Chapter 84 – Yo! I know this ni-

The chat with everyone was the calm before the storm.

After a bit more banter where Lee explained the situation with Suho dropping the bomb that Shin Jonghak had actually been pining for senior Seo Youngji the entire time and was definitely keeping Yeonha and Nayun around as just options...

Well.

Things went nuclear. Almost.

But because Nayun and her dad had left to Australia to go meet with her grandfather to explain the situation, and because everyone in Essence of Strait wanted to 'get to know the husband of the young lady,' they were all too occupied to focus on Shin Jonghak for the time being.

Either way, since it was bound to be ridiculous amounts of drama, and because Lee didn't want Evandel to pick up bad habits, Lee took his daughter and his fiancee out with an Irish goodbye, leaving Hajin and Yeonha to deal with the fallout.

It would be fine.

After Rachel's pointed comment about causing Yeonha to potentially miscarriage if there was too much stress, and considering how much her family adored her, they wouldn't cross the line.

Nayun's situation with her Oppa should be fine now too.

It would be ideal if Chae Joochul managed to find artifacts from King Solomon. Those were guaranteed to have an effect on demons, after all.

Considering how Hajin had described Chae Jinyoon's situation, Lee wasn't confident in trying things either.

Theoretically, it should work. But in practice, it might not.

As for just relying on Evandel...

"Look, Daddy!" Sitting in Lee's arms, Evandel held up a bubble and poked it, causing it to shimmer. "Gold bubble!"

Lee, Rachel, and Evandel had gone to downtown Seoul to walk around and just relax until the others sorted out their affairs. Since the main priorities were temporarily resolved, it meant more time to just relax as a family.

And as part of relaxing as a family...

Lee smiled and adjusted his grip on his daughter before saying, "That's right, Eva. Good job."

"Yeah!" Evandel giggled and stuck her tongue out in focus, distorting the bubble into complicated shapes for fun.

Seeing that, Lee realized with 100% certainty that giving his daughter access to a cup with potentially inexhaustible amounts of magical energy and/or reality distorting powers was NOT a good idea.

Especially when she was very much in the 'what if things were more fun' phase of life.

Rachel smiled as she walked beside Lee, watching Evandel play with her golden bubble... which was either Aether, mana, or real liquid gold.

At this point, no one was really sure...

But Rachel just kept smiling as she watched Evandel before looking at Lee and saying, "I've always thought this... but you really are good with Eva, Lee."

"Of course." Lee smiled. "She's my daughter, and half me. I roughly get her habits. Like figuring out how things tick."

Evandel nodded and said, "Puzzles, fun!"

Rachel giggled. "Is that so? Should Mommy give you a puzzle then to play with?"

Lee glanced at Rachel and said, "As long as it isn't a millennium puzzle in the shape of a golden pyramid."

Rachel blinked. "Pardon?"

"Don't worry about it." Lee chuckled. "Also... this came to mind after Hajin mentioned the other countries. But other than Africa and the Middle East or Central Asia, any artifacts that people find belong to the government of that country, right?"

Rachel nodded. "That is correct, Lee." She paused, suddenly cautious. "...Why do you ask?"

Lee hummed and said, "Well... You're the ruler of the Kingdom of Britain, right?"

Rachel blinked. "...Yes?"

"So any artifacts found within the Kingdom of Britain... which includes Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, and other places, right?"

"I hesitate to answer yes, Lee. May I ask why you want to know?"

"Hypothetically," Lee said. "If I were to... say pull up a great deal of artifacts in said regions and hand them to you, would that count as handing over the artifacts to the government of the Kingdom of Britain?"

Rachel paused. Then her eyes lit up in understanding before she giggled. "Oh my... Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting, my dear fiance?"

Evandel gasped and looked at Lee. "Daddy! Treasure hunting?!"

"That's right." Lee grinned. "Since your aunts and uncles are all busy... how about we go treasure hunt as a family? Daddy has some friends he could invite who would be glad to come along."

===

Jeronimo Mercenary's office, around 11 AM.

Boss had finished up all the paperwork for once and was planning to head out for the day under a disguise to enjoy some good food. She was in the mood for some Korean fried chicken... anything other than more of whatever barbecued monster parts Cheok Jungyeong left in the fridge.

But the moment she left her office and headed towards the front door, it opened.

"Boss, are you in here?"

An unfamiliar voice. At least, at first. But Boss immediately recognized it as Lee after a split second processing it.

After his voice though...

"So this is my fiance's future work place."

"Daddy's work? Wow!"

...A refined young woman's voice echoed, followed by the voice of a cheerful little girl.

And then...

"Boss! I'm here to report! And to show Uncle Lee and Aunt Rachel around!"

...Droon's voice echoed too.

Boss blinked and saw the four immediately enter the lobby and look towards her.

Rachel tilted her head, staring at Boss with sharp blue eyes.

Then, without hesitation, she pulled Lee in for a deep kiss.

Lee was surprised, but he laughed and kissed Rachel back.

Evandel gasped before clapping her hands in glee. "Mommy and Daddy biiiiig Kissy! Yay!"

Droon chuckled and walked forward, hugging...

'Is that a dragon?'

Boss immediately honed her gaze on the blue-eyed white dragon held in Droon's hands. The one that was around the size of a small puppy, but undoubtedly a real dragon from the magical power radiating off it.

"Droon."

"Hm? Oh!" Droon nodded and said, "Albion! Say hi to Boss."

The dragon, Albion apparently, looked towards Boss and nodded, waving its front paw.

Boss slowly blinked. Then she turned to look at Lee, as if he could have the answers she needed.

