“Ahhhh!” I sat up as I woke up abruptly.

  It was the dead of night when I woke up feeling all sweaty. There was no light source aside from the moonlight shining through the window. I held my pocket watch that was placed at my side and checked the time. 3 a.m. sharp was what was shown on the watch. Still a couple of hours before dawn arrives, but I worked up a sweat with that strange dream. Realising that it would be uncomfortable to continue sleeping, I decided to take a refreshing bath before heading back to bed.

  “Onii-chan? What’s wrong? Another nightmare?” asked Rose as I struck a match to light a candle at my bedside.

  “Y… yeah. Moi decided to pay another visit again when Kirin and Byakko were talking to me. I feel like I’m forgetting something, sorry I woke you,” I rubbed my forehead.

  “It’s fine, guess she’s planning to visit both of us in our dreams, huh? She was in my dream too. She warned us that the journey ahead is going to be rough for us, and she’ll do whatever she can to help us. We were completely mistaken that she was disturbing or harming Daisy,” she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Did she inform you about Cosmic Beings and their Vessels or Champions? Or about Daisy’s condition?” I asked her.

  “Yeah. I gave her ample time to explain herself. Who knew our daughter had such abilities? It happened because of us, Zen. Our daughter is worried and misses us. I think this will be the last adventure that we’ll travel together for some time. I can’t bear the thought that Daisy is feeling all alone when both her parents heads out to protect this world and neither of us is at her side. It reminded me when I was alone in this world,” she explained.

  “Yeah. You’re right. I doubt there’ll be an ‘Onii-chan’ that randomly shows up to help her. I’ll find other allies to travel with me next time. I need you on this trip, so we should enjoy it while it lasts,” I smiled.

  “Maybe I should let you and Lily travel alone next time. Perhaps something might bloom. Heh heh,” she chuckled.

  “Ha ha, very funny. You know I won’t betray you no matter what. Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something? What was it?” I racked my brain.

  “Really? Are you sure? Even if Lily does this?” Rose started crawling on top of me and blew out the candle.

  It was relatively dark now, and I couldn’t see her features. But I thought of playing along just for her sake.

  “Zen, why won’t you choose me? I love you, just as much as Rose. Perhaps even more,” she imitated Lily’s voice.

  “Ahem, “Lily”, you know I can’t reciprocate your feelings. I’m married, and I have a child of my own. I’m sorry,” I played along.

  “Zen, I don’t care if I became your mistress or even a concubine. Let me be with you. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll do anything that Rose doesn’t want to,” she continued as she lowered her rear region onto my crotch.

  Oh boy, not good. Any reaction and she’ll definitely know. It’s just Rose and not Lily on top of me. I can control myself.

  “Alright, Rose. Fun’s over. I want to take a bath and continue my sleep,” I placed my hand on her shoulder to push her off.

  She quickly moved my hand towards her chest, which shocked me. What’s she trying to do? It’s way too early for us to be doing stuff like this. Something else occurred that shocked me. Strands of silver hair flowed down from above the ear. Shit, is this another one of the microsleeps? I thought Moi had taken care of that?!

  “Damn it! Moi, I need help here. I thought you said that I wouldn’t be having anymore microsleeps. I don’t want to dream of Lily raping me!” I shouted loudly.

  Someone opened our door with a light source. It was Daisy, and she was rubbing her eyes while holding a candle.

  “Mommy, why is your room so noisy?” asked Daisy as she held the candle towards us.

  Her eyes grew wider as she saw Rose with a silver hair wig straddling on top of me. She quickly closed our door, and the sound of her running back to her room could be heard. Rose burst out laughing and fell backwards onto the bed. I sighed loudly as I prepared myself for a quick bath before I head back to sleep. How are we going to explain to Daisy tomorrow about what she saw? Rose decided to tag along for a quick bath of her own. That is not going to do me any favours after the things she did earlier.

  “Ahh, that was just so funny. And you thought it was a dream too. You definitely had a reaction, didn't you?” she chuckled.

  “I can’t believe you would pull such a prank. Where did you even hide the wig in the first place?” I squinted at her.

  “My secret. Haha!” She laughed.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Rose begun stripping and placing her clothing into a basket before heading into the bathroom. I glanced at her back and noticed that age was catching up to her. After giving birth, she had stretch marks that she struggled to get rid off. Not that I mind in the first place as I knew that giving birth was a difficult task on its own. But unlike me, she was certainly getting older while I remained the same, body suspended in time due to whatever Lily did to resurrect me.

  Thinking about it, will I actually outlive Rose? Or even Daisy? No. I don’t believe that’s the case. My body might be young, but I won’t live longer than a normal human being. But what if I’m mistaken, what if I really outlive Rose? I will be alone with Daisy. Me, a father who couldn’t even notice Daisy’s condition until someone pointed it out to me. I hate to admit that I’m not exactly a good father.

  I walked closer and hugged Rose from behind. She was surprised by my action, probably due to my younger brother as well. She might have thought I wanted to sleep with her right here right now.

  “Rose, if you’re so insistent that I make Lily my second wife, then during this trip, I’ll do what I can to persuade her. Anytime you feel uncomfortable about it, you tell me immediately,” I whispered to her.

  “W...w...www… what’s going on? What’s with the sudden change of heart out of nowhere? You were stubborn for so many years and you just decided to change your mind, just like that?! What’s going on in your head, Zen Hawthorn?” She kept blinking as she asked me.

  “Well, I just thought of the future. About you and my— condition. A lot of what ifs involved, but maybe it might help in the long run. Just a little scenario I thought of where you might not be around?” I suddenly recalled my dream.

