I deeply apologize for this late update, but my fellow author "Arementi Revnant" and I got very busy with own businesses IRL so the free we had for writing this fanfic has been very limited. But despite that we were at least able to put these 2 chapters together for all of your reading pleasure.

This chapter is more of "Arementi Revnant" creation than mine, which I requested for him to write but got delayed. Causing for Chapter 26 to get delayed also.

Forgive us for the late update and I hope you all enjoy the work we put into these 2 chapters, and the many chapters to come.

It was currently late afternoon and it was snowing in the city that was once the Rabier territory. The territory was now known as the Zuberg territory, named after the surname of the current Sword Hero, who was perhaps the most popular of the current generation of Cardinal Heroes, and the former spirit of the Legendary Sword.

And Eugeo Zuberg, the Hero in question, was making his way back to his home in the city – and he was quite eager to return home too, not just to be inside his warm house, but because unlike back in his old home in Rulid Village in Underworld, he now had people to say "welcome home" to him genuinely upon his return.

Around him, festivities were going on throughout the city – friends and lovers were chatting with each other, choirs were singing joyous or calming carols appropriate for the festivities.

So much had happened between now and when he and the other Heroes ended the Wave of Catastrophe, and one of them was officially becoming the new lord to govern this city instead of the now perished Rabier clan.

One of the reasons for the renaming of this territory was because the Rabier bloodline had now been extinguished. Another was the crimes the latest members of the bloodline had committed being brought to light.

Shortly after the fall of the Three Heroes Church, Eugeo and his party testified against Idol Rabier to Queen Mirellia and told her of what had happened the night of their meeting of Anna and Rifana when he had been disguised in his Kirito persona. The Queen was understandably livid with Idol and the other nobles that had been present for their sick 'party' and expressed her thanks to him for ridding her country of those criminals. The fact that those nobles were supporters of the Three Heroes Church certainly didn't help their case.

Even if Eugeo had spared them, according to Melromarc's laws, rape – even attempted ones – was a capital offense, and the Queen stated that she would've personally seen to their execution, after hearing Eugeo and Kirin, Rifana, Raphtalia, and Anna's testimony.

If that wasn't bad enough for the Rabiers, not long after Idol's death, his only surviving relative took over his domain, and he was a fanatical believer of the Three Heroes Church like Idol was.

When Eugeo returned to the Rabier region at one point in his journey, he faced the last Rabier and defeated him with not much trouble, but unfortunately were unable to stop him in time from releasing a sealed creature in the manor, which in turn killed him in the process.

The released creature – a giant dinosaur – in turn, caused massive destruction to the Rabier manor, as well as his own city, killing many of the city's inhabitants that stood in its path – just to have Eugeo, the supposed 'false hero' marked for death by the Three Heroes Church killed when he failed to do so.

The Queen and her people did not take kindly to this information, and the city's inhabitants' opinion of their lord's family plummeted even deeper than it already is.

So, after the events of Cal Mira, Alice suggested that Eugeo ask the Queen to obtain the ruined Rabier territory, similar to how Naofumi asked to obtain the Saetto domain that was once Raphtalia and Rifana's home, to which she was happy to provide.

Eugeo was reluctant at first at the prospect of becoming a noble governing a territory – understandably because of the corruption he had seen throughout his life with the majority of the nobles he had met, Alice and his other girls assured him that they would set him straight should they see him go down the wrong path.

And so, both Naofumi and Eugeo used their respective regions to train people to be able to fight off the Wave of Catastrophe.

And as a token of their gratitude, the Rabier city's inhabitants decided to rename their region as the Zuberg domain – to which the Queen agreed with, and give the newly built manor to him and his party once its construction was complete.

For the Sword Hero's party (especially for Anna and Rifana), it was a good thing that the manor was mostly destroyed because it meant that they could build the manor to meet their needs and convenience, and get rid of any trace of Idol Rabier; most importantly, get rid of the sickening dungeon of the manor where the two Demi-Humans endured terrible horrors.

The newly built manor was a bit smaller and less lavish than Idol Rabier's manor, but it was still large and lavish enough to house a big family; a nice balance between luxurious and modest.

And so, after many events, the Wave of Catastrophe died down and the Heroes could finally settle down.

