Arc 1 Chapter 83 – Marriage falling through?

Levi swallowed hard, “You… could you go ahead and check whether my mother came in person?”

Noah eyed Levi strangely, so Levi was forced to explain. “My mother is… uh… an Empathizer…”

Noah’s confusion was instantly replaced by understanding. Empathizers could sense the emotions of others as if they were their own. His brother-in-law was worried that if his mother came in person, she’d be able to feel how much today’s incident had affected him. He didn’t want her to worry, and how could she not if she felt his pain and distress?

Noah was thinking in the right direction. He would have reached the correct destination too if it weren’t for Levi’s thinking processes getting severely compromised in his baby’s vicinity.

That’s right. The loner wolf Levi simply didn’t want his mother to find out he was head over heels in love with his little brother-in-law!! Not in this way! Not right now when his baby was so close to being fully cooked!

Ah, considering how enraptured he was with his baby, any proper Empathizer would be able to feel his overflowing adoration from a mile away! He could only hope that his overprotective father didn’t allow her to come in person. Astar city lord usually refused to let his beloved wife go to places charged with negative emotions like hospitals and cemeteries. And currently, the Cordia manor should fall into that category.

Nonetheless, it is best to be prudent. And thus, Noah was sent into the living room as a scout.

It didn’t take long before his baby’s lovely voice could be heard calling for him, “Brother, you can come in.”

As soon as Levi entered, his eyes landed on the large light screen in the middle of the living room, upon which was the moving image of an attractive middle-aged woman. If one didn’t know her identity beforehand, no one would connect this gentle and lively lady to be Astar Levi’s mother. The two simply seemed to have nothing in common, from appearance all the way to personality and demeanor.

It turned out Levi’s assumption had been correct; his mother indeed hadn’t come in person. Or rather, she couldn’t come. Her husband had her on lockdown as soon as he heard about what happened. Thus she could only spend the entire day in a video call with Cordia mommy, waiting for her only son to wake up.

Levi let out a breath of relief. Alright, it made sense. Knowing his mother, if she were really here in person, she would be the first to know the two of them had woken up. Since no one had come up to bother them, then the only sensible explanation was that she wasn’t here.

‘Good job, father!’

When mommy Astar saw her stern son enter the room, it was as if the lady was injected with a stimulant. She nearly jumped out of the screen, “Darling, how are you?!? Do you need mom and dad to call over some more professional help? Is your body ok? Do you need a Healer? What about a Soother? You can’t just have little Aris work on you; he needs to recuperate too!”

Before Levi could even respond, like a machine gun, she continued her barrage, “You don’t need to worry about a thing! Let your father handle the diplomatic and PR work! You just rest and recuperate!”

Levi plopped his butt down on the sofa right next to Noah. Noah scooted over to give him more space, and Levi happily took all that space. He spread his legs wide open in a manly, imposing manner, very naturally plastering his thighs to Noah’s.

If Noah created an inch-wide distance between them, then Levi would move his leg an inch. And he did this all without a single change of expression, as if the person squeezing Noah into the corner was not him.

Levi patiently waited for his mother’s rant to pause. As soon as she was forced to take in a breath of air, he spoke, “…More professional help? Did father send over people?”

Astar mommy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She had asked so many questions, yet this mute of a son did not respond to a single one! He only opened that golden mouth of his to inquire about business! How did she, an Empathizer, manage to raise a son with such a low EQ?!?

Still, she felt comforted – since he was acting like his usual self, that would mean he was ok?

All those stupid articles on the net made it sound like her son had a mental breakdown. But it turned out all of it was complete hogwash! Her husband was right; their son was stronger than that. He definitely wouldn’t succumb due to something like this!

“Yes, you know your father. As soon as he heard about what happened, he sent over an entourage to ensure your safety. Two Shielders, a Shooter, an Intenter, a Sealer…”

Levi’s eyebrows shot up. A Sealer? Nice! It was indeed the father who knew his son best.

Sealers had a power that allowed them to seal off a certain area so no sound could leak out of it. High-ranked Sealers could even prevent outside eyes from seeing what was happening within the sealed-off area.

From now on, with a Sealer at hand, his privacy would be ensured. Even if Levi ended up in a highly-compromising situation, such as bedding his little brother-in-law, no reporters or other unrelated people would get a chance to find out about it.

However, since Levi’s father had sent a Sealer, it would seem that the happenings of today caused a big stir.

Levi’s eyes piercing eyes narrowed further, “Are the media blowing things out of proportion?”

Mommy Astar went quiet for a moment. “Don’t mind it. You know how they are. Always coming up with all kinds of scandalous articles.”

“Let me guess… they are talking about the two families getting into a feud? Rumors of the marriage falling through? Having a heated discussion about the insider motives of the incident? Are high profile people speaking out against the union of Astarea and Concordia?”

Levi’s mother avoided his eyes, “It… it’s nothing your father can’t handle.”

“What are the magazines calling me? Violent? Insane? Mentally unstable?”

“I say, when have you ever cared what the magazines called you?” Levi’s mother pursed her lips and promptly switched the subject, “When will you be coming back home? Although I’ve been working on getting the mansion fixed since this morning, you did quite a number on the west wing. Your room is still uninhabitable, but I’ve prepared a temporary bedroom in the east wing.”

“No,” Levi cut her off. “I’ll be staying here for the time being.” Then, realizing he had just invited himself over to his in-law’s place, Levi shot a glance to his baby, pitifully asking for permission.

Noah naturally nodded with an affectionate look mixed with helplessness, “We are family. There is no need to be polite. We have plenty of rooms in the manor, speak nothing of the current situation, even in normal times, you are welcome to stay over whenever you want.”

Levi, who had intended to continue sleeping in his baby’s bedroom: “…”

(・―・)

Alright, so further sleeping negotiations were needed.

Mn. They would settle that later, between themselves.

Levi retracted the profound look he had been staring at his baby with and turned back to face his mother.

Mommy Astar took in the sight of her son and little Aris, her thoughts unreadable. “Alright… just keep me updated on all the happenings. And be sure to tell me if you need anything.”

Author Note

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