With his emotional mood completely spoiled, Noah returned back from his introspection to the present, where Maery and Levi were awaiting his reaction with bated breaths.
Noah’s shocked expression slowly shifted into something… odd. It made sense that the two wanted the outside world to think that they got along well. This arranged marriage was of great importance and would influence the stability of the two cities. But…
“Sister, I am not an outsider. So why did you keep the truth a secret from me all this time?”
Maery sheepishly smiled and scratched her head, “We didn’t just keep it from you. We didn’t tell our parents either. We didn’t want you guys to worry. If you thought that Levi and I had a harmonious relationship, then you could rest your heart at ease regarding this arranged marriage.” She sighed, “Otherwise, how would our parents feel knowing that their children were sacrificing the best years of their life for politics and a loveless marriage? Dad would feel estranged when dealing with Levi’s family. Mom would develop gastritis from guilt and worry. And when the time to say our vows came, the entire family would burst out in tears as if it wasn’t a marriage but a funeral…”
Noah, (°△°|||) “…” ‘Wow. That order of events is… impressively accurate! Sis has a remarkable talent in fortunetelling!’
Blackie, (◞‸ლ) ‘The things you choose to focus on never cease to amaze me…’
“Since you’ve already kept this secret for 6 years, then…” Noah’s round eyes suddenly narrowed, “…why choose to spill the beans now?”
Maery took a sip of water to wet her throat, “Since Levi and I won’t be getting married anymore, there is no longer any need to keep our lack of relationship a secret.”
Noah quickly caught on to the key point, “What happened? Why won’t you be getting married anymore? What about the marriage agreement? Did you guys discuss this change with our parents?”
“Of course they know and approve,” Maery waved off Noah’s worries very confidently. “Initially, Levi and I had a deal. We’d marry, produce an heir, and in the following years, perfectly accomplish our duties as a married couple so that no one can spot anything to badmouth us about. And then, when the heir became old enough to take over, we’d cleanly divorce and go our separate ways. However, in lieu of recent events, Levi and I had a long and serious talk with both of our parents, and we reached a unanimous conclusion that the marriage between Levi and me is not the best course of action for any of the parties involved. ”
Blackie, who had witnessed this “long” and “serious” talk with “parents” (as in plural, more than one), of both sides, “…”
In lieu of recent events? What events? Noah’s eyebrows shot up, but he chose not to interrupt his sister’s explanation.
Maery eyed her relatively calm brother and thought that before dropping the bomb, she should further convince her brother that this marriage between Levi and her was a horrible, horrible idea. Thus her tone turned even more persuasive as she continued, “Brother, don’t you also think this arranged marriage is a bad idea? Even if we put the whole freedom of love and marriage matter aside, the whole purpose of this arrangement is to produce a qualified heir to govern both cities, but how could a loveless, forced marriage produce such a high-quality offspring?”
Maery smacked her hand on the table in agitation, “Children need love and security! How could they grow up into happy dumplings if their parents have no affection between them and avoid each other like the plague, counting the days until their divorce?”
Noah, (゚д゚;) “…” ‘That indeed does sound horrible…’
Levi, “…” ‘Wow. She is really good at this.’ (・―・)
Levi’s hand sneaked its way towards his communicator, ‘Gotta record this for future reference.’
Maery continued very spiritedly, “That kind of foul environment is no good for raising a child! The child would even feel unloved, like their whole purpose of existence was due to politics! A pitiful lab-bottle baby!”
Seeing how her moving speech nearly brought tears to Noah’s eyes, Maery felt like she had been injected with a stimulant and brought it up a notch. “And do you know what the worst thing about it is? In reality, the child probably wouldn’t just THINK they were unloved, but they might even actually BE unloved! Did you not hear how, oftentimes, parents in a failed marriage see their ex-spouses' worst traits in their children, causing them to feel aversion towards this offspring that serves as a constant reminder of their past mistakes? They even vent out their accumulated resentment on the innocent children!”
Maery swished her hand, pointing her index finger towards Levi as if accusing a murderer among the gathered crowd. “Ah, ah! I can already see a tragedy in the making! This brute of a husband has so many shortcomings that he can potentially transfer to my pitiful, pitiful offspring! Insensitive, selfish, shameless, boring, workaholic, too lazy to talk or socialize–” Maery’s rant devolved into a sharp intake of breath because one outraged Levi delivered her legs a vicious kick underneath the table.
