Aster smiled, “It’s something left behind by Aurelian, this one is just a copy though, the original one is the hands of Sarina… you are also that guy’s descendant so it’s only fair you have it, besides you will need it for the future kids you’ll have with that alchemist woman, right?”.
Sylas kept the book on his spatial ring and cleared his throat, before offering Aster a handshake
“Ahem, thanks for the manual kid, the next time you come to visit I will be sea of knowledge cultivator at least, also don’t tell Sarina about Milia, we haven’t settled things up so it’s not official yet”.
Aster nodded, “Sounds, good… you know we will be leaving soon, although Eris has the coordinates of this star cluster, it’s going to be a long time before we return, are you sure you want to stay in this place?”.
Sylas looked at the sky with a nostalgic expression on his face.
“Come with me kid, there is something I want you to see before you leave okay?”.
Aster nodded and they both soared through the sky, Sylas flying and Aster using lightning trail, many people saw the guardian of the border floating on the sky of the capital but they soon lost track of him.
After a couple of minutes flying they reached a huge flower field which was open for everyone, with just a signal on its entrance.
“In memory of Elisa Eik, who gave her life for the sake of everyone, take one flower for your beloved but plant two, one to unite another couple and another to show your respect”.
Sylas smiled.
“My wife used to come with me to the capital, but she didn’t participate in my meetings with Orson, so to spend her time she just wandered around the city, until some day she found this place”.
“She planted the first flower… and the next day was the last time I had her in my arms, Sarina inherited her tastes in gardening, so when I saw her bedridden, I fell into despair, the story was repeating itself”.
He then turned to see Aster and smiled.
“But you managed to do what I couldn’t and the cycle ended in the moment you cured Sarina of corruption”.
Aster slightly bowed his head, before he kneeled and took a few flowers as he planted a double the number of seeds which he took from his spatial ring.
“Please leave Sarina to me, I will take care of her”, he said in a low voice and as if to answer him, a gentle breeze of wind made the flower field wave.
Sylas poured a cup of the same wine on the ground and then patted Aster’s shoulder.
“I have dedicated my life to keep Luonto in one piece, my wife did the same and although she is no longer with us, I will keep my promise… besides I’m too old to be adventuring like you”.
Aster laughed, “I wouldn’t worry about that, once you become a mortal transcending cultivator, you will rejuvenate, due to the increase in your lifespan and the same applies for her, so you can enjoy your “youth” with her hahaha”.
Sylas smirked, “Speaking of enjoying youth, there is a line that starts from the outer wall of the city to the entrance of the castle, completely formed by noble girls which fell in love with “the golden knight”, how about you come with your father-in-law, a few more wives won’t kill you”.
This time Aster was the one who nearly choked with the wine, “Do you want to kill me old man, I still have another two… no, three girls coming my way”.
Sylas had a weird smile on his face, “Kid you for sure know how to enjoy life… whatever just don’t neglect my daughter and make sure to drop by sometime”.
Now that Aster exchanged a couple of wine with both his mother and father in law, they returned to the banquet, since Aster was the guest of honor.
Th first thing he saw was that Alice and Kana were now having a competition of eating desserts, Aster walked until he was standing behind Sarina and put one of the flowers he took plucked earlier and placed it on her beautiful blond hair.
“Mm?”, Sarina a familiar gentle touch and she turned her head just to see Aster taking a few steps back and extending his arms towards her.
“Good afternoon, lady, would you allow me this piece?”.
Sarina smiled, she stood up and held his hand as they both walked towards the dancing area, the music changed courtesy of Sylas and the dance started.
To be honest Aster had never done this before, because he has never liked this kind of events, but one in a while it wouldn’t hurt, luckily his ability of comprehension was stronger now that he reached the spirit opening realm so he just copied the choreography which he saw before, it was similar to the waltz from earth.
There were other couples sharing the stage, all of them had high statutes, just like Sofia they were the heirs of the many city lords which attended the banquet, of course none of them dared to get in the way of the golden knight, so they separated creating a space of about ten meters for Aster to dance with Sarina.
The music continued for about ten minutes until the piece ended and all the guests applauded to signal the beginning of another one, Sarina ended being hugged from behind by Aster.
They shared a short kiss and then Aster accompanied her to the table of honored guests, surprisingly Lilia didn’t offer herself to take the stage light, instead she smiled and pointed at Kana.
“This is their moment, so go with her… you’ll be mine later darling ♥”, she thought.
Seeing Aster offering her the second dance, Kana’s eyes sparkled, she stopped eating the little cake on her plate and stood from her chair, she rose the sides of her dress like a proper noble lady and then held Aster’s arm.
Alice bit a cookie and then looked at Lilia, which seemed to be lost in her thoughts.
“Mom… once we get to the Drage family, how are you going to deal with all this situation?”.
Lilia smiled, “Of course I will declare that my darling is my man, I want to see who dares to say something in my face”.
Alice nodded, “When the time comes, he better organize the biggest wedding ceremony across the whole heavenly quadrant… he got the prettiest girls of two generations from the Drage family after all”.
Unlike with Sarina, the dance between Aster and Kana was more like the one between a brother and little sister, the big difference in height made it look a bit funny, but no one dared to laugh at them
That being said Kana didn’t care at all, while others just took it as a play, her little heart felt sweet right now, as she twirled around like an elegant butterfly.
Sarina smiled looking at her daughter, if not for the fact that she knew Kana was in love with Aster, she would have thought this was a lovely family scene.
She then stole a few gazes at Aria, something that didn’t escape her eyes and she more or less could guess what was she thinking.
Apparently, Aster has a special taste for conquering both mother and daughter, which made Sarina originally think one of the women which was not with them right now, was Sarina’s mother until she got to know about the twins and Rya.
Aria blushed.
“Ahem, my mother is not one of us… she left my father and me when I was still a little child”.
Sarina felt embarrassed by her supposition, but this also made her realize she still has a lot of things to learn about her new “sisters”.
Lilia laughed at their conversation, her eyes seemed to glow for a moment before she just leaned back against her chair and drank the content of her cup.
After a couple of minutes, the dance finished and kana kissed Aster’s right cheek before they returned to their seats, the time for the dance was now over and everyone was free to either visit the public areas of the castle or just eat from the many dishes which kept being brought from the kitchen.
As soon as Aster sat down, Lilia had already prepared a piece of grilled meat for him, since he left with Sylas earlier before he ate anything.
“Say “ahhh” darling ♥”, she said as she cut a little piece of meat and offered it to him.
Aster smiled, “I thought you were going to leave those two be the center of attention today?”.
Lilia shrugged, “This is a completely separate matter, I saw how those girls were practically eating you with their eyes, so of course I must protect my interests hehehe”.
Aster shook his head, but he still accepted her offerings and kept eating until the steak was gone, the rest of the banquet was basically more of the same, after having his fill, Aster decided to take the girls to the city, so Kana could play in the many games organized.
Surprisingly Sylas and also Milia accompanied them, something everyone of them had in common was that they all liked Kana, so seeing her having fun was blessing to the eye.
Sarina frowned her brows looking at her father being a bit too close with Milia, but she didn’t put too much thought into that, Milia was an old friend of the family because she knew her mother.
“It would be good if these two ended up together, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about father wounds after I leave”, she thought unaware that Milia was already taking care of Sylas… in many ways.