With the Wave of Catastrophe over, the Legendary Sword released Alice from its confinement and she regained her physical body; she was now once again a normal girl. Although, she still retained the effects of all the swords that Eugeo had unlocked throughout his journey, which was quite convenient when they were needed. This led Alice to be able to become a well-known magic caster in this world even without her status as the Sword Spirit.

Sometime after their joyful reunion, Eugeo married the girls in his party – Alice, Kirin, Anna, Rifana, and last but not least, Nasir.

Nasir had joined their party during the Cal Mira archipelago event to become their party's main long-range spellcaster and healer – one they had sorely needed for quite some time since everyone used close-range weapons for their primary weapons. And she had been a part of their party ever since.

Yes – right now, he was returning home to his five wives that were waiting. But they weren't the only ones he was eager to see at the moment… and they were all at their homes waiting for his return.

So, holding onto the presents that he had just received from the city's best dressmaker, Eugeo made his way back to his home, eager to see the recipients' faces when they received the gifts.

As he passed by the inhabitants of the city, he did his best to remain inconspicuous, since if he was discovered to be among the crowd right now, they would all greet him and ask him how things were going for his family, with a few possibly handing him gifts. And while those words would be appreciated, they would slow down his journey to his home, and he was a bit in a hurry.

The Zuberg manor was currently being decorated by the five women who were formerly part of Eugeo's party during the Waves of Catastrophe.

Since their home was now a manor, there were some hired hands to have them take care of some of the household chores around the manor – comprised mostly of people they had encountered or even saved during Eugeo's journey as the Sword Hero. But currently, most of the employees were absent, having been asked by Eugeo and his wives to spend the current holiday with their respective friends and families.

So right now, the five girls and a few guests were present in the generously-sized living room to personally decorate the place with various ornaments. Near the fireplace, there was the big Christmas tree being decorated by Rifana and Nasir. Nasir used her magic to help move the decorations to the higher part of the tree, while Rifana decorated the lower part.

The celebration called Christmas was introduced to this world by previous Cardinal Heroes, and the gift-giving part and celebrating the moment with one's family and friends were received rather well, and so the people of this world decided to keep it in their calendar.

Alice and Anna were busy wrapping gifts that were meant for their numerous friends – including but not limited to: Erhard, Melty, Naofumi, Raphtalia, Ingrid, Eclair, and many others.

As for Kirin, she was with her mother and Ayane who had come to visit them for the day. They were currently doing some quick paperwork that needed to be done before Eugeo arrives. However, to Kirin's annoyance, the majority of the papers turned out to be letters from nobles or royals all over the world requesting Eugeo to meet with their daughters to have them become his new wives; while the others were documents from the folks in the city requesting approval of selling new products or building new establishments in the city.

Since they were all now part of the noble Zuberg clan, the girls all studied and worked hard so that they could all support Eugeo in becoming a fair ruler of the domain that he was entrusted to. And having seen how the inhabitants of the city were fairing since Eugeo founded the Zuberg clan and they became the new governing body of the city, Eugeo and his wives were all well on their way to becoming respected rulers.

But Eugeo becoming a noble also meant having to deal with tedious letters from other nobles requesting him to wed their daughters for political advantages – which Eugeo himself repeatedly turned down, as Eugeo adamantly stated that having five wives was more than enough.

But no matter how many times he repeated himself about that matter, the people in the high society never seemed to be able to take the hint, as they received a load of letters from them to persuade Eugeo to have more wives from time to time. It got to the point that Eugeo asked them all to just ignore those kinds of letters.

"Ugh… no matter how many times we tell them that Eugeo is satisfied with us, they just never listen…" Kirin groaned as she sorted through the documents to organize the ones they needed to sign and ones to ignore.

Kirin had come a long way since she had gotten married to Eugeo along with her other four friends. Kirin was excellent when it came to defending herself with her swordsmanship, and she learned the rules of finances through her mother. However, becoming a part of the clan that governed a large part of Melromarc demanded a lot more from her in addition to her duties as the Toudou clan's heiress – and frankly, Kirin wasn't a big fan of obtaining the necessary knowledge to support Eugeo rule their region; she would much rather teach others how to properly wield a sword. It took some work, but Kirin was now able to do both – though she tended to lean more towards the sword part.

