“Ahem.”

The lavishly prepared food on the spacious dining table was comparable to that from a royal banquet.

Despite the fact that Byolren, the territory of the Bright Household, was relatively in the south, they still managed to prepare dishes made from precious ingredients like seafood from the western sea and fruits from the east.

The entire room was filled with a strange silence.

It was bound to happen eventually.

Originally, this was only meant to be a celebration of a family meeting between the Verdi and Bright Households.

However, out of nowhere, the meeting was interrupted by the Zeronia Household.

Although the Bright Household wanted to drive away the unwanted visitors, upon learning that Deus, who had initiated the event, was the one who invited them, they were unable to say anything.

With the term ‘family meeting’ having long lost its meaning, they wondered why they had to endure this awkward situation together.

"Hmm, it’s delicious."

Of course, amidst it all, there were those who weren’t swept away by the atmosphere.

Deia, for instance, appeared to be quite satisfied while enjoying the delicacies that were typically not found in Norseweden.

"Try this."

"I can eat by myself."

"If you could do so, you wouldn't have become so thin. Eat a lot while you're here."

Letting out a sigh, Deia glanced at Erica, who was sitting on the other side of the table.

"You should have taken better care of him while you were with him. He’s someone whose work is really important, so I'm worried he might collapse.”

Although Deia said it with a smile on her face, her words contained clear hostility. That alone was enough to bring down the temperature of the atmosphere even further.

"Forcing someone to eat will only stress them out. I'm fine with Deus just the way he is now. Even if he collapses, I'll be there to support him.

Upon Erica’s rather blatant response, Deia flinched slightly. She never expected Erica to openly express her affection for Deus like this.

"Erica has been taking good care of me. There is no need to worry."

Just like when she bought desserts the last time, she subtly expressed concern about me being too thin without forcing me directly. She simply bought the delicacies and brought them over to the laboratory.

Squeeze.

I could feel some weight and a stinging sensation on the top of my foot.

When I glanced at Deia, who was stepping on my foot, she put on a mask-like smile.

"Why?"

"...That is enough."

I didn't know why Deia was engaged in a war of nerves with Erica, but now was not the time for that.

I shifted my gaze towards the others.

Gideon and the Head of the Zeronia Household, Gilthea Zeronia’s mouths were twitching as if they were about to speak at any moment. However, they were unable to say a word because they felt like unwelcome guests.

“Ahem, Lord Deus. It seems like it is about time you explained why you arranged for this meeting."

Eventually, Ellan, the Head of the Bright Household and Erica's father, was the first to speak up.

"I thought today was an occasion to further solidify the betrothal between Erica and Lord Deus, but it seems like that is not the case."

He subtly glanced towards the Zeronia’s side first before continuing his words.

"There is an unnecessary guest here, isn't there?"

In response to his words, Gilthea who had long red hair, like a lion’s mane, flowing behind his back, snorted and replied.

"Didn’t we also have some relationship with the young lady of your household?"

"..."

“And did we ever hesitate and insult you like this when you came to us wagging your tail, saying you wanted her to marry Gideon?”

Bam!

Gilthea, who was slowly getting worked up while speaking, abruptly stood up and glared in my direction.

“Let me make this very clear. Everyone else in the household said that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity given by the Goddess and that we should make a good impression on you, Soul Whisperer. However…”

"F-Father!"

Bewildered by Gilthea's sudden attempt to upend the situation, Gideon tried to intervene, but Gilthea was already pointing at me.

"It seems you just called us here to discipline the Bright Household, but you'll regret summoning us like some stupid mutts for this matter. Mark my words, we will rise again."

Without speaking any further, Gilthea turned around to leave. I had heard about his tough temperament, and I could certainly see he did have the tendency.

His thick arms especially gave the impression that the blood of a martial artist truly ran through them.

First, to stop him from leaving, I attempted to speak up. However…

"What a prick."

Deia, who was sitting beside me and eating chicken, interjected while supporting her chin.

Gilthea's gaze shifted at those words. Even though his murderous intent, his mouth twisted into a vicious scowl, was directed at her, Deia simply stabbed her fork into the chicken and twirled her wrist nonchalantly.

