Perceived Sensation

Navier followed Ross into the drawing-room. She gave a slight bow to her father, who was seated at the head of the table, exchanging greetings with Lykan and Ross. Then, taking a seat, Navier looked at Ross, her eyes gleaming with an air of demureness.

While Lykan and Raelan were conversing, Ross, after drinking the black tea brought by the maid, frowned slightly. Did he not like tea?

Raelan, having finished his conversation with Lykan, took a sip of tea elegantly before getting straight to the point.

,Ross, thank you for readily accepting the invitation. I didn’t expect you to come so quickly. Having experienced the branch family’s breathing technique, has your body become eager for the main family’s breathing technique?

It was a sarcastic remark, but this was Raelan’s unique way of speaking. It was a method of emotionally provoking the other party to catch them making mistakes.

However, Ross, with an indifferent expression, simply nodded in response. No, rather, as if his previous melancholic demeanor, which stirred maternal instincts, had been a lie, he demanded with a confident air.

,Yes, thank you for the invitation. It would be a lie to say I’m not interested in the main family’s Mu-hyung. I won’t beat around the bush. The main family’s Mu-hyung. Can you give it to me?

At Ross’s direct words, Navier pretended to eat dessert while quickly scanning her surroundings. Lykan was expressionlessly drinking tea, while her father was smiling, stretching the corners of his lips as if he found it interesting.

,You’re more straightforward than you look.

,I didn’t think there was a need to speak indirectly.

At Ross’s reply, Raelan rested his chin on his hand. He narrowed his eyes, as if observing prey.

,Then I won’t mince words either. If you want to obtain the main family’s Mu-hyung, there’s only one way. To become a member of the family. If you marry my daughter, Navier, all problems will disappear.

When Raelan gestured to Navier, she put on the prettiest smile she could muster. She leaned her upper body forward slightly, gathering her arms to accentuate the points of her dress.

Only then did Ross turn his head to look at Navier, frowning silently before clapping his hands and saying a moment later.

,Ah, I remember. Number 3?

,Not Number 3, it’s Navier!!!

Navier, angered by Ross calling her Number 3 again, couldn’t hold back and stood up from her seat, shouting.

She regretted it belatedly, but the deed was already done. Under her father’s cold gaze, Navier quietly sat back down.

,Sorry, I didn’t remember.

Navier pouted her lips at Ross, who said that with a sly voice and a smile.

,You have to play hard to get within reason!

She knew that wanting to have the upper hand in a relationship was a male instinct. But right now, it was Ross who needed the main family’s Mu-hyung.

No matter how much he pushed and pulled, as long as they had the Mu-hyung, Ross was inevitably the ‘ul’.

As a commoner, he might be weak in these political conversations. He probably had little experience in noble conversations where the fate of a family could hang on a single word.

Navier was making plans in her head, thinking that if they got engaged, she would stick by his side and kindly teach him everything he lacked.

Ross turned his head to look at Raelan. And then, he said in a voice free of any hesitation.

,I appreciate the offer, but I’ll have to decline.

Navier, who had been reaching for her tea, froze in place. She didn’t understand what she had just heard.

Navier, with her hand still suspended in the air, looked at Ross with trembling eyes. Even just from his profile, she could tell that it wasn’t a lie or a bluff.

Raelan frowned slightly and asked.

,Hmm, didn’t you want to obtain the main family’s Mu-hyung?

,I do want to obtain it. If you give it to me, I’ll gratefully accept it.

,…You want to obtain the main family’s Mu-hyung, but you don’t want to get married?

A cold voice, Raelan’s gaze like a blade, pierced through Ross. But Ross nodded without the slightest hesitation.

,I didn’t mean to be rude. I apologize for that. But I have someone I love right now. The marriage proposal is very kind, and it’s more than I deserve. But I have no choice but to decline.

Raelan’s face hardened coldly. Raelan, who had been glaring at Ross like a snake, turned his head towards Navier.

Navier, meeting his gaze, shrunk her shoulders as if she had become a mouse in front of a snake. Only then did she lower her hand, which she had been holding up foolishly, under the table.

Raelan asked in a low voice, as if interrogating her.

,Is my daughter, Navier, lacking compared to your current girlfriend?

,No.

,Then is our Perkus family lacking compared to your girlfriend’s family?

,No.

As soon as Ross finished speaking, powerful magic emanated from Raelan’s body, shaking the drawing-room from the inside.