"Well… with how popular Sir Eugeo is among the women of this world, I imagine that they would all love to at least dream to have him in their lives… I've heard some women even compare Sir Eugeo to the Faubrey king," Ayane stated as she helped organize the documents.

As Kirin began to sign one of the documents, she almost snapped her pen to pieces in indignation. Hearing that someone had dared to compare her beloved Eugeo to that ugly king of Faubrey that was apparently a nastier version of Idol Rabier (if that was even possible).

"What?! Compare Eugeo with that revolting lump of flesh?! How can they even think of comparing him with Eugeo?!" Kirin asked.

Among the women of this world, it was widely known that being 'married' to the king of the now fallen country of Faubrey was a fate worse than death.

The king was a very fat man and his libido seemed to be proportionate to his fatness.

He was also infamous for treating each of his 'wives' as toys; he was like a fat child who would play very roughly with his new toy that it would end up breaking mere days later.

The infamy of the king of Faubrey's treatment towards women was so great that women who committed the gravest of crimes were sentenced to be sent to Faubrey to become his new toy. And usually, those women lasted a week – maybe two – before they were sent back as a messy corpse.

Anna had pointed out that after briefly seeing the king of Faubrey in passing during their journey as the Sword Hero's party, her impression of him was that he made Idol Rabier look like a mere bully child. Considering what Idol had almost done to Anna, that spoke volumes about the fat king.

When Eugeo had heard all about the Faubrey's king, he honestly seemed like his stomach was churning.

"Now, Kirin. I believe that Ayane meant that Eugeo and the Faubrey king are polar opposites. After all, it would indeed be a great insult to my son-in-law for someone to compare him to that fat scum," Lady Aoi explained to calm her daughter down.

"Yes. Milady is correct. Ever since your marriage to Sir Eugeo, I have heard countless women saying that being married to the Faubrey king was a fate worse than death. But on the other hand, when it comes to Sir Eugeo himself, many women consider it to be the greatest happiness to be married to him. And only five women have been fortunate enough to receive that blessing," Ayane explained. Kirin couldn't help but hold her cheeks to hide the fact that her face was going red in embarrassed mirth.

It was true after all, Kirin and her four other friends really were happy to have been married to Eugeo, after everything they all had been through.

Eugeo was, after all, a stark contrast to the king of Faubrey; he was lean, fit, and handsome, treated his wives with respect and love, was humble, and made every effort to make his family happy.

It also helped that Eugeo's wives all got along greatly with each other, having fought in the Waves together back-to-back. The ground rule that Eugeo and his wives had founded of no fighting amongst themselves for his attention was quite possibly needless at that point.

"Oh… is that so…?" Kirin asked sheepishly.

"My dear, your face was simply shining during your wedding day. And let's not forget what happened during the trip the six of you took to Springvale sometime after your marriage; according to Ayane, that was when you, Eugeo, and the girls –"

"Okay – that's enough, mother! Please!" Kirin hushed her in embarrassment, her face starting to turn red at the memory. Aoi and Ayane could only suppress their snickers of amusement.

Yes… it was true… she was bursting with happiness during her wedding day back then; and she's still very happy now…

"Anyway, let's focus on these documents so that we'll be done by the time Eugeo returns home; we're almost done here. Then, you can have your 'playtime' all you want," Aoi suggested.

Kirin agreed and returned to work, before looking at the part of the room near where the Christmas tree was. She gave a loving smile at what she looked at before returning to finishing up the documents.

"Let's see… this one is for Naofumi and Raphtalia, and Rino; this one is for Mr. Erhard, and that's for Queen Melty…" Alice said as she looked through the gifts they had all prepared to give to their friends.

"And this is for Ingrid, and the one I have here is for Miss Eclair, and Sadeena too – oh, and let's not forget the ones for Arthur and Guinevere," Anna said as she finished up preparing her gifts for her friends.

Looking through the number of gifts, there was quite a lot. They would have to carry them to Castle Town with Arthur's carriage. Melty, the new Queen of Melromarc, had invited the Heroes and their families to come to the castle and celebrate together on Christmas Eve – that was tomorrow.

