A/N: And now, after over seventy chapters, the finale is finally here! Thanks to all who supported me until the end!

Thanks to Wobb Nox, filipinosberman, FieryMatter and Ascalon on SB for beta-ing.

Chapter LXXIV: Reunion

Present Day
11th Third Moon, 684 AC
Streets of Rhoyehom

Arin Temugyos Rada groaned in irritation as the electric alarm clock blared like a siren throughout his bedroom. Switching it off, he got up and rubbed the eyes from his sleep before brushing his teeth and taking a bath.

With his servants' help, he was patted dry with a towel and changed into a fresh school uniform, a crimson shirt with a blue striped tie and black trousers, and he went towards the dining room where the rest of his family was busy eating.

"Morning son," His mother Aimelia greeted.

"Morning," Arin greeted back.

Arin settled for a quick breakfast of spiced baked eggs, cheeses, flatbread and yoghurt with a cup of sweet tea. Maids and butlers busied themselves with preparing the breakfast spread for the large Temugyos-Rada family, with Arin Rada being the youngest of 20 siblings.

"By the way son, we have a meeting with the Radhost-Qeffar family later at seven pm, at their family estate," Arin's father Arris stated, sipping his coffee, "Corentyn wants to arrange a match between our families."

Arin held back a sigh. In the modern age, matchmaking was no longer highly sought after as a means of finding suitable spouses, with the majority preferring to either approach girls themselves or use dating apps on smartphones. Yet among the rich elites and other highly affluent families, matchmaking was still preferred, especially due to the sheer amount of wealth and responsibility one would inherit upon marrying into such a family, and it was important to thoroughly vet the potential spouse to avoid causing ruin through a scandal, say if he or she were to abscond with the family fortune.

This was a truth even in the modern era, where nobles and knights no longer held power as during the Age of Imperialism - also known as the Imperial Rada Period.

A butler tapped Arin on the shoulder, "Young Master, I must inform you we need to head to school right now."

Arin looked at his wrist watch and cursed.

"Damn, look at the time," He said, "Sorry, gotta go now."

"See you tonight, Arin," Arris smiled, "Remember, seven pm at the Radhost-Qeffar Family Estate."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Arin replied.

IIOII

Established in the early years of the Imperial Rada period, the Rhoyehom Royal Academy was an ancient institution that brought in all manner of students from the nobility and affluent merchant families throughout the Empire of Westeros. From the highest of old families to the lowest of new families, students from all tiers of the hierarchy were welcomed into its halls, churning out thousands of graduates every year with its flexible, meticulous and highly relevant education system.

Even today it still remains a functional school, teaching all manner of subjects from advanced mathematics to science, literature and history, and is itself a world heritage site due to its highly distinct Imperial-Rhoynar architectural style.

Walking through its halls, Arin had finished his morning classes and was on his way to the Student Council office, intent on settling all manner of backlog work that had piled up over the past few weeks.

"Good afternoon, President," A student councilor greeted.

"Good afternoon," Arin greeted back, "How's progress on the upcoming school festival preparations?"

"Most of the materials have been delivered and the various clubs are already beginning to make their own preparations," Said another councilor, "There is, however, a problem with food procurement; several delivery trucks have been delayed due to unexpected technical faults, or their supplies failed to deliver on time."

Arin scratched his head, "How long ago was this?"

"Just hours ago, President," The councilor reported.

"Work with the school faculty to handle this, and correspond with the affected clubs to make sure we get their orders correct," Arin ordered.

"Yes, President," The councillor nodded, "As for the next item on our agenda…"

The next hour passed in the blink of an eye, with various tasks tackled and planned over a long period of brainstorming. With the meeting done, the student council was dismissed, and Arin headed to his next class for the day, accompanied by two councilors who happened to share the same class.

Only to come across a very familiar scene.

"Leave me alone!"

"Oh no, that's not how it works; you tried to defy me, and I don't like it when things don't go my way!"

A sickening crunch was heard as fist connected against nose, and the poor boy who suffered the blow crumpled to the ground in a heap to the howling laughter of his tormentors.

"That's enough," Arin called out.

The bullies turned to face Arin and his fellow councilors with a sneer.

"And what do you pipsqueaks think you're doing?"

"Stopping you," Arin answered.