"The downfall of Zeronia was your own fault, you know?“

"What did we do wrong? We had no involvement whatsoever in the assassination attempt on the King!"

"If someone stands too close to the sun and gets burned to death, is it the fault of the sun or the fault of the one who got too close?"

"You little bitch...!"

"It was you who shouldn't have grown so big as to threaten the royal authority. You might as well have just started a rebellion, you son of a bitch."

"T-That statement you just said! Can you take responsibility for it?"

Uttering the word ‘rebellion’ so recklessly itself was quite a risky situation.

However, Deia shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Who knows? Maybe I'm possessed by an evil spirit."

Deia glanced at me mockingly. She was confident because she knew such statements wouldn’t sway their standpoint.

"Also, you've done nothing wrong? What bullshit are you spouting? Do you even remember what you did to the residents of Setima? It was completely outrageous. "

"That was during war, and those were the actions of our ancestors in the past! Additionally, we erected a monument and dedicated valuable land for them. Aren’t the people who were enslaved from the Marias Tribe now residing there?"

"If you’ve taken responsibility, you should just acknowledge it and move on. Pouting and acting like it’s unfair is really pathetic!"

"..."

"Honestly, did you really give up the land and erect the memorial monument due to genuine remorse? You did it to appease the royal family and get them to stop pressuring you, to stop them from cutting off a piece of your flesh, didn’t you?"

It wasn't wrong.

With that, Gilthea could no longer continue speaking, and a one-sided verbal assault began.

"In the end, you came here with the hopes that you would at least gain something, didn't you? Perhaps you thought that the Soul Whisperer might show you some favor."

"..."

"But now that you're here, you go ‘Huh? It seems like things are about to go south. Screw this, I'm a bloody martial artist!' Then, you feel like you have to at least save face. So, you just start running your mouth, blabbering nonsense embarrassingly! If that's your plan, why don't you just draw your sword and come at us? Let's have a fight. Right here, right now."

Deia unleashed a tirade with fiery eloquence. Erica glanced at me and silently mouthed if it was okay to let her speak like that. I simply nodded gently.

However, someone else had apparently noticed that as well.

"Hey! You there! Are you going to flirt with your fiancée while your younger sister is fighting so hard for your sake?!"

"...That is enough. You should sit down now."

"Jeez, seriously, all these damn brothers are nothing but nuisances, nuisances I tell you!"

Saying so, Deia gulped down her wine. Her actions might have seemed haughty, but…

Did anyone here realize just how calculated her moves were?

Even before entering the banquet hall, Deia and I had already coordinated our words.

In a situation where everyone had an uncomfortable relationship…

It was self-evident that the one who thought they had nothing to lose would be the first to leave their seat.

In the end, in this situation, how much could each household tolerate? Deia had emotionally pushed them to their limits to determine where the breaking point lay.

Since I couldn't confirm their positions myself, Deia sacrificed her own image for my sake, forcefully taking their hands and revealing their cards to me.

Thanks to that, I was now sure.

The Bright Household showed no sign of backing down.

As for the Zeronia Household...

"Let us put a stop to this and please sit down. I will take care of Deia."

At my words, Gilthea cleared his throat and sat back down with embarrassment.

In the end, even them standing up and showing an aggressive stance was a kind of a tactic for a war of nerves, as if they intended to declare, ‘We won’t be easily manipulated by you.’

However, since Deia came out stronger, she eventually revealed all their cards.

While we started in a somewhat favorable position, Deia emerged as the winner due to the mind games.

"I have not called you here for no reason."

Upon hearing my words, everyone immediately turned their attention to me and listened intently. If Deia wielded a stick, now, it was my turn to offer a carrot.

"It is to offer you all the opportunity to contribute to the kingdom."

Although it sounded like I was going to exploit them, and indeed I did plan on doing so, the expressions of the members from the two households brightened up slightly instead.

At times like this, when royal authority was soaring sky-high, just by serving the Royal Family and leaning towards the royalist faction, they probably already knew that there would be many unexpected profits.

"It could be a good proposal."

