"Did something bad happen?" Eleni asked, her eyes dartiween Draco, Cir, and Bahamut.

  She could see Cir's reddened eyes, indig that she had been g retly.

  Dimitra, oher hand, quickly pieced together the sequence of events she knew and what she observed, arriving at an answer.

  ‘Sigh, she got rejected, huh?’ Dimitra thought.

  ‘It must have beebreaking for her, but why is she still here? Could it be that she 't leave?’ she wondered, staring at Cir, who stared back with a subtle pleading gaze.

  ‘Oh, could it be that she needs an excuse to leave,’ Dimitra quickly realized.

  "Ahem, Cir, you help me che Vasiliki? She might be awake by now. Eleni and I 't go because of these," she said, gesturing at the grocery bags in her hands with a nod of her head.

  "We do?" Eleni asked, fused about what was happening.

  Dimitra lightly bumped Eleni with her shoulder, silently promptio go along with the pn.

  Eleni still didn't fully uand the situation, but she reized that Dimitra needed her to stay quiet for the moment, so she didn't protest.

  "Oh, I do that," Cir replied, nodding thankfully to Dimitra.

  Draco looked like he was about to say something, but he remained silent, pig up on the subtle nuances between the girls.

  Bahamut was equally quiet, the unfolding se with a thoughtful expression.

  With that, Cir got up and quickly exited the house, heading to the girls' housi door.

  "Okay, will someone now expin what happened?" Eleni asked as soon as Cir was gone.

  "Sigh, are you stupid or just slow? 't you tell that she got rejected by Draii?" Dimitra scolded.

  "I 't believe you're the same girl who acted like a retionship expert just a few minutes ago." she mumbled.

  "Ooooooh," Eleni excimed, her eyes widening in realization.

  "Is that true, Draii?" Eleni asked, and Draodded in aowledgment, firming the situation.

  ‘Things are moving crazy fast, I thought the situation would stretto weeks, but I guess I was wrong’ Eleni thought.

  "Will Cir be alright on her own?" Eleni asked, ed for her friend.

  "Probably not, but it's something she'll have to deal with anyway," Dimitra replied, shaking her head in exasperation.

  "That aside, what took you girls so long to return?" Bahamut asked, interrupting the discussion.

  She didn’t like hoard the atmosphere was as the girls discussed the situation.

  Eleni didn't have a good answer.

  ‘I 't really say that we were busy gossiping, and lies don't work on a goddesses,’ she thought.

  "We were talking about some things and ended up wasting time as a result," Dimitra cut in, providing a vague expnation that wasirely untrue, as they had indeed been discussing something, just not specifying the details.

  "I see," Bahamut replied, not probing further.

  The atmosphere turned awkward once again, as Eleni and Dimitra were internally in a state of fusion.

  They didn't know whose side to take – their brother Draco's, who had rejected their friend and family member Cir, or Cir's, who had fessed to their brother and was rejected, or their goddess Bahamut's, who had in a sense facilitated everything by fessing her love to Draco.

  "Ahem," Draco cleared his throat, breaking the palpable silehat had settled over the room and drawing everyone's attention to him.

  With all eyes now fixed on him, Draco suddenly began narrating the events that had transpired from his perspective, starting from the moment he had returned from the dungeon earlier that day.

  He didn’t o really say anything more, but he felt as though he o expin his side of things.

  In a measured tone, Draco reted his return from the dungeon, tending to Vasiliki who woke up a few ho and her requests.

  He then reached the part about Cir, the sudden fession of her affes, and his subsequeion of her advances.

  Draco's face remained impassive as he reyed the details, but those listening could sehe underlying tension and unease.

  As Draco finished his at, he suddenly stood up from his chair and grabbed his cloak from the kit ter.

  "I o take a walk," he said, not waiting for a response as he swiftly pulled on the garment and quietly exited the house, stepping out into the bustling streets of the city.

  Dimitra, who had been listening ily, couldn't help but ponder on Draco’s side of things.

