Clyde's POV
As I trained with the weapon, I couldn't help but smile. This weapon is perfect—it feels like it was made just for me.
Not only is it powerful, but it adapts to my abilities. As I train, the weapon grows stronger, as if trying to match my power.
I concentrated energy into the weapon and slashed at the air. A huge blue slash flew toward the wall.
"Shit," I cursed.
That was too much power. It would definitely destroy the wall. Just as I moved to stop the attack, I paused when my father appeared.
He stood in front of the slash and swatted it up toward the sky, where it slowly disintegrated.
My eyes widened. Even with that much power, he treats it like nothing. I gulped. Is he here to punish me?
He suddenly disappeared and reappeared right in front of me, placing his hand on my shoulder.
"Clyde," he said.
I looked up at him. He looks serious, but not angry. This must be about something else.
"Yes, Father?"
He stayed quiet for a moment before speaking.
"I have a mission for you," he said calmly.
A mission? Why would he give me a mission? Shouldn't it be Fergus, since he's the one becoming an army general?
"What is it?" I asked.
He took his hand off my shoulder and turned his back to me. I blinked. What was he doing?
"You are the one most suited for this mission," he paused.
Dammit, just tell me, I yelled internally.
"I want you to search for mermaids. I've found out that they lay multiple eggs in each pregnancy," he added.
My mind went blank for a moment. Then I realized—he plans to continue his previous plan. I can see why he chose me.
I have the water god ability and venture to sea every few days.
"Is finding them all I need to do?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"I want you to make an alliance. And if possible, find a mermaid you like," he added slowly.
I paused at his words.
"You want me to have children with a mermaid?"
He nodded.
"What do I get out of it?" I asked.
If he's going to ask me this, I might as well ask for something in return.
"A favor. If you create an alliance, I will owe you a favor. If you also manage to find a mermaid that connects with you and have children, I will grant you anything within my power and principles," he said.
I smirked.
"It's a deal," I said, clasping his hand and shaking it.
"By the way, next time you don't have to act like that," I added.
I didn't wait to see his reaction and teleported to the docks, then got on my personal ship. The summons my father gave me were already on it.
"Let's go," I ordered.
They moved around the ship. Once we got farther from the dock, the sails were unfurled and we moved at full speed.
Honestly, I could just enter the water and search myself. But Father asked all of us to go where his summons can go. In his words, if danger arrives, he can switch places with the summons and come to our aid.
Even though he acts like an idiot sometimes and spoils the girls, he still loves and cherishes all of us.
Fergus's POV
I stood in my farm and watched as Cinderella ran around checking all the fruits.
She seemed really invested. Probably because she's never seen most of these.
But as I watched her, I couldn't help but sigh. She had met Moon earlier and been fooled by her.
Flashback
"Hey, my name's Moon. What about yours?" she asked.
"I'm Cinderella," she smiled.
Moon walked around her. She had never seen Cinderella in the castle before.
"So who are you?" she asked.
"I am Fergus's wife," she blushed.
Moon's eyes widened. But then a smirk appeared on her face.
"I can't believe that guy married again. He just divorced a few weeks ago."
Cinderella's eyes widened.
I overheard the last sentence when I arrived at the living room. I slammed the door open and glared at Moon.
"Don't listen to her. She's an idiot," I said.
"Who are you calling an idiot? You idiot," she retorted.
I grabbed Cinderella into my arms and carried her. I felt her fidget. I sighed.
"She likes to play around. Don't believe everything she says," I comforted.
She nodded but remained quiet.
End of flashback.
And now we were at the garden. Though she had returned to her happy, optimistic self, I could still sense her peeking at me every now and then.
I scratched my head. What should I do? Ever since that night, I've been focusing on her—trying to find her likes and dislikes, figure out her personality, and learn how to help her.
Just as I planned to walk toward her, I sensed someone approaching. I turned.
"Igneel," I greeted.
"Fergus," he greeted back.
"So—what brings you here?" I asked.
"Mulan will give birth any day now. I need you to attend the ball in Aldoria in my stead," he said.
A ball? Seems pretty useless to me. Why were we even planning to go in the first place? Just as I was about to decline, I noticed Cinderella paying close attention.
I turned to her.
"Cinderella, what do you think?" I asked.
"Oh, uh, whatever you want," she said.
I frowned and walked up to her. I grabbed her hand with the ring on it.
"You are my wife. In matters such as these, your words hold more value than mine. If you wish to attend the ball, just say so. Your happiness is paramount," I added.