***

A sort of secret meeting was held under the guise of a family gathering.

Despite spending time until late evening, they did not reach a conclusion, so it was decided that the meeting would continue tomorrow.

It was a time for some strategic planning.

The eldest and second sons of the Bright Household headed straight to their father Ellan's office.

As soon as they stepped in, the eldest son, Elliah, spoke up.

"The Soul Whisperer's proposal isn't bad at all, but it's still somewhat regrettable.”

While he offered them a chance to get on good terms with the Royal Family, Elliah got a strong feeling that the engagement with Erica would practically be nullified.

The Zeronia Household might welcome the opportunity to wag their tails at the Royal Family, however for the Bright Household, who wanted to solidify the relationship between the households through marriage, it wasn't an entirely favorable outcome.

It was the next best thing, not the best.

"Obviously, that foolish girl, Erica, has already taken the Soul Whisperer's side."

At Elliah’s words, Ellan, the head of the family, also sighed deeply with regret.

However, at that moment, Edwon, the younger son, interjected with a confident smile.

"Then let's go in a different direction."

"Hm?"

"Do you have some kind of secret plan?"

Under the gazes of the eldest son and their father, Edwon thumped his chest confidently.

"I will marry Deia Verdi."

"...Is that even possible?"

Both of them had seen Deia Verdi's momentum and had experienced her calculating nature firsthand, so they seemed unable to trust the idea.

Surprisingly, Edwon responded with a fresh smile.

"Since the start, Deia Verdi has been glancing at me continuously. When I counted the number of times our eyes met, it exceeded double digits."

At his words, both of them found it unexpected, yet they could also see potential in his plan.

Even within the Bright Household, Edwon was particularly handsome. Of course, his popularity with women was quite dazzling, but ironically, that could become an advantage for him to skillfully seduce Deia.

"Well, since she is quite doll too, I don’t really mind marrying into that household. Since Erica failed, I'll take on the responsibility."

In fact, just by saying this much, Edwon quite liked Deia's appearance.

"From observing her behavior this time, it seems like she's quite an emotional woman. So, if we orchestrated a few fate-like situations, it would naturally be enough for me to sweep her with my charm and eloquence."

Having exchanged glances with her multiple times, Edwon was already confident that Deia harbored feelings for him.

* * *

The next morning.

Since the secret meeting, which was disguised as a family meeting, was scheduled for the evening, there was some free time to wander around.

Deia was sitting indifferently on a bench in the garden of the Bright Household, arms folded and legs crossed.

In the distance, she could see Deus and Erica spending time together, staring at the flower bed. Somehow, seeing such a sight, oddly annoyed her.

Why is that idiot doing unnecessary things?

Why was he wasting time with Erica, when he wasn't even planning to marry that woman anyway?

Since it had been a while since the last time they met, Deia thought it wouldn't be bad for the siblings to have a family conversation.

After all, wasn't the present family more important than the arranged one?

That woman wasn't even part of the arrangement from the start.

As she sensed a presence next to her, with a deep sigh, Deia, who had been staring at the two, turned her head slightly.

Edwon, the second son of the Bright Household, stood there with a bright smile, holding some flowers.

"It seems that you are quite fond of the flowers in our household estate, so I picked some for you."

"...Ah, yes."

Deia tried to maintain her expression as she scrutinized Edwon.

An intense determination was evident behind his bright smile.

Ah, he finally took it out.

Actually, the reason Deia kept staring at Edwon yesterday was because some food was stuck between his teeth and that annoyed her to the point where she felt the urge to yank his teeth out. However, fortunately, it didn't continue today.

"Would you like to spend some time with me?"

What’s this bastard’s deal with me?

Deia wondered why the man was suddenly making a move on her. However...

Ha, does he see me as an easy woman?

In that fleeting moment, Deia could clearly see what schemes the Bright Household was up to, which made her snort inwardly.

She wanted to ask him if his head wasn't working properly and if he'd like her to make a bullet hole in his head for some air circulation.

However, upon seeing Deus and Erica in the distance, she felt all the more annoyed for no reason.

"Come with me."

Deia suddenly got up and walked towards the two with a strut.