Having changed rooms once again, the royal family, which technically included Kaito now that he was Lala's fiancé, were sitting comfortably on a semicircular sofa that Kaito found quite comfortable.
At that moment, Gid was looking at his eldest daughter with disappointment.
"Lala, how many times did I tell you not to interfere with the Gaia System? I told you, didn't I?"
"Y-yes. Nineteen times" Lala replied.
"And what did you do?"
"I interfered... with the Gaia System?"
"You did. I warned you. The people behind this system are on my level. It's not something you can just tamper with.
Even worse, you were punished and ended up subordinate to someone and dependent on him. The daughter of the great King of the Galaxy subordinate to a mere human. Do you know how embarrassing that would be if people found out?"
"B-but..."
"No buts. I even told you many times not to dare use Devilukian technology to support anyone. And what did you do? Now a low-level race is on the same level as the strongest middle-level races and can even reach the weakest high-class ones."
"I have nothing to do with that!" Lala immediately objected. "Kaito is strong on his own!"
"And you think I'd believe that? Better tell me..."
While Kaito watched the argument between father and daughter, Sephie approached him.
"So, Kaito, right? Is it true that Lala didn't support you, or is she just defending you? She seems to care about you quite a bit. I'm Sephie, by the way, Sephie Michaela Deviluke, Queen of Deviluke and, of course, Lala's mother."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sephie" Kaito said.
"Miss? You flatter me."
"Of course not. Miss Sephie still looks..."
"Hey, stop trying to win over my mother and answer the question" an annoyed voice sounded beside him.
"Nana, how many times have I told you not to be so rude?" Sephie immediately corrected the girl with pink twin tails and a petite figure.
"Yes, Nana. You'll never find a husband like that. You should learn from me" said Momo, Lala's other sister, with short pink hair and a more developed figure, sounding proud.
"You're single too, what are you talking about?" Nana complained.
"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Now, what were you saying?" Sephie calmed her daughters before turning back toward Kaito. Despite her gentle smile, she was clearly expecting an answer.
"Not really. Lala built two things using Devilukian technology. One is a bracelet that reduces a person's size, which Diane uses so she can enter the mansion and sleep there. The other is a device meant to enter my brain and try to help me with something. I'm not crazy enough to let her use that second one."
"My, it seems you know my daughter quite well" Sephie smiled upon hearing the last part. "Yes, when Lala wants to help her friends, she tends to disobey her father without caring about the consequences. I was wondering why she had been coming home so often lately, but it seems that was the reason. That girl.
But then, how are you so strong?"
"I have... special methods of obtaining information" Kaito said. "So I move through the Tower of Worlds quite easily."
It is said that two is the maximum number of people who can know a secret. Because after three, it becomes impossible to control and eventually everyone finds out. In other words, once there are three people, it is no longer a secret.
However, because of Kaito's methods, the people of Earth had long noticed that Kaito seemed to know not only the worlds inside the Tower of Worlds but also many from the real world. They did not take long to form theories, the most accepted being that Kaito was a regressor, with even the Union believing it.
Because of this, revealing it to Sephie did not really matter. Even so, one thing he would never reveal was that he was reincarnated, and even if he were forced to do so, he would never say that the people around him were characters from stories he had watched or read.
Kaito was not willing to find out what would happen if someone learned they were a character written by someone else.
"How interesting" Sephie said, looking at Kaito with more interest than before.
"What do you mean by that? Are you a regressor or something?" Nana asked, irritated by his habit of speaking in riddles.
"Nana, don't be stupid" Momo said disdainfully. "...Or are you?"
Faced with that situation, Kaito naturally noticed what was going on.
"You've been watching Lala?"
"My, watching sounds so unpleasant. I was simply worried about my daughter's safety on the other side of the galaxy and decided to see what she was doing, always keeping an eye on her well-being" Sephie smiled.
"Then what's the point of this conversation? Or even the entire previous test?" Kaito asked.
"Well, it was fun" Sephie replied.
"Fun?"
"That's right. It was very amusing watching Lala convince Gid to create tests that favored you. It was incredibly difficult to hold myself back when she suggested making the first test a race, hahaha." Remembering it, Sephie could not help but laugh at her daughter's antics.
