Reunion

Lowell stood still, without moving.

He looked at the figure ahead, dressed in white robes and armor, with long, pure white hair tied in a neat ponytail. Golden eyes were clear and bright, looking over with a faint smile. That smile was so familiar, so natural, as if they had only parted yesterday, rather than separated by life and death and the vast expanse of time.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

A few seconds, or perhaps longer. The wind rustled through the massive canopy of the World Tree, bringing with it a distant, oceanic sound of leaves rustling, mingling with the fresh, damp scent of the grass beneath our feet, making the silence all the more profound.

Then, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Something tense in his chest quietly relaxed with this subtle movement.

He looked at her, and the corners of his mouth finally curved upwards slightly. There was neither excitement nor sadness, only a calm that had settled down after a long period of stagnation.

"... Freya."

He called out the name, his voice not loud, but clearly audible in the absolutely silent space.

Almost simultaneously, a rustling sound of fabric rubbing together came from beside me.

Frieren had already taken off her heavy winter cloak and tossed it casually onto the grass—after all, the temperature here was warm and pleasant.

The white mage's robes underneath were neat and pressed, and now that the fur collar was no longer covering them, her delicate face was fully revealed, her emerald eyes appearing exceptionally bright in the soft light.

Her face didn't show any particular excitement, only a slight upturn of the corners of her mouth, carrying a gentle joy of seeing a long-lost familiar face. She took a few steps forward, her movements as natural as if she did it every day, raised her hand and gently placed it on Freya's head, who had willingly lowered her head to cooperate, and patted it.

Strands of pure white hair slipped through her fingers, feeling soft to the touch.

"Long time no see, Freya."

Her voice was steady, even with a touch of casual conversation.

Before she could finish speaking, Freya burst into laughter. The smile was even brighter than before, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and her golden pupils radiating undisguised joy. She leaned forward, opened her arms, and hugged Frieren's waist tightly, burying her face in the crook of Freya's shoulder and nuzzling her contentedly.

"Hehe..." She let out a contented hum like a kitten, the sound muffled but clear and joyful coming through the fabric, "Lady Frieren is still so kind, she makes me feel at ease like a mother."

Frieren swayed slightly as Freya was held in her arms, but quickly regained her balance. She raised her hand and gently patted Freya's back, the gentle pleasure on her face quickly transforming into a clearly visible smugness, her chin even slightly raised.

"Hmph~" she snorted lightly, her tone rising, "Of course."

Only then did Lowell seem to finally break free from that brief moment of stagnation. The calm on his face was replaced by a helpless expression mixed with amusement and "I knew it" in his eyes. He scratched his slightly messy black hair at the back of his head, shook his head, and muttered to himself, his voice carrying a deliberate complaint, but the smile in his eyes was unmistakable.

"Really..."

He took two steps forward, stopped a few steps away from the two men, and crossed his arms.

"Shouldn't we be saying the standard lines now?" He tilted his head, looking at Freya in Frieren's arms and refusing to get up. He deliberately put on a stern face and Imitation a certain old-fashioned tone, "That line, 'Honestly, you're so old, and you're still so good at acting cute...'"

Freya lifted her face from Frieren's shoulder, turning it only halfway, and glanced at him sideways with her golden eyes, her lips curving into a wider smile.

"Someone in their twenties is still a child."

She said it with a straight face, and then deliberately buried her face in Frieren's neck, as if to prove her status as a "child".

Frieren nodded very cooperatively, her expression serious, as if stating a universal truth.

"That's right, people in their twenties are still like kids."

Her emerald eyes turned to Lowell, a mischievous glint in them.

"Lowell is an idiot."

"Master is an idiot."

The last three words were spoken almost simultaneously by her and Freya in her arms. After they finished speaking, they looked at each other and chuckled softly. Freya's shoulders shook with laughter, and the corners of Frieren's mouth turned up even more noticeably.

Lowell: "..."

He rolled his eyes, lowered his arms, and glanced at the two people in front of him who were "colluding" with each other, finally settling on Fern, who had been standing quietly a little behind and was now watching this scene with his pale purple eyes slightly wide open.

"Hey..." He seemed to laugh in exasperation, raised a hand to press his temple, then gestured with his chin towards Fern, trying to win over what appeared to be his most reliable ally, "Fern, quick, say something."

The implication in his tone was clear—please speak up for them on my behalf!

