Manli stepped off the train and immediately felt the festive atmosphere of The Capital.
Yes, it was the quinquennial national competition again, where all the Churches had gathered their Apprentices to The Capital in the name of the royal family for a month-long combat tournament.
This brought back memories to Manli of when she was younger; back then, her brother was still alive. He was a senior student at the Church of the War God and had led the senior team of the Church of the War God to a miraculous victory in that competition—wresting the Sydney Victory Cup’s four-year ownership from the hands of the Church of Justice.
Such beautiful memories indeed. Back then, all her older brothers and sisters were around, the younger siblings were still little, and her father and mother looked after the home.
Not like now, her elder brother had passed away in his sickbed, her sister and brother-in-law had both fallen in a defensive battle in the north, one younger brother was missing, another had died in the Chaos, and of her sisters, only the youngest was still alive but had long since married off to the Eastern Kingdom, without even a single letter all year.
"Manli, are you reminiscing about the past again?"
Manli’s husband always understood her so well, much to the satisfaction of the old lady. Although she had aged, her husband still remembered her, so what was there to complain about?
With this thought, Manli smiled and nodded.
"I hear that Malin is also coming this year, right?"
Speaking of which, over the years, Manli had watched this child grow up. She had to admit that Anna’s eldest daughter, as a woman, truly possessed a far better eye than either of her own mothers, to the point that Manli wasn’t even sure whom she would have chosen if Malin and her own husband had both appeared before her younger self.
It was such a difficult choice, after all; her husband was so outstanding, yet Malin was even more so.
He really was too outstanding, outstanding to the point that Manli sometimes wondered why Faye had recognized his potential from the very beginning, before he had even shown such prowess.
Was it the elves’ unique gift of discerning character?
Manli couldn’t understand, but it didn’t stop her from repeatedly warning her family not to provoke Malin.
If at the beginning Malin had only survived thanks to Anna’s protection, the power he now displayed was sufficient to destroy the vast majority of malice along with those behind it.
Especially after Manli heard that this child had chosen the long Sequence of Detective—the Sequence of Detective had two paths; one was a short Sequence, becoming a Detective at Level 7, a safe series after losing a lot of bonuses and knowledge. It was a minor Sequence with very limited bonuses, usually favored by those mortals with some money who aspired to become Transcendents, yet feared the mutations.
However, that long Sequence of Detective was a very formal path, encompassing many levels, able to horizontally develop across several Sequence trees, and possessed immense plasticity. Even Manli felt that it wouldn’t surprise her if one day this child took on the role of the Secret Keeper Sequence of the Church.
After all, he was a truly remarkable child. Such a pity, she did not have a suitable daughter, otherwise she could have allowed her to follow her sister Faye, to bear offspring with such a powerful man, which would have been an excellent deal for both the Mowish and the Ourode families.
To sacrifice a daughter’s so-called happiness for the sake of both families was not something that would trouble Manli. Moreover, by all accounts, this Malin was very fond of his lovers. Such a sentimental man—Manli did not believe that her daughters would dislike him, for although the daughters of the Ourode family were somewhat stubborn, they were not blind to social nuances and good sense.
A man of such character was definitely the most popular in this era.
Manli’s husband, her Goethe, was waiting for her to take his hand, and the old lady smiled and reached out, taking his hand just as she had in days past.
"Goethe, this time, are you going to announce the marriage between Faye and Malin?"
"Yes, Anna has mentioned to me as well that both children are already fourteen years old. Speaking of which, it’s unprecedented in Mowish for a daughter to be fourteen and not yet betrothed. Faye is the first, and I certainly do not want to drag this out until she’s fifteen. After all, Malin is growing stronger by the day. I feel that if we delay further, it won’t be because of King Goethe’s discerning eye," Manli’s husband said with a laugh.
"You old rogue, I’ve never once seen you so fond of your own reputation before," Manli chuckled, patting her husband’s arm. Although she was laughing, she felt her husband was right. Malin was indeed very excellent and, in any case, once this marriage was confirmed, with the child’s temperament and personality, he was bound to help the Mowish royal family in the days to come. Her own two sons would also benefit from it.
It was a marriage arrangement that greatly satisfied Manli, although a part of her felt a little sorry for her own family. But as she had thought before, as Goethe’s wife and the future king’s mother, she must and could only agree to this marriage.
Using the noble’s private walkway at the station, so as not to be crowded among the masses in the corridors, Manli boarded the train and turned to her husband beside her, "Speaking of which, I heard this train was part of Malin’s design?"
"Indeed, he collaborated with the Dwarves on this model. He is a very erudite child. I often wonder if there’s anything he doesn’t understand," Goethe pondered with furrowed brows, then suddenly said, "Wait, my dear, I’ve just thought of something he most certainly has no understanding of."
"What?" Manli had already guessed what her husband was about to say. Although tempted to hit him, she nevertheless decided to go along with her husband’s idea.
"Women," her husband answered earnestly.
And then, of course, Manli playfully pinched the skin around his waist.
"He has so many girls around him and you dare say he doesn’t understand them? Goethe, why don’t you think back to what you were like when you first started courting me?" the queen of the kingdom complained to her lover.
"My dear, don’t be like that. I rarely come up with a joke," Goethe replied with an exaggerated facial expression.
"That joke of yours is deadly cold. Don’t you realize that, my dear?" Manli said, before noticing a troop of mouse maids appearing on the street corner: "That looks like Lena’s entourage."
"They should probably belong to Faye now. But that aside, why would they appear here? Is there some reason they need to be in this area?" As he said this, Goethe watched them enter the grand coliseum.
Jason, who was sitting in the front row, added, "According to the pre-match preparations I have here, Your Majesty, the Church of the Harvest Goddess is currently in there training, and Mr. Malin should be inside as well."
"My daughter doesn’t even wish to have her mouse maids come to pick me up," Goethe said, his face filled with mock sorrow. "I must be the most pitiful old father in the world. No, I can’t agree to this marriage."
"Goethe, my husband, you’re an old man now. Can’t you stop acting like a child?" Manli said with a resigned smile.
"But I am jealous!" Goethe, as an aging father, replied with dissatisfaction.
Manli chuckled at this, "My father said the same thing, yet I didn’t listen to him. Now it’s your turn, my dear. Every man has his day. My father was no exception, you are no exception, and one day Malin will be no exception, either. So, why should men make things difficult for each other?"
Goethe fell silent, eventually slumping into an armchair.
With a smile, Manli, like a victorious matron, glanced at the huge building. "I suppose Faye had her maids look after Malin and her sisters because we’ve returned. So, why not invite them over for a family dinner, Goethe?"
"Manli, my love, how can you let a robber so brazenly infiltrate your husband’s garden, allowing this thief to dig up his favorite plants right before his eyes?"
"Because my father once invited you in the same way, Goethe. Why not think of happy things instead? Like how you’ll be a grandfather when Faye’s child is born and then... ’Will you get half your teeth knocked out by a punch from a grandson or granddaughter?’"
Faced with her husband’s dissatisfaction and gloom, Manli finally laughed.