"Your majesties, what I have prepared for you for this dish is a brazed golden salmon with a honey glaze, with lightly fried mixed vegetables, on a bed of wild rice, paired with a white wine from the Ivsaar vineyards," the palace chef said.

Currently Art and Tess were sitting beside each other in the dining room of the Elenoir Palace in Zestier, tasting meal options for their wedding. Normally Virion and Alice would be present for this, but Alice felt they were spending all of their free time with them, preventing Art and Tess from spending any enjoyable time alone. With that small argument she was able to get Virion to agree to stay behind as well.

Seeing as this was only a sampling there was only one plate between the two of them. Each serving was only one plate, but it was a full serving to show not only the amount of food but the way it would look on the plate.

Arthur and Tess both took a fork full of fish and ate it, followed by the rice and vegetables.

"Mmm, that is good," Tess commented after swallowing and picking up her wine glass.

"I agree, but the fish was a little too sweet for my taste," Arthur replied as he also picked up his glass.

"Are you kidding me? I feel it could be sweeter," Tess argued.

"Says the woman who would probably eat a whole bag of sugar."

"You just don't like sweet things."

"That's not true, I love you after all," Arthur replied, then kissed her cheek.

The chef and waiter both stifled a laugh.

"So," the chef said, bringing attention back to the food. "You've tried five different dishes, which ones would you like served at the wedding?"

"I liked the fish and vegetarian dishes," Tess answered.

"And I preferred the steak, so let's do all three to give to our guests...." Arthur added, before being interrupted by Regis bursting through the door, followed by Sylvie.

"Don't you two dare make a decision just yet, at least not until you've tried our creation!" Regis announced.

"Your creation?" Arthur questioned as he saw Sylvie carrying a plate with what looked like two wraps on it.

"Well, more like Regis'. I just helped since he doesn't have hands," Sylvie stated as she placed the plate between them.

The wraps contained some kind of meat, sauce, and vegetables.

"What is this exactly?" Tess asked as she picked one of the wraps up and examined it.

"Shawarma," Regis stated proudly.

"Ok," Arthur said as he examined it, and took a whiff of it. "Now what is Shawarma?"

"Slow roasted meat mixed with sauce and vegetables," Regis replied.

Arthur leaned in closer to Tess.

"It's a type of food from my previous life," he whispered in her ear.

This peaked her interest, as she became excited to try this unique dish from another world.

"And what kind of meat?" The chef asked, as he stepped up and began looking at the creation himself.

"That's not important," Regis replied dismissively. "What matters most is how it tastes."

Arthur and Tess looked at one another nervously before taking a bite. The meat was juicy and tender, the lettuce was crisp as the potatoes mixed in added another level of texture, and to top it all off was a deep red sauce that tasted like pomegranates.

"Oh my goodness!" Tess said in shock as she covered her mouth. "This is so good."

"I agree," Arthur replied in disbelief. "Who would have guessed you two would be able to make something so good."

"Thank you," Regis and Sylvie said proudly in unison, for the first time ever seeming like they got along.

Just then one of the cooks entered the room looking rather distressed.

"I'm sorry chef, but your cat CERC has gone missing."

"Weird name for a cat," Regis mumbled.

"Oh no," the chef replied with a worried look.

Hearing this Arthur stopped eating as he and Sylvie glared at Regis suspiciously. Tess was about to take another bite, but Arthur placed a hand on her arm to stop her.

"Regis, have you seen a cat wandering around?" Arthur asked accusatorily.

"Brown fur with black stripes, little pink snout?" Regis asked.

"Yes, have you seen it?" The chef asked urgently.

"Nope," Regis replied incredibly quickly.

Tess now caught on and began gagging as she placed her wrap back on the plate.

"I swear I didn't know," Sylvie said defensively. "When I got there it was just a bunch of bloody strips of meat on a plate. I couldn't tell what it was."

Even though he didn't doubt her, Arthur could feel she was telling the truth through their bond. He then glared at Regis.

