Ronin understood now what the Headmaster saw when he touched Vesuvius’ hand.
Locking eyes with his father, he then said:
“Alright. I do not want any more trouble during supper, so I will no longer annoy you, Father. There would be no more busking nor persuading you to let me travel to Scirocco.”
Duke Taevas scoffed and let him go. “Good.”
“However, I do have one question….” Ronin returned to his seat with a devilish expression.
“Who is Muld?”
At the mention of this name, Duke Taevas froze as if he was struck by lightning.
(How…..)
“Er… What Muld, Brother?” Donna asked him.
Duke Taevas did not speak for a while, looking at the mess he had made on the table, and not meeting Ronin’s eyes.
To hear that name once more, after all this years….
That name had been long dead, and in its death, shall not be spoken of..
And yet it was being used as a bargaining piece, by this cruel and conniving son of his.
“You want to always get your way, Ronin. Let me tell you this, then….”
He stood up, losing his appetite while the poor butler Mavretri cleaned his mess.
“There will come a day when you thought you will be satisfied when you got what you wanted, only to learn it was not so. Sometimes, you got what you wanted…..”
“But it was not what you need. And so, instead of satisfaction, all you get is regret.”
He turned away with a clenched fist, saying. “Pack your things tomorrow and leave for Scirocco. Stay with that friend of yours for the whole summer, I do not care anymore.”
“But shall you bring that name up again, of influence my daughter in your games….. I will not allow you to even show your face in my house. “
He went to close the dining hall door with a slam!
And so, that was how Ronin was able to go into his trip to Phoenix Mountain with Cermin.
Meanwhile, Cermin had been awaiting the letter from Ronin if his father had agreed to the trip or not with much anticipation, that even his parents, the now King and Queen of Scirocco, could notice it beyond the long dining table.
“You seem very delighted, Cermin. That’s a good change to see after the days you have been cooped in your room and bemoaning your past.” The King said.
“Oh, I’m not moaning anything. I haven’t even had intercourse with a girl ever since I entered this world.” Cermin chuckled.
“But somehow, I’m all fine with that! As long as Ronin I get to go on this trip, I would be happy enough even when I go through this world maidenless!”
His mother flinched at her own son’s stupidity. “Your father simply noticed that you are less gloomy than usual, son. Bemoaning is just the same as lamenting.”
“O-Oh, I see. Sorry Mom and Dad.” Cermin scratched his head. “Maybe I should have Ronin teach me more vocabulary words.”
“This friend of yours, Ronin….. He’s all you ever talk about, son.” His mother chuckled. “But it’s good that you also brought up the matter about women.”
“Next year is your last year in the Academy, and right after that shall be your coronation as Crowned Prince.” His father told him. “You would have to be betrothed soon….. Have you found any lady that may suit you?”
His mother placed a hand over his own. “Scirocco does not have any dire need to marry within nobility, we are the richest and most prosperous kingdom and can stand at our own two feet. So you would not have to worry about taking even a Commoner as your queen, or taking as much concubines as you want.”
“As long as you give us an heir and grandchildren, we’ll be very much contented for the future of this kingdom.”
“I get to choose, huh?” Cermin said excitedly. “Well there’s…..”
He thought of his harem, and knew how much they have grown apart from him.
Belladonna was ‘dead’, Edelweiss despised him, Calla Lily no longer pursues him, and Marigold…..
Marigold would be unsafe by his side. Along with any woman too.
He really did become maidenless thanks to that unknown daemon who ruined his life.
Yet…..
Does it really matter now? His greatest goal was fighting that villain and freeing himself from this curse that he brings, all that misfortune that may destroy others.
Including his dearest friend Ronin, who he had come to cherish more than his life.
Cermin was like a child who had seen a rare shell on the shore, and suddenly forgotten about everything else on his collection, only showering his affection on this shell.
That shell was Ronin, who reminded him of someone from his world.
“No one at the moment.” He smiled apologetically to his parents. “Maybe when I finish my studies and made myself secure first. That’s when I’ll look for wives.”
Her parents turned to each other at this, and sighed.
“Well, you are right. There is still time before your coronation to find someone you favor.”
His father then clicked his finger. “That reminds me! The Academy will be reaching it’s 16-year cycle of the Astral Ball, right?”
“The Astral Ball?” Cermin frowned. “Is that like a ‘ball’ like the ball for sports, or ‘ball’ for dance? Or something else entirely, I can never be sure with this world’s terminologies.”
“It’s a dance, child. One of the most magical night one may have.” His mother smiled, as his father took her hand and kissed it.
“That is when your mother and I first danced together, and made a promise under the shooting stars.”
“Every 16 years, the stars fall and new ones were born, giving hope for a new era to renew and start again.”
Cermin nodded. “I see…. I have to tell Ronin about this!”
Though shooting stars reminded him of a certain night back when he was still Min Cheng.
Two little boys shuddered on a waiting shed under the rain. One was very scared, and the other was trying his best to comfort him.
The scared one was Min Cheng, who covered his ears at the sound of the loud booming thunder.
The other boy pointed at the sky above. “Ah-Cheng, don’t cry anymore! Look, there’s a shooting star!”
“W-Where?” He mumbled. “I can’t see it….. It goes faster than I blink.”
“Just make a wish, quick!” He said. “Before the meteor shower is over. That’s what shooting stars really are, actually, they’re not real stars but just meteors reaching the Earth’s atmosphere or just grazing past by—-“
Little Min Cheng blinked from all this sudden information, and so the boy sighed.
“But who cares if they’re not real stars? As long as you have the illusion that you can wish, just wish for it.”
“Okay!” Min Cheng closed his eyes. “I wished the rain would be over and my Mother will finally pick me up.”
And then…..
The rain did stop, and they heard the honking of a car horn which belonged to Min Cheng’s mother.
“It worked!” Min Cheng exclaimed. “It worked, gege!”
Gege means ‘Big Brother’ in Chinese, but it can be used to someone who wasn’t blood-related and just older than you who you are close to. Such was the case between the two boys.
They were classmates, and this boy was older, but he studied late and ended in the same class as Min Cheng.
“Wow….. That really is a nice coincidence.” The boy said, as he saw the approaching woman. “Well, it’s time for you to go now.”
“But what about you, gege? Who will pick you up?”
He shrugged. “My grandfather is taking too long, and my father doesn’t care enough to pick me even when I call him.”
“I’ll just walk on my own. I’m used to it anyway.”
Little Min Cheng frowned. “Maybe I should have wished for the both of us instead…. I was only thinking of myself.”
His gege only patted his head. “Haha, I don’t think even wishing on a shooting star would make it happen. I’m just born unlucky.”
“But at least Ah-Cheng is my friend and doesn’t hate me for my appearance. So I’m happy as long as you’re around!”
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l