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Kudo Ayaka and Kudo Taro went back to their house for dinner.

In the dining room.

There were another two people in the room. The first one was a male in his forties. He had short black hair with an undercut hairstyle. He was wearing a formal suit as he had just finished his work. He put down his chopsticks and finally said,

"Father, I heard you brought two people into the company along with Ayaka. Who are they?" Although he appeared to be a strict person, he was not like that. He was only a normal father.

"Hoho, so you know about it. As expected of my son. Even if you're busy, you still care about your daughter."

"Of course. I'm her father, and I should care about her well-being." He said righteously. "I almost forgot. Ayaka, I got you a fiance just now. He's Katsuragi Takaki from the Katsuragi house in the north.

"His father is my comrade back then, and we're pretty close. I've seen him today. He's handsome and is a good man that suits you the most. He is an A-rank magician, to boot."

"Father, I don't need him!" She slapped the table without caring about manners.

Ayaka was flustered when she heard about this fiance thing. She was just teased by her grandfather about Kai, and this thing suddenly came up.

Her father was shocked to see her like that. Kudo Taro also narrowed his eyes, thinking about something. "Katsuragi house... If I'm not wrong, it's also one of the most prominent families in the north."

"Yeah. It's that Katsuragi."

Kudo Taro glared at him and asked with a bit of a cold tone on his voice, "Yoshihiro, why didn't you ask me about this first?"

"Father?" Ayaka's father, Kudo Yoshihiro, was startled to see such reactions from both Ayaka and his father. "I just met him today, and we agreed to marry our children. He's also a good friend of mine, and I know what kind of person he is."

"Dear, this is also my first time hearing about it." Suddenly, the fourth person in the room spoke.

She had long straight brown eyes, like Ayaka. She looked at Kudo Yoshihiro with her black eyes. She tried to smile as she had a calm and elegant atmosphere around her.

But for Yoshihiro, that calm of hers was like the calm right before the storm. Yoshihiro immediately got scared. This side of her made Yoshihiro not have the courage to have another wife.

"He's my friend's son. He's an A-rank wind magician. I've seen his attitude and I'm satisfied with it."

"He won't marry her." Kudo Taro said.

"Father?" This time, both Yoshihiro and Ayaka's mother, Kudo Chiyo were perplexed.

"No, I'm not rejecting this marriage. I've decided not to stretch my hand in this matter. But..."

"But..." Both of them gulped. Ayaka finally realized what he was going to say. Sadly, she was too late to stop him.

"She already got her soulmate, according to our family fate.

"What?" Yoshihiro rose from his seat while Chiyo's mouth opened wide as she tried to cover it with her hand.

"Grandfather!" Ayaka shouted, embarrassed.

"She... has lost to someone?" Chiyo asked.

"I was just as surprised as you are. So after she unknowingly brought them here, I decided to test him. Surprisingly, he blew me away before I managed to land a hit on him. Not to mention, I was the one who made the first surprise attack."

Both of Ayaka's parents couldn't utter a single word as their mouth refused to budge because of the shock.

Chiyo was the first one who regained her composure. She asked with a smile, trying to treat it as a joke. "Father, you are exaggerating, right? Is he an S-rank magician? But there are only two S-rank magicians in this United Asia, and both of them are old."

"No, he's a D-rank. According to Ayaka, he seems to be a sound magician. Although it was just a friendly exchange, I felt that his movement was different than those of students. In close combat alone, he should be around a third year's level, if not at the elite level."

"D-rank?" (Yoshihiro)

"Sound magician?" (Chiyo)

"Father, please don't joke about this. He's only a sound magician, and a D-rank magician, to boot." Yoshihiro said while trying to calm his heart down.

"Aren't you underestimating sound magicians too much? Besides, you shouldn't compare him to normal sound magicians. If it weren't for this country's ineffective method of measurement for sound magicians, he might be comparable to B-rank or A-rank magicians.

"Don't you know that the first space magician was underestimated by everyone on his side as he was only a C-rank magician? He tried to make an unorthodox way of using space magic.

