"Aren't you going to..."
"Do what?" Mari sat elegantly.
"That day... In the hospital... Why didn't you tell me who you were?" Ian asked, a bit nervous and scared about how she might use what he professed,
against him.
"Don't get me wrong Sir Ian but I don't suppose we have met before, how about we go with that?" Mari replied feigning deliberately.
She didn't want to bring up what happened that day so she pretended not to remember and he got the cue.
"Why do you want to marry me? What do you want to accomplish out of Strauss estate when you already know the secrets they are hiding?" Ian had so many questions.
"I heard your birthday is in three days, the ceremony might be too grand and therefore I might not get to give this present afterwards" Mari said without answering his questions.
"Are you good or evil? What will you do to me?" He asked directly.
"That depends upon you" She answered at least that one and pulled a box out of her hand bag.
She opened the box and somehow pulled herself up using a cane.
"What's wrong with your leg?" Ian asked, he remembered even that day she was in wheelchair.
"I had a surgery for a spinal injury , it was successful but it'll take me time to recover" She replied and handed him over the small present box.
"What kind of injury?" He said opening the box finding a bracelet in it.
She did not answer that question though but she opened the bracelet for him and put it around his wrist
"This is a family heirloom passed onto the people who marry into Kirihara family"
"Why give that to me? You should give something like that to a lover or something.. Who's forcing you into this marriage?" He asked Mari without any hesitation.
Her facial expression changed for a moment but then she pulled up a weak sad smile "Seems like Mr. Ian is too young and naive, I hope you take care of this present" She said a lightly bowed her head before heading away with quite difficulty using her cane.
Ian stood and looked at the bracelet, being quite confused at this.
"Strange woman"
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"WHAT?!"
Akio almost held onto the rim of a wall.
"Yep, that's what I heard from Aoi, I can't stop shaking myself" Zhuang said.
He and Alex came over with Adrian. They were going over to visit Natsu in the hospital so Zhuang thought they should pick Akio and Keitarou on the way too.
"Well congrats Akio san, for both, the marriage and the baby" Alex formally congratulated.
"I guess I'll get ready" Akio tried to get a hold of himself.
"Akio san, what happened to your neck? " Alex asked, Zhuang had been wanting to ask too about the bandages all around his neck but he didn't dare.
"Ah... Just a little accident, I'm fine, I'll get ready" Akio dodged it off.
"Yeah but they're all messed up, did you put them on yourself?" Zhuang reached his hand to fix it but out of nowhere Kei appeared and slapped his hand away harshly.
Everyone was a bit dumbfounded.
Kei made a forced smile.
"I'll fix.. that" Kei said.
"Kei.." Akio held onto Kei's arm "stop"
"You better not... Let other people.. Touch you next.. Time" Kei said to Akio rather more confidentally than he usually was, he was even stuttering less than usual.
He looked at Zhuang with a threatening look and then turned away.
"What's wrong with him?" Alex asked.
Akio gave a worried look towards Kei who picked up the girls.
"I'll get... the girls ready" Kei said and simply went to their room.
"I don't know"
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"How are you now?"
The dark haired lady slowly lifted her body up.
"Ah careful, I did as much as I could since you refused to be taken to a hospital but that's all I could do, so don't push yourself" The girl put a bowl of soup next to the lampside.
"What's your name..?" The injured woman asked whimpering a bit.
"Me..? My name is Hime Ayane, what's yours?" The girl asked.
"Ayane, a girl's name? But aren't you a boy?" The woman asked.
"I'm not, I'm just born in the wrong body" Ayane replied calmly.
The woman preferred not to ask further questions even though she didn't really get what this person before her meant by that.
"Liliya..." The woman replied.
"Well Liliya san, how'd you get injured like this, seems like you had a bad fight" Ayane said.
"Yeah, it was someone whom I underestimated.. But it appears they are more fun than I thought" Liliya relaxed back.
"Not good, you shouldn't involve yourself with violent people, look at you, such a pretty woman.. You've hurt your face so badly and broken a rib too" Ayane replied.
"Pretty? Me?" Liliya almost choked.
"Yes, at first I thought you were some model who got hurt by some stalker" Ayane spoke innocently.
"You're an amusing bo...girl.." Liliya almost chuckled but groaned at same time due to pain.
"Careful, take some rest, is there someone you'd like me to call?" Ayane asked.
"No, I have nobody..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No! No! No! I refuse to meet him! I'm too embarrassed for this!
"Natsu you have to come out of the blanket, it's been ten minutes" Aoi said.
She totally doesn't understand this!
"Natsu I'm not mad, just come out already!" Dad said, as if I'm falling for this.
"Yes Natsu stop being a child" Father said too.
I slowly gathered some courage to peek through the covers and that cruel woman legit took the chance to pull it all off.
