Chapter 338 - Clearly A Descendant

30 minutes earlier…

Suzuki Aki arrived at the Cedar Palace with Chiaki in tow to attend Gin's and Emi's wedding reception. He was the only businessman present at the small feast, but that was because of his personal connection to the Homura House.  Unlike the previous times he came there, he had already learned how to feel at ease at the place. However, today was totally different. He was nervous and anxious as he had been since the day before.

Why?

It was because he was informed that Perun, his sister's soul's real father was there.

"Aki, you're hands are cold," Chiaki murmured against his ear, making him clear his throat in embarrassment. "Are you alright?"

"I am," Aki answered almost instantly making the corner of Chiaki's mouth lift in amusement.

If she didn't know how much worry Aki was having at the moment, she would have laughed at his face. However, her fiancé's truly having a difficult inner battle, and it was related to his younger sister's situation, so she held back. Regardless of how much Aki and Ara were getting along since she woke up from her accident, Chiaki knew that until now, Aki had lots of regrets and self-blame in his heart.

Soon, they would be meeting the man who was Ara's father. Chiaki knew that Aki was anxious because he felt that he had left that father down.

"Well, let's try and see if Ara and the others are there now," she suggested just as they entered the hall.

They had arrived just in time, and so the wedding party, as well as some of the guests, were already there. Of course, they both looked for Ara as soon as they entered the room, but couldn't find her. The Homura House was riddled with tall people after all. However, they spotted the usually colorful groom and his bride immediately and went to greet them.

"Congratulations Gin and Emi!"

The newlyweds beamed at the couple. "Thank you very much," they said. "Next time, it will be your turn," Gin told Aki who chuckled.

"Of course. But we will have to wait a bit," he said as he turned to Chiaki who explained.

"We want to get married after Ara graduates from high school, initially," she said.

"Initially?" Gin prompted. He knew that there was an underlying change to their plans.

"But, Ara has something important to do right after her graduation, and so we decided to wait for her to finish it and return."

The coupled watched as Gin's eyes widened in understanding. Since they found out the truth about Ara – about the Homura House and the hidden deities in them, they were now privy to all information concerning the younger Suzuki.

This was why they knew the existence of Alistair and Perun, and that Ara had to return to the other world to defeat the ultimate enemy to end the curse that spanned thousands of years. They were aware of how dangerous it was. But by stepping back – by postponing their plans to wed to wait for Ara to finish her tasks showed how they put their devotion and trust in her.

She would return. When she did, Ara would be at their wedding.

"I see," Gin smiled as he nodded in approval.

"We won't keep you guys any longer. We'll try to mingle as we look for my sister," Aki told him as he guided Chiaki away, and the newlyweds went to greet the Kazehaya House's Master.

"Look," Chiaki said afterwards as she pointed at something behind Aki.

When the older Suzuki turned, his eyes widened upon seeing a very tall man towering everyone in the room. However, what surprised them was the silver-haired man standing next to him.

Kazehaya Sora – no. It should be Perun.

There was no mistaking this. After all, there wasn't anyone else in the world he knew who was the mirror image of Gin, saved for their coloring. On the other hand, unlike the carefree Gin who smiled a lot, the man had an expressionless face as he looked at the people with his unreadable purple gaze.

As if feeling Aki's eyes on him, Perun suddenly turned in their direction and their eyes met, surprising Aki that he took a step forward unthinkingly. The deity's eyes flickered in recognition as if he knew who he was, and the poor mortal had no choice but to approach.

Urgh…

The older Suzuki's nervousness heightened as he crossed the room, with Chiaki. But his fiancée's hand tightened in his to give him support, and the two exchanged glances with a small smile as if cheering each other up.

When they turned to Perun's direction again, even the huge red-haired man next to him was also looking as they approached. But what surprised them was seeing both Ara and Ryuu there as well, waiting for them to come.

"Big Bro Aki!" Ara called out to him, and Aki felt his heart ease up a little bit.

At least, his sister was here, and so he didn't have to introduce himself even if he already knew that the other party must have known who he was just as he knew who Perun was.

"Hey, Ara," he called back just as he and Chiaki reached them. "I mean, Alinea," he corrected himself as he scratched the side of his head.

He had already known that his sister had ultimately chosen Alinea as her name and that the Homura House had changed everything – records and people's memories so that she would only be addressed as Alinea.  But he kept forgetting and referred to her as Ara.

His sister didn't mind. It took time to get used to anyway since they did not meddle with his memories.

"Big brother," Ryuu also greeted them with a respectful bow.

"Have you been here long?"Alinea asked with a smile as she gave each one of them a hug in greeting.

"No, we just arrived. We just finished giving our greetings to the newlyweds," Aki answered just as he turned expectantly towards Perun who remained studying him.

Taking his cue, Alinea introduced the two of them with mischief dancing in her grey eyes.

"Big Brother Aki, this is Kazehaya Sora, Gin-nii's older twin brother," she started as an equally naughty grin spread on her face. "But, of course, he's really my brother in the other world, Alistair, King of Ritz, and my father in the Celestial Plane, Perun."

It was a long and confusing introduction, so Aki skipped everything else and referred to the last part.

"Nice to meet you," Aki greeted Perun respectfully and was surprised to see the other finally having some kind of a reaction in his Amethyst eyes.

Perun was totally amused that even the corner of his mouth curved upwards before he spoke, much to everyone's surprise.

"Nice to meet you, Suzuki Aki, brother of Alinea on Earth," Perun said as he leaned forward as if to tell them a secret, his smile mirroring the mischief of his daughter's, shocking everyone, except Ivan further. "But of course, you're really clearly a descendant of Ritz. Should I call you grandson, then, descendant of mine?"