"As for the questioning. Of course I want to get to know the person who is going to marry my daughter and find out whether he will treat her well.
Especially considering that said person already has quite a few other girlfriends. Of course that is not a bad thing, but the problem is that many of them came before Lala. I would not like my daughter to be loved less than the others."
"You don't need to worry about that" Kaito replied.
"You sound very confident. You didn't even think about it. But I don't sense any lies from you, so I'll believe you" Sephie said.
"Ah, Mom! Speaking of that..."
"I remember, I remember" Sephie said before turning toward Kaito. "You see, since I don't have much free time, I had to ask Momo and Nana to watch over Lala. When they discovered that you seemed to be a regressor, they asked for a reward, namely the chance to ask you a question. Would you mind answering?"
"I'm not really a regressor and, while I do have some information, it's not enough to count as seeing the future" Kaito said.
Sephie studied his face for a brief moment before replying.
"Hmm, a half-lie. What you said is true, but the intent behind it is false."
'She got it' Kaito thought in surprise. While he truly did not see the future, making his statement technically true, the intent behind it, claiming he did not know their future, was a lie because he did know the broad outlines through the anime.
"Can you read minds?" he asked in surprise.
"Not exactly, but I can perceive emotions and the changes in them. Over time, I learned how to interpret their meaning.
Now then, regarding the question, my daughters want to know who they'll marry."
"I-I'm not particularly interested, but since Momo said..."
"Shhhh! Nana, drop the tsundere act, I want to know" Momo interrupted, covering Nana's mouth with both hands.
Kaito thought for a moment before replying.
"I don't know who you'll marry, sorry" he said, sounding almost robotic as he carefully considered every word.
'Good' he thought to himself in satisfaction. 'Although they originally married Rito, they only met him because of Lala, so I don't know what will happen this time.'
"Hmm." Sephie frowned as she tried to read him. "You're lying and not lying at the same time. So you know, but you don't know? What a strange situation" she said with interest.
"What does that mean? Tell us" Nana complained, forgetting that she had claimed not to care a moment ago.
"I know" Sephie said, clasping her hands together after a brief moment. "Could it be that you know who they used to marry, but you don't know if things will be the same this time?"
"Oh, that emotional reaction, like a rabbit caught in its burrow. It seems I was right, fufufu." Before Kaito could answer, Sephie accepted her own conclusion with the smile of someone genuinely enjoying herself while making guesses.
"What is that supposed to mean? You didn't change my future, did you?" Nana complained.
"Then tell us how it was before" Momo added.
"Wait, girls, let me think" their mother said, silencing them. "I know. Let's see. You know who they married before, but not now. Even if you traveled through time, knowing details like that wouldn't be easy.
That means you know some important factor changed, right? Most likely you changed it yourself? Yes, that seems correct based on your reaction.
Something close to both them and you that you could have changed... Lala?
That could be it. My daughters, these silly girls, married the same person as Lala?" Sephie asked while looking at her daughters.
Of course, she did not really let Kaito answer and simply continued guessing.
"Well, Momo admires and loves Lala very much, so that's not surprising. And Nana is very easy to win over, so after spending enough time with someone who managed to make Lala fall in love, she'd probably end up with the same result.
I see, mystery solved. That was very fun, thank you for playing" Sephie laughed, satisfied with her answer.
Meanwhile, Kaito simply remained silent, unsure of what to say.
'What game? I didn't play anything. They played me' he complained internally.
"But since you changed Lala's future, I hope you'll take responsibility and be better than her previous husband at the very least."
'Yeah, that'll be easy.'
"'Yeah, that'll be easy' is what your emotions are saying. Was he really that bad?" Sephie asked.
"...Are you sure you don't read minds?" Kaito asked, genuinely doubtful.
"Of course I don't, but... this is a serious matter." Sephie suddenly adopted a serious posture.
"What's wrong?"
"If they married the same person as Lala before, then there's a chance they'll marry you now, right? If that's the case, it seems we'll have to do some... problematic things.
Yes, problematic for you" Sephie said before nodding, knowing exactly what Kaito was wondering.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)