The Yu Family Manor, Once More

- The Yu Family Residence Front Gates -

After I explained my entire plan to the girls, I had quickly changed the topic onto the letter Yu Ao sent me. For the first time ever, I thanked the Yu family patriarch, for giving me something to direct the conversation towards, thus avoiding Qing Yue's wrath...for now.

Coincidentally, the same guard from the last time I was here was at the gates, and immediately opened the gates after seeing the two young heiresses (Yu An Xue and Yu An Yan).

He gave me a slight wave as we entered, and I gave a discrete nod in return.

This young man slightly older than me was one of the few nice people in this world, where evil outweighed good. Thanks to the unspoken law - strength rules all - people were constantly striving to become stronger, but with every step they take in this path, the temptation of power threatens to corrupt their mind further, until they eventually forget what they initially started cultivating for...and turn to evil.

- Inside The Manor -

We were welcomed into the familiar white building by multiple servants wearing formal white clothes, and the atmosphere was clearly more inviting than the last time I was here. The usual empty grand hall had been turned into a banquet, and six white seats were placed in total around a large - you guessed it - white table. I feel like I've wondered this before, but...what is it with the Yu family and the color white?

Yu An Xue and Yu An Yan bowed down slightly and greeted the patriarch with a traditional fist and palm salute. "Father."

Yu Ao nodded, and signaled for them to rise. His two daughters complied, and stepped back.

"Sir Xuan Kai, my honored guest, this Yu welcomes you to our humble manor," the patriarch then said, and did the same salute the Yu sisters had just did to him. "Please take a seat." he motioned for me to sit down.

"Er..." I blinked in surprise as all six of us sat down in our chairs. This was too different of an attitude compared to the last time I saw him. The girls were also shocked, especially the two sisters. Seeing their venerable father bowing down to the likes of me, there was no doubt they were going to be overwhelmed.

The patriarch was unfazed. "I have invited you to my manor today in order to express my gratitude. I believe that was already stated in the letter."

"Uh...yeah," I replied. I still hadn't come to terms with his respectful attitude towards me.

"Well then, that makes things easier," Yu Ao smiled warmly. "Please enjoy yourselves to the fullest tonight, Sir Xuan Kai and his mistresses."

I frowned. "Huh? Mistresses-"

"We're not his MISTRESSES!" Feng Mian screamed, face beet red.

"Ahaha! Youngsters these days..." Yu Ao murmured quietly.

"N-No! You have it all wron-" Feng Mian began, but-

"Oho, was it that obvious?" Qing Yue interrupted out of nowhere, a sinister grin on her face.

The patriarch laughed once more. "There's nothing wrong with a man as brilliant as Sir Xuan Kai having multiple wives, after all."

"Heheheh...and you want your own two daughters to join the harem?" Qing Yue continued.

A bead of sweat formed on Yu Ao's forehead. "Ah...you saw right through me."

"F-Father?!" The two sisters yelled in unison. "What do you mean by that?!"

"Heehee, there are actually two reasons behind this banquet," Qing Yue explained in the patriarch's stead. "One - to thank Big Brother Xuan Kai for saving his daughter, Yu An Yan. And the other...to offer an engagement for your two daughters, correct?"

The patriarch smiled and nodded.

"J-Just hold on a second, father!" Yu An Yan cried. "You haven't even asked about our own feelings! We could be unwilling to marry him!"

"Y-Yeah, that's right," I added as support. "I think these kinds of things are best left up to the people in question themselves."

"Come on now. You just said 'could be'," Qing Yue said with an eye roll. "If you really didn't want to, you would've made that clear already."

Yu Ao nodded as if agreeing with her analysis, and Yu An Yan blushed deeply.

"I do not wish to marry him," Yu An Xue said with an expertly crafted cold expression.

"Heh. Imagine this scene, Yu An Xue..." Qing Yue began, as a devilish plan formed inside her head. "Your sister kissing Xuan Kai, and he looks like he's enjoying it. What do you feel?"

"H-Hey! Don't drag me into this!" Yu An Yan shouted, but was sadly ignored by everyone present.

"Ngh..." Yu An Xue shut her eyes, and listened to Qing Yue's instructions. But...soon after, she began furiously shaking her head. "No...!"

Qing Yue looked towards me like, 'See? Now hurry up and praise me.'

I averted my gaze, as Yu An Xue at last calmed down, and opened her eyes.

"I felt...nothing," she blatantly lied. But everyone in the room glanced at her with pitiful looks, and she looked towards her lap with a flushed face.

"Ahem! As you can see, both my daughters are deep in love with you, Sir Xuan Kai," the patriarch declared. This time, both daughters looked as if they wanted to rebuke him, but couldn't think of any good points to back their opinions up, it seems.

"I am, uh...flattered?" I said hesitantly, scratching my head.