  ‘Sigh, I guess this might have just been fate, huh?’ she mused, shaking her head slightly to dispel the gloomy thoughts.

  Determio keep the household running smoothly, Dimitra began arranging the groceries into the pantry.

  Seeing Dimitra's as, Eleni and Bahamut quickly followed suit, each taking on a task to move in with their inal pns for the day.

  It was already a few hours past noon and lunch hadn’t been prepared yet, with so much left to do in the day, they couldn't afford to waste a more time.

  ……………………………………………………………………………………….

  Meanwhile, in the bustling streets of Orario, Nikoos, Michalis, and Vasileios were making their way back to the familia's home.

  They had taken oask of carrying everyone's ons and armour to the Hephaestus familia's workshops iy's northwestern district, seekiimates for the necessary repairs.

  The trio had hoped for a reasonable price, but the initial estimates had been quite staggering, even for their well-funded familia.

  Fortunately, Draco had left a note behind, listing several potential repair shops they could try.

  Following the leads provided, the three young boys had made their way to the Goibniu familia's workshops, where they were able to secure a much more reasoimate for the required work.

  Without hesitation, they had enlisted the services of an experienced bcksmith, who promised to have the items ready for colle the following day.

  As they walked, Michalis suddenly spoke up, "Do you think Draii is back already?" he asked, a hint of eagerness in his voice.

  Vasileios pohe question for a moment before responding, "Probably. He did say there was a lot to do today." he replied.

  Nikoos, lost in thought, added, "I 't help but wonder what my level up will bring. Will I gain magic, a new innate skill, or perhaps a ridiculously powerful development ability?" he said.

  Michalis nodded in agreement, "Hmm, me too. I definitely need a skill that shorten my crazy-long magic t." he replied.

  "Yeah, yic does feel a bit impractical for a stealth-focused build," Vasileios ented.

  "It would be nice if you could move while ting." he added.

  Nikoos' brow furrowed as he tried to recall something Draco had mentioned in the past.

  "I remember Draii saying that it ossible, but extremely difficult. What was it called again?" his tail wildly swaying as he tried to recall.

  "Ah, I remember now!" Nikoos excimed.

  "It was called current ting. Draii said there are fewer than 20 people who use that teique." he said.

  Michalis' eyes widened in surprise.

  "Whoa, that's an incredibly small number. Maybe mastering Draii's method of casting might be a much easier alternative." he replied.

  Nikoos shook his head, "I highly doubt it. Draii's method works best for elemental spells, at least from what I tell. Yours is more of an iffy posite spell, which is a bit trickier." Nikoos said.

  Michalis immediately opened his mouth to protest, "Hey, it's not just an 'iffy' spell! It does have traces of the space element!" he protested.

  "Look at you, dreaming of maniputing such a high-css element," Nikoos scoffed, his voice dripping with a hint of anger.

  "Even Draii currently only manipute the four basic elements." he added.

  Vasileios, interjected quickly, hoping to diffuse the growing tension.

  "Now, now, you two, calm down." he said, casting a ed gweewo brothers, sensing the brewing storm.

  "There is ue about it," Vasileios tinued, his tone measured and soothing.

  "Michalis, it is not bad to dream about the space element. However, for now, at least try to master your posite spell." He turo Nikoos, his expression uanding.

  "I know you are jealous, Nikoos, and I uand how badly you want a magic skill. I want ooo, but there's o be this way with Michalis. After all, we're brothers." he said.

  Nikoos clicked his tongue, his shoulders visibly tensing.

  "Who's jealous?" he grumbled, but fell silent, his pride keeping him from voig any further pints.

  Michalis couldn't resist pushing things and muttered "Heh, jealous," whily served to further ignite Nikoos' spark.

  Vasileios, sensing the situation was about to boil over, wanted nothing more than to smack Michalis on the head, but he held back, instead fog his attention on Nikoos, whose temper had once agaioked.

  The rest of the journey home ent with Vasileios carefully navigating the temosphere, w to keep Nikoos from starting a brawl with Michalis oreet.