Watching Antikas’s smug face as he basked in his victory after slaughtering the competition in last night’s festival minigame, Tiran had to give it everything just to calm down.

Stay calm, me. It’s just a festival minigame. Not worth it. Not worth it.

“Speaking of which, that Angel from earlier… Her name was Fiona, right? Where’d she go?”

Ruko suddenly poked her head out from behind Antikas.

“Oh, her? Um, sh-she went to the festival to eat a special three-layer fruit parfait.” Tiran paused, then answered offhandedly.

Of course, that wasn’t actually possible. Tiran had promised to treat her, but only after the conditions were met. By now, the little Angel had probably returned to the villa, woken Aya up, and sent him somewhere else, right?

That’s right. As long as Aya wasn’t at the villa when they arrived, Tiran could come up with some excuse to keep Antikas and Ruko from meeting him for a while. As for what happened after that…

They’d figure that out later!

The only problem was whether the in-laws would get suspicious.

“Oh! You mean the dessert shop in the second alley off the festival’s back street?”

Ruko looked excited. “I wanted to try it when we passed by yesterday! But there were so many people…”

“Is that so? Then let’s go tonight, honey.” Antikas turned around and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Hooray! Hooray!”

She was as excited as a little kid… Seems like there was no need to worry after all.

A little kid… Oh, right!

“Uncle Antikas, you said you picked that white diamond grape for your daughter. So you have a daughter?!”

“Yeah, of course! She’s adorable too. Absolutely just as adorable as my wife.”

“Darling~ Say that again?”

“Miss Ruko is number one!” In front of his wife, Antikas had none of the bearing of a Holy Rank expert. If anything, he seemed more like a middle-aged man who was afraid of his wife—if you ignored his handsome looks.

That was quite the unexpected bombshell. And Aya had never mentioned it. So if Tiran married Aya, that would mean gaining a sister-in-law too?

Hmm. Should Tiran be happy or worried?

“So, where did Uncle Antikas’s daughter go?”

“Oh, she mysteriously said she had somewhere to go, then ran off to have fun on her own. My daughter’s all grown up now…”

Antikas rubbed his head and spoke with a wistful sigh.

Just then, the Angelic Covenant Mark branded into the sea of Tiran’s mind suddenly lit up, and the little Angel’s voice rang out in Tiran’s head.

“Little Fio? You’re in the room already, right? That Aya guy—”

“N-no-no-no, this is bad! Senior Aya, h-he-he-he—!”

She seemed to have taken quite a shock. Her mind was in such turmoil that the little Angel’s voice came through in broken bursts, making it almost impossible to get any useful information.

“Calm down! What happened?” Tiran lowered their voice to soothe the little Angel.

…

Ten minutes earlier, before the little Angel had returned to the villa.

It was already late, but Aya was still fast asleep. He hadn’t slept well the night before because of that dream. Maybe it was the mental exhaustion, but this time he had no unnecessary dreams. His senses were wrapped in a velvety darkness, safe and comfortable.

Deep in sleep, Aya had completely lost track of time and had no idea how long had passed. But once his mind had recovered and his consciousness began to rise from the depths toward wakefulness, he sensed something subtly wrong.

Hmm… What was different?

His eyes were still shut, and his consciousness was like a submersible returning from the deep sea, slowly rising through shallower waters. Still, he could vaguely sense what was happening around him.

For example… a scent.

A faint, delicate fragrance slipped into his nose, tickling it. But the scent puzzled Aya. It wasn’t the sandalwood incense already in the room, nor the natural iris scent that clung to Tiran. And yet, it wasn’t unfamiliar to him.

Come to think of it, he seemed to have smelled something similar before losing consciousness and falling asleep.

Aya wanted to open his eyes and check, but control of his body hadn’t returned any more than his consciousness had. All he could do was fret.

Still, sensation was returning to the rest of his body faster than control of his eyelids. His limbs and torso soon sent back signals, letting Aya feel his current position.

Huh? Was I lying like this before I fell asleep?

Still keeping his eyes closed, Aya pondered in the darkness.

When he’d gotten into bed, he’d been so sleepy that he probably just threw back the covers, flopped face-down onto the bed, and fell asleep in an unhealthy position.

But now he was lying on his side… That wasn’t strange in itself. People could even sleepwalk without realizing it, so changing sleeping positions wasn’t anything to be surprised about.

What really felt strange to Aya were the sensations coming from his arms, legs, chest, and stomach.

It seemed like he was holding something. Not something lifeless and cold like a blanket or pillow. The skin exposed outside his pajamas could clearly feel a soft presence with warmth and a pulse.

Could Miss Tiran have climbed into bed? Heh heh… If so, that’d be more than welcome…

Wait. His hand seemed to be resting on something soft… somewhere?

“Nnh!”

A girl’s uncontrollable, breathy moan etched itself clearly into Aya’s mind… Come to think of it, when had Miss Tiran grown so much? The last time, ahem… he’d only been able to tell that there was something there. So how had it gotten so soft that his fingertip seemed to sink right in, and so big that even one hand couldn’t cover it completely?

No! It definitely wasn’t Miss Tiran! This scent was lovely too, but it wasn’t the comforting one that clung to Tiran!

It was not only strong, but… carried a deliberately alluring note.

Aya’s heart lurched. Panic jolted him fully awake, and his eyes flew open.

His wine-red eyes, still clouded with the daze of waking, met a pair of pale golden ones. They were bright and lively, with a hint of mischief.

“Yaaawn~~ Mm, are you awake, brrrother?”

The girl’s long red hair spilled down like a waterfall, covering her shoulders and chest. The rest of her was hidden beneath the sheet, but as she lay on her side and raised a hand to stretch, the movement left her entire figure beneath the sheet exposed to Aya, who had only just woken up.

That’s right. His guess had been correct after all.

Aya pressed his lips together and shifted his eyes just a little lower, letting his gaze drift down along the girl’s long, graceful, swanlike neck.

One hand was buried in the red hair over the girl’s chest. The arm attached to it… was indeed connected to Aya’s shoulder.

So it went without saying where his hand was resting.

“Hmm? Why aren’t you saying anything, big brother?”

A yawn had squeezed a tear from the corner of the girl’s eye. She wiped it away, still looking adorably sleepy.

“I must be dreaming. Yeah.”

Aya expressionlessly closed his eyes again.