Novel Full Chapter 1214: Reunited
Chapter 1214: Reunited
Kitsara’s ears twitched. Seraphiel straightened slightly, her fingers pausing in Aurora’s hair.
Then a man’s voice followed, calm and deeply unimpressed.
“And one of her friends is taste-testing ingredients, while the other is braiding her hair… right next to an active cauldron.”
The tone was dry, chiding…
And oh-so incredibly familiar.
Aurora’s breath hitched. She couldn’t turn around. Her limbs felt heavy, as though anchored by invisible weights.
Footsteps echoed across the marble floor.
“You seem to be in a rush… Do you have somewhere important to be?” the woman continued, her voice closer now. “Your timing is precise, but it lacks respect for the craft. You said this is not a kitchen but an alchemy lab…”
“But it looks more like a kitchen to us,” the man finished for her. “Your lab should be sacred. Ingredient licking and hairdressing within the premises of your domain should not be permitted.”
They had much more to say. “You measure mana flow by feel, not structure. It works… until it doesn’t.”
“And your stabilizer ratios… They’re based on intuition, not theory. Brilliant in practice, disastrous on paper. You’d never pass the Alchemist Certification with that method.”
They walked toward Aurora with measured steps, and all the while, they never stopped criticizing.
“The girl’s talented,” the woman murmured softly, almost fondly, “but undisciplined.”
“It’s almost as if her teachers were imprisoned before they could make her into a proper professional,” the man said with a small chuckle hidden beneath his words.
Aurora’s lip trembled. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably.
She wanted to turn. To see.
But her body wouldn’t move.
Through intense effort, she made her neck work at least. Her head turned, stiff, mechanical… and her heart stopped.
Two figures stood right next to her, stepping into the glow of the cauldron’s light. A woman with hair like spun copper and a man with sharp, intelligent eyes behind a monocle of gold.
“… Mom?” Aurora’s voice came out broken in the form of a whisper of disbelief. “… Dad?”
They shouldn’t be here. They couldn’t be here. They were supposed to be in a dungeon cell, hidden away in some remote dungeon of the country, locked for crimes against the kingdom.
Her hands fell limp to her sides. Tears welled, spilling freely, streaming down her cheeks in raw, uncontrollable sobs.
Her parents’ stern faces softened instantly. The act, the scolding, the professionalism, crumbled in an instant.
“Ah… our little star,” her mother whispered, voice trembling as she reached forward.
Aurora stumbled toward them, the cauldron bubbling forgotten behind her, and the next moment she was wrapped in their arms.
Her father’s embrace was firm and warm; her mother’s trembling hands cradled her head against her chest.
“You’ve grown so much…” Naomi breathed. “You look like a proper woman now!”
Aurora’s body shook violently as she clung to them. “You… You’re alive… I thought- I thought-”
Gideon’s voice broke quietly, “We missed you every single day, Daughter.”
Aurora sobbed into her father’s chest, trembling like a child again. The sound tore through the lab as the immense sense of relief overcame her heart. She then gasped for a moment, looked toward Kitsara, and sighed in relief when she saw that all three of her tails were perfectly attached to her tailbone.
Kitsara scoffed when she realized that Aurora thought she might be cruel enough to play such a bad prank on her. And she hadn’t even seen her parents! How could she replicate them?
The platinum-haired beauty realized the same, thus her heartfelt sobbing continued. Her tears soaked into his robe, and Naomi held her even tighter, whispering soothing nonsense through her own tears.
It took minutes, very, very long minutes, for the storm inside Aurora to finally ease.
Her breathing steadied, though her eyes were still red and glistening. Slowly, she lifted her head and blinked through the haze.
Something… shifted.
A familiar presence that was warm, steady, and impossibly grounding stood at the edge of the room.
Aurora turned her gaze, and there they were.
Seraphiel stood a respectable distance away, her posture soft and glowing with quiet joy. Her long golden hair shimmered under the light, and a serene smile curved her lips. But it wasn’t just her.
Behind her, Quinlan stood close… too close. Both of his hands rested gently over her belly, stroking slowly, and his chin was nestled atop her blonde hair. Seraphiel leaned back into him, utterly at peace. Her cheeks were flushed pink with contentment.
