Ch.75Origin Point (3)

“The time has come.”

Grandmother Riana says as she rises from her seat. I had told Asena to reconcile with Grandmother, but it seemed that wasn’t as easy as saying it—a cold atmosphere still lingered between them.

I was concerned about going to the meeting with this kind of atmosphere… but since I couldn’t force Grandmother and Asena to reconcile, I let things flow naturally.

Looking at it now, Asena wasn’t the only one who was awkward with Grandmother. Kirsy also seemed displeased about my departure and avoided eye contact with Grandmother. What’s interesting is that even Grandmother seemed aware of Kirsy’s displeasure and maintained a certain distance from her as well.

“…Hmm…”

While I was groaning, Grandmother left the room first. Tein and Helen, who had been waiting at the door, greeted her.

As Grandmother waited for us outside, I called the twins.

“Girls.”

Asena, who had been expressing her displeasure with her entire body, still responded to my call and turned to look at me, and Kirsy also turned around.

“Come here for a moment.”

“……”

“Why?”

The twins expressed their doubts but approached me without protest.

They were clinging to me more than necessary, but at least they could hear my voice better, so that was good.

I said to them:

“…Girls. I know you’re unhappy. But let’s show restraint, at least during the meeting.”

“……”

“……”

“Through this, we might be able to achieve peace with the Ice Family. You, as politicians, know better than anyone how much this could help our people and the residents of the Ice Family’s territory.”

“……”

While Kirsy still kept her mouth shut, Asena finally exploded with frustration and spoke to me in an exasperated voice.

“…Brother, having you by my side is more important to me than the happiness of people I don’t even know.”

“…Asena. Let’s listen to brother.”

“…Ugh, really…”

Asena expressed her displeasure in a way I’d never seen before.

“…..”

I frowned in disbelief.

Seeing my reaction, Asena glanced at me a couple of times, then took my hand and rested her head on my shoulder.

It seemed like her way of apologizing, but whether due to pride or because she was that angry, she didn’t apologize verbally.

Maybe it’s because we grew up together. Or perhaps because I played an important role in their upbringing.

She immediately shows expressions of apology to me, but I could quickly tell that she wouldn’t have done this if it weren’t for me.

True to her inherent rough villainess nature, she would have done as she pleased. In fact, if it weren’t for me, I wouldn’t even be able to argue with her like this. She would crush most people.

I’ve been confused lately. I wonder if the reason they became villainesses in the novel was because they were broken by the loss of their parents, or if their nature was truly evil…

I’d like to believe it’s not the latter.

They haven’t yet shown uncontrollable violence or committed incomprehensibly serious wrongdoings.

I stroked Asena’s head as she leaned against me.

The fur on her shoulders added to her dignity, but to me, Asena remained unchanged.

I reminded her once more:

“…Let’s behave properly at the meeting. Since I’ve warned you like this, I’ll be angry if you cause trouble because you don’t like something. I’m telling you in advance.”

“……..I don’t want to.”

It was Kirsy who answered. I turned to look at her.

“…What?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Kirsy. Even if you don’t want to, you have to. I said I’ll get angry if you act on your own.”

“……”

Kirsy continued to scrunch her face, and eventually, just before crying, she crouched down, bending her legs.

Burying her face in her knees, she whined.

“…Why do we have to make a good impression on people who are taking you away…”

“They’re not taking me away; I want to go.”

“…Because of us?”

“……”

“…Brother… I said I was sorry… I won’t gossip behind your back ever again…”

In that moment, I spoke without backing down:

“…I’ve made my decision.”

Kirsy then asked coldly:

“…Do you already like Judy that much?”

“…It’s not necessarily like that.”

“……”

Coming to my senses in the brief silence that followed, I realized we were already a mess before even going to the meeting. Kirsy was on the verge of tears, and Asena was leaning her head against me while firmly holding my hand.

I let out a deep sigh and said:

“…We should go now. Everyone pull yourselves together.”

“……”

“……”

“Are you going to show this kind of behavior to the Ice Family?”

At my words, the twins reacted. Kirsy wiped away her tears, and Asena raised her head.

Kirsy stood up and said:

“…I won’t show any weakness to Judy, ever.”

“…Stop pitting me against her like that…”

Asena fidgeted with her hands and then suddenly interlocked her fingers as she spoke:

“…Brother.”

Was this some kind of tantrum? As I looked down at her, Asena whispered a request:

“…Kiss me.”

“………………What?”

Asena looked straight at me and said:

“Kiss… me.”

Slowly and deliberately, as if giving an order. She confirmed that I hadn’t misheard.