She blushed and slowly nodded. Well, that was better than nothing. Though she is good at socializing, she isn't good at asking for things or saying no.
I sighed internally and turned to Igneel. He looked quite surprised.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I didn't think your EQ was that high," he smirked.
I smirked back.
"Yeah, my EQ is so good that I managed to do in a day what took you months," I retorted.
"Quite a mouth you got," he said, grinning.
"That's weird, I thought I heard barking," I said, turning to Cinderella.
She didn't understand what was happening, so she just nodded. I could see his veins throbbing.
He calmed himself and breathed out heavily.
"Well, since the matter is settled, I'll be going," he said and teleported away.
I smiled to myself and turned to Cinderella.
"Come on, we'll have to go shopping for your dress," I said.
She nodded and followed. I grabbed her and teleported to Silk Island. Looking around, I noticed some things had changed—there were several new shops.
Originally uninhabited, Father made use of every island he conquered. This one had special silkworms that produced beautiful silk.
He brought hundreds of people here and built a small village that grew into a port island.
Of course, there was more—a blacksmith island, ore island, flower island, beast island, and others.
But that wasn't my focus. I looked around and found the most prominent building, one Father made personally.
It was created to make only the finest clothes for the royal family. Only those given permission by Father and my mothers could enter.
I walked toward the building. The two guards saw me and bowed—they knew who I was from my previous visits with my sisters.
I entered, Cinderella behind me. A woman approached—blue eyes, black hair, and an air of confidence.
She bowed.
"Prince Fergus," she said.
I nodded.
"Make a dress for my wife. We're attending a ball." I paused. "I want nothing but the best."
She smiled and nodded.
"Leave it to me, my prince," she replied, turning to Cinderella.
She looked her over a few times and smiled.
"Please follow me."
Cinderella nodded and followed. As I watched them walk toward the back, I couldn't help but sigh.
I hoped it wouldn't take too long. Last time, I stayed for over twelve hours. Thinking about it made me grimace. Moon wasn't interested in dresses at first, but when Crystal mentioned Father might spoil them more if they wore something cute, things got out of hand.
But since it was only one dress, it probably wouldn't take long. Father had personally chosen this seamstress and given her skills to make her extremely efficient.
At most, it would take around three hours, though I couldn't be certain—there were times she spent days on a single outfit for Father.
In her words, "The king must be graceful and powerful, not only in power but appearance." She also called it her greatest work.
To thank her, Father gave her the entire territory of Silk Island. But even then, he barely wore it—there weren't many grand events in the kingdom.
But back to important matters. I glanced at my hand. I'd started reading, and it had been a great help—especially the books about reproduction. I couldn't believe that was how children were made.
I guess sometimes what your mother says isn't always true. But I couldn't blame her. Igneel was what she called a "big case."
"Grew up too early." With our special situation, it wasn't really strange.
Because of that, she was quite upset when Father stopped trying to have more children. Of course, he wouldn't notice—his emotional intelligence was negligible.
They thought I was like him, or worse. But I'd been sensitive to emotions since birth. I just decided to act like an idiot to make Mother happy—to show her at least one child wasn't growing up too fast.
Honestly, if Moon didn't run around so much, she would've been enough to distract Mother. But she liked making trouble.
"Maybe I should find a way to make future children grow at a normal human rate."
But that seemed like something Liora would handle, since she made potions.
"Huh, I feel like I'm forgetting something," I muttered.
"Fergus," Cinderella called.
I turned to her and smiled.
"Is everything finished?"
She nodded.
"Sara says it will take four hours."
"Good. We'll come back to retrieve it later. Let's go."
She walked toward me. I grabbed her into my arms and teleported to Aldoria.
I went to the same village as before—the one she came from. I wanted to say goodbye to her friends. She could come back, but it probably wouldn't be often since I'd be busy with future campaigns.
I turned to her.
"We have four hours. What do you want to do?"
Her face became thoughtful. Then she smiled.
"There's a game I've always wanted to play with my future husband," she said, taking my hand and leading me.
After a while, we reached a stand where people surrounded two contestants—a woman and a man.
"What's your wife's favorite food?" the organizer asked.
The two wrote something on their papers.
"Okay, now show them."
They turned their papers.
"Let's see—you say your wife's favorite food is beef steak," he said, then turned to the other paper. "But you're wrong. Her favorite food is fish fillets."
The man scratched his head in embarrassment while his wife looked disappointed.
"That was your last chance. I'm sorry to say you've lost. Who's next?" he shouted.