Upon hearing her own name, Fern seemed to snap out of her daze at the overly natural and familiar interaction, which had somewhat exceeded her expectations. She blinked her pale purple eyes, her gaze quickly sweeping over the embracing Frieren and then over Freya, Lowell had a pleading expression on his face.

Then, she said nothing.

She simply walked quickly past Lowell and went straight to Freya's side. She stood still, her body straight, her hands clasped in front of her, and bowed slightly with an impeccable posture, displaying the perfect respect a junior would show when meeting an elder for the first time.

"Hello, Miss Freya."

Her voice was clear and steady, as always.

"I am Fern, Lady Frieren's apprentice."

Having said that, she raised her eyes, her pale purple pupils gazing calmly at Freya, awaiting a response. The entire process was fluid and efficient, completely ignoring Lowell's silent "cries."

Freya finally released her grip on Frieren's arms. She turned to face Fern, her smile undiminished, but rather enhanced by the sight of the meticulous, earnest purple-haired girl before her. She looked Fern up and down, her gaze filled with undisguised admiration.

"Oh dear," she said softly, her tone gentle, "What an earnest and lovely child, Fern."

As she spoke, she stepped forward and naturally reached out her hands to gently hug Fern. It wasn't a hug of reunion after a long separation, but a warm, welcoming, brief touch that ended as quickly as it began.

"Then I'm your... senior sister?" She tilted her head, seemingly finding the title amusing, and her smile deepened. "Anyway, nice to meet you, please take care of me."

She took a half step back, her gaze lingering on Fern's face for a moment before lightly sweeping over Lowell and Frieren beside her. A very subtle, almost imperceptible hint of melancholy flashed in her eyes, but it was quickly covered by a bright smile.

"Well, there's nothing much to look after," she said with a smile, her tone light as if she were talking about something trivial. "We probably won't see each other again for a long time."

"Yeah, but for me it was probably as short as taking a nap."

After speaking, she turned back to Lowell and Frieren, her gaze shifting back and forth between them, a distinctly mocking smile playing on her lips. That smile gave her face a lively and cunning radiance, creating a striking contrast with the holy and solemn white armor she wore.

"How is it, Master?"

She drew out her words, her golden eyes narrowing like a little fox that had spotted intriguing prey.

"And Lady Frieren..." She paused deliberately, her gaze shifting intentionally between Lowell and Frieren before finally settling on Lowell's face. Her voice rose at the end, carrying undisguised inquiry and mockery, "... Any progress?"

She glossed over the crucial verb, but the implication was self-evident.

Lowell was taken aback at first, then blushed. He suddenly puffed out his chest, raised his chin, and said loudly in an almost declarative, resolute tone:

"Certainly!"

He reached out and pulled Frieren, who was still oblivious and blinking her bright green eyes, to his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder with an undeniable sense of possession.

"Frieren was always my Frieren!"

He spoke with such conviction, as if he were reciting some kind of sacred declaration of ownership.

With his arm around her, Frieren looked up at his flushed cheeks, then at Freya's smug, "I'd be a fool to believe you" smile, and blinked.

"Huh?" she uttered a short syllable, her expression somewhat blank. "What's the progress?"

Freya immediately seized on this opening. She chuckled and pointed at Lowell, her finger trembling slightly with laughter.

"Look, look!" she turned to Frieren, her tone exaggerated, "Even Lady Frieren doesn't know! Did you lie to Frieren? You cunning master!"

She took a step closer, her golden eyes gleaming with a mischievous glint, and pressed in a low voice, "With a spellbook? A magical tool? Or... Frieren's favorite Mercury Pudding?"

She spoke the last four words lightly and quickly, with a distinctly teasing tone.

Fern, who had been quietly observing, finally couldn't help herself. She raised her hand to cover her mouth, her shoulders trembling slightly. A clear smile appeared in her pale purple eyes, and she whispered a sentence, her voice full of understanding:

"You really know Lady Frieren's tastes well."

Lowell's face flushed even redder, this time a red of embarrassment and anger. He glared at Freya, then at the smirking Fern, and finally cast an accusing look at the still bewildered Frieren in his arms, as if to say, "Why aren't you speaking up for me!"

"Nonsense! Nonsense!"

He raised his voice, trying to overpower the other person with his imposing manner.

"The Demon King... Can you call something about the Demon King a lie?"

"We've been together for so long..." He took a deep breath, trying to put on a serious and solemn expression, "That's called... a natural progression!"