The cup filled with tea trembled madly as if there was an earthquake, spilling its contents onto the table, and everyone in the drawing-room felt a pressure that seemed to crush their entire body.

It felt like the air was tightening around their necks.

But Raelan merely smiled like a snake, with an expression of interest, and asked.

,Then there’s no reason to refuse, is there.

Then, Ross, with his blue eyes shining, replied in a resolute voice.

,Because the goal cannot overcome the result.

At Ross’s answer, the magic that had been pressing down on the drawing-room disappeared in an instant. While Navier coughed and cleared her throat, Raelan simply stared at Ross, as if demanding an explanation.

As everyone’s gaze in the drawing-room turned to Ross’s face, Ross scratched his head as if embarrassed and said.

,The reason I want to become stronger is for my girlfriend, Luna. Because she’s someone I want to spend my life with and protect. Wanting to become stronger through Mu-hyung is simply a goal to reach the ending I desire.

Ross paused for a moment before continuing in a resolute voice.

,Marrying someone other than Luna is not the result I want. It’s easy to change the goal for the sake of the result. But the opposite is impossible.

,It’s just an emotion that won’t last a few years. It’s an emotion that will cool down as if nothing happened, even as early as next year.

Raelan tapped the table with his finger, sneering.

But Ross, without showing any displeasure, replied with a sincere smile.

,That’s possible. Because you never know what’s in a person’s heart. I know very well that even if we break up tomorrow, there’s nothing I can do. But for me, the uncertain tomorrow is not a reason not to love today. I love Luna today. That’s why I have no choice but to do my best every moment.

She thought it was a calm voice. But when Navier heard Ross’s words, her heart pounded fiercely. As if she had run around the garden dozens of times at full speed, her heart was pounding as if it would break.

On the one hand, she felt a strange sense of buoyancy. It was a strange emotion she was feeling for the first time. Many people had expressed and written about this emotion, but Navier wanted to deny it.

Her palms were damp with sweat, and her lips felt dry for no reason. For some reason, she felt like she shouldn’t look at Ross, so Navier instinctively lowered her gaze.

She bit her lip in embarrassment, desperately hoping that her father would stop.

But no matter what Navier was thinking, Raelan didn’t give up.

,Hmm, then it sounds like you’re saying you can give me a chance.

Ross smiled and replied to Raelan, who was smiling greedily as if he wouldn’t let go of the fish he had caught.

,Are you going to waste Navier’s life for a chance that will never come?

At Ross’s words, Navier raised her head. It was a foolish answer. If it were a noble, they would have been grateful for giving them a way out of Raelan’s words and nodded. Because lying was the basis of a noble.

So she thought Ross’s answer was foolish. Was it because he was a commoner who wasn’t used to these kinds of conversations? But when Navier looked into Ross’s blue eyes, she realized that wasn’t the case.

It was a calm gaze. He seemed to know what he had said. Ross wasn’t foolish. Rather, he had answered that way for Navier’s sake.

Another strange emotion made her heart flutter. She couldn’t help but fidget with her fingers, gripping her dress so tightly that it wrinkled.

Raelan’s expression turned as cold as ice. For a long time, the drawing-room was so silent that not even a breath could be heard. It felt like time had stopped for a moment.

In the suffocatingly heavy atmosphere, Raelan finally opened his mouth.

,Do you know that the main family’s Mu-hyung is divided into three stages?

,I’ve heard an explanation from my teacher.

Navier didn’t like Lykan, who was making a pleasant humming sound at Ross’s answer, for no reason.

,Since you’re a freshman, this is perfect. If you spend time with my daughter once a month, either on a date or a sparring match, I’ll teach you one stage of the main family’s Mu-hyung each time you move up a grade.

Everyone looked at Raelan with surprised eyes. Even Navier’s face was flushed red, and she bit her lip, looking at him imploringly.

,I don’t intend to force you to marry. It’s just my father’s desire to invest in an outstanding student and make him a friend of Navier’s. What do you think? Don’t you think it’s a pretty reasonable offer?

Ross, who had been looking at Raelan with a somewhat perplexed expression, looked at Navier.

Navier couldn’t avoid those blue eyes and had no choice but to meet them. She swallowed secretly, wiped her sweaty palms on her dress from nervousness… and waited for the answer Ross would give.

After a moment of contemplation, Ross gave a bitter smile and looked at Navier with an apologetic gaze, saying.

,Okay.