Family Dinner

It had been a month since Sorath was stuck in a time loop of Julian's death.

During that time, Julian had rewinded 26 times. Thanks to his determination, he broke the flawless streak of 30 deaths in 30 days. What a shame. If the assassin knew about this, he would feel disappointed in himself.

Feeling bored of living and reading the Book of Prophecy over and over in a time loop, Sorath felt it was time to abandon his assassination plan. He asked the current assassin, Black Lotus, to back off and put another assassin called White Lotus, the assassin's sister, in his place.

Black Lotus had refused, but Sorath easily persuaded him by doubling his pay even though he had not completed his mission yet. Technically, he has. It's just that only Sorath and his victim knew about that.

Replacing Black Lotus, White Lotus had a different mission from her brother's. It was not an assassination job, but an undercover. Also, it wasn't a mission that required immediate action since her mission would begin during her awakening phase.

Technically speaking, it was her first commission.

Now that the time loop ended, Sorath could finally attend the family dinner on the first night of December.

The Shedever family had a tradition where they would hold a dinner once a year. Not only the main family members would attend, but also the branch families. And that dinner had always been a formal one.

Despite that, Sorath dressed casually regardless of the dinner's mood. He even flashed a smile at his reflection in the mirror.

Turning around, he adjusted his collar and sleeves.

'There's only one reason why I attend this dinner.'

…

Sorath collected his breath. In front of him stood a golden, majestic double door towering over him about three meters tall. Comparing him with the door, the tip of his head reached half — slightly a bit way higher about 15 centimeters — of the door.

Likely 165 cm. Well, it was not that bad for a 15-year-old kid.

Taking out a mirror hand, he flexed his expression, especially his smile. He wanted to smile as wide as possible, looking as friendly and outgoing as possible. Satisfied with the quick training, he took a long breath and gazed forward.

"Let's do this."

As the door opened, he heard a voice announcing his arrival with so much grandeur.

There were so many people at the dinner, stretching from the nearest seat from the door to the farthest, where a man with identical black hair and red eyes sat.

All eyes were on Sorath. He suddenly felt a swarm of butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

"G-Good evening! Every—"

He fell with a loud thud that echoed through the grand dining room. Adding to his embarrassment, the crowd had just fallen silent the moment he stepped on his own foot and stumbled.

…

'Umm, yeah… I'm not doing that,' Sorath thought, after recalling the scene when the Author did that embarrassing moment with his body. 'She's too silly. But, because of that, I know how to build a rapport with Father.'

Similar to the past memory of the Author's experience. A voice that he couldn't tell whose it belonged to announced his arrival.

All eyes were on him. All kinds of gaze. Although the majority was giving him curious looks. Some were antagonizing him instead. And only God knows what their reason was.

Even so, for the sake of "impression", he forced a smile. Unbeknownst to him, that forced smile turned out to be a smile that the witnesses thought was a natural, kind-hearted smile.

They murmured among themselves, whispering about how his smile looked like his mother's. That genuine smile that reached them when they were in the bottomless pit. The smile that they thought they could never see again.

However, Sorath didn't care. All that mattered to him was his father's reaction.

Sorath kept his gaze forward as he walked toward his seat near the patriarch. There, he spotted three empty chairs and occupied one space for himself. He sat in the middle of the arranged empty seats.

After sitting there, Sorath took out a red-eyed stuffed bear and a blue-eyed dove papercraft from the spatial bag wrapped around his waist. Just like an innocent kid, he put them on the table of the unoccupied chairs.

The bear to his left, and the dove to his right, beside the patriarch.

Smiling, he turned to look at his father.

He pointed at the dove. "This is for mother,"

"And this is for big sister," he said, pointing at the bear.

The patriarch smiled and patted Sorath without saying anything.

At that moment, the guests at the grand dinner gasped simultaneously. It had been a long time since they saw the patriarch's smile. And to think that the thing that made him smile again had come from the very source of his change. What an irony.

'Yeah, this is fine. I don't need to do something silly. Despite his cold appearance, Father has always been a warm person in his heart.'

Sorath glanced around, observing the guests' reaction.

'With this, they won't dare to try to harm me or insult me like they did in the past.'

Then his eyes stopped upon spotting a particular person among them. He was a boy of his age. His hair color was the opposite of Sorath's, which was white as snow. His red eyes stared at the floor. Among the guests, that boy had an appearance that could be considered unfit for the grand dinner.

Well, so did Sorath. Instead of formal clothes, Sorath and that boy dressed as casually as they liked.

'Oh, right. How could I forget about him?'

Sorath grinned. 'I'll talk to him later.'

As the patriarch sat there with a warm smile, he raised his glass to make a toast.

"Everyone, thank you for joining us tonight. It's a rare occasion when we gather like this. Let's use this grand dinner not only to celebrate the bonds of family. But also for our success in clearing the 49th floor and for the youths who will face their awakening phase."

His words resonated through the grand dining room, and the guests raised their glasses in response.

Thus, the grand dinner officially began. The maid, dressed in a pristine uniform, began to move gracefully, serving round after round of the extravagant banquet. Plates filled with delicacies of all kinds were placed before the guests, each dish more delectable than the last.

***

A few hours passed and the grand dinner finally finished. Everyone — mostly the branch family members — returned through a teleportation device built in the backyard. Meanwhile, the second family would stay for the night.

At midnight, Sorath walked through the hallways with a flash from his phone in his hand. A few minutes later, he arrived at the balcony. There, he saw someone sitting on the railing.

"What are you doing there, kiddo?"

The boy glanced over his shoulder. "What?"