An hour after Venezuela, Erza and Cantia left for the castle, the twins headed off to the academy. For that day, Sumara hung back as she had requested a Phintex Raja to inform her colleagues at Astral Academy of her day off. As such, once they left, everyone else began their preparations for the upcoming shopping they got to do.

“What kind of clothes should I wear?” Lakshman pondered aloud as he was staring at his clothes rack in his room.

“I’m not your butler to pick one for you. Just saying,” replied Stuart immediately.

“You’re silly, Stuart,” replied his friend with a smile. “I think I probably should wear ones that are easy to move in and look good. Let’s see.”

From there, he searched through several clothes before finding a pair that matched what he had in mind for wearing. It took him only a few minutes to get changed and come out of the room. By this time, the only people out and already changed were Tetra, Silvera and Sonia.

“Are the others still changing?” He asked them curiously.

“Yes, but they’re nearly done,” Sonia replied back with a smile, moving over and hugging his arm warmly. “You look good in these clothes.”

“So do you,” he complimented her with a smile and said the same to both Tetra and Silvera, who both came forward to hug him warmly.

The clothes they wore were simple and elegantly designed that it looked both casual and stylish to the onlookers. He noticed that the clothes his wives wore were much more attractive than his but that did not bother him. For him, seeing his wives looking happy and lovely was all that mattered.

A few minutes later, his other wives came out of their rooms wearing similar clothing to what Tetra, Silvera, and Sonia wore. This made him feel very happy, especially when they asked for his opinion.

“How do we look?”

“You look great! All of you do!”

His honest comment made everyone blush a little but Stuart felt a twinge of worry at such a sight.

“Lucky, are you trying to go to an auction or some kind of show? They’re too showy,” he commented on their attire.

“Showy?” They all reacted with surprise and began checking their dresses.

“Yeah. It’ll attract the wrong kind of attention. Mostly,” said Stuart by adding one last word cautiously.

“Are you thinking that we might get targeted by criminals?” Lakshman asked curiously.

“Yeah. After all, you said that a war occurred recently and that makes me think of the social imbalance that might be occurring because of various factors.”

“Stuart,” said Lakshman suddenly, which made his childhood friend stop and looked at him in puzzlement. “My wives chose to wear these clothes today since we’re going out after a long while with nothing important to do. So, let them enjoy and besides, since we got these clothes, we shouldn’t let them catch dust because of some concern.”

“Yes, but I only speak because I worry about your safety,” said Stuart worriedly.

“Aren’t you forgetting who I am? Or maybe forgetting the capabilities of my wives even if I’m not around?” His childhood friend asked with narrowed eyes.

This made Stuart blink with surprise before he sighed and said, “I’m sorry but it’s just that I don’t know about the capabilities since I never seen them do battle with my own eyes. But still, if you’re here, I highly doubt anything bad will happen.”

“See? That’s the confidence you should have, but not just in me but in also my wives as well,” replied Lakshman with a smile.

Stuart chuckled and said, “Sure. I guess I got a lot of catching up to do on the things I missed after my death.”

Lakshman nodded in agreement before saying to his wives, “Alright. Is everyone ready to do?”

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

With that single statement, everyone visited their babies one last time to bid them goodbye for the day and left. Since the babies were asleep, Mariana followed behind them and hung back at the porch of the house while they walked out into the open sunlight grassy field.

“Come back before it gets dark,” called Mariana to them and waved with a bright smile.

“We will!” They replied back loudly and waved at her.

“Let’s go,” he said and turned to the front before holding his hand out and saying, “Phoenix Portal.”

In an instant, there was a disturbance in space in the front as a small black hole opened before it widened to allow them to enter. As such, they walked through it and disappeared into it before it closed behind them. A moment later, they walked out of the portal and appeared to have arrived in the garden of the Rutherford’s household.

“Wow? We arrived here?” Sonia asked in surprise, glancing around.

“Did we just bypass the barrier around the capital?” Ondine asked curiously. Then she turned to her husband and said, “As expected of hubby.”

“Even this amount of barrier isn’t enough to stop you from getting in through its tight defence,” said Silvera with a smile.

“But… wouldn’t it trigger any kind of alarm?” Emilia wondered aloud and looked at him. “Wouldn’t anyone know that we came since the barrier would still trigger an alarm? That is unless…!”

Seeing her chain of thoughts vividly, Lakshman smiled at his wife and said, “Yes. I created a loophole for me to enter through the barrier in certain places to come in and leave undetected.”

This made them all blink in surprise before Sonia asked, “Is that safe? To create such a loophole.”

He laughed at her concern and stated, “Originally, these loopholes were set to allow people to evacuate from here in case of danger. After all, what good would it do us if we’re stuck in something like a fishbowl and unable to escape even if the enemy can’t get in? We might be safe now but won’t be safe forever since sustaining the barrier is very demanding.”

“I can guess that it takes a large amount of energy crystals to power them,” said Emilia thoughtfully, and he agreed with a nod of his head.

At that moment, they sensed someone coming from the house and soon enough, they turned to see Shalany came to see who had come. The moment she recognised them, her face lit up with joy. She called out to Dominic while coming out to greet them with a great big smile on her face.

“You all came so suddenly!” Shalany said, holding hands with Emilia and hugging the others.

“You should’ve given me a forewarning that you’d be coming with your wives,” said Dominic as he shook hands with Lakshman.

