Chapter 1139: On Your Height
"You really won’t be marrying them? Like any one of them?"
It was the third time the blonde had asked.
But important things needed to be confirmed at least three times, so sue him.
"I told you already—"
Killian abruptly stopped walking and raised a finger right in front of Ollie’s face, causing the blonde to go cross-eyed as he tried to follow it. The official looked as though he’d suddenly arrived at an important decision and simply had to announce it.
"You know what? I’ll even swear it."
"Huh?"
"Yeah. I’ll do exactly that." Killian straightened slightly before declaring with all the solemnity of someone making a legally binding statement. "I swear on your height that I, Killian Nox, eldest son of House Nox, have absolutely no desire to marry into the Aerun Royal Family. Therefore, short of being taken at gunpoint, no such marriage shall occur, or my brother-in-law’s already limited stature shall shrink even further, so help me God."
Ollie inhaled so sharply that it sounded like he was attempting to absorb all the air in the room.
"HEY!"
The blonde pointed at himself in outrage.
"HEEEEEY!"
"Why are you swearing on me?!"
"If not you, then who?" Killian replied immediately. "For a vow to mean something, shouldn’t it carry actual weight?"
The official tilted his head.
"And in our House, who else is at risk of disappearing into oblivion if they get any shorter?"
The mop’s hair antenna practically squirmed in indignation.
"Certainly not me."
Killian gestured toward himself.
"Not him."
He pointed at Kyle.
Then, still looking directly at Ollie and seemingly not realizing what he was doing, he casually pointed toward Jax’s holographic projection as well.
"Not even him."
"Obviously, you wouldn’t dare count mom, right?"
Killian added that last bit with complete confidence.
"..."
"..."
Unfortunately, he also remained completely unaware that Jax had just pointed at himself in utter confusion after being unexpectedly dragged into the conversation.
"Me?"
There was a moment of processing.
A very concerning moment of processing.
It started when Killian noticed that the walkway had gone suspiciously quiet.
Then he made the mistake of actually looking around, only to immediately realize that something had gone terribly wrong.
The blonde who had earlier been snarling like a rabid dog in defense of his niece and his height was now staring at him as though he’d just uncovered a fresh source of gossip.
Beside him sat an equally interested Luca, whose golden eyes were practically sparkling as he clasped his hands against his chest.
Princess Kira looked one step away from drooling.
Thankfully, Ada seemed experienced enough to recognize the symptoms and was physically preventing the Orcish Princess from launching herself into the conversation.
Meanwhile, Kyle and the Empire’s Crown Prince had both raised their brows in a way that suggested they, too, were waiting for an explanation.
Killian rolled his eyes.
Of course.
One small oversight and suddenly everyone was acting like starving scavengers who’d found a fresh carcass.
With a sigh, he said, "What?"
Nobody answered.
That somehow made it worse.
"For all the fuss you’ve made about your niece, do you really think that wouldn’t result in inevitable affiliation?"
The official decided to target one person in particular and delivered the explanation as though it were obvious.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to satisfy anyone but the redhead, who simply took things at face value.
Or perhaps it simply raised more questions.
At that point, Killian found himself looking everywhere except in Jax’s direction.
Anywhere except there.
Frankly, he was already grateful that D-29 had been the one to establish contact with the redhead.
Because if the call had come through his own terminal, then it wouldn’t have mattered where he looked.
The projection would’ve followed.
Just imagining that made his throat feel oddly dry.
Even now, there was something strange about the entire situation. Every instinct told him to simply look elsewhere and continue the conversation like a normal person, but for some reason, his neck stubbornly refused to cooperate whenever the hologram was involved.
Unfortunately, life wasn’t particularly inclined to respect his preferences.
Because moments later, the very person he’d been carefully avoiding casually said something that immediately forced Killian to look anyway.
"We don’t have to get married, do we?"
The official’s head turned so quickly that it almost hurt.
Safe to say, the flabber was thoroughly gasted.
Not because the question itself was particularly outrageous, but because it had been delivered with complete sincerity.
There was no embarrassment, no alarm, and certainly none of the panic everyone else seemed determined to experience on his behalf. He sounded genuinely curious, as though merely pointing out that rain was wet and was now waiting to see whether everyone else agreed.