"After he perfected his style, he became undefeated, and his name went through history.

"Don't you know that the first summoner was underestimated because he could only summon an ordinary snake? He didn't give up, and eventually, his snake became an A-rank magical beast.

"He then managed to summon a few other beasts with the same level and etched his name in history."

"Father, do you mean that he can become someone like that too?"

"I don't know."

"Father, you..." Yoshihiro was speechless.

"But he is indeed an unorthodox sound magician. I should mention his name first. His name is Kai Carter."

"Carter?" Both of them were astonished to hear that familiar name. It was not an unknown name. In fact, the name 'Carter' would reverberate in one's ears every time they heard that name.

If they thought about 'Carter,' there would always be a certain person that came to their mind. One of the three S-rank magicians in the United Asia. She was known as a dual magician with her lightning element and space element.

'Tasha Carter,' there should be nobody that didn't know that name. "Is he..."

"Yeah, he's Tasha Carter's younger brother. But that is not my concern. I have met many people in my life, but I always found the most dangerous thing was the unknown. And he is one of them."

"Father. Although she's an S-rank, she is, after all, alone, and the Katsuragi family is certainly not afraid of her. I can't choose one of them, especially after I agreed with the engagement of Ayaka and Katsuragi Takaki."

"All of you, why didn't you even ask me about it first! I only want to get stronger. I don't want a fiance!" Ayaka suddenly struck the table with her hand and shouted. There was a trace of tears in the corner of her eyes, waiting to drop.

Her feelings had been mixed up in a single day. She only wanted to get stronger and help the family, but all of this suddenly came to her.

She had calmed down a little after the incident with Kai. But because of this discussion, she couldn't hold her feelings back now.

She glared at her grandfather as well as both her parents. She left the room while shedding tears.

The situation became depressing after she left. No one chased her because they had more important things to do.

"That's why I asked why you didn't ask me first." Stressed by the situation, Kudo Taro complained.

"How about canceling it, dear? After all, they haven't met. You can try saying that it will depend on Ayaka's choice. It is the middle way.

"Well, just like the Katsuragi family, we are also not necessarily scared of a young S-rank magician. If she has reached the level of the other two S-rank, we certainly wouldn't be able to afford to offend her even with our current influence." Chiyo tried to make a suggestion.

"..." Kudo Yoshihiro's expression darkened. It was plain to see that the situation was not that easy.

"Then, what should we do, Father?" Chiyo asked.

"You should cancel that engagement first. We will let nature take its course. Just say that your daughter will be the one to make the choice. Although they are a prominent family, their influence is only limited in the north.

"They can't threaten us here, more so with our current influence."

"Father, how about we just get rid of those two kids now? It is a simpler solution." Yoshihiro suggested.

Even Kudo Taro couldn't help but narrow his eyes. "If you think you can do so, then you can try. But I"ll tell you this. They have the potential to destroy our family in the future."

"...You two can continue discussing this. I will look after Ayaka." Chiyo couldn't take it anymore, so she left the room.

Seeing Chiyo leave the room, Kudo Taro let out a long sigh. "I'm still suggesting that we choose the middle way instead of that one. There are too many factors to consider if we use your way."

"..." Yoshihiro contemplated for a long time. After an hour of constant glaring from Kudo Taro, his mind finally decided. "Alright. I'll try to cancel the engagement and tell my friend to let Ayaka choose.

"If his son can win her heart, then we won't say anything. Although this cursed tradition is like an enigma, I can't say anything about it. After all, it has been proven by every generation of the Kudo's, be it in a normal way or in an unbelievable way."

"Is your friend on his business trip? If it's like that, then it might not be a problem."

"Yeah, he's on a business trip. But, his son is not. He'll enroll at Genesis Magic Academy as a transfer student tomorrow." Yoshihiro said while sweating.

Facepalming, Kudo Taro sighed. He rose from his seat and started walking, "You go handle the rest. I'm out."