"Heh, a Prospective Heir, that sure sounds good. Now I just need to crush the competition and become the Family Head.
Easy."
Vaan, who was walking towards the dining room together with Elara spoke with a confident look on his face.
Then, he turned towards his fiancé and,
"So? How did I do?"
"D-Do what?" Elara questioned, she still hadn't recovered from the intense meeting she just attended.
"My performance in the Meeting Hall of course, how was it? Did you look at their faces? Wasn't it a sight to see? Kek, they were acting like the entire world was falling apart. Especially when I revealed the Advance Circles.
Heh, Prospective Heirs my ass. They are just a bunch of idiots."
Vaan snorted.
"Y-You should be m-more careful with your words," Elara spoke up.
"Hmm? Why should I?" Vaan questioned with a confused look on his face.
"N-No matter what, they are still your s-siblings, and they are all o-older than you. You should respect them.
Your words today were too rude. You even indirectly targeted Lord D-Draven. T-That is not appropriate." Elara gave her perspective.
"And what about when that sister of mine indirectly called me a drunkard? Was that right in your eyes?"
"O-Of course not, but I k-know she won't listen to me so I…"
"Then did you want me to just let her belittle me like that?"
"O-Of course not, b-but the method you chose could have been better…"
"And what method is that?" Vaan questioned.
Elara lowered her head. She had no answer.
Seeing her acting like that, Vaan shook his head before narrowing his eyes,
"This won't work…" he muttered.
"Elara." Then, he called out.
"W-What is it?"
"Curse."
"H-Huh?"
"Curse someone, anyone."
"W-What?"
"Right, you wouldn't have anyone you would want to curse.
Uhh… Curse that Karl, he is already dead, so it wouldn't really matter much either."
"W-Why would I curse the dead?"
"Because I said so," Vaan replied as he grabbed Elara's hands and looked into her eyes.
"V-Vaan, cursing the dead is n-not appropriate…"
"You can do that for me, can't you? Just once, I won't make you do it again." Vaan pressured.
There was something he wanted to test out.
"…" Elara turned silent and continued to stare at Vaan, wanting him to change his mind. Vaan, however, didn't back down.
In the end, Elara gave up, then, she closed her eyes and,
"K-Karl was a B-Bad person!"
She cursed.
"…"
And Vaan, who witnessed Elara's 'cursing' was out of words.
He couldn't believe how Elara was looking at him with the expression of an innocent child who was just caught cheating and seeing that,
"Pffft."
Vaan couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Ahh, Elara, how are you so adorable~" He spoke as he pulled Elara's cheeks.
"This is such a big problem which I should be worried about, but here I am, unable to get over your cuteness. Uggghhh! Just how can someone as adorable as you exist?"
"I-It hwurts…"
Elara complained.
Vaan just sighed. Then, with a strict look on his face, he glanced at Elara and,
"Calling someone bad is not cursing them, Elara. That one doesn't count.
'That Karl fucker was a bitch', say something like this."
"T-This is too much!" Elara's expression changed as she desperately shook her head.
"Ugghh…" Vaan groaned as he scratched his head.
This was harder than he thought.
His fiancé was just too pure for this, but Vaan had no other choice.
Being innocent and pure is not exactly a good thing, people like them are the ones who are fooled the quickest. This cruel world was not a place where the innocent and pure could survive.
As much as Vaan wanted to protect Elara for the rest of his life, he knew it was impractical. Not to mention Vaan wanted Elara to stand together with him, not behind him.
Elara needed to change.
Vaan started thinking. A way to make Elara curse… a way to corrupt her…
"Brother Vaan, it is quite a coincidence meeting you here."
While Vaan was thinking about such an important issue, a voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned towards the source of the unpleasant voice and saw his brother, Elric Vesta walking towards him.
"What are you doing here?" Vaan narrowed his eyes.
"Nothing really, I was just walking by and saw the two of you. I thought I should come say hello." Elric spoke with a bright smile on his face.