Meanwhile, the walkway they had been taking since leaving that makeshift interrogation room once again fell silent.
Oh, hell.
And Killian, who didn’t have it in him to look earlier, suddenly found himself staring at the redhead while becoming painfully aware that this was one of those moments. The kind where whatever answer came next would inevitably become important later, for reasons nobody could predict at the moment.
The issue was that, unlike certain people, Killian Nox was not the sort of person who willingly jumped into hot water just because someone suggested it.
But before he could hyperventilate out an answer, any answer, for that matter, he was abruptly cut off.
Whether he had been rescued or doomed remained to be seen.
"Really now?"
The extremely familiar voice arrived before the woman herself did.
"Are you all discussing the good parts without us? Without me?" she asked in disbelief. "Isn’t that unfair? Couldn’t someone have secretly messaged me instead of leaving me with the rest of them?"
It was the lady of House Nox.
And she most definitely wanted to be in on the party.
Now, while Killian undoubtedly adored his mother, he was also painfully aware of her unpredictability.
As such, his survival instincts immediately activated.
In fact, he could practically feel every pore on his body opening in alarm as the sharp click of her heels echoed through the corridor like a countdown.
When the footsteps finally stopped, she turned toward Jax’s projection and smiled.
"You definitely can if you want to, sweetie. Though I’d say there’s no pressure since you’ve long been treated like our other child anyway."
"Oh, hello, Auntie!"
Jax greeted her with the same easy familiarity he always did.
"Yes, dear, hello!" Lady Nox beamed. "I’ll swing by again later, by the way. But since this is being discussed here now, and I’d almost missed it entirely had I not gone looking for all of you, then I think it’s best I say this."
The graceful woman folded her hands neatly before continuing.
"We respect your freedom and whatever plans you have for your future, so we certainly don’t want you altering your life plans because of pressure from anyone."
So far, so good.
Then she smiled.
Killian immediately knew disaster was approaching.
"But do know that while this son of mine has a few loose screws, he’s very good at taking responsibility."
There it was.
The threat.
Lovingly delivered.
Elegantly packaged.
Wrapped in maternal affection.
But still very much a threat.
Specifically directed toward one Chief of Staff.
Get your shit together.
Sincerely,
Your Mother.
Killian found himself wishing for the ground to open beneath his feet.
Of all the people present, he was technically the oldest and, frankly, as responsible as one could possibly get.
And yet somehow this was happening to him.
Unfortunately, the floor remained stubbornly intact.
Which meant he had no choice but to remain standing there and listen to Jax’s response.
The redhead chuckled.
"Ah, no, Auntie. I’m good, and actually, it’s the other way around."
The smile on Killian’s face immediately froze.
"I was actually going to say that if somebody needs to take responsibility, then it’d have to be me. So if that’s the preferred way, then we could just—"
"Just talk about it later."
Killian cut him off so quickly that several people visibly jumped.
His face remained professionally composed.
His tone remained perfectly polite.
But if anyone could hear his heartbeat, however, they’d probably recommend immediate hospitalization.
"Wouldn’t it be best to focus on one thing at a time?" he continued smoothly. "And perhaps discuss those matters somewhere other than a random walkway?"
At that point, Killian could’ve sworn he felt everyone turn toward him.
Possibly including the bees even through the projection.
Fortunately, moments like this were exactly why politicians were raised shameless.
"Besides," he added, forcing himself to sound reasonable, "that’s the sort of thing that deserves a serious discussion. His future would be involved, and as you just said, no pressure, right?"
The delivery wasn’t particularly smooth.
Killian knew that.
Everyone else probably knew that too.
But at the moment, he couldn’t bring himself to care.
Because whatever else happened, he absolutely refused to let someone stumble into a relationship simply because circumstances happened to align in a particularly unfortunate manner.
And if that meant derailing the conversation before it went somewhere irreversible, then so be it.
They were fine as they were right now, so why would they all need to jump the gun?
__
Ah, well, that had been the stance of past Killian. However, the Killian Nox two days into the future might have a very, very different opinion on the matter.
