The Demon King's Paladin Part 2. All Out War.

Chapter 428. Enjoying A Short Moment

" Ah..."

" Well, don't you look happy."

" I am... I really missed Jim's cooking."

" We can tell, Darling. Here, you have some crumbs left on your cheek."

* Pat... Pat... Pat...*

Sarah and Anna seemed to be in a great mood this morning... Well, they're not the only one. Going from Jim's cooking, to bread and water for 2 months and then eating wild fruits and veggies that Lily grew for the trip back here, then finally back to Jim's cooking would make anyone want to eat until they're satisfied. Though being sloppy about cleaning my face after eating is a different matter entirely. I'll need to be more careful moving forward, I guess. Anyways, now that breakfast was done, we could be leaving shortly to Blackstone. Altogether, it'll be Sarah, Anna and Charlotte who'll be coming with me. Sarah and Anna are My Wives, so they're obviously coming with me to not only Blackstone, but Bestia as well. As for Charlotte, since she's still technically a Dark Elf Princess, it only makes sense to bring her along to help show Bestia that Darkheim is also aware that they're now comrades. I'm sure it'd be better if King Leonard and Queen Crystal would come as well, but they're busy preparing Darkheim for the upcoming war.

" Why do you look so sad all of a sudden? Do you want 2nds?"

" Huh? No... I'm just wondering about Darkheim is all."

Anna saw the look in my face and seemed to think that I was upset or something. I quickly answered the question since I didn't see it as that big of a deal.

" What do you have to worry about? King Leonard and Queen Crystal are doing fine. Your Barriers protected them well. After the Summit they spent some time here in Paradise before heading back to Darkheim. I'm pretty sure they're just swamped with work. Whether quelling their people's concerns about Alfheim and the war or actually issuing orders to prepare for it. It took them 6 weeks to get back, so I'd imagine that they're up to their necks with different things. We need to give them a few weeks to handle everything, it'll probably be best to head over in a month most likely."

Sarah tried to fill me in on the situation with Darkheim as best as she could. I mean it makes sense, but I really do want to honor Ryan's request as soon as possible. I guess I should really explain it to them. I've only mentioned that the red jewel was important... I guess I should explain it fully. We've all been a bit lost in being just happy to be together again. I guess I should let them know.

" I suppose you're right, but I do need to stop over there soon. You both remember this red jewel, right?"

" Yes, you said it's important, right, Darling?"

Anna answered again as Sarah seemed to just be waiting for my explanation.

" It was given to me by a prisoner of the Elves. His name was Ryan, Ryan Nyx."

" As in related to Charlotte and her family, right?"

" Yes... You both don't seem too shocked about this, you know?"

Both Sarah and Anna looked at each other for a moment... Almost like I caught them in a lie.

" Well, I can't be too shocked to think that the Elves still had a Dark Elf prisoner. I mean, the races are quite long lived. The Elves and Dark Elves are the only races of people whose Kings have term limits."

" How long is a term?"

" Around 500 years. Last I checked, there's around 4 former Kings still roaming around Alfheim, I think?"

" Great, that means issues for me... Anyways, Ryan was a Mind Mage and the brother of the King of the Dark Elves from about 3000 years ago. To make a long story short, he found something was off about the current King when he visited Alfheim. He wanted to investigate it as Elves and Dark Elves were friends at the time. He was caught after sneaking into the King and Queen's bedroom to read the King's mind. From there, he and the people that he visited Alfheim with were captured and tortured. Then they were left in a strange state of suspended animation. That's how I met him. I stumbled into where they kept him and his friends. He gave me that red jewel and he wanted me to give it to King Leonard. I'd like to honor his wish as soon as possible."

Again, they didn't seem too surprised by what I've said. Regardless of their faces, Anna began to respond to what I said.

" If that's the case, Darling. Can't we just visit them after we come back from Bestia? It should only take a few days after all. Even Charlotte seemed to think that us visiting Bestia and helping King Alan takes precedence over visiting Darkheim, right?"

" Well, she doesn't know about Ryan's request, right? She's going to be coming over to travel to Blackstone... Maybe I should ask her? I mean, it shouldn't take too long to just pop over to Darkheim and hand the red jewel to him, right?"

" Uhm... Right, she doesn't... Even still, I think she'll say that visiting Darkheim can wait. We'll be able to tell in time."

Anna seemed frazzled at what I said? I guess she didn't think about that fact? Well, regardless of that, she's right... There's not much I can do now. I did tell Warrick and Aqua that I'd go to Bestia with them and their schedule only allows the next few days for going there. I mean, they could make up a reason, something like checking on their ally's progress, but maybe that'd be too time consuming for them? I guess I shouldn't presume to know what they'd do, I mean I'm just a Marquess and I feel like I've been swamped with work since I came to Paradise. Even moving forward, there's still going to be a good amount of work, it's just that now I can delegate to Emily and Colin for different things. I mean, overall, it'll be less work moving forward. I, more or less had to resurrect a dying town with barely anyone living in it when I first started here and now it's been able to grow and keep itself healthy without much input from me these past 2 months. I'll just be needing to mind the Ps and Qs moving forward and making sure everything continues along the development plans I laid out at the beginning of this whole thing.

" Anyways, My Love. I think you're just putting too much pressure on yourself, let's just get one thing done at a time, okay? That's the entire reason Cyn and Alle went with my Parents in the first place, so we can all go and help smooth things over. And when we get back in a few days, we can catch up on your work and then head to Darkheim to see if we can meet with King Leonard and Queen Crystal, okay?"

Sarah seemed to think I was overthinking everything... Maybe I am? Regardless, she's right, I can only do things one at a time. It's not like the town's development where I could do multiple projects at one time. I should just sit back and take a breath for now. Things are going to get busy whether I want them to or not. I should just try to take this a step at a time with Sarah and Anna both at my side. That's what marriage is for, right? For walking through life together? Through thick and thin? I mean we've already fought off the Hero Party, a pissed off God and resurrected a town together, I think we can handle whatever happens next. As long as we're together of course.

" I guess you're right, Sarah. We just need to take things one at a time."

" Of course, our lives have been going way too fast these past 2 years. We need to take our breath and remember that taking a step at a time is fine. We've already gone so far after all."

I could only nod to Sarah's words. There's not much else to say. All 3 of us have grown so much in such a short amount of time. It can almost make my head spin.

" We're going to be just fine now. After all, we're all together again."

* Grip.*

Anna quickly grabbed my hand as she added to what Sarah said.

" Yup! Everything is back to normal now!"

* Grip!*

And of course, Sarah couldn't be the odd man out, she quickly grabbed my free left hand.

" Yeah. Our normal is best."

All 3 of us just sat there for a moment, enjoying the silence for a bit. Eventually, the silence gave way to a tapping coming towards us. It didn't take long for us to figure out what it meant. Eventually, Janet came into the dining room from the direction of the entrance hall. The words that came out of her mouth weren't shocking to hear. All it meant was that the moment was over.

" Lord Matthew, Lady Sarah, Lady Anna. Lady Charlotte has arrived with her luggage. What would you like me to do with it?"