But Lee just smiled and said, "Don't mind Rachel. Wifey's a bit jealous-"

Rachel immediately nipped Lee's neck, leaving a mark.

Lee laughed. "As you can see."

Boss slowly nodded. "...Yes."

And seeing that, Boss realized exactly why her instincts told her to include Rachel in the list of candidates being requested for the Guild Experience.

In her line of work, Boss had seen plenty of relationships as well as affection between lovers.

And due to her beauty, Boss was aware of the effect it could have on relationships as well.

Seeing how Rachel was reacting when Lee had taken the initiative to introduce Boss, and how Rachel had immediately drawn the line in the sand...

'It was good to be introduced like this.'

Boss had the feeling that she would have been under siege the moment she met Rachel if it had happened any other way.

...Which also made Boss put a mark towards the 'my newest hire is a regressor' theory.

To make the infamously cold and aloof Princess of the Kingdom of Britain into this...

'It definitely does not come from a simple relationship. Moreover...'

No matter how Boss looked at her, the toddler that Lee was holding, his daughter named Evandel...

She was absolutely Rachel's biological daughter.

The news about being from a collateral line after a teenaged whirlwind romance that Lee had with one of Rachel's distant relatives was absolutely a lie.

Evandel looked completely like a miniature Rachel, with the only difference being in the hair-color (a light brown), and her eyes, which were more like Lee's.

'Did Lee regress with his daughter then? No, of course he did.'

Boss could see it now.

A calamity in the future resulting in Rachel's death. Lee, using some means to regress while taking his toddler daughter with him- No, it must have been infant daughter.

After all, Purple Salon said that year before Cube in Lee's history was impossible to read...

"Uh, Boss?" Lee tilted his head. "You alright? ...Have you slept? You have bags under your eyes."

Evandel gasped and pointed at Boss too. "No! Auntie Boss! Hafta sleep!"

Boss blinked. Then she let out a soft smile at Evandel's cute voice. "...I will. And I am fine. Just a lot of work."

Rachel stared at Boss.

Boss stared back.

Rachel slowly nodded. "Okay. I approve. Besides, Lee doesn't like older women anyway."

Lee laughed. "Okay, that's rude, Rachel. I mean, true. But also, you can't just say that to a beautiful woman's face. Even if they are older."

Boss's left eye twitched. But then she sighed and said, "...Welcome to Jeronimo. Since you two are both going to visit in the future, make yourself at home." She looked towards Evandel again and smiled. "...This place will be your family as well."

Evandel held up her hand. "Yay! More fami!"

"Family, Eva." Lee patted Evandel's head. "And yes-"

At that time, a portal opened in the middle of the lobby. And when it did, someone walked out. A muscular African-American man with curly hair in a low-taper fade, sunglasses, a slight beard, and a white tank-top that showed off his muscular body.

Khalifa, the Seat of Blue in the Chameleon Troupe.

"Yo, Boss. Finished up the Packhorse thing- HOLY CRAP!"

Boss froze. Her mind quickly spurred to assess the situation. But before she could react...

Khalifa laughed and started walking towards Lee, his hand raised high to dap him up. "Lee! My man!"

Lee blinked, confused for a bit. But then his eyes lit up in recognition and disbelief. "HOLY SHIT. CARTER?!"

Khalifa laughed and dapped Lee up before saying, "Nah, Lil Man. It's Khalifa. I thought we went over this. Do you even understand the words coming out of my mouth?"

Lee laughed and then pulled Khalifa in for a hug. "Yooo. What the hell is even going on right now?"

Evandel gasped and said, "DADDY CURSE!" She immediately held out her hand. "Choco!"

Lee blinked. Then he chuckled and reached into his pocket to pull out the emergency chocolate square he had just for Evandel. "Here, Eva."

"Yay~!" Evandel took the chocolate and immediately unwrapped it before shoving it in her mouth. "Nom!"

"But maaan." Lee looked at Khalifa, nostalgia, disbelief, and fondness in his gaze. "...It's wild seeing you like this."

"Right?!" Khalifa held his hand down to his waist and said, "Last I saw you, you were only this tall, man! What happened? You eat magic beans or summin?"

"I wish! I was just kung fu fighting, you know?"

"Sure as hell looks like it!"

Evandel gasped and pointed at Khalifa too. "Curse! Bad Uncle Kali! Choco!" She held her hand out, clearly demanding a chocolate tax.

Khalifa blinked, confused. But then he laughed, "Oh, I gotcha, little girl. One sec." After that, he opened a portal and stepped away. When he came back, he handed Evandel a king-sized chocolate bar. "Here you go."

Evandel's eyes sparkled. "BIG CHOCO! WOW!"

Rachel walked up and took the chocolate bar from Evandel. "Eva. No eating this much choco."

Evandel gasped and quickly snatched it back. "Big choco not for nom nom! Treasure!"

Rachel blinked, not expecting that reaction from Evandel. But then she laughed and said, "Okay. As long as you aren't eating it. That much will make your tumtum hurt."

"I know!" Evandel nodded. Then she looked at Khalifa and said, "Thankie Uncle Kali!"

Khalifa smiled and patted Evandel's head. "No problem, little girl."

Boss watched them all interact. Then she slowly said, "...It seems you're already acquainted, Lee."

"Huh?" Lee blinked. "Oh, yeah. It's complicated, but I definitely know this ni- Ninja."

Khalifa burst out laughing.

Droon, quiet until now, suddenly burst out in giggles.

Rachel rolled her eyes.

And Boss just pinched the bridge her nose, sensing yet another headache.