And speaking of Arthur, he didn't live in the Zuberg manor; although the manor did have Arthur's room in it, it wasn't very often that its intended occupant used it. It was because he now lived in Fitoria's domain with Ginny, learning all they could from Fitoria.

After figuring out that they were meant for each other, Arthur and Ginny decided to officially become the next King and Queen of the Filolials and Fitoria's successors. But they both visited their home and Naofumi's home to let them know how they were fairing.

And Arthur and Ginny were supposed to arrive at their manor tomorrow so that they could take them all to the Castle Town via their carriages.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten the gifts for Arthur and Ginny. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to be receiving these," Alice answered. Anna smiled at that.

"We know that Arthur has been dying to come back to visit almost every day in the past two months; same story for Ginny to go visit Sir Naofumi," Anna stated.

"They have every reason to, of course – after all the things that happened in the last two months…" Alice finished.

"Then let's finish up wrapping our gifts to everyone and get on with our 'playtime', shall we?" Anna suggested.

"Mhm, let's," Alice nodded.

Both of the women looked near the Christmas tree and also gave loving smiles directed at their objects of interest before finishing up their wrap-ups.

"Alright, all done," Nasir said as she put the final piece of the Christmas tree decoration – a glowing star made of the Sacred Art's Crystalline element – on the very top of the tree using her magic.

"Wow… it's beautiful!" Rifana commented in awe as she looked up at the tree which was a little over twice her height. She had seen simple Christmas trees before back in Rurolona, but never ones big and highly decorated as this one.

She had put the light-emitting ornaments (comprised of angels as well as shepherds, a mother and her husband, and a baby) on the lower part of the tree, while Nasir worked on the upper part.

Looking over their work, the two Demi-Humans were satisfied with their work.

"Now all that remains is for these trees to have presents filled at the bottom. And after everything that happened in the last two months, I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot…" Nasir commented as she looked at the ornaments as well.

"Yes… everyone has been so happy for our family… they've all been so wonderful… especially Raphtalia and Sir Naofumi; I hope they get here soon," Rifana happily said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia had gotten together and started a family as well. They were currently on their way to their home and Rifana was eager to see her best friend again – and the special little guest that was coming with them too.

Then, Rifana picked up a faint sniffling sound from nearby the tree. Since she was a mammal Demi-Human and she was closest to the source, she picked up on the sound very quickly.

As soon as her gaze landed on the source of the sound, the sniffling soon crescendo-ed to a full-blown wailing, which soon caught the attention of all the ladies in the living room.

"Wa- Waaahh~!"

They all stopped what they were all doing to rush to the cradles that were positioned near the Christmas tree; for they knew that if there was one wailing, it usually meant a chain reaction would start; meaning that the wailing would multiply – by six at maximum.

Alice, Kirin, Rifana, Anna, and Nasir all reached the spot where six cradles were located. And by the time they all got there, the occupants of the cradle were all wailing.

The five mothers reached down to gently pick their respective babies up.

They had all conceived and went into labor on the same day – thanks to taking a trip to Springvale just for the sole purpose of relaxing and expanding their family – and… let's just say that the Sword of Procreation played a big part in that, much to Eugeo's embarrassment.

Not to mention, that night at the inn, it could be assumed that neither Eugeo nor his five girls got any decent sleep. And if it hadn't been for the silencing charm Eugeo and Alice casted, they had a feeling that multiple guests of the inn would have complained about the noises they had made all night. After their hormones returned to normal after that night – which had been heightened like never before thanks to the effects of the kinky sword – Eugeo and the girls with timid personalities (namely Kirin and Rifana) were left in embarrassed dazes for the most of the day.

In any case, the children had been born in the order their father had met each of their mothers.

Alice picked up her infant son, Euric Zuberg, the firstborn. He had his father's dull blonde hair and her eyes that were squeezed shut as he wailed.

Kirin did the same with her daughter, Kira Zuberg, who was born after Euric. According to Aoi, Kira looked very similar to Kirin when she was a baby – minus the fact that she had her father's green eyes.

Anna picked up her children in each arm – she was the only one among them to give birth to twins. They were fraternal twins; a son, Aaron Zuberg – and a daughter, Emma Zuberg. Aaron took after his mother in both hair color and eyes, while Emma had Eugeo's hair but retained her mother's eyes. Both had some patches of scales on their skins but didn't have Anna's tail.