For a moment, Aurora could only stare, wide-eyed, mouth agape. Her head tilted, her lips trembled, and the first words that came out were somewhere between disbelief and worry.
“… Just what did you do, Quin?!”
He looked at her with that trademark smirk of his. “Struck a deal with the king.”
Aurora’s breath hitched. “Quin…” she gasped, the color draining from her face. She knew him. Knew that look. He must’ve given up something monumental for this.
But Quinlan only chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. As my father used to say; happy wife, happy life~”
He then gestured toward the tearful duo. “Are you not going to introduce me properly? I mean, I met them already, but you know… formalities and all.”
Then his grin turned teasing. “One day I’ll have to ask their permission to put a ring on your finger, after all.”
Aurora’s jaw dropped. Her face flushed crimson almost instantly. “Q-Quinlan! Not in front of my parents!” she sputtered.
He’d always treated his lovers as if they were already his wives. He was fiercely protecting them, cherishing them, giving them his time and his everything. But the truth was that none of them had ever stood before a crowd and made their vows for the whole world to hear or worn a ring for the world to see.
The closest one of them had come was Vex, with her strange ritual of binding. But there were no gorgeous, frilly white dresses, no ceremony, no crowd. Just magic and mutual devotion between a man and woman.
Yet deep down, every one of his women harbored the same quiet wish. That one day, there’d be vows. Dresses. Rings. The world itself watching as they declared their love for the man who’d turned their lives upside down.
Naomi raised a brow and looked between the two of them with squinted eyes. “Happy wife, happy life?”
“Ring?!” Gideon blurted. His eyes bulged as he straightened his monocle. “What ring?!”
Aurora, despite the chaos, the tears, the surreal reunion, burst into laughter through her blush.
Then her cheeks glowed pink, and she fidgeted with her fingers as she turned toward her parents.
“Mom, Dad…” she started, voice small and nervous, “this is Quinlan. My… boyfriend.”
She then shook her head, not finding the term good enough to describe the depths of her feelings for the man. “No. He’s the love of my life.”
Her eyes darted shyly to him, then away again. “He found me right after you two were taken. He’s saved my life a million times over. Things happened and… well…” she twisted a strand of her platinum hair between her fingers, “we’re… deep in love.”
“Oh!” Naomi gasped, her hand flying to her chest as the sharp, dangerous glint in her eyes vanished entirely. She blinked twice, now looking at Quinlan as though he were made of gold. “So this is the man who turned you into such a fine woman.”
Aurora was already an adult when Naomi last saw her, but that innocent girl’s expression could not in the least bit be compared to the Aurora of today. She’d undergone a great transformation.
Gideon, meanwhile, was busy studying Quinlan with disbelief and growing respect. Then he looked back at Aurora and sighed, “I’m so glad they didn’t take you…”
“If you had become certified, you’d have been grabbed as well,” he whispered toward his daughter.
Aurora nodded gravely. “Yes… I know.”
But then her tone brightened, and a proud little smile lit her face. “Speaking of! We actually raided the outpost! We got the [Geim Roots]!” she said with triumphant glee. “I even consumed one of the elixirs myself! Though I nearly died…”
Both her parents froze. The color drained from their faces instantly.
Naomi’s lips parted in horror, and Gideon’s monocle nearly slipped off as they both took a full step back. “You what?”
Aurora beamed, completely oblivious to their terror – or, rather, electing to tactfully ignore it. “But that’s not all! Mom, Dad, I have so much to tell you! I even have a daughter now!”
“Daughter?!” they both screamed in perfect unison.
Their knees buckled from shock, and Aurora barely managed to catch them both while laughing so hard she could hardly breathe.
“Hehe~ I missed you guys so much,” she giggled, hugging them tight while her poor parents stared at her like they’d just learned their sweet little girl had joined a death cult.
And at the far end of the lab, Quinlan just smiled.
He stood there with Seraphiel still nestled against him, his hands stroking her soft, curved belly in lazy, affectionate circles. The elf leaned into him, blissfully content. She even teared up a bit at the wonderful sight. Her friend finally got her wish.
Quinlan’s lips curved upward in quiet satisfaction.
For the first time in a long while, his world, his family, felt whole again.
Now, none of his girls had a kidnapped relative, no one he had to save. All important people were present already.
He could look into the future and tackle the next problems without having to worry about them.
Today was a good day.