It was a different kind of death.

And Kyle Nox was almost certain this was karma—served fresh for secretly laughing at his boss for a while now.

To be fair, he had prepared himself for some type of fiasco.

He’d even braced for the possibility of getting beaten down by the parents—despite asking for permission beforehand—because that kind of outcome made sense. It was reasonable. Expected.

See, while he had long since communicated his plans so everyone would understand his stance on the matter, they probably didn’t expect it to happen this early and this sudden.

So at the very least, he thought he’d be rightfully questioned until he was knocking on death’s door.

But despite such concerns, he had a feeling he would survive their grilling, especially since he hadn’t gone in blind.

But this?

He suddenly wasn’t sure.

Right now, he was a victim of unfortunate circumstances and all-too-honest minds.

The adjutant felt years of his life drain away with every pair of eyes glued to him. His lifespan was dropping at an alarming rate, and just when he thought it couldn’t get worse—

It did.

His other half decided to speak and the unfortunate Kyle didn’t have enough energy to stop it.

"Don’t worry, brother! Because you’re also very special to me, if you ever want to experience it too, you can just come ask me anytime!"

Kyle, the adjutant who had done his best to cling to life over the years, saw his life—no, their lives flash before his eyes.

The hall, which had earlier felt like it was burning as he suffocated in his collar, suddenly turned cold. Freezing. Deadly.

And driven by nothing but the desperate need to survive until tomorrow—

The newly wedded husband finally snapped.

"SHOW THEM!"

"..."

Yes.

The youngest Nox was certain that such words sounded incredibly scandalous.

But at this point?

With Luca looking like he was actively rebooting his brain mid-conversation, there was absolutely no way things could get worse.

Right?

Right.

Unfortunately, the blonde—who had no idea why everyone suddenly looked like they were in severe distress—decided to be a very obedient wife and followed his husband’s instructions.

Immediately.

Ollie waved a hand, accessing his precious space button with practiced ease.

And then as ceremoniously as he could—

He brought out two bright yellow bottles with the oddest brown labels.

His most favorite.

Extremely treasured.

Practically rationed...

Ultra limited edition body wash AND shampoo.

He held them up proudly.

Presented them.

To a hall that had completely stopped functioning.

"..."

"..."

If a pin had dropped, it would’ve sounded like a thunderclap.

And then—

The shining star spoke.

"This limited edition scent that I had chanced upon before, I only reserve for the best occasions," Ollie explained with dignified grace, like a benefactor addressing the masses.

"I actually shared this twice with him because he’s my husband now, and it was the least I could do as a house-warming contribution! The ones he had at our new house weren’t bad at all but they weren’t this!"

He paused, looking perplexed but absolutely serious.

"It should’ve just been once," he added with a small pout. "But because of circumstances related to that guy, a second bath couldn’t be helped."

A beat.

Then he brightened again.

"But since you’re my bestest good brother, I can even share this with you more than twice! Then you too would smell like me!"

Ollie placed a hand over his chest, thumb pointing proudly at himself like a spotlight had descended just for him.

EHHH?!

Luca blinked.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

The golden-eyed cadet—who, for one brief moment, had actually read the situation correctly—was once again thrown into complete mental restructuring.

Had he been wrong?

Wait.

No.

Hold on.

Rewind.

More than being wrong...

Didn’t his brother say—

"Husband."

"..."

Husband?

Husband.

HUSBAND?!

"!!!"

Everything else was instantly discarded in place of something even more important.

"BROTHER, ARE YOU MARRIED NOW?!" Luca burst out, eyes wide, voice echoing through the hall.

"!!!"

And just as Oliver Mylor—now apparently a Nox—was about to proudly present his ring—

CRASH!

A plate shattered against the floor.

The sound rang out, sharp and violent, followed immediately by a shocked, booming voice that shook the entire hall.

"The lighthouse! The lighthouse managed to get married even before ME?!"

"FATHEEEEEER!"

"..."

"..."

"?!"

__

DUN.

DUN.

DUN.

Each stomp made the hall tremble as Princess Kira bolted out, Ada close behind, both of them rushing to meet the father who was apparently arriving for breakfast.

At this point, the people in the dining hall didn’t even know where to look.

They’d already been dragged through a full emotional rollercoaster and probably needed compact defibrillators on standby. So when this happened, most of them simply sat there, staring into the void and trying to remember how breathing worked.

It took a few long seconds before someone managed to recover.

Countess Jenna Taylor, having just gathered enough sanity to function, gently poked her husband.

"My dear," she whispered, her voice oddly calm yet tinged with happiness, "I suppose learning our son already has children isn’t quite as surprising as suddenly finding out he’s married, no?"

She sounded... relieved.

But surprisingly wistful.

And then she realized—

Everyone was staring at her.

Every single person.

"..."

But before she could even process that, a strangled sound broke through the silence.

It started small.

Shaky.

Barely contained.

Then it grew.

Marquise Evelyn Nox.

Kyle’s mother had one hand over her mouth and the other clutching her stomach, shoulders trembling as she fought a losing battle against her own laughter.

She lost.

Spectacularly.

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

It burst out of her, loud and unrestrained, echoing through the hall like a celebration no one was prepared for.

Because really—

How could she not laugh?

The sheer absurdity of it all finally caught up to her. These children—these absolutely scandalous, unpredictable children—had somehow managed to turn a simple breakfast into something that nearly sent half the room into cardiac arrest.

And yet—

It was perfect.

She had always expected chaos. Always expected unpredictability, given their nature and the weight of responsibilities they’d been forced to grow into just because of their backgrounds.

So she had only ever hoped they’d find happiness despite everything.

But this?

This was beyond anything she could’ve imagined.

Sharing food that shouldn’t even exist.

Listening to conversations that absolutely should not be happening at breakfast.

And ultimately discovering, just like that, that her own child had married the person he loved.

To think that the other parents had also been one sentence away from ascending to their ancestors after hearing something rather similar!

Evelyn laughed harder, wiping at her eyes.

This. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

This was it.

This was exactly the kind of life she wanted.