Then there came the judgment. He was waiting for his verdict, whether he passed or failed.
"Calling me Father immediately as though it came out naturally, huh? You got guts."
"Although I already knew this would happen and even made this possible personally, she's my daughter, you know?!!"
"My daughter, my lovely daughter, is leaving me from now on. She's such an obedient daughter, but she has to suffer picking you as her husband."
"Seriously, you look so weak that any men in the village could crush them even with their eyes closed. How could you even protect my daughter with such a weak body of yours?"
"But it's inevitable; it already happened. From the start until this point, the moment you arrived, it was already decided at that time."
Arriving at this point, Garu took a deep breath and started crying silently, as though he were making a once-in-a lifetime decision.
"Very well. I, Garu, shall accept you as my son-in-law. As the husband of my second daughter, Ceth! It's only because of Ceth!"
"Although I already accepted you, there's no way I will let you remain such a weakling from now on. I will train you to become strong!"
"But for now, Juan, I welcome you to the family."
...
"....but, after all, she's my daughter! My daughter! And she's the youngest of my only two daughters! Juan, you understand, right? Right?!"
Juan has long since been pulled up from his kowtowing posture by Garu after he was accepted.
Right now, all he can do is sit beside this father-in-law of his on the bed edges and listen to his rumblings obediently and silently.
'Well, I'm glad there's no bloodbath that happens. And Garu, the village chief, has accepted me without much trouble as his son-in-law.'
'Although all it takes is to say those heartfelt words of praise and love about his daughter, It still drained me physically and mentally.'
'This is much more tiresome than having to run a kilometer marathon back in my previous life. Hah~, when will this one-way conversation end? '
"Do you remember when my Ceth was still little back then? She was a really lovely and cute girl, calling me 'Father' every time I returned home with her smile. All my fatigue disappeared only at that time."
'I don't care, Garu, sorry, even if you're my father-in-law. I don't care about what about your lovely and cute daughter and father's bonding care.'
'All I know is that your lovely and cute daughter is now my wife. She isn't yours anymore; she's mine now. And of course, I'm her's too.'
'Also, please! Can you end this story where all I can hear is you being showered with your daughter's smile and hug and playing around all day? '
'You thought I would be jealous because of that? And what's with that smug look as though you're showing off your achievements to a country bumpkin? '
Looking at Garu, who seems to have no intention of stopping for a while, Juan's eyes turn like those of a dead fish.
Clearly, his ears might have heard. His eyes might have seen it. But his mind refused to accept them.
In short, he wasn't listening or looking at what Garu had been saying this time.
'I didn't know you had this kind of side to you, Garu.'
Juan thought before his mind started counting how many times he touched Ceth's finger today.
...
In the dining room.
Ceth looked at her mother, who sat on the table opposite her. The latter was also looking back at her with a smile on her face.
"You heard him right? It was quiet loud after all."
Madam spoke; her eyes had a look of teasing in them.
Hearing this, Ceth's face flushed pink turn redder in a long time.
The house wasn't that big after all, and the technology here doesn't even have any basic soundproofing.
Naturally, Ceth could hear what Juan had been shouting all this time.
It made her young heart 'thump' louder and faster before she even knew it. This made her subconsciously let out a smile different from her usual style.
It was a smile full of warmth, color, and love. Making her mother, who saw this, smile even brighter, that she started chuckling.
"Juan is such a good young man. Make sure to take care of him properly, love him more, and show him more of you. so that he won't be taken by some vixens out there."
Ceth nodded; she didn't really hear it clearly because her mind was still resonating with what Juan had said a while ago.
"Ceth, she's the silent type of girl I really love. Not just now, even before I came to this village. She's my dream wife I always had in my heart and mind."
'I'm her dream wife.'
"Although she looked expressionless most of the time, there are times when funny things happen and I can see her mesmerizing smile."
'He likes my smile.'
"I would then turn dazed and ask myself, How could she let out such a dazzling smile? Why? Why is she such a cutie? So pretty!"
'I'm cute and pretty.'
"Ah~! This is taking my reason away; I can't think clearly. All I know is that when she's beside me, my eyes will always be on her."
'Juan is always looking at me! '
"My mind just can't let me forget about her. Oh Father, how did you make her grow into such a fine lady? Ceth herself has dazzled me."
'Ahhh!'
"She might have just turned into an adult, but in my eyes, she's always a sensible child. She won't say it, but I know she's very observant."
'He knew.'
"I don't know what kind of words I should even say. It's hard; my little mind isn't that equipped with praise she deserve."
'No, it's already enough.'
"Please forgive me. However, there is one thing that I really wanted to say in front of you."
'Thump!'
"I hope to take your daughter as my wife from today onwards. To have her with me through out this whole life. Never to leave her in danger and unfortunate times."
'That... through out this whole life.'
"I, Juan, promise this vow with the witness of Father. From the bottom of my heart. Etched within my soul. Please let me have her!"
'Juan, I'm already yours.'
...
It was at noon that Juan finally escaped from the clutches of his father-in-law.
Although it took so long, he really didn't notice the time passing by.
Juan could finally breathe some relief upon noticing Garu had fallen asleep at some point in time.
Without wasting time, Juan left the room silently. Afraid to wake Garu up and continue this torturous story-telling.
"How is he?"
The madam asked, seeing him walk out of the room without Garu.
"Father is sleeping, mother."
This might have come out of the blue, but Juan steeled himself to speak out these words since they will be his norms after this day.
"Hmm. He's too tired; he hasn't even slept a wink from yesterday night until now. Well, welcome to the family, Juan. Please take care of my daughter from now on."
Juan bowed in response.
"I will."
Juan straightened up and sat beside Ceth, who had been looking at him strangely all this time.
"Hmm?"
Then, as though he had remembered something.
'This house.... doesn't have any sound proofing. She might have heard it all. After all, my voice was rather loud at that time.'
It's embarrassing, but Juan steeled himself like he always did all this time. Act like nothing happened and be as usual as he is.
Though Ceth's eyes never leave his face for a moment despite that, this made Juan rather evade her gaze from time to time.
'Honey? Can't you give your husband some face? '
For a while, Juan sweated while he seated himself beside Ceth while having some chit-chat with his mother-in-law.
After some conversation and confirmation with the madam, and some silent company with Ceth,.
Juan finally decided to leave Garu's house on the excuse that he had to report to work.
"Now that you told me about it, someone had just inquired about you along with my husband a while ago."
The madam suddenly remembered a laborer delivering a message and a question a while ago.
This made Juan immediately interested, so he asked.
"Inquire about me?"
"Yes, he was asking if you still want to go to work today."
Juan immediately stood up and bowed to the madam.
"I'll indeed need to go. It's my second day at work, and I'm already missing this morning. I can't just go absent without saying anything."
"Well, you're right. But are you just going to leave my daughter just like that?"
Hearing this point made Juan somehow tense up. Madam's eyes seem to sharpen at that instant; he can't be hallucinating to notice that.
"That is, I shall stay with her until lunch. I hope to let her stay here every day from now on when I'm off to work."
'I can't just leave her in my house when it's quite a distance and somewhat lonely, right? Who knew if there was some beast nearby eyeing her? '
Juan didn't want anything to happen to his beloved wife. So the safe place for her to stay while she's protected is to remain at her parents house.