Arthur had a weird mind state on the past few days, he was happy because he cleared his debt to the family which allowed him to recover some of his authority as the patriarch, what was even more satisfying was that the first elder and his supporters didn't dare to complain as they knew he had a promising possible son in law with a strong backing, little they knew that the source of his worries was that same person.
"I hope that kid is being good with my daughter… although uncle Sebastian told me he has given the kid his approval" Arthur shook his head, seeing the painting of a beautiful woman on the wall of his studio he thought "haizzz my dear Aina I wish you were here to talk with our daughter about "life" so she doesn't get tricked by a certain cunning brat, hahaha".
Arthur came out of his daze when he heard someone knocking on the door.
"Come in", just as he answered he saw his daughter entering the room followed by Aster, his sister and a woman he hasn't seen before.
Aster saw his future father-in-law confused expression and he explained.
"Good morning, uncle Arthur I came to have a little "family" meeting I hope you don't mind.
Arthur offered them a seat, before asking a maid to bring tea and some snacks, once they all took seat Aster proceeded to present Lilia.
"I wanted to show you how serious I am about the things we talked before so this time my mother also came with me… since we will be family on the future hahaha".
One of Arthur's eyebrows twitched after hearing Aster's shameless words, but he only nodded while he internally sighed before taking the initiative to present himself first.
"I'm Arthur Ghale, it's a pleasure".
For respect Arthur didn't focus too much attention on Lilia before, but now that she was sat right in front of him, he felt a bit apprehensive which was something he expected since his supposition was that Aster wasn't someone from this planet, "I have met lord Wolfstein before and I certainly felt pressured but this lady… is on a whole new level, what is the backing of this kid?", he wondered.
Although Arthur was only a star formation realm he has been dealing with the patriarchs of big forces for a long time and the presence Lilia radiated was something he hasn't felt before.
Without anyone knowing Lilia let out a slight hint of her aura directed only to Arthur to judge his reactions, although she had determined that Aria didn't have any hidden intentions it was better to be safe than sorry as she had too many bad experiences regarding people that tried to befriend her before.
Having confirmed that Arthur was being honest Lilia stopped her aura before she shortly answered.
"I'm Aster and Alice's mother… my name is Lilia Drage".
Aster knew his mother wasn't too comfortable talking with men so he interfered a bit to avoid any misunderstandings.
"Please don't take my mother's seriousness a something personal, she isn't quite… fond of people outside of me or my sister".
Arthur didn't feel offended, he had been looked down before so he could tell that Lilia wasn't being arrogant or anything, the most adequate word to describe her attitude was "neutral".
"No worries, now what did you wanted to discuss with me?".
Aster told Arthur all the things they discovered about Aria's constitution and the manual she was training, after they explained how valuable was the manual his wife left for Aria Arthur seemed a bit worried.
"Aina never mentioned anything about that book except for the fact that she had it with her since she was a baby, also I didn't know that my daughter's constitution was so rare… kid be honest with me did you got close to Aria because of that?". ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩
An uncomfortable silence fell into the room, until Aster broke the moment.
"Hahaha, uncle do you believe I will need to use such underhanded methods to be with a girl I like?".
Arthur hated to admit it but he had to agree, the kid in front of him was shameless enough to admit he wanted his daughter when they first met, thus making his intentions clear from the very beginning, for the first time Lilia decided to actively participate in the conversation to defend her son of course.
"Humph, patriarch of the Ghale family you underestimate my son charm, besides I would never allow him to do such a thing to a good girl like Aria".
Aria wanted to change the subject and she remembered that Aster wanted to visit her mother's grave to present his respects so she asked her father for permission.
"Dad, Aster wants to presents his respects to mom so could you let us visit her?".
Arthur doubted for a second before nodding.
"Fine", Arthur stood up and they left the studio, he guided them to a beautiful garden right behind his mansion where a statue with the form a woman who seemed like an older version of Aria was standing still, on its base it was written "Aina Griffin, beloved wife and mother".
Seeing Aria's expression turning sad, Aster held her hand before he lowered his head a bit, Lilia had a weird expression as if she wanted to say something but she remained silent.
"Lady Aina, please accept my bow and give me your approval, in exchange I Aster Drage swear to always take care of Aria and protect her from any harm", Aster proceeded to burn some incense and then Arthur guided them back to the studio.
Once they were back in the studio Aria felt a little emotional so the three girls left the room for a moment, seeing them leaving Arthur couldn't avoid to say.
"You little shameless brat, what was that "gentleman act", back then you weren't polite when you met me, are you trying to trick my wife?".
When they were alone just like before there was no place for any formalities so Arthur felt more comfortable dealing only with Aster.
"Tsk, of course the treatment will be different, after all winning my mother in law's favor will make you have no choice but to accept me, wouldn't it?".
Both of them stared at each other for a moment before they laughed out loud.
"Hahaha, what kind of son in law are you".
Aster extended his right hand before answering.
"One of a kind I guess, by the way Aria will refine the bone chilling lotus later today, I… will take her to the place I'm staying for security, don't worry my mother will be supervising the process so there are no risks and we will be back for your birthday ceremony".
Arthur accepted the handshake.
"You better be prepared because… there might be some troublesome people here, let everyone see that you will protect my daughter".
Aster nodded, "seems like I will have to make some preparations for the show" he thought.