Rifana gently picked up her daughter, Liana Zuberg, who in addition to her wailing had her tail puffed out in fright. She had been the first to wake up and cry. Her little girl had her hair and weasel features but like some of her siblings, she had her father's green eyes, which she loved to see whenever she looked into her daughter's eyes.

And lastly, Nasir picked up her son, Benjamin (or Benti) Zuberg. He was a bird Demi-Human like his mother and apart from his skin, everything about him was green; green hair, green eyes, and little green wings on his back.

The mothers all gently patted the backs of their children to calm them down.

Since there was no foul stench in the air, they didn't need their diapers changed, and they had all been happily fed an hour ago, so it wasn't that they were hungry. So, it was likely that they just wanted company.

"There, there… your mother is here~" Alice whispered as she calmed her son down.

"Good girl, good girl~," Kirin said, soothing Kira.

"You can relax – we're all here~," Anna said to her twins.

"Mama is here for you~ don't be scared~" Rifana soothed Liana; she seemed to be the one to want company the most.

"Shh~ no need to fear, little one; we're all here~" Nasir spoke to Ben.

The children they held in their arms gradually calmed down as they heard their mothers' voices.

They were all nothing but living miracles to the five mothers.

They had all agreed when they were still pregnant that they would have the children call all of them mothers. They wanted each others' children to be able to talk to them openly and not be closed off from each other.

Naturally, it could be assumed that the childrens' bonds would be strongest with their respective birth mothers, but they all wanted the children to treat them all like they were their mothers.

Eugeo – who had not changed much in terms of personality – while he was happy that they all wanted to get along, he still found himself being embarrassed from time to time at the prospect of being a father to 6 children at the same time, to the amusement of his wives.

It was a good thing that they had a lot of helping hands eager to help them out in raising their rapidly growing families – since it was the first time for all of them to be parents.

After some time, the children finally calmed down and properly opened their eyes to meet their mothers and their siblings.

The five women along with Aoi and Ayane all took their seats on the sofas in the living room to get comfortable. When they did, the babies started reaching out to them, happy and curious.

"Gah – Wah!"

"Aiiee~!"

They babbled on; their gazes on their siblings or their mothers.

Aoi and Ayane took their time playing with not just Kira, but the other children as well.

And as they did, the girls all sensed a familiar and welcoming presence. With a few eager footsteps, the door to the living room opened, and in came the man that was the source of their current happiness.

"I'm home," Eugeo smiled as he took in the sight of his wives and children playing with each other.

"Welcome home, Eugeo!" The five girls all chimed to him.

They all got out of their seats to go over to Eugeo. He took off his coat; underneath it, he was in his usual Sword Hero outfit, without the metallic armor parts of course. Since it was snowing outside, quite a lot of snow had accumulated on his coat, hair, and lower half of his outfit.

Alice helped brush the snow off his hair with her right hand while her left supported their son.

"How was your trip to Castle Town?" Alice asked.

"Good. Queen Melty approved the improvements that we're going to make in the city. She offered that she'll make the necessary arrangements and send people over to help with the construction," Eugeo answered.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Alice said.

"Are you all ready for the Christmas party tomorrow at the castle?" Eugeo asked. They had all been invited to the now Queen Melty's home to celebrate this annual holiday.

"Yes; we've all finished our preparations. Now we can go after Naofumi's family and Arthur and Ginny arrive and go together tomorrow," Alice answered, to which the other girls confirmed.

"That's good – and on my way back, I visited the dressmaker and she gave these as gifts," Eugeo said as he presented the packages that he had been carrying on his way back home.

"Oh? What are they?" Kirin asked.

"See for yourselves. The dressmaker told me to open them when I get home to you all," Eugeo said.

Kirin gave Kira to her mother to open the gifts. When she did, she found six sets of winter accessories like knit hats, scarves, and so on – and they were all small enough for infants to wear them.

"Oh, wow! It looks like we won't have to worry about our kids getting sick from the cold weather tomorrow!" Kirin admired the winter clothing meant for their children.

The other girls happily agreed and decided to put the newly gifted clothing on their children. They brought the gifts over to the table in front of their sofa where they set their children down to help change them into their new clothes.

