Levi was abruptly shaken out of his melancholic mood, and his mind couldn’t help but stall. It took him several seconds to fully process the other’s words. Then his nostrils flared, “For the last time, I am not talking any medicine!”
“Ah, then there is your problem.” The look Maery shot Levi’s way at that moment couldn’t be properly expressed in words. It was a look that a kindergarten teacher might direct towards a retarded kid that just got his head stuck inside a toilet seat. It was the look that said, “I’m not even gonna ask how or why – I’m sure any explanation you can come up with will be stupid. Let’s just call 101 and get this over with.”
Maery smiled encouragingly and coaxed, “Now that we know the source of the problem, how about I introduce you to a friend of mine from Med school that can help you get a prescription?”
Levi’s face fell, and a vein couldn’t help but pop up on his forehead from how hard he was trying to restrain his temper. “I am not crazy! Not messing around! Nor having ‘an episode’! I am deathly serious! I meant every word I said!”
Maery sent him an encouraging look, “So did I. Don’t refuse treatment! You can still be saved!”
Blackie, the eavesdropper, could hold it in no longer – he burst into uncontrollable laughter. 😂 ‘“Don’t refuse treatment! You can still be saved!” Hahaha, Levi, you should listen to this woman! She really knows you well!’
Levi took in a large breath, trying to keep himself from strangling the woman. He kept telling himself that he was the one in the wrong, thus, he should display extreme patience and tolerance.
But bloody hell, she really knew how to push his buttons!
Levi held his forehead, feeling an onset of a headache. What could he possibly say for this negotiation to move forward in a better direction?
Unfortunately, the other didn’t give him the time to come up with anything good to say, “Wait, wait, wait! You can’t wrong this one person?? Don’t tell me!!” Maery’s eyes abruptly widened in realization, and a gasp of shock escaped her, “Is she already pregnant?!”
Levi couldn’t help but snort, “I wish.”
If his baby could get pregnant, then this entire matter would have been so much easier to handle, ah! If his baby was with his child, then no matter how unwilling Maery or anyone else was, they could only shut up and let him take responsibility by marrying his darling.
“You wish?!” Maery felt so furious she started to laugh, “The nerve of you! What do you take everything we invested in the last six years as?! A joke?! And you even want to pull my innocent little brother into your dirty schemes?! Dream on!”
“Dirty schemes?” Levi frowned. What schemes? Why did he have a feeling that this entire matter turned into some kind of a dog-blood plot once it reached Maery’s brain pit?
Infuriated with the other’s pretentious “there is nothing dirty about my pure love, my conscience is clear” expression, Maery erupted, “What else would you call your scheme to make my brother a third party in your little affair?! Not only do you want to make him wear a green hat for two decades, but you’d even make him raise someone else’s child?!”
How would her kind little brother be able to deal with such a dissolute hussy whose schemes ran so deep she somehow managed to catch herself one loner wolf Astar Levi?! Her pitiful brother would be bullied to death!!
Maery jumped to her feet and leveled her sharp glare at Levi, “Let me tell it to you loud and clear – no way in hell! No way am I letting you and your mistress walk all over my darling brother! Over my dead body!”
Seeing how protective Maery was of his baby, Levi’s annoyance couldn’t help but ease, and his tone turned helplessly exasperated, “You watch too many dog-blood dramas. There is no mistress, and no one will be bullying your little brother.”
‘Except me. In bed.’ Levi added internally.
Maery scoffed, “Damn right no one will be bullying my baby brother! And no mistress? Hah! You broke up with me, so now she is not a mistress anymore?” Maery laughed humorlessly. “And of course,”–Maery rolled her eyes– “she wouldn’t bully my brother, your precious darling is simply a little angel! Definitely not a shameless vixen who seduced an engaged man right before his wedding!”
Levi face darkened. She could talk shit about him, but his baby was innocent! “Watch your language! It was me who couldn’t help but fall in love! Baby didn’t do anything wrong!”
Maery poured herself another glass, “The hell she didn’t!” and then smacked the bottle back down again, “Out with it! Who. Is! She?!”
Levi closed his eyes and rubbed his temples in exasperation. He finally understood where the issue laid. Maery’s wonderous mind somehow came to the conclusion that he had a mistress and wanted to marry her brother because his mistress couldn’t tolerate him marrying another woman. And then she filled up the blanks with some kind of dramatic plots of murder, fights for succession, illegitimate children, and the like.
But this “mistress” was…
“Your brother…” Levi muttered with great weariness.
Maery choked on the drink that just went down her throat.