"Are you not satisfied with my daughters in any way?" the patriarch furrowed his brows in genuine confusion.

"A-Ah, no, not at all," I replied. "It's just...everything happened so quick, my apologies if it felt like I was looking down on your daughters."

"Then I see no problem. Let's have you get engaged with the two of them!" Yu Ao clapped his hands together and announced.

"Er...c-can we put this matter aside for now?" I suggested desperately. I wasn't interested in this kind of discussion.

"Very well, we can discuss this in more detail at a later date," Yu Ao agreed.

Yeah...let's not discuss this, today or any day.

I cleared my throat. "This might come as a stupid question, but...just what did I do to make you be so grateful towards me?"

Yu Ao sighed. "This may just be a small matter in your heroic life, but to me and the entirety of the Yu family, this was something worth more than anything," he explained, though I still didn't quite understand.

Then, as if reading my mind, he continued. "You saved my An Yan, and returned her to us after eight years of grieving. Publically, this matter was long since forgotten, but deep down, everyone in the Yu family, especially my wife and I...how could we just forget about our missing daughter?"

"..." I listened in silence. Right now, the man before me was not the patriarch of one of the Four Great Families of Shenzhen, but just a grieving father.

"What you have done is far greater than what you may think. And in fact, An Yan wasn't the only one you saved," a female voice joined the conversation. I turned around to see who it was, and I saw a gorgeous lady dressed in white enter the great hall. I stared in awe at her brilliant fuchsia hair, a mix of pink and purple. She had similarly colored eyes, and was practically like a combination of Yu An Xue and Yu An Yan, except older. She smiled as she met my gaze, and introduced herself.

"Greetings, Sir Xuan Kai. I am Yu Ao's wife, and the mother of An Xue and An Yan. You can call me Yu Rong."

I stood up from my chair out of courtesy and bowed slightly. "Greetings, Lady Yu Rong. I can see where Yu An Xue and Yu An Yan get their beautiful appearance from."

"Fufufu...you flatter me," she laughed in a very constrained, lady-like manner. "I am getting old, and cannot compare to these beauties surrounding you."

I smiled in return, slightly embarrassed, and a servant quickly rushed into the room, bringing a chair with her. The maid placed the chair beside Yu Ao, and quickly dashed out of the room as soon as her task was done, as if escaping the atmosphere. Yu Rong seated herself beside her husband, and the two sisters greeted their mother with a curtsy, unlike how they greeted their father. Customs.

"Lady Yu Rong, do you mind explaining what exactly you mean by 'Yu An Yan wasn't the only one I saved'?" I asked once she had settled down.

"Fufu...Xue'Er was the one who suffered the most when Yan'Er was taken away...and that was also why my husband and I agreed with the elders' decision to not tell her the truth until she was older."

"So then, you mean..." I began, nearly arriving at the answer now that she had directed the topic onto Yu An Xue.

She nodded with a smile. "Indeed. By saving Yan'Er, you also saved Xue'Er's heart."

"...I see. By the way, here's the Space Locket...you can have it back," I said, taking the magical pouch out of my pocket.

"No, my boy. Keep it," Yu Ao replied immediately.

"Huh...?"

"You deserve it. Think of it as a reward for saving my daughters."

After a short mental debate, I eventually gave in and sighed. "...Fine. But I'll give everything within the Space Locket back to you."

"...Alright, that's fair," Yu Ao said after some thought. "You can just empty it in the corner over there, I'll sort through it later."

I did as told, and dumped the full contents of the Space Locket onto the floor, in the corner of the room. Quite a bit came out, and it took up a lot of space. Fortunately, none of it was fragile, so nothing broke or anything. After that, I headed back to my seat.

I saved not only Yu An Yan, but also Yu An Xue's heart, huh...

I may be good at formulating plans and battle strategies, but...relationships and human emotions were still a mystery to me.

A relationship was a connection between two or more people. There were bad relationships, and intimate relationships...but that's about the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

As for emotions, I knew what they were, obviously. There were many different emotions one could experience, and I understood most of them. But...there was just one I could not comprehend, no matter how hard I tried: love.

Just what, was love? Why do people experience love, and how? What, exactly, was an intimate relationship? What did it mean to have such a relationship with someone? These are questions I may never find an answer to, but even so, they constantly nagged at my mind. I wonder, when did I start having these inquiries?

Was it after my parents were assassinated?

...I remember my parents telling me they loved me. And in the past, I could feel it - I could feel their love.

But ever since that day, I couldn't recall the feeling of being loved or loving someone else, no matter how hard I tried. I figured I would have to restart, and discover the meaning of love all over again.

Maybe, someday, I could find an answer to all these questions. Maybe someday, I could experience the emotion called love again.

But until then, I will continue my search, and strive towards that goal.