After giving strict instructions regarding the consumption schedule of the Elixir of Archmage, the head of the household shifted his gaze from the pile of bottles on the table. His gaze now moved and stopped right on his eleventh spouse.
Victor, who felt the gaze, spontaneously returned his husband's look.
"What's wrong, Huby?" he asked curiously, tilting his head slightly. "Is there anything else you want to convey specifically to me?"
"Yes, there is! This is about you!" Arvin answered quickly and without pause. His eyes remained unshifting, still looking straight at the purple-haired youth's face with an indiscernible expression. "Have you asked your father for permission to live here with us?"
The question sounded simple, but for those who knew that Victor's father was the Prime Minister of the Astoria Kingdom, it carried a very heavy political weight.
Victor instead snorted softly. The corners of his lips pulled upwards.
"Of course I have!" Victor answered in a tone filled with a strange sense of pride. "Right after I bluntly told him that you are my husband, my father instantly became furious. He kicked me out of the house right then and there, and I'm strictly forbidden from ever returning there forever. Hahaha."
Arvin was quite surprised to hear that answer. He did not expect his spouse to still be able to laugh so freely after being permanently expelled from the prime minister's residence and losing his privileges as a high-class noble.
"Do you truly not regret it, Victor?" Arvin asked in a much more serious tone, wanting to make sure once again about the youth's crazy and reckless decision.
Victor's laughter instantly stopped. His facial expression turned very cold and rigid.
"I don't regret it!" Victor answered absolutely, without the slightest hint of doubt in his eyes. "I've made my decision and I've chosen you. If I'm kicked out of my family because of my own decision, then I must accept the consequences with my head held high!"
The purple-haired youth narrowed his eyes. His emotions were suddenly ignited a little. He glared sharply at his husband, seeking the truth behind the question that had just been thrown at him.
"Tell me now!" Victor demanded, his voice slightly raised. "Do you have any intention of sending me home and rejecting my presence as your spouse?"
Seeing the spark of insecurity and fear hidden behind his eleventh spouse's defensive attitude, Arvin let out a long sigh. He shook his head slowly, denying the baseless accusation.
"If that has indeed become your final decision, then I have absolutely no reason to send you back there, Victor." Arvin answered calmly, returning the purple-haired youth's sharp glare with a soothing look in his eyes. "Besides, once all matters are settled and everyone who will be my spouse has gathered here, you will no longer live in this capital. You will come with me and settle down in the Vedegra territory with all of us!"
The tension in the youth's shoulders instantly loosened.
"That's much better!" Victor replied quickly without pause, as if he had indeed been looking forward to that moving moment. "The further I'm from this capital, the more peaceful my life with you and with them will be. But..."
He instantly stopped his sentence, leaving his words hanging in the air, making everyone in the dining room confused and staring at him.
"But?" Arvin repeated, feeling puzzled by Victor's behavior of suddenly stopping his speech. "But what?"
"But, make me an immortal human like them!" Victor answered firmly, voicing his main demand. "Among everyone in this room, I'm the only one who is not immortal yet. Do you want to see this face of mine that you like so much turn ugly from aging, while all of you remain eternally youthful?"
Without waiting for approval, the purple-haired youth stood up from his chair. He walked quickly approaching his husband's position, continuing forward until his steps halted when there was almost no distance left between the two of them.
Victor stared intently into the pair blue eyes before him.
"If you refuse this request of mine, then I want you to kill me right here, right now!" Victor threatened in a very serious tone, holding back the surge of desperate emotions in his chest. "I, who have already lost my home and my family, if added with you refusing me to live immortally with you, then there is no longer—"
That sentence, fraught with despair, was instantly cut off as Arvin raised his right hand and placed his index finger right against his spouse's lips.
That gentle yet firm touch effectively silenced Victor. The youth instantly froze in silence upon feeling the warmth of the finger touching his lips.
"I will definitely do it after I make clothes for you, Kaydan, and Calverd." Arvin answered in an extremely gentle tone, calming the storm of panic in Victor's chest. "It's impossible for me to just ignore and abandon my spouse."
Hearing the promise and definite answer from his husband, Victor blinked slowly. He drew a relieved breath and instantly smiled widely. The fear of being abandoned finally evaporated instantly without a trace from his heart.
Driven by an extraordinary sense of love and relief, without caring about Arvin's body that was still completely naked in front of their other family members, the purple-haired youth directly stepped forward and hugged his husband's body very tightly, burying his face in the shoulder of the man he loved so much.
"Thank you, Huby!" Victor exclaimed happily, his voice sounding slightly trembling. "I love you so much!"
Arvin returned the tight embrace. His hand stroked Victor's back with the full warmth and protective affection of a husband. He let the youth channel his relief for a few moments.
After feeling satisfied enough holding each other tightly, Victor slowly released his embrace. He took a half-step back and looked at his husband's face with an expression that was now beaming with happiness.
Arvin returned the gaze with a gentle look while lowering his arms from his spouse's body.
"Please continue with everything you wanted to say to the others, Huby." Victor said softly, his tone calm once again. He then turned his body and walked back to sit in his chair.
As soon as Victor had sat quietly in his chair, Arvin took a deep breath, neutralizing the atmosphere, and resumed all the instructions he had not finished saying.
He shifted his gaze, looking directly at his fourth spouse who was sitting quietly.
"Alvein, I have a special task for you. Your task is to make Kaydan and Calverd invisible when they're in the crowds of the capital later!" Arvin ordered in a serious tone.
The fairy frowned, feeling a little confused by his husband's directive which sounded like it had no clear ultimate goal.
"I understand and am willing to hide their existence from everyone's sight with my invisibile magic." Alvein replied without hesitation. "But Honey, where must I take the two of them?"
Arvin did not answer immediately. Instead, he shifted his gaze to the other side of the table.
"Let Davin explain everything about that plan to all of you!" Arvin answered while raising his hand and pointing toward the brownish-white-haired youth who was sitting quietly next to Arion.
All gazes now shifted to Davin.
"I've already told him everything in detail. And I'm certain, Alrain will instantly understand the intention of the plan that he will speak of later."
Although curiosity raged in their minds, not a single one of them dared to interrupt or ask further. All the youths nodded obediently and trusted their husband's words.
"Davin," Arvin called out again, ensuring one important matter, "make sure you tell and explain the plan to them only after all of you have drunk the Elixir of Archmage and regained consciousness!"
"Yes, My King!" Davin answered gently, heavily laden with his absolute loyalty. "Right after everyone is ready, I will explain your entire plan to them in detail."
Arvin nodded in satisfaction. He then smiled in relief at all his spouses.
"Alright, our conversation here is finished. I will start making plenty of proper change of clothes for Victor, Kaydan, and Calverd first in the living room."
Then, Arvin's hand reached into his dimensional storage space and immediately took out a clean set of his own clothes.
While holding the set of clothes, he looked towards his sixth spouse.
"And Kylen, get ready from now!" Arvin ordered in a softening tone. "Because right after the matter of their clothes is finished, the two of us will immediately return to continue the journey."
"Yes, Darling!"