After the quiet dinner party came to an end, every Larkinson returned to their own berths. The Gravada Knarlax was not a hotel, after all. Engineers and inspectors from the MTA constantly crawled through the huge vessel.
Ves decided to have some fun for his last night as a bachelor. He spontaneously decided to spend the night on the Gravada Knarlax.
Though this caused the clan a small amount of consternation, he eventually got his way.
In any case, the Gravada Knarlax was completely safe and devoid of pirates. With the MTA in firm control over the captured pirate vessel, Ves doubted that any boobytraps were left intact.
He approached the grand and spacious stateroom of Lord Hivex.
Though the Larkinsons had taken some of the furniture and trophies away, enough was left to make Ves feel as if he was a pirate lord.
"My new stateroom aboard our upcoming factory ship will look just as impressive as this compartment!"
"Meow."
Lucky, who was content with the exotics filling up his belly, floated over to the new king-sized bed placed in the center.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll be sharing it with Gloriana, so I'll effectively control half the space."
"Meow meow!"
"Hey! That won't happen! She won't hog my space!"
Lucky opened his maw to yawn before settling himself for some rest.
Ves proceeded to enter the bathroom to change his clothes. Once he reached his bed, he sat on it and looked around.
The banners, weapons and broken armor pieces each had a story behind them. If he was interested, he could access the archives in order to study Lord Hivex's backstory.
There was little point in doing so. The leader of the Allidus Alliance had become yet another dead enemy of his. Now that he exited the Nyxian Gap, Ves had no reason to entangle himself with people like Lord Hivex any further.
His parents should be able to meet any further challenges. His father piloted the Devil Tiger while his mother had gained a boost in strength. Not even other dark gods could rival their current strength.
Only the Five Scrolls Compact remained a bit of a question mark. What would they do after losing contact with Temple Protector Dista? The fall of such a powerful and transcendental figure would definitely alarm the higher ups of the Compact.
"Whatever the case, I don't want to be here when their inevitable follow-up party arrives."
As Ves slipped underneath the covers and tried to go sleep, a nervous tension prevented him from doing so. He was too excited and apprehensive to rest.
Though his physical condition wouldn't suffer if he decided to stay up all night, his mind might not be as acute.
"I have to be in my best condition for the wedding."
Yet the more he tried, the harder it was for him to fall asleep.
With his enhanced physique, regular sleeping pills weren't enough to make him slumber.
"This is a bit of a problem."
He shifted in his bed.
Lucky floated up to his head and landed on the pillow.
"Meow."
"Cats are nocturnal. It's fine for you to stay awake."
The cat pressed his paw against Ves' nose. "Meow meow"
"You don't understand. Tomorrow is an important day. Nothing must go wrong."
Why was he talking to his cat? He should go to sleep instead!
Ves huffed and turned his body so he faced to the opposite side. Lucky did not entangle with him any further and began to curl up to rest.
As time went by, Ves grew a little hazy. He hoped that sleep would come soon. His heartbeat calmed and his mind increasingly became less cohesive.
Tomorrow, he was about to become a married man.
Tomorrow, he would become husband to a Hexer.
Tomorrow, his grandfather would finally see one of his wishes come true.
By marrying Gloriana, Ves foreswore any other woman. The prospect of spending the rest of his life with her made him feel quite mixed.
Though she had her flaws, he trusted all the more because of it. No matter what interests she possessed, she would never betray him, and that was enough for his paranoid self to give her a pass.
Once they tied the knot, Ves wondered how soon they would begin to have children.
His face grew a bit concerned as this prospect.
He was not afraid of raising children. In fact, he looked forward to the fatherhood experience. He had fond memories of his early childhood. His parents took good care of him. Though his mother left quite soon, his father had done his best to pick up the slack.
Ves was very thankful for the efforts of his father. It made him even more eager to pass on the same teaching to his sons and daughters.
There were two reasons why he was worried.
First, Gloriana had made it clear that she insisted on following Hexer traditions regarding the amount of children she wanted to bear. She didn't want to settle for anything except rearing six offspring!
That was quite a handful to Ves to take care of. Even though there was no financial strain for him to raise this many children, the amount of time he needed to invest in him ought to be very considerable.
The more time he spent with his children, the less time he had left to design his mechs. It was a given that he would have to make some compromises in order to spend a sufficient amount of time in both.
Even then, he would never be able to fully satisfy his responsibilities as a father and a mech designer.
His career would definitely be affected. The younger years of a mech designer were critical. If Ves slacked off in any way, his advancement to Senior might very well be delayed by 20 or even 50 years. That was an unacceptable delay!
Perhaps he should suggest to Gloriana to spread out the birth of their children. Some long-lived pairs preferred to sire a child every decade. In any case, with modern medical technology and life-prolonging treatment, a wealthy couple could easily live more than two centuries.