If eyes could kill, Levi’s two smoldering embers would have long melted Maery into puss, ‘Fuck you!!! How dare you badmouth me in front of my baby?!? What if my baby doesn’t want to marry me anymore because of your poisonous words?!?’
A vein popped out on Maery’s forehead, and she squeezed through her gritted teeth, “…also doesn’t know how to cherish the fairer sex…” Maery wanted to squeeze in some more admonishments as revenge for that kick but had to swallow them down upon seeing Noah’s one-third flabbergasted, one-third chastising, and one-third-outraged expression.
Her baby brother was clearly displeased that she was badmouthing his precious hubby! And was even puffing up with clear ‘how could you say such a thing in front of brother-in-law?! And what are you even talking about? Brother-in-law is not like that!’ expression!!!
If she continued to talk shit about Levi, her baby brother would angrily jump out to refute, and this entire moving speech would have been in vain! And to make matters worse, this dog, Astar Levi, upon seeing her brother’s outrage, even put on an ‘I am so wronged! So sad~’ expression of a kicked puppy!!! The nerve of him!!
‘I’m the one who got kicked, ok?!?!’
(ノ꒪Д꒪)ノ︵ ┻━┻
‘And I’m not badmouthing him! Just stating the truth!’
Yet this wronged sister could do nothing else but switch topics in great haste, “Ahem, what I meant to say was… uh… we are not each other’s type… and the alliance between our two families would rely on the strength of our relationship! It would rely on our mutual trust and good feelings! But there are none! What if, after a few years, Levi and I got so fed up with each other, we couldn’t take it anymore and ended up causing a feud between our two families?! We would have wasted all that time and effort only to end up causing a war!”
Chills crawled up Noah’s spine at this horror story, and he felt that their parents must have been dead drunk when they came up with this entire arranged marriage matter. With all his hair standing on their ends, he kept nodding his head like a chicken pecking rice. “You are right! Bad idea! I’m so glad you managed to get out of it!”
A coy gleam of victory flashed through Maery’s eyes, and she decided to take a brief pause to let this entire speech fully sink in. Also, she needed a drink; this entire word barrage ended up making her throat parched.
“Eat while it’s hot,” Maery motioned for her brother to pick up his long-forgotten chicken drumstick. “Marriage between Levi and myself is a terrible idea, so we figured out a way to make the alliance proceed more smoothly without this marriage.”
With shaking hands, Noah picked up his drumstick, but suddenly he had no appetite. Ah, he really didn’t like horror stories! And to think this horror story nearly became a reality! He let out a long breath of relief. So glad the two had enough foresight to convince their parents not to go through with this catastrophe! But now he felt curious, what solution did the two manage to come up with that would be better for the union of two cities but didn’t involve them getting married? Noah’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing of his communicator. Noah saw Case’s name light up on the screen and hesitated whether to answer. He was currently in the middle of a dinner with his sister and Levi; it didn’t feel right to chat with Case now. But on the other hand, he remembered telling Case he’d call him when he was free to hang out with him but ended up completely forgetting about him. Ai, he felt a bit guilty… Noah hesitated for a while, and the
The wronged Levi, (ꐦ °Д°) ‘What do you mean acting pitiful?! Thinking that my precious doesn’t want to marry me, my heart really hurts, ok?! You try being unwanted by your precious and let me see whether your expression will look less “pitiful”!!!’ Ah, ah! His chest felt really painful and stuffy! Levi’s shoulders slumped further, yet the look in his eyes grew obstinate. “If I am marrying, then… the bride can only be you…” Levi rasped out, sounding apologetic yet not. Sorry that his decision might have wronged Noah, but be that as it may, his resolution could not be shaken, nor would he regret it. Seeing Levi’s nervous yet unyielding demeanor of a martyr resolutely walking towards his demise, Noah couldn’t help but find it funny. And those words, ‘the bride can only be you’, made something warm and ticklish flutter through Noah’s insides, calming down his roiling blood. Ah, that sounded really too ambiguous! Like a love confession! No
Levi’s previously nervous and stiff expression slackened and then blossomed into a foolish grin of bliss. Sitting there with a bent fork in his hand, he should have looked like a lovestruck idiot, yet due to the virtue of his very handsome face, this bright smile didn’t look idiotic but actually had a heart-stopping boyish charm. There was really something very special in witnessing a fierce and cold man suddenly display the pure and clean happiness of a child. Even Maery, whose romantic interest in Levi was below zero, couldn’t help but feel her heart skip a beat at the sight. Then… she felt nausea climb up her throat. Bleurgh, how could she had gotten confused for a moment there?? This was clearly still that same scourge! Noah couldn’t see Levi’s bright smile, but he could feel the sheer bliss radiating off Levi in waves through his mental power. Knowing that the other was feeling happy, Noah couldn't help but feel happy too. Carried along with these feelin
“Then it’s settled,” Maery proclaimed, “I better go back to Concordia and help mother make all the necessary arrangements. And you”– she pointed towards Noah –“You need to decide on your best man and contact them immediately!” And with that, she heartlessly abandoned her barely eaten salad, waved her goodbyes, and with a speed of a hurricane, walked out of the private room. She needed to catch the first train back! Her stomach was grumbling in hunger! She needed meat!! Greasy and juicy meat!! This dog food was fiiine, but it wasn’t enough to fill her actual physical stomach! With her leave, the room fell into a long silence with the two resuming their, now almost cold, meal. Noah fidgeted in his seat, looking everywhere but at Levi. Being alone with this newly obtained fiancé of his was very awkward in itself, and Levi’s expression of utter bliss didn’t make it any less embarrassing! That being said… ‘Just look at him smiling so happily!’