"What in the Hell is wrong with you?!" Arthur asked angrily.

Regis shrugged. "This one you can blame on Uto."

Arthur picked up the plate with the two wraps and handed it to the chef, who had finally caught on to what was happening.

"I'm so sorry," Arthur said, and took Tess by the hand and led her out as Sylvie and Regis followed behind so the chef could be alone.

"That's not usually made with cat meat is it?" Tess whispered in Arthur's ear as they left.

Arthur turned his head back and glared at Regis again. "Never."

—————————————————————-

Lunch had just concluded in the sanctuary for those training for the dive, meaning it was time for the next parts of the training. The intelligence tests and training room for the puzzle floors were extremely important for Arthur's team as they were going to be diving to the bottom, but the other team were taking part in them as well as the ultimate plan was for them to eventually lead teams into the relic tombs

Kaspian was placed in charge of team two, with Helen as his second in command. Team two was broken into two sub teams due to its larger size, essentially creating three teams total, so
each team could work on a different part of the training at any given time before moving on to the next.

"So what training do you have now?" Arthur asked Tess as they returned through the gate.

"The intelligence tests," Tess groaned.

"What's wrong? If I recall, you always did great in school."

"It's just that I just reached the white core stage a few days ago, and I really want to train it to see what I can do," Tess replied, then a mischievous grin formed on her face. "Also, I'm currently weaker than Bairon, so I want to pass him. I finished the horn yesterday so now I need to actually give my core a workout."

"Hahaha," Arthur laughed. "Then how about instead of you helping me with my plant magic we do some training to help you."

"Aww, but I like teaching you. It's so rare that I'm better at something than you, it really makes me feel good."

"Then why don't we just train later then?" Arthur suggested.

As the two talked everyone else was switching from lunch to their next training class. As this was happening Lilia took notice of them, grabbed Curtis by the arm, and ran over to them.

"Tess, Art," she called out as she waved.

"Hey Lilia," Tess replied with an amused tone as they arrived. "You seem to be in a good mood. What's the occasion?"

"Curtis proposed!" Lilia blurted out as she held out her hand to show the engagement ring.

The ring was a gold band with a large diamond that rivaled Tess', with smaller diamonds going around the band.

"Congratulations!" Tess replied as she gave her a hug.

"Congratulations," Arthur said to Curtis as he extended his hand.

"Thanks," Curits replied a little sheepishly, as he was still not completely composed after being dragged over there so suddenly. "And while we're on the topic of my engagement...best man?"

"Seriously?"

"Of course. I honestly feel like you're the closest friend I have."

"Wow," Arthur replied, still surprised. "I don't know what to say. Yes. Of course, I'd be honored."

"Oh and Tess, can you be one of my bridesmaids?" Lilia asked with an almost pleading look.

"Of course," she replied with a smile. "So who's your... What's it called again? Maid of honor?"

"That's it, and it's Kathyln."

"Which means some time after your wedding we'll all need to pick out bridesmaid dresses," Kathyln said, announcing her presence.

"Whoa, when did you get here?" Lilia asked, completely caught off guard from her appearing out of nowhere.

"I followed when I saw you two running. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to ask Arthur for a favor," she replied, then looked to Arthur. "Could you please teach Lilia a sound dampening spell?"

"While I agree it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to learn one, why are you so concerned with that?" Lilia asked defensively.

"I was having dinner with Lunaris last night in his room, and we couldn't help but hear you two, celebrating your engagement," Kathyln replied, a small sly grin forming on her face.

Lilia's face turned bright red from embarrassment as she covered her face.

"Umm," Curtis said with a matching blush as he scratched his cheek with his index finger. "That, that wasn't all her."

All eyes were wide and on Curtis.

"Yeah, Curtis isn't exactly a quiet lover," Lilia added.

Arthur then started to try and contain his laughter, but soon Curtis started laughing, followed by everyone else. Only Kathyln was able to keep her laughter in.