After a moment of confusion, I felt embarrassed by what I had been thinking.

Even if Asena had spoken ambiguously, I should have understood perfectly what she meant.

Feeling embarrassed about it, I muttered:

“…You always ask for a peck, why specifically say ‘kiss’ this time…”

With a small laugh as if finding my joke amusing, I gave her a peck on the forehead.

*Smooch*

“What, is ‘peck’ starting to sound too childish now?”

“……”

But Asena showed no reaction to my peck. Like a hardened statue, she held my interlocked hand tightly without letting go.

I felt the atmosphere turning strange due to Asena’s silence. Looking at her, who seemed to want something more, I wondered if perhaps… it wasn’t a slip of the tongue.

I shook my head at that impossible assumption.

What on earth was I thinking?

I know she likes me a lot, but that and this are different.

She doesn’t want a kiss; she must want more pecks.

I lowered my head toward Asena’s frozen face.

Only then did Asena flinch. But I was quicker.

*Smooch*

I kissed her left cheek. I could feel the softness of her cheek.

Asena blinked as she looked at me, then froze again. She still seemed unsatisfied.

This time, I kissed her right cheek.

*Smooch*

Asena’s frozen expression gradually began to crack. She started to blush, and her downturned lips slowly curved upward.

Even as her rigid expression broke, she seemed annoyed by it and tried to force her lips back down, but she couldn’t.

Eventually, she laughed as if sighing. Seeing her like that, I straightened up and patted her head. She seemed satisfied now.

I released her weakened grip and said to them:

“Now, let’s go. Grandmother is waiting.”

As I was about to leave, someone hugged me from behind.

It was Kirsy.

She said:

“…Me too, brother.”

****

We took our seats on opposite sides, facing each other.

Opposite Grandmother was the Duke of Ice.

Next were Asena and the Ice Family’s eldest son, Sid Ice.

Then me and Judy.

Finally, Kirsy and the Ice Family’s eldest daughter, Nera Ice.

The strange tension lingered only briefly.

Looking at Judy, who was even more rigid than I was, I smiled.

For some reason, when Judy gets nervous, my tension eases.

When Judy is afraid, I become courageous, and when she struggles, my heart becomes more resolute.

It was the same when dealing with the twins. Perhaps it’s because I wanted to be their pillar of support, and it happens unconsciously.

And seeing this reaction from my body toward Judy as well, I felt that I was beginning to truly want to protect her.

Even though we were good friends, the only events that made us conscious of each other as potential lovers were holding hands and the verbal promise of engagement, but emotionally, we were continuously growing closer.

That aside, I did feel sorry for Judy’s stiff appearance. She still couldn’t assert herself among her family members.

Since I hadn’t heard about how she lived in her family, I couldn’t understand why she was like this… but still, I felt that I needed to be more cautious of the Ice Family members than I had initially thought.

Although they were portrayed as protagonists in the novel, I didn’t know much about the personalities of the Ice Family’s eldest son, Sid Ice, and eldest daughter, Nera Ice, as they didn’t appear in the story.

The only person whose personality I could somewhat infer was the Duke of Ice.

The awkward atmosphere didn’t last long.

After exchanging greetings, the Duke of Ice looked at me.

“I’ve thought this for a while, but Caden… how should I put it? You’re a fine young man.”

He complimented me, initiating the conversation.

“Thank you.”

Grandmother Riana also praised me playfully.

“…We don’t accept just anyone into our family. Caden was different from the start.”

“Ahaha… Grandmother, you’re embarrassing me.”

“The only thing people who don’t know Caden could attack him for is his birth. I can proudly say that Caden is my child.”

The Duke of Ice stroked his chin.

“Hmm. Well, if you say so, that’s good. Judy has found a good match. But I wonder if we’re just praising him because of the engagement.”

“…Even if he’s family, you know I don’t make empty compliments.”

The Duke of Ice dropped his smile.

“Haha… I know well. The memory of James getting scolded is still vivid.”

The Duke of Ice kept mentioning James, the twins’ father, during the conversation.

Sometimes I wondered if he was trying to provoke us, but now it seemed like he was genuinely reminiscing about his rival.

The melancholic emotion in his eyes as he spoke suggested that he wasn’t bringing up James to insult us.

Grandmother Riana seemed to understand this too, as she didn’t point it out.

The Duke of Ice changed the subject.

“Caden. You seem to be quite familiar with Judy.”

“That’s right.”

“Can you tell us how you became close?”

“It’s not difficult. Our connection began in the first knight class when Judy stole my horse.”

“…Caden..!”

Judy was surprised by my words and blushed.