Then, seemingly to justify his actions, he began to ramble on and on, listing things like "I've been with Frieren for a thousand years" and "I Frieren the most," which echoed in the quiet space.

Freya crossed her arms and listened attentively. Only after he finished speaking did she slowly shake her head, her face still bearing the expression that said, "I don't believe a single word of it."

"Well, anyway," she drawled, her tone firm, "I don't believe it, I don't believe it. Unless I see evidence."

Lowell, seeing her unyielding attitude, gritted his teeth and stomped his foot on the ground, making a soft thud.

"You don't believe me? You want proof, right?"

As if he had made up his mind, his eyes sharpened. Under Freya's watchful gaze, Frieren's curious stare, and Fern's slightly surprised look, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Frieren's arm beside him.

Frieren staggered slightly from his sudden movement and looked up at him with some confusion.

"Lowell?"

Lowell didn't answer. He took a deep breath, as if preparing for some grand ceremony, then lowered his head and kissed Frieren's slightly parted lips without hesitation.

"Pop."

A clear, unambiguous kiss broke the silence.

Divide at the first touch.

Lowell looked up, a faint blush still lingering on her face, but her eyes shone with an astonishing brightness, a smug "Now you have nothing to say" attitude and the exhilaration of having burned her bridges, as she glared at Freya.

"Now you believe me, right?"

His voice was slightly breathless from his actions, but his tone was resolute.

Beside her, Fern let out a soft gasp, her pale purple eyes widening instantly, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. She quickly raised her hands, crossing them to shield her eyes, but her fingers secretly parted a tiny bit.

"It's... too erotic..." she whispered.

However, Freya's expected silence or eventual surrender did not occur.

The moment Lowell kissed her, Freya quickly raised her head, her gaze drifting towards the World Tree's enormous, seemingly endless canopy, as if there was something incredibly alluring there. She even raised a hand to her forehead, assuming a gazing posture.

"Huh?" she uttered a single, questioning syllable, her tone perfectly natural, carrying just the right amount of bewilderment. "What? What just happened? I didn't see anything!"

She gazed at the "sky" and exclaimed with the astonishment of someone discovering a new continent, "It looked like a giant dragon was flying across the sky just now, but I didn't see it..."

Lowell's smug expression froze instantly. He stared at Freya's pretentious profile.

"You..."

He forced out a single word through gritted teeth.

The next second, before Freya could turn her gaze away, he reached out and cupped Frieren's face again—this time even more urgently—and lowered his head to kiss her once more.

"Look!"

He released Frieren almost shouting it out.

Freya maintained her gazing posture, and even exaggeratedly exclaimed "Eh!"

"Wow... it looks like a whole group... how rare..."

She murmured to herself, as if she were truly captivated by the spectacular view from the sky.

"Where can I find something like that?!"

Lowell was enraged.

Freya seemed to be startled awake by his roar, slowly turning her head to look at him. Her golden eyes were clear and innocent, and her expression was so sincere it was outrageous.

"Yes, yes!" she nodded confidently, then, as if remembering something, she raised a finger to her lips, gave a mysterious smile, and whispered, "Only the dead can see it!"

Frieren had been passively enduring two surprise attacks, chuckled softly. The laughter was light, like a feather skimming the surface of water, and her emerald eyes curved into crescents, filled with undisguised pleasure and a touch of mischievous amusement.

Lowell turned sharply to look at her, his face filled with disbelief and accusation.

What are you laughing at...?

His voice lowered, tinged with frustration, but more so with helplessness, and a hint of tenderness that he himself was unaware of, softened by her smile.

Frieren stopped laughing, but the corners of her mouth remained upturned. She looked at Lowell's depressed and aggrieved expression, gently shook her head, and a gentle light shimmered in her emerald eyes.

"Okay."

As she spoke, she stepped forward, reached out, and wrapped her arms around Lowell's neck. Then, under Freya's smiling gaze and Fern's peeking glance from behind her fingers, she tiptoed slightly, tilted her head back, and gently pressed her soft lips to Lowell's.

This was a lighter, softer, yet more distinct kiss than the previous two.

She lingered for a moment before stepping back.

Frieren turned her head to look at Freya beside her, whose smile had become incredibly warm and gentle. Her voice was steady and her tone natural, as if she were stating a perfectly ordinary fact:

Freya.

She called her name and then smiled slightly.

"I am Lowell's wife."