Putting aside their things, Arin and his two councilors mercilessly beat the bullies black and blue, clobbering them until they themselves were reduced to snivelling wrecks of cowards. When the guards came, they quickly saluted Arin.

"President Arin, ser," One of the guards greeted, "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, these assholes were busy bullying this poor boy and even broke his nose," Arin explained, "Have them detained and report this to the school principal."

"Yes Ser!" The guard saluted.

The beaten bullies were dragged away by the school guards, who were posted precisely to mitigate bullying incidents between students of different hierarchies.

Even if they did recover from their injuries though, the fact that Arin Temugyos-Rada had to get his hands dirty meant a permanent black mark on the bullies' reputations and that of their families. They would be expelled, publicly humiliated and shamed and blacklisted for good.

"Are you alright?" Arin called to the young boy.

"Y-Yes, I am, thank you," Said the student as he was helped up by Arin, "B-But are you really sure you should be doing this? I mean…"

Arin sighed and said, "And if I said I'm from the Temugyos-Rada Family?"

"The Temugyos-Rada Family? Oh! Oh…" The student nodded in realisation, "Then I guess it is okay. You didn't have to go out of your way to help me, though."

"It's fine," Arin reassured, "More importantly, you should get your nose checked; I think it's broken."

"Right, I will," Said the student, "Thanks again, Ser."

Those who knew his heritage would always treat him with a level of polite distance, which Arin personally disliked but accepted, and using his family's power and connections enabled him to deal with more than a few arrogant snobs who thought they knew better.

IIOII

With school concluded for the day, Arin headed to the Radthor-Qeffar Family Estate as his father Arris requested. It was a modestly large-sized plot of land fenced off by a wall of bricks and steel, artfully crafted to be eye-pleasing, large and dangerous enough to deter all but the most determined of climbers.

At the main gate, the guards opened the way to allow the Temugyos-Rada Family car to drive into the estate, where they eventually alighted and were received by a warm smiling Corentyn Qeffar.

"Welcome, Ser Arris," Corentyn greeted, shaking his hand, "And you must be Arin. I must say, you look much like your father."

"I get that a lot, Ser Corentyn," Arin politely smiled, shaking Corentyn's hand.

"Please, come in. We have refreshments ready," Corentyn beckoned.

The mansion was large and spacious, artfully decorated with all manner of wall paintings, smooth porcelain vases and marble staircases, cleaned and polished daily to accommodate more distinguished guests from other equally high-ranking families.

The Radhost-Qeffar Family was one of several cadet branches of the main line of House Qeffar, founded long after the rebellion and downfall of the original Qeffar Family. A cadet branch of a cadet branch, it devoted its early strength to the fields of mercantilism and economics, and eventually in free trade when mercantilism was gradually made irrelevant. It prominently held influence and sway in the shipping industry, securing many trade routes for both exports and imports of many different goods from food supplies to materials and machines.

In particular, their primary strength was the manufacture of custom-made machine parts for various businesses, using both their own strong indigenous manufacturing industry and collaborating with several subsidiary companies.

Even today, they hold one of the highest amounts of shares in the Bank of Dorne.

As Rada father and son took their seats, they came face-to-face with Corentyn Qeffar and his daughter Belandra, who sat opposite them.

"Arin, this is my daughter, Belandra."

The moment he laid eyes on Belandra, a strange compulsion took hold of him; he went to Belandra's side, clasping her hands in his, staring lovingly into Belandra's eyes. Despite the suddenness of this intrusion into her personal space, Belandra did not seem to mind.

"Um, Arin?" Arris called out.

Arin was far too focused on Belandra to pay attention to anything else.

"Belandra…" He muttered, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Arin Temugyos-Rada."

"And I'm Belandra Radhost-Qeffar," Belandra smiled at him.

Mustering his courage, Arin then said, "Would you… mind if we had an outing later? Maybe for a cup of coffee?"

"I'd like that," Replied Belandra smilingly.

Corentyn was shocked at how sudden and smooth it went, but he had no complaints, so long as the match was a success. Neither did Arris, though both Corentyn and Arris agreed this was a wholly new level of surprise.

And so, in the year 684 after Aegon's Conquest, Arin Rada and Belandra Qeffar were reunited in the modern age of technology and space exploration.

A/N: Check out the world map circa 452 AC ITTL on JaimelelConquistador's profile on DeviantArt! Once again, thanks to all who read until the end!