"Come on Bell. Just because we're at home doesn't mean you can dress like that," said Cyro as he placed his palms on my back and began pushing back up the stairs.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because you're about to meet your fiancée. You must treat this very formally or else you might offend the Asano clan," he answered.
"But—"
"No buts. Come on buddy, get those legs moving. There we go."
He pushed me all the way back to my room and like a scene from a movie, I came out in multiple outfits just for him to shake his head.
"Not that one."
"Nope. Too tacky."
"Are you trying to piss them off?"
I was confused why he was giving me these reactions when the outfits I had chosen were perfectly fine.
Perhaps the idea of his little brother being engaged had gotten into his head and now he was being sucked into the atmosphere of the room.
"There we go," he said, satisfied as he nodded his head. Patting down my shoulders, he looked like a proud father.
I was just wearing a simple white dress shirt, black dress pants, and a belt to keep the pants from falling.
"Mwa," he made the sound of a chef's kiss as well as making the gesture. "Simple but effective."
Then he moved his head close to my chest and began sniffing.
"Brother, what in the world are you doing?" I asked, feeling a little creeped out.
"You don't smell bad," he muttered, "but you can smell better."
Grabbing my hand, he pulled me into his room and began going through his collection of perfumes.
"Cyro, what are you doing? Didn't I already tell you that I'm not trying to impress anyone," I said, rolling my eyes as he sprayed perfume on himself to test them out.
I reckoned that most of them were gifts and he hadn't even used them once.
And yet, he was pulling out all the cards when it came to me.
"That's the one," he said as he took another whiff of the perfume he had sprayed on his wrist.
As if he was being paid to do it, he quickly applied the spray onto my body, and the room soon filled with this fragrant scent that simply screamed luxury.
"What are you doing all this for?" I asked.
"Because my little brother," he said, placing his hands on my shoulders, "you're about to be in the presence of a lady known for her beauty. They say that with every step she takes, elegance follows. Every word she speaks sounds like poetry."
"Do they say this?" I asked, confused. "I didn't see any of this on the internet."
"What would the internet know?" Cyro scoffed. "Half the things on there are false anyway."
"Okay. Then who are the people you're speaking of?"
"People like us. Other powerful families. Do you know how many of those power-hungry rats have been coveting an engagement with Asano Ichiko?"
"Uhm... two."
"All of them. Hundreds of boys your age want her for themself because she's considered to be the prized diamond," he answered. "And even more old hags desire the engagement so that they may get closer to their clan."
"Cool? What does that have to do with my smell or how I look?" I asked, confused as he spun around, admiring his work of art.
"Because Bell, every rich bastard is going to be looking at you in jealousy, trying to find a flaw in you. If you give them something to complain about, that's all you're going to be hearing about on the internet," said Cyro. "Our family can only control so much of the internet."
"But I thought you don't care about how the public perceives me? I don't care. As long as you and everyone close to me know the truth, I'm fine with it," I told him.
"You're right, I don't care about their opinions because the only opinion that matter is mine."
"Then why?"
"Because my foolish brother, no older brother would want to hear others speaking badly of their younger brother," he said with a smile, running his hand through my hair.
'Ah... I see. He really is a doting brother,' I thought to myself.
"Thank you."
"Of course. Now... let's get going before we're late," said Cyro as he began dragging me toward the living room.
As we arrived, Mother and Father were already there along with Rubi who was reading a picture book.
Unlike myself who was dressed rather formally, they weren't exactly casual but more like the tier in between the two.
"You look great," said Mother as she began patting down my dress shirt.
'There's nothing on it. Why do they feel the need to pat it down?'
Father agreed with a simple nod.
"Are you ready to meet your fiancée?" he asked me.
"Not really but do I have a choice?"
He chuckled and said, "Nope."
Mother and Father were standing a little further away from each other than normal. Well, it was more of a one-sided thing as whenever Father got a little closer, Mother would get a little further.
Cyro and I looked at each other and held back our laughter.
With a few minutes before the Asano family would arrive, we naturally spread out around the living room, doing things to pass the time.
