Perhaps it was a few minutes, or perhaps it was an hour or two later. In any case, just as Raiden Ryoma was pounding on the wooden door in a daze, it suddenly became easy to push open once more. This caused Raiden Ryoma, who had been practically leaning his entire body against it, to stumble and fall right inside.
"Boss!"
The subordinates who had been following close behind immediately rushed in to help their boss up. But Mrs. Raiden, who followed them, walked in with a calm and unhurried pace. She took in the room's decor, her daughter who looked completely unchanged, and the young man who, while looking very amicable, was by no means strikingly handsome.
"Mei! Did this bastard brat do anything to you?!"
Raiden Ryoma snatched his katana from his subordinate's hand and glared at the boy who seemed more and more irritating the longer he looked—ah, screw it! The insufferable brat!
"Father, take a deep breath. Have you forgotten the etiquette you taught me? This behavior is very unbecoming."
Hearing his daughter's utterly blunt words, Raiden Ryoma felt a sharp pang in his heart. What was happening? How was his own daughter's elbow already turning outwards? She wasn't even married yet!
"Alright, dear, don't get so worked up. We have to understand what's really going on before we can make a judgment. Acting on just one side of the story is not the way."
Mrs. Raiden gently took hold of her husband's hand, the one gripping the sword, and smilingly lowered his raised arm.
It should be stated that Mrs. Raiden herself possessed no combat ability, whereas Raiden Ryoma was a Stigmata wielder and a master of the Hokushin Itto-ryu style, putting his own martial prowess at a very high level. The only reason Mrs. Raiden, an ordinary person, could restrain him here was simply because he truly loved his wife.
"Fine. In that case, Mei, could you introduce this friend of yours to your mother and me?"
As Raiden Ryoma looked at Xin Yu, he couldn't help but find the boy more and more pleasing to the eye. Wait, could this be why Mei suddenly had such an intimate boyfriend?!
For a moment, plots from all those light novels and stories he had once skimmed through flashed through his mind, making Raiden Ryoma so frightened he nearly pulled out a gun to execute this young man who he suspected of possessing hypnotic powers.
"Alright, Dad, don't be so jumpy. He is my boyfriend, my lover, and my husband, Xin Yu."
Raiden Mei introduced Xin Yu to her parents without a shred of hesitation.
"Xin Yu, you should probably let Mom and Dad remember the past, or rather, the events of the future. Otherwise, there's really no way to explain this clearly in a short time."
Xin Yu nodded. Looking at Raiden Ryoma, whose eyes were wide with terror, suspecting him of having hypnotic abilities, he snapped his fingers. Immediately, the story that had been altered and the one that had not began to flood into the minds of Raiden Ryoma and Mrs. Raiden.
After a period of digesting the memories, Raiden Ryoma's expression calmed. He looked with complicated eyes at the young man before him, then at his wife, who was still alive by his side.
"I'm sorry. I should have protected that omamori back then."
"It's alright, dear. Aren't we together now, safe and sound? And we've even gained such a powerful son-in-law, haven't we?" Mrs. Raiden said, affectionately stroking her husband's face.
"Yes... a son-in-law so powerful he's no different from a god."
At this thought, Raiden Ryoma's feelings became even more complex. His daughter had found a lover who could protect her better than he ever could, a lover so powerful that even if his daughter were wronged, he would be powerless to do anything about it.
He was supposed to be the most reliable support for his daughter after she married, yet he now found that her chosen one was a being far beyond his imagination. Had his daughter found such a husband for better or for worse?
"Don't worry, Father. Although A-Yu has several lovers, he has never wronged any of them."
"Mei, you...唉!"
"Father, a person who can command time never lacks the time to accompany those he loves."
"Father-in-law," Xin Yu began, "I have indeed done some scummy things in the past, becoming a scumbag who started a harem. But I guarantee that whenever my lovers need my companionship, I will always be there. I will accompany them for a very, very long time. Whether Mei needs me for a hundred years, a thousand years, or even ten thousand years, I will be by her side."
Xin Yu wasn't lying. With his command over time, he could truly do this. He could spend millennia with one lover in another timeline, then return to this world in the next second.
This way, no matter who it was, he would have more than enough time to be with them.
Yes, he was undoubtedly a scumbag, a player with many lovers and wives. But since it had already happened, he would take responsibility—the responsibility of a husband, of a lover.
"Sigh... Since it has come to this, what can I do? Even if I object, it would be meaningless. Rather than letting our relationship grow stiff, it's better to go with the flow and give you my blessing... But you must remember this, Xin Yu. If you fail to live up to the responsibilities of a husband and a lover, then even if you are a god, I will draw my sword against you. No matter how foolish it may be, that is the responsibility I must bear as a father."
Xin Yu stood up and walked over to Raiden Ryoma and his wife, taking Raiden Mei's hand.
"I will not let that happen."
"What... what just happened?"
Several security guards in black suits looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion. It seemed like their boss had just charged into the flower shop, and then... and then what happened? Why couldn't they remember?
"Alright, let's go. You haven't had dinner yet, have you? Our home has room for an extra pair of chopsticks, if you don't mind," said Raiden Ryoma.
"Of course not. You are my father-in-law, practically half a father to me. How could I possibly refuse or mind an invitation from you?"
"Do you drink?"
"I do."
"Then we'll have a few drinks later. You can tell me what kind of story you and Mei have... Wait a minute! Speaking of drinking, didn't I see you somewhere before?"
"Yes, Father-in-law. The first time we met was on a day you were drunk. I was the one who brought you home."
"You little rascal! Were you eyeing my Mei since that day?!"
"Father-in-law, actually, I knew Mei even before that. I knew her back when you were framed and imprisoned by Cocolia, and she was being ostracized and bullied by everyone because of it."
Raiden Ryoma fell silent.
Once, as a husband, he was powerless to save his wife, letting her die of illness. As a father, he failed to protect his daughter, allowing her to be humiliated and bullied because of political struggles.
Thinking of it now, he was truly a failure.
"Xin Yu, take good care of Mei."
"Yes, I will."