Then, his eyes fell on how Vaan was holding Elara's hands and,
"I didn't know the two of you were this close." He commented.
Not liking his expression, Vaan narrowed his eyes,
"What are you talking about? She is my Fiance,"
"No, I mean, with how you acted previously, it didn't look like you cared about her." Then, a playful smile appeared on Elric's face as he glanced at Elara and,
"Or maybe even you couldn't resist just how beautiful Elara is and your stone-like heart melted? I could definitely see that happening.
Elara is not only beautiful, but her innocent personality is just perfect as well."
Elric spoke and Vaan, who heard his words and observed his expression as he looked into Elara's eyes, his expression changed.
This bastard…
Was he flirting with his Fiance?
Vaan's mouth twitched, then, he grabbed Elara's hand, pulled her close to him, then, he hugged her, breaking Elric's eye contact with her and,
"You are right about that, my fiancé is perfect.
This is why I love her so much."
"W-W-What?" Elara stuttered as her face turned red. She wanted to get away from Vaan's arms because she was embarrassed, however, when she heard Vaan's words, her brain stopped working and her body simply gave into Vaan's arms.
"O-Oh." Seeing Vaan act like that, even Elric was taken aback. Vaan, however, didn't miss how he narrowed his eyes for a slight moment when he hugged Elara.
"But you didn't have to suddenly hug her like that to say those words. I would have understood without that." Elric joked.
"Hmm? I think you misunderstood, you being here or not doesn't matter, I wanted to hug my fiancé, so I did, you have no literally zero role here.
Other than being a third wheel of course."
Vaan spoke as he looked into Elric's eyes.
"Hahaha~" Elric laughed. Not paying attention to Vaan's words.
Seeing that, Vaan decided to be even more direct.
"I don't think you know what being a Third Wheel means, so let me explain that to you,
Third Wheels are usually the annoying people who interrupt a couple from having a good time by being there.
Me calling you a Third wheel was an indirect way of asking you to leave,
But since you missed that, I will just be direct,
Leave, I am about to have a meal with my fiancé and spend some quality time with her, don't be a Third Wheel."
"…"
Elric had no words.
Vaan continued to glare at him, seeing then, a small smile appeared on his face, and,
"You sound defensive for some reason. It is as if you are scared that I would take someone away from you so you want to push me away."
"That's an interesting way to put it.
Wonder who is empty-handed here." Vaan chuckled.
Elric's face twitched, however, without allowing him to say anything anymore,
"Are you clueless or just that shameless? If it is the latter, then I must say, you are even breaking my own records, that's an achievement.
This must be the third time I am asking you to leave."
"You are quite heartless, Brother. I just wanted a tal-"
"Think about it, who would any sane man choose to spend time with,
A beautiful and adorable fiancé,
Or some random cousin.
Think about it and everything will be clear in your eyes."
Saying those words, Vaan just picked Elara up. Elara's expression changed again, in panic, she tightly hugged Vaan's body like a koala, Vaan, momentarily paused, enjoying this sudden feeling, then, he moved his hand as he gently held Elara and walked away.
"…"
Elric, who was left alone, finally broke the smile that was stuck on his face.
Then, he clenched his fists in anger, and,
'You 2nd Circle bastard! You dare touch what's mine.
I will make you pay for that.'
Thinking about it, Elric took a deep breath, then, he walked away.
…
On the other hand, Vaan took Elara to the dining room, by now, Elara's heart which was beating crazily finally calmed down, she was ready to get down, however, before she could, Vaan simply sat down and placed Elara on his lap.
"I think only one chair would be enough today, what do you think?"
Vaan spoke.
"W-What?" Elara's face turned red again.
"Mhm, I want to eat like this.
Is it uncomfortable for you?" Vaan spoke with an innocent look on his face.
Seeing his expression, Elara couldn't say no, and,
"I-It doesn't feel bad…"
She gave in.
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