Miss Luko covered her face, tears streaming down her cheeks. Aya and Tiran were both a little bewildered.

“Mommy’s so happy! Aya’s finally all grown up… Are you getting married?”

“That’s not how you tell if someone’s grown up or not! And how did you know about the marriage—no, wait! Why does signing a contract mean we have to get married?!”

Aya was stunned. Mom, is there something a little off about the way you think? Meanwhile, Miss Tiran let out a sigh of relief. It seemed Aya’s mom was pretty okay with her, after all.

That leap from dating to a contract to marriage seemed a little too fast. There was no way Miss Luko could possibly know about the marriage part.

…Though I’d already decided to marry Miss Tiran anyway… Ahhh, I’m so embarrassed! (＊／ω＼＊)

The inner monologue of a certain dragon was growing more and more elaborate.

“Hm? Aya, didn’t you know? Back then, a Dragon Knight contract was considered the equivalent of a marriage promise, both by us Dragons and by human knights.” Luko held up one finger as she explained.

“H-huh?”

I really didn’t know that! Aya’s scalp prickled. When that Elven deity gave them the contract, they hadn’t said a word about this. It wasn’t written in the little notebook, either.

But the more Aya thought about it, the more it made sense. It was a sacred contract, forged under the watchful eyes of both their deities, with the goal of fighting powerful demons. Its weight was no less than that of marriage vows—if anything, it was greater. And since the Dragon Knight contract essentially bound their souls closely together through physical union to help them work in perfect harmony, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with calling a Dragon Knight’s partner their companion for life…?

“Wait a second. Doesn’t something seem off here?”

Her Highness the Princess suddenly raised her hand as if she wanted to speak, her expression caught between speaking up and holding back. “Under normal circumstances, humans have much shorter lifespans than Dragons, right? Even if they don’t die on the battlefield, a human knight can’t stay by their partner’s side for a whole lifetime.”

“That’s true. But the solemnity of a contract doesn’t stop you from changing partners once it ends, does it? Humans get divorced and remarried, too, don’t they?”

“Th-this… you… I…” Her Highness the Princess was at a loss for words, her mind struggling to keep up.

“Back then, the Dragons who entered contracts as mounts were usually around two or three hundred years old. That’s about the age of a young human woman. And when we Dragons take human form, we’re absolutely within the bounds of normal human beauty standards. So there’s really no need for Miss Tiran to worry about that~”

Hey! That’s exactly why I’m worried!

…No! What am I even thinking?!

“Huh? What strange thing would I be worried about?! Don’t put words in my mouth! Σ(⊙▽⊙"a”

That was a lie. The moment she heard that description, the woman’s mind had already filled with doujin-style scenarios, like “passed down from generation to generation” and other weird stuff.

Come to think of it, Aya and Tiran had unknowingly forged such a weighty and sacred contract. At first, Aya had thought the way it was formed was just some perverted joke by whoever invented it…

“Um, Miss Luko!”

Summoning her courage, Tiran stepped over beside Aya. As Aya watched in surprise, she took both of Aya’s hands and looked earnestly into her future mother-in-law’s eyes.

“I know that words alone might not be enough to convince you, but the bond we share and the weight of the adventures we’ve been through are worth more than a piece of paper. Please rest assured—I’ll make Aya happy! So please, entrust him to me!”

“Mm-hmm… Hm? Wait, that’s really touching, but isn’t there something a little off about the way you put that, Miss Tiran?!”

“I like that spirit. I’m impressed with you~ But even so, I can’t agree to it so easily. I’m Aya’s mother, after all. Something as important as his choice of spouse needs careful consideration.”

That surprised Aya. Given how his parents had always raised him with a hands-off attitude, even something as major as his marriage would probably get nothing more than an “Oh,” before they wandered off.

Maybe adopting Doris had given them a little something called a conscience?

Aya was practically moved to tears.

Just then, the door to a bedroom behind Aya and Tiran silently swung open from the inside. A pair of tiny white feet tottered out onto the carpet, followed by a sleepy, babyish yawn.

“Chirp… Papa and Mama? You’re back~ And there’s an auntie I don’t know…”

“Chirp?”

Aya and Tiran both turned around, and both thought, Oh, crap. With Aya’s parents suddenly showing up, Doris breaking in and climbing into Aya’s bed, and the duel that followed, they’d completely forgotten Chirp was still asleep in the room…

Luckily, Chirp wasn’t an ordinary creature. Even after sleeping all this time, they weren’t starving. In fact, all that sleep had restored a great deal of the energy they usually kept at a low level, so they seemed much more lively.

“Things got a little chaotic today, and we forgot about you. We didn’t wake you up… I’m sorry.”

Aya patted Chirp on the head and apologized guiltily.

“It’s okay! Sleeping is fun, too, chirp.” Chirp swished their tail and looked up with big, round eyes.

“Chirp? Is that a verbal tic?”

Looking at Chirp, Miss Luko poked her head out from behind Aya, curious about the beast-eared little girl who’d suddenly appeared.

“An auntie I don’t know!” Chirp warily darted over to Aya’s other side and clung tightly to his right leg.

“I’m not an auntie. I’m Aya’s mom.”

Luko was very patient with children. She crouched beside Chirp and explained carefully.

“Mommy’s mommy?”

“Mm-hmm, that’s right.”

“Grandma?”

“…Aya, why is this child calling you Mommy?”

Miss Luko stood up, reached out with both hands, pinched a cheek between her fingers on either side of Aya’s face, and gave them a hard tug. “Now, tell Mommy the truth.”

“It’s a long story!”

“Then make it short!”

In the end, Aya spent two minutes explaining where Chirp came from and what had happened since. Luko was completely satisfied with the explanation, and before long she’d even gotten along with Chirp as their “grandma.”

So this was the composure of the strong… By comparison, when his own dad first saw Chirp, he’d been so thunderstruck he’d passed out, practically fried inside and out. It was downright embarrassing.

Her Highness the Princess shook her head helplessly and lamented that her dad really was useless.

Just then, the front door on the first floor opened. Antikas came in smelling of the salty sea breeze and headed straight for his wife upstairs.

“Honey? Is it all taken care of?”

“Heh, of course! How long could it take to find some seafood? By the way, who’s this kid?”

“Grandma’s husband… So does that make him Chirp’s grandpa?”

“W-what?! Brat, when did you have a kid?!”

Tiran’s face went completely blank.

I take that back.