"So, how have they been fairing while I was out?" He asked Alice as he gently rubbed their son's cheeks, to which his son showed no resistance.

"Euric has been a good boy, like his father. They all were behaving nicely after they'd been fed and put to sleep. They woke up and started crying for attention a few moments ago though. So, we've been playing with them before you arrived," Alice reported.

"Is that so?" Eugeo responded, smiling as he ruffled Euric's hair this time, to which he gave a small giggle.

"Come now, Eugeo – give your other children some attention as well!" Anna playfully said to him.

And so he took turns in giving each child that was in the process of being changed by their mothers. The children all seemed like they were enjoying their father's company as well.

After he finished greeting his wives and children, he turned to Aoi.

"Mother, and Miss Ayane. Thank you again for coming over and watching over everyone," He said to the ladies of the Toudou clan. After his marriage with Kirin, Aoi had insisted that Eugeo call her mother since he had told her that even back in his homeworld, his family had mostly neglected him after what had happened to Alice. So, she wanted him to feel like he was welcomed.

"Always a pleasure, my dear son-in-law. I wouldn't miss the chance to play with little Kira and her siblings," Lady Aoi smiled.

After the childrens' birth, Aoi made sure to visit the Zuberg manor regularly to play with them all. She agreed to become a grandmother to not just Kira, but the other five children as well. Since Alice, Rifana, and to some extent, Anna, had no families to return to in this world, this was a welcoming offer to them.

And she promised them that when they grew up, she would teach them all the arts of the Shadows.

Then, Ayane looked towards the window, to where snow could be seen falling in the illuminated lamps in the evening atmosphere. She had sensed some presences approaching, and one of her reasons for being there – other than entertaining Sir Eugeo's children with her Lady – was to keep a lookout for any potential harm, just in case.

But as she identified who had approached the Zuberg manor, she let her guard down and informed the ladies.

"It looks like Sir Naofumi and Raphtalia has arrived – I will go and let them in," Ayane said as she went through the door that led to the main hall.

"Oh, Raphtalia is here?! Let me go greet them too!" Rifana eagerly said as she finished up dressing Liana up so that she wouldn't have to endure the frosty air of the winter night.

By the time they got to the main entrance, their guests had started to knock on the door to let them know of their presence.

Ayane opened the door to greet the Shield Hero's family.

"Welcome," Ayane welcomed.

"Oh, Miss Ayane! What a pleasant surprise!" Raphtalia politely greeted the Toudou Shadow.

"Pleasure to see you again, Lady Raphtalia; and you too, Sir Naofumi," she said, to which he responded by smiling.

"Raphtalia! You're here!" Rifana said as soon as her friend was in her sight.

They carefully hugged each other, seeing as they both had precious cargo in their arms.

When they released their hugs, they looked at each other's arms. Raphtalia looked at little Liana that was in Rifana's arms, while Rifana also looked at the little child in her best friend's arms.

Snoozing away in her arms was little Raphael – her and Naofumi's son. He was born a week before Liana and her siblings had been born.

Raphael was born as a human but had his mother's hair and eyes.

When they were born, Raphtalia and Rifana wanted their children to get along with each other – possibly become a couple in the future too. When the image of their two children growing up and becoming each other's romantic interests flooded their heads, they couldn't contain themselves and promised each other that they let their children interact with each other as much as possible as they grew up.

Raphael had been asleep during their trip to the Zuberg manor but started to wake up as he heard voices and the warmth of being indoors. He opened his eyes to see a familiar friend in front of him. They both started to reach out to each other curiously as their eyes met. Their parents smiled at this adoring moment.

"Welcome, you three!" Anna said as she also made her presence known while carrying her twins. The other ladies also made their way to the living room with their children all bundled up and Eugeo followed behind them; they all made their way to where their guests were at.

"Good to see you again Eugeo," Naofumi greeted his fellow Hero.

"You too Naofumi. Is everything alright with Raphael?" Eugeo asked.

"Never better. He's our pride and joy," The Shield Hero responded.

"So, these winter garb that your kids have on – they look nice."

"Thank you – we just received them from our city's dressmaker as Christmas gifts. We were letting the children try them on when you arrived," Eugeo answered.

"Nice. And here I thought Raphael was ready to face his first snowfall," Naofumi said as Raphtalia started to take off their son's winter garb.