  “Yes, I’m glad you’re finally realising things now. I’m getting older while you never age. There will come a day when I no longer be around. Which is why I kept insisting you marry Lily so she can help take care of Daisy and you,” she confessed.

  “No no no.. I take it back. I won’t be pursuing Lily. What I need to do is to keep you alive, no matter what. I will not let you leave me,” I explained to her.

  “Zen— Onii-chan, I will not always be around at your side. I will eventually be gone from this world. Whether its from old age or any incoming battle that arises. You will need to come to terms with it when it happens. And I need you to promise me that you will take care of Daisy. Please, dear?” she pleaded as she placed both her hands on my cheeks.

  “I promise you that I’ll take care of Daisy. And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you alive. Even if I have to fight the Death God himself to bring you back,” I promised her.

  “Death God? Is he even a real Cosmic Being?” she chuckled.

  “I just said it to make things more dramatic,” I shrugged.

  She chuckled as she headed into the bathroom. She also reminded me that I must pursue Lily and make her my wife. No more change of heart. I made an empty promise to her as Lily was never my main priority. Now, I have a new objective after my old one 15 years ago. It was thanks to Moi for helping me realise it. I need to keep Rose alive. No matter what it takes.

  Main Objective: Waifu must live!

  ***

  A new day arrived, and Daisy seemed to hate me. She thought that I had forced Rose to pretend to be Lily so I could make-believe that I was sleeping with her. Not only is that degrading towards Rose, but also towards my integrity as her father. Rose had explained to her that what she imagined was not true, but she certainly laughed her ass off upon hearing it. Here I am being associated with more weird fetishes, despite some of them not being true.

  We were now inside one of Peter’s meeting rooms, along with him and Lily, who appears to be covering her face with her hands. She must have been ashamed about what she told us yesterday night when she thought we wouldn’t be meeting so soon, not to mention travelling together at that.

  "Been a while, isn't it, Lily?" both Rose and I chuckled.

  “No! Don't remind me! Don’t even talk to me. I'm already so ashamed right now. You guys are evil for not telling me about this yesterday," shouted Lily as she continued covering her face.

  "Ahem, can we start?" asked Peter.

  “Right. So, what’s the plan? How are you going to alert us if your plan succeeds?” I asked Peter.

  “Sorry to interrupt, Sensei. But how would this tracking be any different than anything we did before? No offence to Zen and Rose, but even you couldn't figure out where they were heading," asked Lily.

  You can sense the frustration in her voice. I know she means well as they must have launched plentiful attempts at tracking these monsters but none of them shed any light on what they are or why they’re attacking in the first place. Why would things be any different just for us just the boths of us are attempting to track them?

  "That's because the three of you will be the ones performing the tracking this time around. My three most gifted students that I have faith in. That, and Zen seems to have an idea that can make full use of your gifts as an elf," he smiled.

  "H... Huh? What does that even mean?" asked Lily as she tilted her head.

  "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let us run through what plan you have in store for us," I asked Peter.

  "Very well. Usually, when the monster attack occurs, which I suspect will be anytime between today or tomorrow, my people will sound the alarm from the bell tower and inform you of the exact location of the attack. You will have to rush over to said location and commence your plan. My soldiers will do whatever they can to help you, but do remember that they are mostly normal humans and not high-ranking adventurers," he explained.

  "Alright. Then we’ll have to be on standby until the monster attacks us. Got to make sure we have our backpacks ready beforehand. And also a location where we can hear the bell and announcements," I mumbled while thinking out loud.

  "Zen, I'm sorry, but what is this plan of yours? I'm sorry for being sceptical, but... I just want to know that we’re not wasting our time," she sighed.

  "Isn’t doing something better than doing nothing? Here, this is going to be the key to our mission's success," I smiled and held out a small-looking bell.

  "A... bell? Do you think this is the first time someone thought of this? The monsters have sensitive hearing, they will destroy it if you attempt to put any on them. These monsters are not fools, Zen. I'm sorry if I’m coming off as rude, but— we have tried everything by now," she flustered and gripped her hands.

  I walked closer to her, but her gaze remained focused on the ground. I held out my index finger and placed it on her lips, which snapped her out of her emotional state. I recalled doing this once before when we first met. I wonder if she remembers it.

  "Shhh… let me finish. Do you hear the sound of the bell ringing?" I rang the bell on my hand.

  She nodded her head without saying a word as my finger was still on her mouth. I could see that she was starting to blush when my face was close to hers. I tossed the bell towards a soldier at the far end of the meeting room. I gestured to him to ring it, and he did.

  "How about now? Do you still hear it?" I asked once more.

  She nodded once again, which made me smirk. Seems like the plan is going to work after all. Lily looked confused, and so were the others. The soldier holding the bell was literally placing it next to his ear just to hear anything.

  "Lily, you recall the time when we were together in the elven forest for a couple of years? You told me my hearing was bad when I couldn't hear the ringing of the bells there. But the truth was, it was actually a bell designed for elven ears only. I found this bell in one of the shops at Marrydia where I held my marriage and honeymoon. Daffodil was the one who highlighted this discovery to me. Even she was stumped that neither Rose nor I could hear the bell. I bought it out of curiosity thinking perhaps I might have the chance to prank you one day, but as it turns out, there is a purpose for it now. I've already tested this out with the monsters, and it would appear that they have zero reaction to it. I can't pull this plan off because I needed an elf, someone who is willing to join me, to track with me to the end. That person is you, Lily. You are the key to this mission's success," I explained to her.

  "M... me? You—need me?" she asked as her face was getting redder.

  "We always needed you, Lily. Are you on board with this mission?" I asked while extending my hand.

  She turned her back towards me and clapped her cheeks. A couple of seconds later, she turned towards me and shook my hand in agreement. Guess we’ll be travelling together after all. Yay!

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