***
Meanwhile, Noah decided to help clean up the living room while he waited. Such a helpful little darling!
Blackie, “Host, this sitcom show is so good! 😂 You have no idea what you are missing out on! You sure you don’t want to watch?”
Noah, “Don’t wanna. (︶^︶)ノEveryone has a right to their privacy. It’s not right for me to listen in. Just tell me if I need to intervene.”
Blackie, “Heh, then why is it ok if I listen in?” (¬‿¬)
Noah, “You are a system, ah! o( ̄▽ ̄)d Who cares if an intelligent toaster is listening in?”
Blackie, “…” (≖_≖) How come when he calls himself an intelligent toaster, it sounds cute, but when his host calls him that, it sounds so insulting?
***
Mary’s red-rimmed eyes watered, and she started to cough violently. The alcohol burned her insides like a bitch!
She activated her healing to ease the pain, but her healing couldn’t just make the alcohol disappear, or oxygen appear! She was a Healer, not a magician, ok?!
Levi saw her exaggerated reaction and hesitated to move, not knowing whether she’d appreciate him patting her back. A dark joke couldn’t help but fly through his head: if the annoying woman choked on her drink here and now, would that mean he’d be marrying his baby by default?
Maery slumped onto the table, wheezing like a man on his last breath.
‘This fucker!’ – Maery cursed internally. He spoke in such a low tone that she misheard him! And he even waited until she was in the middle of drinking to choke her to death! Shameless!
Was this how she would go? In the prime years of her life? In the evil hands of Astar Levi?
And then, when she died, this scum could go and marry his sweetheart?! No– even worse, he’d go and marry her pitiful baby brother!!
The dying Healer miraculously revived with fire in her eyes. Hell no!!! She wouldn’t go down this easily!
“What… what was it… you said… just now?” Maery squeezed out between her coughs, “My what?”
“Your brother,” Levi repeated.
Sure enough, the already furious woman turned even more livid. “What about my brother? Don’t try to change the subject!” She slapped her palms against the table, “We are talking about the shameless hussy! Out with it! Who is she?”
Levi finally lost his patience. If he could endure his darling being insulted over and over again, he wouldn’t be Astar Levi! “Stop calling him names! This has nothing to do with him!” Levi hissed. Then he grabbed the glass Maery had been drinking from, crushed it, compressed it into a glass ball, and then flung it across the room into the garbage bin.
“And I fucking told you two times already!” He spat, “It’s your brother! Your. Brother!! I’m in love with your little brother!!”
The room fell into a deathly silence. But unlike the quiet stillness of the space, the mind of Cordia Maery exploded with an earth-shattering boom, the shockwaves of which shook up all her cogs, making them suddenly click in place. Abruptly, all of the incredulities over the last couple of days, as well as everything Levi said, fell into the right position. Like pieces of a puzzle that have finally been put together. Levi said the two had met less than a week ago. Levi had first met her brother less than a week ago, too. Levi claimed to have fallen in love with someone in the last couple of days. But ever since Levi came over to Concordia, he and her brother had been joined at the hip!! Her little brother praised Levi into the heavens, which made her doubt life, thinking whether her bro had hit his head too hard. But, as it turned out, it wasn’t her brother’s brain that had problems, but Levi’s! This shameless dawg wanted the other to li
Levi stood there, feeling mightily confused. Um… can someone tell him whether his ex-fiancé was for or against him marrying his baby?? But who could answer him when even the person in question had yet to decide her stance. Maery, after another heavy sigh, clicked her tongue, “And your courting method is all wrong! Aren’t you supposed to be smart? How come you’ve learned nothing from Case, Fynn, and Shaw! If you don’t confess, that silly brother of mine will never realize you have the hots of him!” Maery recalled her brother’s earlier pure and sweet smile. And then another image couldn’t help but pop into her mind. An image of her kind and gentle little brother, all flustered and helpless, trying to escape from the naughty paws of the wild and imposing scoundrel, Astar Levi! Such a contrast in personality and appearance! And two men at that! It was simply, simply…! Simply a perfect pairing, ah!!! (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<
Levi eyed the annoying woman from the corner of his eyes and decided, ‘Nope! If I had not interrupted her, she would have definitely continued splitting property!’ But, forget it, he’d be magnanimous this one time and let her keep her face. As for the issue of an heir, that was indeed the most important matter that needed solving; otherwise, their parents wouldn’t agree to the change in brides even if all three people involved agreed to it. At least in this, he, Astar Levi, had been fully prepared! And thus, Levi lifted his chin up high with an air of a peacock spreading his feathers and proudly presented the results of his long and arduous research. “Men can’t get pregnant, but it doesn’t mean that two guys can’t have a baby together. Science is very advanced nowadays. Since men also have an X chromosome, it’s possible to make an egg cell using their DNA.” Maery gave him an odd look, “Advanced? That tech has existed for decades...” L