“Yeah, well, I just had the sudden inspiration of wanting to go shopping with my wives,” replied Lakshman with a smile. “What about you? How are things here?”

He was referring to the internal struggle that the Rutherford family were going through between Dominic and his relatives. The last time that Lakshman was involved in the incident, they had finally set the past aside and begun to correspond with one another.

“Ah. Yeah. They left to go back to Ashtra Kingdom, but they did warn me to be careful when the others might arrive to seek my assistance. Seems like my other relatives are not good, too great,” Dominic informed his best friend with a sigh of exasperation.

“Okay. In that case, don’t do anything silly like last time, otherwise you know what you’ll be getting I take it?”

Lakshman asked the question with a mysterious smile on his face, which made Dominic make a wry smile.

“Yes. Yes. I don’t repeat my mistakes. I’ll make sure of that,” replied Dominic with a hint of apology in his voice, but turned to look indignantly at his wife as he finished with, “but that wouldn’t be a problem if my wife just listens.”

This made Shalany laugh and reply, “I know I made some mistakes as well on my part, so rest assured that I won’t repeat them as well! I swear it!”

“That’s good to hear,” said Emilia with a smile while holding Shalany’s hands. “Trusting one another is the fundamental step to creating an everlasting bond.”

“Emi,” began Shalany slowly with a soft look on her face.

“But we shouldn’t really be saying this to a couple that have two children already!” Silvera said scornfully. She looked at Dominic and said, “Just remember, whatever silliness that you pull will not only affect your status as the Sword Titan but also the Nine Pillars of Power and, most of all, my husband since he’s the Phoenix Titan, their leader!”

“Yes, yes, yes! I’ll be extra careful,” replied Dominic immediately, holding his hands up in defeat. Then he turned to his friend and wondering, “Your wives are protective of you as always.”

Lakshman’s smile widened at his remark and replied, “They are to me as I am towards them and that’s why we’re a family.”

Those words had a strong impact on Dominic, and he watched his friend and his friend’s wives depart towards the shopping district with a wondrous look on his face. Shalany moved to his side and hugged his right arm while watching them go.

“They’re probably one of the closely knit families we know in this age of disputes and separations,” she remarked thoughtfully. “No matter the struggle, no matter the hardship, no matter the difficulties; they wish to see through it together.”

“Yeah,” agreed Dominic with a nod of his head. “Even when Lucky disappeared through that void portal with there being almost zero chances of his survival, they were still optimistic about his survival and eventual return.”

Shalany nodded in agreement with his words, but her expression soon changed to that of concern for her friends as she said, “I just worry that they are to face more hardships in the future now that the opinion of the Phoenix Titan is not as favourable as it used to be and it’s all because he spared the life of the Calamity Titan.”

Dominic turned to look down at her as she continued saying in a sad voice, “After the war, the destroyed homes and land was restored but lost lives cannot be brought back. Families lost their loved ones to the war and are furious that the main reason for the war, the Calamity Titan, was not sentenced to death and was instead spared. Coupled with the timing of Lucky’s disappearance, this started to circulate the rumour that the Phoenix Titan had escaped because he wanted to rule over the world but things did not go as he wished and so on.”

“Those were just baseless rumours that only a small portion are spreading with their desire to make him fall from grace,” said Dominic with a serious look, “but my friend won’t fall so easily, and I doubt the people can easily be manipulated considering the many good deeds he had performed in the past.”

“You’re right, Dom. You’re right, but… you know how a human heart is like. It’s a fickle thing. It can be swayed very easily to choose what is the easiest to select even if common sense and facts prove otherwise.”

“What are you saying, Shana? Are you suggesting that Lucky will be disdained by the public?”

“Yes. I fear that such a day will come,” admitted his wife worriedly.

For a moment, Dominic remained silent as he seemed to ponder her words before he smirked and said, “So what?”

“Huh?” She reacted with surprise.

“I’m just saying… so what? What if the people start looking at him differently from now? I doubt it’ll change him as a person. After all, you know why he is who he is, right?”

At his question, she thought for a moment before it clicked in her mind and she slowly said, “He fights… for himself.”

“Yes. More appropriately; he fights to satisfy himself that he had done everything he could for others. He’s a man who doesn’t seek approval from others, a man that knows right and wrong, that knows the truth, and man that is steadfast in following through with his principles. Such a man will be affected the least by what the public thinks of him and will only do what is necessary to take the next step,” said Dominic, feeling pride gushing forth for his best friend.

His words made Shalany chuckle and ask, “Are you proud to be his friend?”

Dominic looked at her and grinned as he replied, “Yes. I am proud to be his best friend,” while correcting her slightly.

She noticed his correction and smiled before saying, “I guess we can only wonder what will happen when that time comes.”

“All we can do now is wait, watch and see if the time really does come,” he said with a smile. “Now then, I think you better hurry back into the kitchen unless you want our lunch to be burned up.”

“Oh, no! I completely forgot!” She exclaimed, suddenly remembering and hurrying back into the house.

He laughed as she went before turning to look in the direction his friend and his friend’s wives went before letting out a sigh. In that moment, he thought back to a moment that he and his best friend had exchanged many years ago while they were discussing Dominic’s love with Shalany, who was the princess of Rodfox Kingdom at that time.

“We cannot predict the future, but we can do our best to meet it,” he quoted his friend’s words from that time with a serene smile. “Isn’t that right, Lucky?”

Dominic wondered aloud with a bright smile before turning around and heading back into his home.