Cordia mommy's eyelid twitched again; she tried very hard to block out Levi's form from her peripheral vision and concentrate on the conversation, "Then why did you give me that exasperated look earlier? You think they shouldn't have gotten married?"
"How would I know whether they should have gotten married or not? I haven't watched this drama," Noah shrugged again.
"Then why the look? The look!"
"It's because the setting is a bit… hmm… how should I put this…" Noah licked his lips, "From the setting, it would seem like the two were unwilling but had no choice but to get married. And I think that where there is a will, there is a way. If they were really against getting married, they would have found a way out of it." Noah once again wore that same exasperated look, "The scriptwriters were just lazy and wanted them together for the plot."
Cordia mommy was dumbfounded for a moment, then she gave her son a profound look, "You don't understand the situation. Here, how about you think of it this way, what if your sister hadn't been born? How would you solve the arranged marriage between Cordias and Astars? Would you wiggle out of it, or would you go through with it?"
Noah stopped eating his cupcake to ponder over the question, "I see what you mean."
Finally reaching the point she had been aiming for from the start, Cordia mommy laughed, "Oh, now you understand, do you? Then, what would you do, ah? Would you marry Levi?"
Levi, whose gaze had been glued to his baby, suddenly snapped his head to stare at his mother-in-law.
Did he hear that correctly?! Was mother-in-law trying to match him up with her son?! Did something happen that he wasn't aware of? Why were things suddenly going his way? Did her daughter tell her about their breakup? It must be!
Mother-in-law must be thinking to take advantage of his good relationship with her son to still make this marriage happen! Of course! The marriage has to happen, but no one could force Levi to marry if he didn't want to. Since they couldn't force him into the marriage with their daughter, his in-laws thought they might be able to use his friendship with their son to cajole him into marriage with him instead!
Levi was, of course, overthinking it. Even his ex-fiancée wasn't aware of the fact he had broken up with her, let alone this mother-in-law.
Cordia mommy pretended not to see her son-in-law's hopeful excitement, but internally she was very close to coughing up blood, 'Yep... As bent as a banana…'
Noah felt stumped by what he thought was a misplaced joke. He gave his mother a look that practically spelled out 'how could you ask such a thing in front of brother-in-law??', then he tried to laugh off the question.
However, after chuckling, he noticed that he was the only one laughing, with the other two still expectantly waiting for his reply.
Suddenly the cupcake in his mouth became hard to swallow. Awkward! What was he supposed to say now?
If he said he would marry, brother-in-law's assumption of his sexual orientation would be cemented in stone! Even the Yellow River of Forgetfulness wouldn't be able to wash him clean!
But he couldn't disagree either, otherwise, he might hurt his brother-in-law's feelings.
In the end, Noah decided to just tell the truth, consequences be damned – whether he marries a man or a woman, what difference does it make to an asexual worldborn?
Thus, Noah chuckled out his reply, "Marry, of course I'd marry! Such a good husband, ah! How could I let fertile waters flow into someone else's fields!" 'See that, brother-in-law? Look how I am praising you in front of your mother-in-law! Hehe, how do you intend to thank me?'
Blackie, (¬‿¬) 'How else? He'll fuck you so hard on your wedding night you won't know male from female!'
The mentioned heavily breathing Levi nearly bent the fork he was holding out of shape. He stared holes into Noah with his two blue eyes, whose temperature was currently closer to bubbling magma than water. 'Baby said he'd marry me!!! Ah, ah!!' Levi pressed his lips tightly together, using all of his willpower to resist the urge to kiss his baby senseless.
Cordia mommy glanced at her son-in-law, who got lost on cloud nine– 'Oh dear… I can't watch this any longer…' –and could only cover her eyes with her hand. It took her a moment to will herself into producing a dry laugh, "Ha ha… where did your 'where there is a will there is a way go'?"
"There is no will, ah!" Noah shrugged impishly, "Why would I make trouble for myself trying to wiggle out of it? Whoever wants to get out of it should be the one to work out how!"
Cordia mommy moved her hand away from her eyes to rub her temples, sending a half-hearted glare towards her youngest in the process, "You little lazy cat! You'd just lie around and let Levi handle the changes in the agreement all by himself!"
Noah made a guilty expression of a kitten caught red-handed while trying to steal a fish. The cuteness of which sent another arrow piercing right into Levi's heart. And thus, a moment later, the naughty kitten found his little head getting fondled by his owner. In response, this mischievous kitten became perfectly docile and obedient, letting his blissful-looking owner caress every part of his fluffy head.