She probably didn’t like being teased in this situation, but to ease her tension, I continued:

“It was a really beautiful horse… She didn’t even introduce herself. She just took the horse and left.”

“…Y-you were a Praester, that’s why..!”

The Duke of Ice also chimed in:

“…Yes. Actually, that’s what I was curious about. Given the history between our families, I wondered how you became close.”

“…I guess we felt a sense of kinship. It might be inappropriate to mention here, but I was an adopted child of the ducal family… and Judy was the illegitimate daughter of the ducal family.”

“…You’re honest.”

“And choosing the same knight class also played a role. I felt like she might have the same thoughts as me… that’s what I think.”

In truth, I don’t know exactly why I was drawn to Judy as a friend. But I couldn’t tell the Duke of Ice that I didn’t know, so I tried to come up with a reason.

At that moment, Asena cleared her throat. All eyes turned to her.

She remained frozen for a moment, then glanced at me.

And her eyes were already apologizing to me.

…I clearly asked her not to do anything strange.

I thought to myself.

Asena spoke:

“…Duke Ice, there’s something you should know.”

“…Please, speak.”

Recognizing that Asena was the head of the family, he spoke respectfully.

Asena kept her mouth shut for a moment, then with a stern face, she said:

“My brother will be expelled from our family after graduation.”

“……..”

I looked at Asena in silence.

Yes, this was definitely an issue that needed to be addressed. I was relieved that it wasn’t just a petty complaint.

This wasn’t a secret. I had told Judy and Daisy about it. There was no benefit in hiding it.

But at the same time, it was critical. I wouldn’t have any grounds to object if the engagement was called off right now. While there might be advantages to being connected to me as a Praester, there would be no benefits to being tied to me as a commoner.

I immediately felt ashamed. I felt too embarrassed to raise my face. Had I just wasted everyone’s time?

This was why I had planned to build my skills as a knight and enter as a vassal. I had forgotten about this aspect due to the engagement being arranged in such a short time.

“…..?”

But what surprised us was the reaction of everyone except me and the twins.

They remained calm, as if they hadn’t heard anything.

The Duke of Ice said:

“……We are aware of that.”

“……What?”

Asena, rarely showing emotion, asked again.

“I’ve heard about it from Judy’s letters before… That’s why, Caden, you also said you wanted to become our vassal, right?”

At that moment, I felt a warm touch on my right hand.

Kirsy had taken my hand under the table.

“…Is it true, brother…?”

She asked with wide eyes, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“…..”

Instead of answering, I gently stroked her face.

The Duke of Ice continued:

“…..I won’t ask for the reason. Nor will I make hasty assumptions. Anyway, what’s important to us is only Duchess Riana’s promise.”

“……?”

Asena’s gaze shifted to Grandmother.

Riana answered:

“….Yes. Caden will live as an Ice after graduation… but we’re not abandoning him. If the Ice Family faces any problems, the Praester Family will unconditionally help for Caden’s sake.”

“That’s enough for me.”

Though I didn’t show it, I couldn’t help but be impressed. How far had Grandmother planned?

I could guess why the Duke of Ice was so calm. Besides the promise, it seemed that Grandmother and the Duke of Ice had had many conversations. That’s why the Duke didn’t press for details in this setting.

And yes, according to Grandmother Riana’s promise, there would be no problem even if Judy was connected to me as a commoner.

Indeed, it’s not me they need, but the power of the Praester Family.

“Since we can leverage the power of the Praester Family, there’s no issue. The only concern might be… Judy. After all, she would be marrying a commoner…”

The Duke of Ice said there was no problem with the engagement itself, but I was still embarrassed to raise my face and scratched my cheek. Then, a voice lifted my head:

“…..I don’t mind.”

The voice belonged to Judy.

“…Even if Caden is a commoner.”

Judy had now straightened her shoulders, unlike before. Her expression still showed embarrassment, but it seemed to be because she felt awkward saying such things to me, not because she was oppressed by her family.

And seeing her like that, I was confident that we would continue to be a good match.

Because I could guess why she had become so brave.

Just as I had been for her, she was trying to be my pillar of support.

“….”

As I smiled at Judy, I felt a cold touch on my right hand again.

When I turned, Asena was looking up at me.

Her eyes were shaking intensely.

She didn’t say anything… but this might have been her card.

A card to keep me in the family. Though Grandmother had already shattered it.

She shook her head briefly. It seemed like she was telling me not to go.

I just nodded briefly.

Even if I distance myself, I’ll always think of you.

So it’s okay, I conveyed to her with my eyes.

And the next moment, the door opened, and several servants entered carrying food.

The meeting was not over yet.