"Now I get it!" Blaine yelled as he stormed over. "You may have been able to fool everyone else you commoner filth, but I was never fooled!"

"Oh my god," Curtis groaned in frustration. "Father, please calm down."

Blaine just pushed him aside.

"I see what's going on here," he said, getting in Arthur's face. "It's all so clear now. I knew there was no way some commoner trash could be as smart as you!"

"Whatever it is, can you please step back and get out of my face," Arthur said sternly as he kept his core and killing intent in check.

"That old bastard Virion planned this from the very start! As soon as he found himself a Quadra elemental, he trained you, taught you everything you needed to know to make you the best candidate to become Elenoir's next king, all so you can become friends with Curtis and manipulate him. Now you got him to fall for this harlet friend of yours, practically putting Sapin in Elenoir's pocket!" Blaine went off sounding like a paranoid old man.

"Blaine please stop this," Priscilla pleaded as she placed her hands on his shoulder and started to pull on him. "You need to rest."

Blaine jerked his shoulder forward then back, causing Priscilla to fall over backwards.

"Mom!" Curtis and Kathyln cried out as they rushed to check on her.

Lilia tried to run over as well, but was stopped as Blaine grabbed her by the hair.

"You little commoner whore, did you honestly think I'd allow you to ever become queen?"

Blaine raised his fist to strike her, Arthur started to move in to bring this to an end, but out of nowhere a flaming fist slammed into Blaine's jaw, causing him to release Lilia as he was knocked off his feet and crashed to the ground. Disoriented, he laid there for a few seconds and Arthur and Tess checked on Lilia and Priscilla. Slowly Blaine rolled over to his back, and opened his eyes to the sight of a flaming sword pointed at his face.

For the first time ever Curtis released a killing intent that sent chills down Blaine's spine as he glared at him with a murderous gaze.

"If you ever lay a hand on Lilia or my mother again, I will use my sword to get you away, not my fist."

Curtis extinguished his flame as he checked on both his mother and Lilia, who both hugged him together. Blaine just laid there as they walked off, and he was reminded how he became King.

—————————————————————-

It was nighttime, though due to the fact all of the light in the sanctuary came from artifacts no one could really tell. The training classes had ended and dinner had been eaten. The guards were patrolling and a ploom of smoke was coming up from a small building a bit further away from the residential ones.

"Are you sure about this?" Lilia asked.

Curtis stored the last of his belongings into his dimensional ring.

"Positive."

After the incident with his father Curtis finally had enough and was leaving to move into Lilia's apartment. He had tried to get his mother and sister to leave as well, but his mother kindly declined and Kathyln said she wasn't leaving her mother alone just yet. Curtis thankfully was able to convince his mother to move into his apartment, and got several guards stationed to their floor to ensure his father didn't try to hurt them.

Curtis looked at his bed, Lilia's was smaller, not as comfortable, and squeaked whenever they moved. He had heard that Arthur somehow managed to bring his bed from the castle with him, and decided to ask him if he could help with his bed in the morning.

"Curtis, Lilia," Priscilla called out from the doorway.

"Mom. Please tell me you reconsidered," Curtis pleaded.

"No, I'm sorry dear. Right now your father needs someone by his side more than ever," Priscilla replied sadly.

"Who cares what he needs, father is dangerous. What he really needs is to be locked away before he does something that affects the war," Curtis argued.

Priscilla looked upon her son sadly.

"There is more going on than you realize." She then gestured to the door, where Kathyln stood. "Can you two please come with us, we all need to talk."

Curtis and Lilia followed her. He looked to Kathyln with a questioning look, but she only shrugged, not really knowing what was going on. Priscilla lifted the heavy leather flap to her apartment to reveal Blaine sitting at the table quietly with a cup of tea. Immediately Curtis drew one of his swords from his dimensional ring, and Kathyln drew her wand.

"Please, you won't need those. Let's all sit down and talk," Priscilla said with a pleading expression.