Mother was explaining a part of the picture book that Rubi was confused with and Cyro was off in the corner somewhere taking a phone call.
Father walked over to me and let out a sigh.
"Still haven't forgiven you yet?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it son," he responded. "A few more hours of my charm and she'll forgive me."
A split second after he said that, we heard the clicking of a tongue and when we turned to see where it came from, it was Mother glaring at Father with eyes that could've shot beams of lasers.
"Ha... ha," he awkwardly laughed.
Leaning over, he whispered into my ear, "This is just your mother's way of showing her love."
"I see," I responded.
Mother was often lenient, patient, and extremely caring when it came to Bell so it wasn't often that I got to see this other side of her even in the memories I had of her.
A butler informed us that the Asano clan was about to arrive and as if we were taking a family picture, the five of us stood beside each other to greet our guests.
As the front double doors were opened by the guards outside, the Asanos began to enter our home.
Unlike the previous day when the mood was a little tense but it felt like it wasn't anything serious, currently, I felt like I was part of a tsunami about to crash into another tsunami.
'Why does this feel like two mafia families are meeting up?' I thought to myself.
First entered the head of the clan, Asano Gonkuro. Unlike yesterday when he wore a kimono that matched the color of his clan's crest, he was wearing a black and golden suit.
'It's like he's trying to demonstrate his wealth and power.'
Then closely behind him was his wife, also matching his colors, as well as a middle-aged man who I recognized to be Gonkuro's older brother.
Unlike the married couple, he was in a light pink suit and was wearing sunglasses.
His long hair was tied into a bun and even though he didn't have one in his mouth, the smell of cigarettes lingered on his body.
Behind those three was a girl who I couldn't make out as only parts of her body were visible from where I stood.
'That's her.'
Even with how few details I could make out, the fact she had long crimson-red hair that had two tails on opposite ends told me who it was I was looking at.
As Gonkuro stepped forward and greeted my father, I immediately recognized what the established power dynamic was.
It's said that the Asanos are amongst the most powerful over in the East but even so, in the face of the Agnus, it is them who must await my father's extended hand.
As I watched the two leaders shake each other's hands, my eyes began drifting towards Ichiko and in that moment, it was like I was hit with a flashbang.
'Oh my god!' Liona screamed. 'She is so pretty!'
'Master, I've never seen anyone this beautiful before,' said Kimi.
Vaulheshia fixated on another aspect, 'Look at her muscles. They are deceivingly small. They look very compact and toned. I like her.'
I don't even know where she saw any muscle because the kimono covered everything but her head and her hands.
'No layer of clothing can hide such beautiful muscles from me, master,' she explained.
'I... see.'
Urisha and Yanari were quiet, I assumed because they were stunned.
My artifacts were going crazy and rightfully so.
I've seen pictures of her and even videos but it seems like she was the opposite of most humans.
She looked better in person than she did online.
It was cliche to say this but her skin was truly fitting to be called porcelain skin. If she had makeup on, I couldn't tell because she looked natural and yet, I could without a doubt claim her to be the best-looking person I've ever seen before.
'She looks like she was meant to be the female lead,' I thought to myself. 'Why wasn't she more involved in the novel?'
I wanted to frown but stopped myself. The thought of the shitty god barely mentioning her and killing her off nonchalantly made me feel like I was going crazy.
Then I remembered that the shitty god didn't have the capacity to describe a person this beautiful so I forgave him.
'This world must've filled the rest out for him. Just like it did for the places and people not mentioned in the novel,' I concluded.
I had to hand it to this novel world; it certainly managed to create a lady so pretty that the jealousy of the entire population of Bell's generation of boys was justified.
I looked at Cyro and he looked at me as if to say, 'I told you so.'
Screaming inside my head, only negative feelings filled me up as I imagined my future.
'I'm going to be crucified for any mistake,' I sighed. If she says one bad word about me to her friends, then they'll tell their friends, then the boys will hear it and the campaign to smear my name would activate to full effect.
I needed to be as perfect as a human as I could be.
'Fighting!' said Liona. 'You got this.'