dropped from her glasses, and her cyan eyes locked onto mine with uncharacteristic directness. "We're ready now," she said, voice steady despite the slight tremor in her hands. "If you are."
They stood there, all four of them, bathed in moonlight and the warm glow from the manor They stood there, all four of them, bathed in moonlight and the warm glow from the manor windows. Waiting. Looking at me with expressions that were equal parts nervous and resolute.
My mouth went dry. My heart hammered so hard I thought it might break through my ribs.
"I..." My voice came out rough. I cleared my throat. Why am I trying to run? Get a grip on yourself, Arin Kael, can't you see how difficult it is for them, yet they stand here so resolutely while you are trying to run.
I scolded myself, raising my head, meeting their beautiful eyes head-on. "Okay. Let's talk."
I'd been the one to put this in motion. I'd confessed, laid everything bare. I couldn't run from the consequences now, whatever they might be.