My face flushed up seeing dad and father standing there. I grabbed at her jacket pulling her towards me and hiding my face in her stomach.
"Now I'm getting angry" Dad said.
"Natsu I'm so happy, my son is finally starting a family" Father intervened and I slowly relaxed hearing that.
"You are?" I asked nervously.
"Of course you stupid child" Dad slapped my head. Father nodded in agreement.
"I wanted to tell you first... But..." I felt embarrassed
"He couldn't pull the courage so he told me to post it instead otherwise it'd be too embarrassing to tell it himself" Aoi said.
"Ah you dumb child" Dad sighed and sat on the bed next to me, he parted me from clinging onto Aoi and held my hands in his "I'm so happy.. I could almost cry"
Hearing dad's words got me all emotional and I suddenly hugged him.
"Congrats boy" Alex came in at that time and Kei san also followed him in. They were holding the kids.
"Adi!" I yelled out seeing my cutest little brother but apparently Leah and Sia screamed more to see me.
Don't be mistaken, I do love my sisters but they are scary as hell!!!
Kei san let Leah and Sia come to me first since they were throwing arms towards me really desperately and babbling.
Guess what those little monsters did the moment they ended up in my lap?
THEY BIT MY FRICKIN FACE!
"Aoi save me!" I threw a tantrum right away.
Aoi leaned in a took them off me as everyone laughed.
"Look how these little monsters are so well behaved with you! They bite all of us and become good girls when they come to you!" I said as Leah and Sia went all kissy on Aoi instead of biting her.
"Well I bet this means, she'll be a good mother" Father said.
"No one can be a better parent than my dad though and they still turned out this way" I shrugged.
"Hey! I'm also a good parent, you can ask little Adi yourself" Father rebelled.
"Yeah sure sure, best parent awards obviously goes to both my parents since they made a masterpiece like me" I said boastfully.
"Sure sure, we gave best of our features all to you, shouldn't we get the award instead?" Father said jokingly and laughed.
"What's this?"
I had been feeling this for a while now but now it's grown..
Stronger....
I held my mouth.
"What's wrong?" Aoi asked "Are you nauseated?
But it wasn't just me.. I noticed dad and Alex holding onto their mouths too. Little Adi also started crying loudly. Aoi san let Leah and Sia down on the bed and held my shoulder.
A huge wave of pheromones surrounded the room.
Alex almost went down on his knees and father reached in to grab him and Adrian while on the other hand dad was barely holding on as well, he tightly gripped at the edge of the bed.
I couldn't breathe either, this choking sensation...
Alpha influence?!
"Stop" Aoi said with a dangerous expression and I raised my head a bit to look at Kei san being surrounded by a mass of pheromones with a facial expression I'd never seen before on him.
Father tried to hold onto Alex who was on floor now.
Suddenly there was another huge wave of pheromones, sweeter and more calming... More addictive....
What is this... My head feels all bubbly..
I looked towards Aoi surrounded by a huge mass of pheromones too.
I felt myself relax in. It felt like absolute bliss but it also made me a bit sleepy.
But it wasn't the same for Dad and Alex, they further choked in rather badly wriggling for a breath.
Aoi's pheromones made them even worse than Kei san's pheromones.
For me they felt like pure bliss but for them they must be hell, ah I'm lowkey getting turned on...
"I said stop" Aoi said strictly but Kei san glared at her.
So she went straight at him which suddenly made him step back really fast all the way to the wall.
He tried to push her but she grabbed both his wrists pinning him to the wall.
Only then he wavered, the pheromones began to weaken around him and so Aoi san also toned her pheromones down.
At that point Alex had fainted not as much due to Kei san's pheromones but due to Aoi's pheromones and Father was holding both Adrian and Alex.
Adrian was still crying loudly.
Whilst dad was also semi conscious but he eventually lost consciousness too after they stopped.
Leah and Sia were awake but frozen looking at their dad go unconscious. Eventually they started crying too.
I tried to sit up and reached my hands to pat their heads.
Kei san's glaring face went away, he was somewhat shivering again and started sobbing trying to break from Aoi's grip but couldn't.
The more desperately he tried to push her away, the more his pheromones weakened.
Aoi held onto him until he gave in completely and then she let him loose.
"Kei san... What's wrong..." I asked watching him shivering so much and sobbing messily.
My face felt really hot...
Maybe it was her pheromones...
But my head felt all hazy....
She only turned to look at me and released a sweet scent again that made all my thoughts fade away and my mind all blank.
I blinked my eyes rapidly, I felt them relax.
She moved to me in a sudden movement and held my head before it could hit the pillow.
She gently laid my head on the bed and kissed my forehead
I felt my vision fade away...
A blurry image of her beautiful blue eyes....