Noah wanted to refuse, but he just couldn’t squeeze those words out of his throat. This… this was important, ah! He hesitated, his emotions and rationality waging war within. In the end, rationality won over. Even if it was embarrassing to death, this needed to be done! He absolutely couldn’t mess up their act on their wedding day! And so, Noah gritted his teeth and nodded his agreement with equal doses of reluctance and determination, a rather peculiar sight. Levi had expected such an outcome. His baby was cute that way. ❤ It was easy to get him to agree as long as he appealed to reason. Ah, his baby was really the cutest. (/≧ω\) So cute, so darn cute that Levi just wished to tease him and “bully” him until he puffed up like an angry yet cuddly little kitten. The urge proved to be too strong for Levi to resist, so instead of stopping while he was ahead, he greedily pushed onwards. “For a loving couple, endearments are also a must…” Levi’s eye
Looking very forlorn, Noah looked towards the ceiling as if he could see beyond the walls to the clear skies above. In the end, he gritted his teeth. What needed to be done still needed to be done. He opened up the light screen of his communicator, and with an attitude of a kamikaze soldier flying to his last battle, he bravely returned Case’s call. The other side immediately accepted, and soon enough, Noah was staring face to face with ruffled-looking Case. It would seem Case had been pacing back and forth ever since the last call, running his hands through his hair the entire time, because right now, his usually stylish hair resembled prairie after a fire. Seeing Case’s bloodshot eyes, Noah felt inexplicably guilty, “Sorry about that, Case…” He greeted awkwardly. Case shot him a look imbued with exasperation and incomprehension. And then he wordlessly shook the wedding invitation, which by now looked a bit worn out. Noah peeked at the shiny
Levi had been worried that his baby would suddenly think about all those years he had been friends with Case and decide to give him a chance. He had been worried that his baby would abruptly realize he also liked Case back. Even if Levi logically knew that the chance of that happening was low, he still wasn’t willing to risk it. Yet, how come this giant jar of vinegar he had been fed suddenly turned into a big bowl of sugar?? Unlike him, Case’s mouth wasn’t filled with sugar but by biting bitterness that left him unable to spit it out or swallow it down. He arduously squeezed out, “Don’t let yourself be pressured into marrying him in a rush!” Case took in a few shaky breaths, then spat, “Screw the alliance! You barely know him, and he has a reputation for being a cold-blooded asshole! If he was really gay, what had he been doing dating your sister for 6 years? I smell bullshit! Don’t get involved in this matter. Let your sister handle him. You are too kindhea
One moment Noah was facing Levi, and in the next, his feet left the ground, and then suddenly, he was cradled in a warm and comfortable embrace?? This rapid assault was too much for Noah to wrap his head around. He didn’t even remember to resist and just sat there like a boneless plushie, letting himself be stroked here and there while staring straight ahead with befuddled and watery doe-like eyes. And then he felt something soft, warm, and ticklish touch his cheek causing warm tingles to spread throughout his body, and the red color of his already flushed face turned deeper. His fluffy head lowered to stare at those familiar, strong arms that were once again securely wrapped around him, and both his heart and his thick eyelashes fluttered in incomprehension. “Oh? Baby, you are in the middle of a call? Hello~ Who is this?” Levi flashed a provocative smile at the light screen in front of them, carrying himself with the demeanor of a legal wife confronting a mi