Solomon slept harder that night than he ever had in his entire life.

Three whole days of fighting caught up with him all at once. The second he finally lay down, he was out for the foreseeable future.

When he woke up two days later, he felt a familiar warmth in his neck and a calloused hand dancing across his chest.

Jiaoying treated her lovers like they were something sacred. Every morning, she caressed them softly and sang soft little notes in their ear. And even when she wasn’t awake, she could almost always be found with her head buried in their necks like a baby otter.

Solomon found himself feeling an incredible warmth. That was, right before something bit him on the neck hard enough to make him wince.

"I can feel you thinking something annoying."

Sololomon felt wrongly persecuted. "Thinking that you’re adorable is annoying now?"

"It is when I’m the grown woman, and you’re the snot-nosed twenty-year-old."

"You don’t mind if I use your hair to wipe my nose, do you?"

"Shut up!" Jiaoying cackled.

She lifted her head for the first time, and Solomon’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of her smile.

"...You’re going to be a good dad, Bear. I can already tell."

"I don’t know about that... But it certainly helps that I’ll have a wonderful mother to learn from."

Jiaoying’s smile became a nervous shell of itself. Solomon quickly cupped her face in his hand.

"Stop it. You are an exceptional mother. Your children would not so desperately try to stay in contact with you if that were not the case."

"...You always seem to know what to say, don’t you?"

"I fear you may be overestimating me, my love... Though I will always take the compliment."

Finally, Solomon could no longer ignore the absence of the woman they had both agreed to marry. Jiaoying knew who he was looking for as soon as he turned his head.

"She’s out getting a tour from her mother. I’m surprised you didn’t hear how heavy that woman walks around."

Solomon nodded slowly as he lay back down, disappointed Yari wasn’t there, but not at all surprised.

"I envy her... Getting to find her mother after all this time must be a great gift for her."

"...."

"...I heard it as soon as I said it." Solomon rolled over.

His uncomfortable relationship with his own parents usually made the topic of such things rather uncomfortable for him.

Jiaoying chuckled at his self-awareness as she moved to straddle him.

"She says that she wants to stay for a while, you know? Though I guess you probably suspected that too."

Solomon nodded. "I did indeed... Though this does complicate things a bit."

"Oh? Why?"

"We do still have things to do in Komen, my love. Or did you forget?"

Jiaoying shook her head. "Indeed not. But Yari is a big girl. One unfortunate incident doesn’t mean that we have to keep her in our sights constantly. We make sure she’s okay.... And then we get back to saving the realm."

There was a very short list of things Solomon wanted to hear less than that.

It was not his wish to treat his wife-to-be like a child. And yet, he would be lying if he said that he did not wish to stay at her side 24/7. To act as a shield from anything that would have brought her harm.

He had already paid for his failure twice before. He was very disinclined to experience a third unfortunate incident.

"Having said that..." Jiaoying frowned. "I think I’m going to go to the emperor and ask for more time away. With everything that is going on... I just want to shift my focus to other things."

Now it’s Solomon’s turn to sit up. He cupped Jiaoying’s naked body against his own.

"You cannot do that. Yari would fall ill if she thought she was making you walk away from a job you loved just because you feared for her safety."

"It’s not just that.." Jiaoying glanced at the wicker basket in the corner before turning back to Solomon.

"I’m kind of at a different point in my life now. I want to work on building things with you and Yari, and... get ready for what comes next. The emperor hasn’t sent me anywhere in ten years anyway. Nowadays, just my existence is enough to keep the other countries in check. I don’t need to be around all the time."

Solomon grinned as he slipped his hands below Jiaoying’s waist. "Have I told you just how badly I start to crave you when you are being unabashedly confident..?"

"You will take any excuse to get between my legs, won’t you..?"

Solomon slid his hand between Jiaoying’s thighs, only to pull away a set of wet fingertips. "I think you want me there just as badly as I do."

Jiaoying rolled her eyes at this, as if there wasn’t veritable proof she was in heat. "Cool it, mister. We’re not exactly alone now, are we...?"

He followed her eyes to the corner of the room, where the wicker basket sat silently... almost as if it were judging them.

"...."

Solomon gathered a blanket and threw it over the basket.

"No!" Jiaoying laughed.

-

When the pair came outside, giggling and holding each other, the entire family was already there.

The last thing they expected, however, was finding a 200-meter-tall silver wolf standing outside, with the entire village marvelling over it.

"H-Holy shit..." Jiaoying had to be held up by Solomon so that she didn’t randomly fall onto her butt.

She was immediately less concerned when the wolf threw ack it’s head, and a familiar mocking tone came out.

"YES! I have done it! I have officially proven my superiority to Everett! Cower before me, little brother, and bask in the light of my supremacy!"

On the steps, Everett raised his middle finger in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah. It’s easy for you to turn into a beast or whatever, you’re already feral as it is!"

"Were you not on the steps of my grandmother’s house, I would drop a mountain of feces on you from which you would never be able to crawl out of!"

Everett slowly turned to face Raizel with a look of shock. "...Seriously? This is what does it for you?"

The young swordsman could only shrug.

Suddenly, a loud screech came from overhead, and everyone’s eyes turned to the sky.

A large, winged creature suddenly dropped out of the air and landed on Nila’s back.

Since it was about half her size, it was able to fit rather comfortably on her back without causing her discomfort.

"This is much more fun than I thought it would be..."

Solomon surveyed Dakota with an impressed air.

She was some kind of creature he had never seen before. Large, leather wings like a dragon, but her scales were not quite armor-like; they were closer to a layer of skin.

She had a large and sharp black beak that was more than half the length of her torso. Her razor-sharp claws were as black as midnight, similar to the rest of her body.

Solomon had no idea what his sister had turned into, but she was quite the marvelous specimen.

He walked over to his younger brother and ruffled his hair with a smile. "Last place again, huh?"

He intended to give his brother some transformation tips. Like the fact that it helped to visualize the shape one felt the most connected to.

But Solomon had unknowingly struck a pretty sore spot with his brother, so any advice was going to have to wait for the time being.

"...Don’t swallow the dirt."

"What-"

Everett punched his brother between his legs at full force. Solomon fell off the porch steps, holding his legs and falling face-first into the dirt.

Jiaoying, who was holding their child, covered their imaginary eyes.

"Don’t worry, coconut. Your daddy and your uncles are just idiots." She whispered.

"I hope it’s a trait that won’t be inherited."

Yari flew over to Jiaoying with the brightest smile she’d ever seen.

Without warning, she wrapped her arms around her lover and spun her around while lifting her into the air.

"Someone’s in a great mood!" Jiaoying smiled.

Yari rested her head on her shoulder.

"We are to be wed... Our child is soon to come... And I have found my mother once again. Is there anything for me not to be happy about?"

Her love’s warmth and joy were such infectious rays of hope that Jiaoying honestly felt more than a little bit bad about having to tell her she would be leaving for a day or two to get some affairs in order and bring back their things.

She had no idea that when she returned to Komen, she would have far bigger problems on her hands than just a brief goodbye...