As the two involved came to terms with everything, the spectating Blackie could hold in his agitation no longer. This was not how this drama was supposed to play out, ah!! ‘I waited so long for this final showdown, looking forward to a dramatic boss fight of life and death!’ ‘Ah, ah! I already pulled my content filter down, and you show me this?!?’ щ(゚Д゚щ) They really had him duped! Made him all excited, imagining a big catfight between the new and the old lovers! And in the end, these two weren’t even an actual couple but a pair of… a pair of… frenemies? Blackie got so agitated that he even contacted his immediate supervisor to vent his anger, lodging a complaint that he hadn’t been sufficiently briefed about his mission! Ah, ah! ‘How could you keep this important info from me?!’ After so many millennia supporting Blackie and his previous host from behind the scenes, the system from the MIM
“I just want to shut up some people’s dirty mouths and stop my family from worrying,” Maery explained. Many socialites were sneering and mocking her behind her back, saying that her fiancé abhorred her and that this marriage was a sham. The more shameless ones even said that she was a slut, trying to seduce Astar Levi, only to be disdained. If she could slap all those disgusting faces until they were swollen, she’d gladly do it! She already had to endure two decades married to someone she didn’t like; why would she endure even more of the abuse if she didn’t have to? Besides, it wasn’t just her that was suffering due to this but also her loved ones. Maery’s gaze turned helpless, yet doting, “After seeing your scary face and stand-offish demeanor at today’s party, my brother is looking at me with tears in his big eyes like I am a martyr about to be sent on a suicide mission!” She hid her mouth behind her hand and giggled, “He even begged me, fo
Levi’s eyebrows furrowed more and more until he could remain silent no longer, “Can you eat more… quietly?” (≖ ‸ ≖) Maery crunched on her shrimp chips, “Lev, I keep telling you. There is a very simple solution to your problem, and its name is ‘noise-canceling earbuds’.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Levi, (눈_눈) “And I keep telling you, not being able to hear what’s happening around me is dangerous.” Maery, “And as I already mentioned once or twice, it wouldn’t be dangerous if you just used a Shielder bodyguard like normal people!” (︶^︶)ノ Levi, (°ㅂ°╬) “And as I already mentioned, once or twice, assassination attempts are the highlight of my day!” Maery finally looked up from her light screen to shoot Levi a look one would use to look at a pitiful retarded child, “That reminds me, what happened to what we talked about last time? Have you gone to seek psychiatric treatment yet?” 。◕ ‿ ◕。 Levi, “Scram!” (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ Blackie, (っ °Д °;)っ ‘Don’t dismis
Blackie came out of the memory lane, feeling like he had aged 10,000 years! Unfortunately, in his absence, the present versions of Levi and Maery, had not even matured a bloody second! They were still bickering exactly the same as before he had left! "Would you stop making me sound like the plague?!" Levi snapped. Maery giggled and easily dismissed his complaint, "Don't be silly. I wouldn't let my brother contract the plague!" Levi, "…" (눈_눈) How can this person and his baby have the same parents? And how can that very similar appearance between the two siblings evoke a totally different feeling in his heart? “I can’t wait to see which unlucky bloke will end up with you!” Levi snorted, “You better make mental preparations. You won’t be able to find a better husband than me!” “Nonsense! Nearly anyone is better than you!” Maery immediately refuted. “Oh? Name one man that is or would be a better husband than me!” Levi chal
“Just let the kids solve it amongst themselves. As long as the three come to an agreement, I have nothing to say. Speaking of which…” Cordia mommy turned to tap something on her communicator. She seemed to be calling Maery, for a short moment later, Maery’s face appeared on her light screen. Cordia mommy scanned her ruddy-cheeked daughter and then tentatively asked, “Honey… did… did you beat up–ahem, have a talk with Levi?” Maery snickered with her pearly white teeth on full display, “Yeah. Who would’ve thought that Levi, that block of wood would actually be set on fire by our family’s cute little dumpling!" Astar Levi, who had been cursed out as a block of wood right in his face, “…” (눈_눈) Astar mommy, who was still on the line and had just had her son cursed outright to her face, (*◕‿◕*) Curse? What curse? Little Maery was just stating the truth, ah! The two mothers let out a collective breath of relief. Phew! So the ex-bride w