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 call ended up being dropped.
With complex emotions in his eyes, Noah returned to his chicken drumstick, but not a second passed before his communicator started to ring again. Case was calling again.
This time, Noah didn't have the heart to reject him, so he shot his sister and Levi an apologetic look and picked up the call.
The light screen of Noah's communicator popped out, displaying Case's very outraged image, which was only a wee short of spitting out fire. Case held a fancy-looking piece of paper, and before Noah could even greet him, he screeched like a banshee, "What the fuck is this?!? Oi, oi!!! What the hell is going on?!?"
Case frantically shook the piece of paper in front of Noah's confused eyes as if attempting to exorcise the demons possessing it through brute force. It was only several moments later, when Case's hands stopped their reenactment of a man having an epileptic seizure, that Noah managed to recognize what the other was holding. It seemed to be a wedding invitation between… Noah's eyes squinted, trying to make out the names of the bride and groom, "Astar Levi and…"
Maery's satisfied smile cracked, and Levi bent his fork out of shape. Both lurched towards Noah, trying to press the hang-up button, but they were a step too late!
Noah's eyes widened into saucers, and his voice broke, "…Cordia Aris?!?!"
His own trembling voice rang in Noah's ears, and his head spun. However, the physical reaction speed of a worldborn was not to be underestimated. Even under these circumstances where his entire body was shaking and heaving, Noah still managed to accurately slap away the naughty paws trying to press his hang-up button.
"Case… wait a bit… I'm going to have to call you back…" Noah ended the call himself and turned to face Maery and Levi, who held their slapped hands, looking like they had just swallowed a fly.
Their expressions were an interesting mix of emotions, including guilt, fury, sourness, resentment, and embarrassment, but there was no surprise. Seeing their very synchronized ugly expressions, Noah abruptly realized what was going on, and his blood pressure skyrocketed.
"In lieu of recent events, you said? A better way to unite the two cities for all parties involved?" A humorless chuckle escaped him, "Heh, heh, so the better solution you were talking about was not to dissolve the marriage but to change the bride?!"
Maery, 'This is not how this was supposed to turn out!! QAQ We were so close! So close, ah!' ○|￣|_
Levi, 'Fucking Case!!!' (ノಠAಠ)ノ︵┻━┻ 'I still haven't paid you back for trying to take liberties with my baby, and you had to jump out again to draw aggro?! Paint a blood-red target sign on yourself, why don't you?!'
Seeing their precious darling's current furious visage, Maery and Levi were forced to set aside their dissatisfaction with Case. Not knowing what to do to remedy this, the two shrunk back in their chairs, looking like a flustered pair of children who'd done something wrong.
Noah seemed to be hyperventilating, his wide angry eyes looking between the two culprits whose backs were now covered in cold sweat.
'No wonder they confronted me with that "We've got good and bad news for you" attitude earlier!!' Noah's hands clenched into fists, "So, this is the news you've been keeping from me!"
"Bro... brother... don't get mad... anger isn't good for the health..." Maery croaked dryly while avoiding Noah's eyes.
"Well then, aren't I lucky there is a Healer in the room." Noah smiled perfunctorily and reached towards his glass of water, thinking that he needed a drink, and since there was no alcohol present on the table, he had to settle for plain water. Unfortunately, his hands were shaking too badly, and he ended up spilling half of it before it reached his mouth. And then, when the cool liquid finally trickled down his throat, it even slid down the wrong pathway, causing him to start coughing.
Levi's arm instinctively darted to pat Noah's back but seeing those two livid yet teary-due-to-coughing eyes looking his way, his hand froze midair, and he flinched back. Several times Levi moved as if to pat Noah's back but didn't dare, looking like a lost child.
After Noah's cough settled down, Maery cleared her throat awkwardly, "That… brother… you... you can be mad all you like, but... before you get mad… can you hear us out?"
"I'm listening," Noah smiled very brilliantly, but his smile sent chills down the other two's spines.
"Bro… uh… me and Levi don't get along, but you and Levi do! Since you two like each other very much and enjoy spending time together, if the bride was changed from me to you, this marriage would turn from slow torture into something much closer to a marriage between a loving husband and wife!"
Worried that Noah would disagree, Maery didn't even pause to take a breath before continuing, "I know you are feeling very wronged right now because…" Maery paused and then swiftly decided to fling the blame to their parents, "…because our parents went ahead with this before consulting your opinion! And you have every right to feel wronged! Levi and I also felt very wronged when this marriage fell onto our heads! We understand you, little brother! If you are really against it, we can talk it out… but… we had hoped that you would be able to accept it with time… just like Levi and I did back then…"
"Accept it with time? The wedding is in three days!!" Noah let out a long humorless chuckle, "We can talk it out? The wedding invitations have already been resent!"
Maery and Levi flinched, and their heads dropped down lower. Why did their easy-to-fool dumpling suddenly turn so smart?
After a moment of silence, Maery tentatively spoke up, "That… mom might have gotten ahead of herself… but if you are unwilling… we can… we can say it was a prank? Or a printing error? Don't… don't feel pressured, baby brother… ah… tell sister the truth about your thoughts on this matter… if you are unwilling to marry Levi, then no one will force you…"
Noah glanced between Levi and Maery in silence, his thoughts unreadable. "Then, what if I am unwilling? What will happen to the wedding in three days?"
The room was suddenly enveloped in an oppressive silence.
After a moment, Maery responded, "Sis has already been living all this time prepared to marry this scourge, so, in the end, if I still have to marry him, I'd accept it, but… Levi…"
The man in question finally spoke up in a somber and low voice, "If you are unwilling, the wedding can only be canceled…" Levi lowered his head to avoid meeting Noah's eyes, with a forlorn and devastated expression that simply spelled out a mournful 'no one wants to marry me...'
As expected, seeing that look, Noah felt his little heart got pierced with something sharp. Maery too clutched at her heart, but her thoughts were, 'Who is this shameless scoundrel acting pitiful?! Levi, you have really opened my eyes today!'