Silently Curtis led Lilia to the six seat table. He sat at the head opposite his father, with Kathyln to his left and Lilia to his right, and his mother next to Lilia. Curtis glared daggers at his father as he set his sword on the table, a gesture showing that he didn't trust him.

"Thank you," Blaine said timidly. "None of you have any reason to want to listen to me, let alone see me. So I greatly appreciate this."

"We're only here because of mother," Curtis said sharply.

"I see," Blaine replied, avoiding Curtis' gaze. He then cleared his throat to begin. "I would first like to apologize to all of you. I have been far from the father, husband...man, that any of you deserve." His eyes then locked on Lilia. "And I owe you a very special apology. You have been by Curtis' side for quite some time, and I know that I've made things very hard for you. It doesn't matter whether you are a noble or not, what matters is that you've been there supporting my son, and the two of you love each other. So I very deeply apologize for my actions, and give you both my blessings."

"We don't need your blessings," Curtis snapped.

"Curtis!" Priscilla snapped back.

Blaine placed his hand on hers. "It's ok. I deserve it."

Though Curtis was angry and Lilia was feeling awkward, Kathyln was calm and noticed their father behaving very much out of character right now.

"I wanted you all to be the first to know, I'm stepping down from the council," Blaine announced.

The three youths stared at him wide eyed and full of disbelief.

"I'll be announcing it to the council tomorrow morning, along with my recommendations for my replacement."

"Well," Curtis started as his mind processed what he just heard. "As happy as I am that you've realized you aren't fit to be on the council anymore, why are you doing this? The father I remember would be too proud to step down like this."

Blaine took a sip of his tea.

"Because of you," he said to Curtis. "That moment when you had your sword pointed at me was my moment of realization, as it reminded me of my father."

He took another sip of tea.

"Kathyln, Curtis, do you remember how I became king of Sapin?"

"You staged a coup, and inevitability killed grandfather," Kathyln replied.

"That's right. The man was a tyrant who wanted more and more power. Conquering Darv and Elenoir was the only way he could gain more power, so he started the second war with Elenoir, while making an Alliance with Darv with a plan to betray them later," Blaine sighed as he rubbed his temples. "At least that's how most people remembered him. They didn't see him talking to himself, or hear his paranoid rants."

"Sounds familiar," Curtis thought out loud.

"I know. Shortly after I took the throne, the new palace physician approached me with some papers. Apparently his predecessor discovered my father had a rare condition that affected his mind, and he was executed as a traitor for it. Ever since then every year I've had the physician check me for the same condition." Blaine took another sip of his tea. "He never saw any signs of this condition, until right before the war."

"So let me get this straight," Curtis said before his father could continue. "You've been making decisions to help Dicathen during a war, while you aren't even in your right mind?!"

"I've been having doctors looking into a possible cure well before then." He held up his tea. "This is made from a variety of herbs and ground parts of several mana beasts. It was supposed to be a cure, but all it does is help me manage the symptoms."

"Have you been forgetting to take it or something?" Curtis asked in annoyance.

"Unfortunately it's not as effective anymore. Not only has my condition degraded, but stress makes it much harder to manage. Thankfully your mother has been here to be a voice of reason for me, and stop me if I begin to cross a line, but I realize now that I can't do this anymore. For the good of everyone I need to step down."

"I'm sorry," Lilia said, speaking for the first time. "I don't mean to distract you," she said, gesturing to Blaine. "But does this mean Curtis will eventually suffer from this as well?"

A look of realization struck Curtis.

"Most likely. That's part of why I've been taking so many different treatments. Ever since this started I've been trying potential cure after potential cure, with the hopes of not only saving myself, but also preventing Curtis from going through this as well. So far all we have are a variety of treatments to help manage the symptoms. The doctors have been telling me for several years that if I stepped down my condition might have stabilized, but I was too stubborn. Curtis, I know you probably hate me, and rightfully so. But I will do everything I can, take whatever treatments, go through whatever procedure, all to ensure that you and Lilia don't go through this as your mother and I have."