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 like him, so he learned how to act cute! 😱
When the two got into an accident, her little brother had written that tear-jerking essay about how Levi needed comforting!
She had found the idea of Astar Levi needing comforting absurd, but now she realized that this scum had put on a show to dupe her little brother into feeling pity for him!!!
And he even conned her brother into sleeping with him by bullshitting that he can’t sleep without his soothing!!!
Fucking hell! No wonder, when she saw the two of them earlier, she had mistaken her brother for the mistress at first glance! It wasn’t her eyes that had problems! It was Levi who was treating the other like his little darling!
Also, her mother had told her that Levi fell for someone, making her rush over here in a fury. But thinking back on it, her mother didn’t seem to be very upset or worried about the marriage alliance! Why would she be when Astar Levi was hellbent on marrying her son?!
And now that Maery thought about it, how would her mother even know about Levi’s romantic affairs? Simple – she had seen him act lovey-dovey with his darling!
Thinking some more, Levi had been trying to talk to her for several days now, mentioning an urgent matter. But things always got in the way of them having that chat.
Wait…
He had wanted to change the bride for several days now?!
Just how quickly did he fall for her little bro?! On fucking first sight?!
The more Maery thought, the more she heaved, the hotter her eyes burned, and the more her nostrils flared.
But wait! If the mistress in this entire story was her little bro… then all those sappy things Levi had just said… holy shit!! Were those his real thoughts?!
Her mind rewinded, replaying all the things that came out of Astar Levi’s mouth since the start of this confrontation, her face constantly switching between red, black, and white.
And then, the words Levi had said at the start reverberated inside her head – “I didn’t hook up behind your back; I only made my move after breaking it off with you.”
“…made my move…”
Abruptly, Levi’s sixth sense tingled, ‘Not good!’ He jumped to his feet. And with the speed of a gut reaction yet the accuracy of a well-practiced gesture, he pushed everything throwable away from Maery’s reach with his powers.
In this moment of “life and death”, the first thing that popped into Levi’s mind was to protect his baby, “My feelings have nothing to do with your brother! It’s all on me! He has no idea I–”
Levi hurried explanation was interrupted by Maery’s outraged screech, “You fiend! Rogue! Scoundrel!! My poor, poor baby brother!!!”
Levi’s battle stance faltered. Just in time for Maery to throw herself on him like a sumo wrestler.
Thwarted by the fact that there was no longer anything in range to throw, not even the chair and table, the only thing she could throw now was kicks and punches.
“Beast! Pervert! Brute! Pedophile!” She frantically started to beat Levi’s chest.
Levi caught her lunging form, preventing her from falling, but didn’t dare resist the smacks. He could only verbally resist the abuse, “Your brother is already an adult,” he quipped, incensed.
He might be a scoundrel and a pervert, but he was definitely not a pedophile!
“He only came of age this year!!!” Maery shrieked with wide, accusing eyes full of indignation.
“And I only fell for him this year too!” Levi defended himself.
“Because you only just met!”
Levi choked on his spit. He… couldn’t argue with that… ╮(╯▽╰)╭
Really hit the nail on the head! In hindsight, should he feel lucky he didn’t meet his baby earlier, otherwise he might have ended up becoming a criminal? 🤔
Seeing the other’s choked up “guilty as charged” expression, a vein popped out on Maery’s forehead, ‘You are not even going to attempt to deny it?! What about the other accusations?! A pervert, a rogue, a beast?!? Not going to deny a single one?!? Not one?!?!?’
Levi, “…” (; ゚ 3゚ )~♪
Mary, “…!!!” (ꐦ °Д°)
Unsatisfied by the effect of her smacks, Mary attempted to knee the other in the groin, but then hesitated at the last step, worried that she’d cut off Astar family’s line of descendants. In the end, she settled for kicking Levi’s shin, “What the hell do you think you are you doing?! Three fucking days before the wedding!! Three days before OUR wedding!!! What the fuck is wrong with you?!?”
Levi could only apologize again, “I’m sorry. If I had a choice in the matter, of course, I wouldn’t have wanted such a thing to happen right before the wedding. But what can I do? The heart wants what it wants.”
“No! What I meant was,” Maery pulled Levi by his collar, wanting to just strangle the fool and be done with it. “The wedding is in three days and instead of talking the matter over with me asap, what did you do?!? Avoid my calls and come have a bachelor party with the person you intend to marry?! And you even dared to make a move on him, huh?? Did you even tell him the truth?! Until when did you intend to wait?! The fucking wedding?!”
Levi’s brain stalled, giving Maery the chance to smack him upside the head. “Did you even bother to give our parents the heads up?! You think changing the bride can be done in a snap?! Wedding invitations would need to be resent! And what about the honeymoon arrangements?! And where would you even hold your wedding night?! In OUR house?! Astar Levi, how incompetent are you?!”
Maery gave the disappointing man one last heavy kick before falling onto the barstool (that remained in place, bolted to the floor), gasping for breath.
She shook her head and gave Astar Levi’s frozen form a look of a mother gazing at her profligate son that failed to live to expectations. “So useless! Made no preparations, your intended bride doesn’t even know it’s his wedding, and worst of all, you didn’t even get his agreement!”
Then she looked towards the sky and covered her eyes with her hand.
Maery let out a heavy sigh, fully charged with her indignant disappointment, releasing all the pent-up negativity choking her chest.
“Bah! You are lucky that my baby bro seems to like you, otherwise I’d rather immediately slaughter a pig-brain like you than risk giving you a chance to put your dirty trotters on my family’s cutie pie!”
Really such a pig-brain! Made her all worked up for nothing! There was no dog-blood plot, no scheming vixen of a mistress, no illegitimate children. This dawg just coveted her little bro!
Ai, it’s understandable, ah! (/≧ω\) Her little brother was indeed the sweetest little cinnamon roll!
Wait for it. Maery’s reaction to all this is still not over. You’ll have to wait for a few more chapters before everything becomes clear.
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
In the end, Noah, this good baby, could read the mood and decided to stay silent. Since the two, for some reason, didn’t wish to go to dinner yet, then he’d go along with their plans. And that’s how the trio, with the accompaniment of several bodyguards, ended up going to the west skyscraper where there was a huge cinema. On the way there, every once in a while, there would be a camera flashing their way from the iron-blooded reporters who wouldn’t let one terrorist attack get in the way of their bonus. Naturally, the trio just ignored them. Firstly, they were used to media attention. Secondly, they had nothing to hide. And thirdly, in the case of Levi and Maery, they hoped that the footage of today would go out because it could give more weight to their future explanation of the truth behind the change of marriage partners. In that spirit, to give the media some more juicy shots, as soon as the trio entered the establishment, Maery giddily floated aw