Seeing the harmonious image in front of her, Cordia mommy didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You think you are the sly fox here, but be careful you don't get played by your brother-in-law!"
Her dolt of a son didn't even take her warning to heart; instead, he immediately jumped to refute, "Impossible. Brother-in-law wouldn't play me."
Cordia mommy glanced towards the mentioned "trustworthy" "brother-in-law", who indeed currently looked a perfect picture of an honest and reliable gentleman, inspiring trust in everyone who saw– ptui, how can anyone have a face this thick?!? Look at that acting!! His face didn't even flush pink in shame!!
Can she not look at this dog food anymore?! Her teeth ached from the sight, ok?!
"…Don't you know your brother-in-law? If you told him to marry a frog, he'd marry a frog. If you told him to marry a dog, he'd marry a dog. And you expect him to proactively search on how to resolve the agreement…" 'that he doesn't even want to be abolished in the first place…' Cordia mommy could only let out another dry laugh, "Heh heh, son, you are too young."
Noah helplessly looked at his mother, then turned towards Levi as if to say 'you say something'.
Asked by his baby to provide backup, Levi did exactly that, "Mother is completely right!" then he smirked at his wide-eyed baby, "Whoever wants to get out of the agreement should be the one to work out how."
Noah glanced between his brother-in-law and his mother in mock-outrage, "Hey! You are ganging up on me!"
His only response was his mother's chuckle and Levi's obnoxious smirk.
"Alright, I see how it is!" Noah's pink lips pursed charmingly "Fine, fine, I was wrong, ok! I'd definitely help think up a solution, ah!"
"What solution?" Levi ruffled his hair, "You said you'd marry – you can't go back on your word now."
Noah: QAQ
💠 Author Note 💠 (Read! Important!)
Actually... there IS a special event to celebrate hitting 100 chapters!
You know how you guys wish you could support me in a more substantial way but can't? Wish you could buy the full SSC novel that will have more juicy smut when it comes out, but again, can't, for one reason or another?
Well, now is your chance to not spend a dime yet support me and thus gain great benefits! Here is the deal – besides here, you can also read SSC on other sites/apps, among which is Tapas. Now, Tapas has a currency called Ink, that can be bought but can also be earned for free. And you can send that currency to writers you wish to support. Now, unlike other similar sites with a gift function, on Tapas, that currency is actually worth something to writers and I can, through my dashboard, see exactly how much Ink each reader has given me.
Now, this allows me to track how much you have donated in total and eventually send paid-only goodies your way, such as the polished, published, ebook version of SSC with extra scenes, smut, and other goodies. I am not quite sure how much Ink is worth to me, but I am estimating that it should take around 7k Ink for you guys to get a beautiful ebook version with extra content to your mailbox.
And even better news is that Tapas will be running an Inksgiving event lasting from Friday, Nov 20th at 3pm PST to Sunday, Nov 22nd 3pm PST. If you gift Ink during this event, you will be getting 10-20% of it back at the end of the event! That means that you effectively need to gift 5,834-6,364 Ink and that will turn to 7k once you get back the 10%-20% of it.
Ready to support my writing and earn yourself a free polished book full of smut? Great!
Here is what you need to do:
1. Download the Tapas app on your phone/tablet or visit Tapas.io in your web browser. (Downloading the app is a better choice because it offers you more ways to earn Ink for free.)
2. After making an account there, click on Ink and you should see ways how you can earn Ink for free.
3. Find Soul Shard Captor in search and add it to your library so you can send me Ink later.
4. After earning all that Ink, wait for Inksgiving, to send it my way. 👍
5. Profit. And I don't mean that as in I profit, but we profit together. 😁
I'll have your Tapas account on record then and can send you an ebook with all those extra goodies when it is ready.
P.S. If you are already supporting me through ko-fi, don't worry, you'll be getting that ebook, whether you participate in this event or not. 👍
P.P.S. Even if you can't reach 7k Ink, that's ok. Every little bit means a lot and helps support my work! You might not be able to reach 7k in one go, but it will build up over time. Earn a couple hundred now, and maybe in a month, there will be ways to earn a few more hundred, etc. Eventually, you'll reach that 7k and get your goodies.
P.P.P.S. Trust me, you'll definitely want that ebook version.