Erica stood frozen, her body limp until she had to hold onto the back of a seat. She was very shocked after finding out that one of the honorable Duke's sons would marry three men at once.
A handsome man will marry three other handsome men? Has this family gone mad? screamed Erica inwardly.
Amidst Erica's shocked silence, Kazien, who was the center of conversation, finally spoke up. He looked at the girl with an appraising but friendly gaze.
"Your name is Erica, right?" asked Kazien suddenly.
Erica flinched, pulled back to reality. She swallowed and nodded stiffly. "Y-yes..."
"How old are you?" asked Kazien again.
"Almost thirteen years old." answered Erica softly. "Why do you ask, Young Master?"
Allen released his embrace on Kazien, then looked at Erica with a wide smile. "I'm already over fourteen years old! Apparently, you will be my younger sister, huh? Hahaha, I have a younger sister now!" chimed in Allen cheerfully.
Erica frowned, not understanding the direction of their jumping conversation. Plus Allen's sudden remark acknowledging her as a sister made it even harder for her to digest all the conversation in the midst of her chaotic mind.
Kazien smiled seeing the confusion. "Erica, how about you enter the academy with us later?" offered Kazien. "You will be officially adopted by Aunt Elisa. And honestly, I am very grateful to you. Thanks to you, I don't have to see my cute Allen turn into a beautiful woman!"
Allen's face instantly turned bright red. He became self-conscious after Kazien praised his cute face in front of everyone. Allen's hand moved to pinch Kazien's waist gently. "Stop it, you're embarrassing me in front of my new sister..."
Erica was even more confused. "Thanks to me? What exactly did I do for you, Young Master? I just arrived here..."
"Your presence is the key!" answered Kazien seriously yet casually. "It seems Goddess Nirfelia has answered my hope with your arrival here at the right time. Because you are a girl who can give birth to a successor for Aunt Elisa, Allen doesn't need to be forced to change gender to become a woman to give birth to a successor. To me, you are my savior! Thank you very much!"
Kazien sighed in relief while massaging his temples. "You know, Erica? Imagining Alvin, Allen, and Arken becoming women at the same time almost drove me crazy!"
"W-Wait a minute! Wait!" exclaimed Erica while raising her right hand, a sign asking for a pause. "What does this mean? Change gender? Three wives? I really don't understand!"
Seeing Erica who was about to explode from confusion, Kazien patiently explained briefly yet concisely.
"Listen, Erica." started Kazien with a more serious tone. "This might sound crazy to you, but this is reality. You see Alvin?"
Erica turned to look at the cute High Elf.
"Alvin is the last High Elf remaining in this world. High Elves have gone extinct, and he is the only hope."
Kazien looked at Alvin with a gaze full of responsibility. "Goddess Nirfelia gave a special and absolute mission to me. So that the High Elf race does not vanish from the face of the world, Alvin must give birth to at least three pure High Elf descendants in the future."
Kazien took a deep breath before continuing the part most confusing for ordinary people.
"Because of that, Alvin will biologically change form into a woman one month before the birth process, so that the High Elf race can continue. And previously, my parents wanted Allen to do the same to continue the Altavis lineage from Aunt Elisa. But thanks to you, Allen is free from that burden."
The shock and confusion on Erica's face intensified. The purple-haired girl felt like her head was about to explode due to the amount of nonsensical information she heard in the last five minutes. What did he say? Divine mission? Last High Elf? Race extinction?
"B-But..." stammered Erica, her logic refusing strongly. "How can a man give birth to a child? That goes against the laws of nature!"
Kazien smiled meaningfully. "Nothing is impossible for Goddess Nirfelia, the Creator of everything!" answered Kazien straightforwardly and full of conviction.
Hearing the Goddess's name mentioned with such certainty, Erica's eyes dimmed slightly. A small painful hope appeared in her heart.
"If that Goddess is so great..." Erica's voice trembled softly. "Can Goddess Nirfelia resurrect my parents who have died?"
The room was silent for a moment. Kazien looked at Erica with a sympathetic gaze, but he didn't give her false hope.
"Of course that is impossible." answered Kazien honestly, without beating around the bush. "Goddess Nirfelia has absolute rules. She does not want to interfere with life in this world with life in the afterlife. Death is a boundary that cannot be crossed, even by the Goddess."
Erica stared at Kazien sharply, slightly offended by the answer that sounded know-it-all. "H-How do you know that so surely? Are you dreaming?"
"No!" answered Kazien shaking his head. "I know because I once asked her directly to resurrect Alvin's parents. But Goddess Nirfelia gave that rejection answer to me directly."
Erica's mouth opened slightly. "Did... Did you ever meet Goddess Nirfelia directly?"
"I have met her, in a fully conscious state!" said Kazien calmly, his eyes gazing distantly remembering the divine meeting. "She has a very magnificent form. She has six magnificent silver wings on her back, a very beautiful face, and long golden yellow hair that shines, exactly the same as Alvin's hair color."
The answer that came out of Kazien's mouth, along with the visual description so detailed, silenced Erica completely. She looked at Kazien's face with a look of disbelief, searching for a lie there but only finding absolute calmness.
Kazien knew that right now Erica didn't believe his words. For ordinary people, meeting a Goddess is mere fairy tale.
Kazien shrugged his shoulders lightly, then went back to spooning his food.
"You want to believe my words, that is your right. You don't want to believe my words, that is also your right! I'm not forcing you. I'm just telling you as it is about what I experienced."