"Alright, make yourselves at home. As we planned, you can spend the night here and head to Castle Town together when Arthur and Guinevere arrive tomorrow," Eugeo stated.

"Sounds good. Those two would love to see the kids all together in one place. I know Ginny loves to dote on Raphael whenever she gets the chance; I know that she was depressed for quite a while after Mash Senpai was gone, but I think Raphael's presence is doing her some good," Naofumi said, to which Eugeo nodded in understanding.

"I know what you mean. Her mother figure is now basically gone – but at least it's not that she died… She just returned to where her true love was after her duties as the Shield Spirit was complete," Eugeo stated.

It was true; after the Waves were over, the Heroes and Spirits were given choices as to whether they would stay in this world or return to their original world. After a long thought, Eugeo and Alice decided to stay – as much as they missed Kirito, they couldn't bring themselves to leave Rifana, Anna, and Nasir behind them – they had all become dear to them both and they didn't want to become separated with them. They could only hope that Kirito was doing alright without them.

As for Naofumi, he also decided to stay, much to Raphtalia's joy and relief.

But as for Mash, she had already told them long ago that she had her true love – her Senpai – waiting for her in her own world. She still had people waiting for her there and she wanted to return.

But that didn't make her parting with Naofumi and his party any easier – especially Guinevere who cried profusely at the prospect of never seeing her mother figure again. But after some time, with a lot of difficulties, Mash said her farewells to everyone, especially Ginny and they promised to live their lives to the fullest before she passed through the portal that would take her back home.

Understandably, Ginny had been sad for quite some time afterward, but thanks to Naofumi Eugeo's party – especially Arthur, she managed to pull through.

"Let's get comfortable and talk in the living room," Eugeo invited and everyone else agreed.

When they made it back to the living room, girls spent their time chatting with each other as well as playing with their children. Raphael and the six Zuberg children played with one another under the watchful eyes of their mothers.

While they were playing, the fathers went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for their families and friends while chatting with each other. It had been a long time since they had cooked something together; and since it was Christmas with their families all gathered in one place, they decided to go all out in their cooking in both quality.

As much as they wished to make a feast, Arthur and Ginny weren't due to arrive until tomorrow, so they felt bad about starting a Christmas feast without them.

They had all been busy with governing their respective domains and earning their people's respect, so this social chatting time was needed.

And in the middle of their cooking, Ayane came to offer help. She was a decent cook herself, and with the amount of food they were going to make, the two men would have needed her help in carrying the food to the dining room.

After their cooking was done, they brought their food to the dining room that was next to the living room, where the ladies were seated on the big table.

Soon after, the two husbands and Ayane came in with the assortment of food they had made. The room was soon filled with the mouth-watering aroma of roasted meat, stew and many others. A pleasant blend of dishes that originated from Eugeo and Naofumi's respective worlds.

The children had already been breastfed before the meal and had been put in their cribs for a nap, which was still within their sights even from the dining room.

With the food all prepared in front of them, the girls took their seats on the table as the men and Ayane served their portions of the meal. And after pouring down their drinks (non-alcoholic beverages, since most of the mothers were still breastfeeding their babies), Eugeo, Naofumi, and Ayane also took their seats.

Eugeo then got everyone's attention.

"Everyone. It's been a busy time for us all this year – especially after the birth of our children… But this will be the very first Christmas for our children. So, let's make sure we give them and ourselves a good memory to remember. Alright?"

"Alright!" Everyone else cheered.

"Then let's give a toast – for the happiness of our families and friends, for the prosperity of our people, and most of all, for all our children to grow up strong and healthy, with the Noblesse Oblige in their minds," Eugeo said as he raised his glass high. His wives, Naofumi and Raphtalia, Lady Aoi and Ayane all smiled as they heard Eugeo's wishes for the future of their families.

"Cheers!" Eugeo said,

"CHEERS!" and the rest echoed loudly after him.

"Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!"

"MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The next chapter will be uploaded tomorrow.

As always, thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows. I'm open for compatible suggestions and any advice that you readers could give. As for those nasty Reviewers who loves to Insult us authors, please just leave us alone.

Stay safe from the Coronovirus and stay indoors as much as possible!