Levi ground his teeth, “Thanks…”

Noah’s now empty hand gave him a thumbs up, “You are welcome.” ╰(*°▽°*)╯

Levi, “…”

‘Sigh~ At least he is cute…’ Levi comforted his broken heart while putting his clothes on, ‘Mn, so very cute.’

Soon enough, Levi came out of the room, fully clothed, much to Noah’s visible relief.

Levi eyed his cute little kitten and then sighed, “…I’ll be right back; I need to talk to your sister. Wait for me to have breakfast together.” Sure, he did break off the engagement last night, but that was one-sided, and he had yet to hear his ex-fiancée’s agreement. Not to mention, there were still several marriage-related matters that needed to be settled.

Noah nodded very understandingly, and thus Levi set off on his martyrdom. With an overbearing manner, he strutted through the hallway of the Cordia manor, heading straight for his ex-fiancée’s bedroom. Then he confidently… passed it.

Noah, who was about to return to his bedroom to take a shower, stilled. He watched Levi confidently walk towards the staircase, then just as confidently, stop in his tracks. And then, mind you, still very confidently, look left and right. And then, without any hesitation… do a U-turn back to Noah’s bedroom.

So… um… yeah… actually… he… uh… didn’t know where his fiancée’s room was… Levi faced Noah with a stiff facial expression, not quite knowing what to say without losing face in front of his baby.

Noah, who was internally giggling like a little girl, hid his smile behind his hand and very obligingly gave his silly-cute brother-in-law directions to his sister’s room.

***

Noah’s shower was rather quick, but apparently, Levi’s talk was even faster because when Noah exited the bathroom, Levi was already camping in front of his bathroom door.

Levi glanced towards his fully-clothed baby with disappointment, and noticing his surprise, added, “She didn’t return home last night.”

Seeing how disappointed his brother-in-law seemed, Noah noted down another mark against his sister in his heart. Her hubby was sadly waiting for her at home, yet she didn’t even come back! How could she be so insensitive?!

He patted his dejected brother-in-law on his shoulder comfortingly and hurried to divert Levi’s thoughts to another topic, “Breakfast?”

***

Cordia mommy had trouble falling asleep last night. She had wanted to talk to her husband about what was troubling her, but this pig-teammate fell asleep as soon as he touched the pillow! Leaving her to worry and ruminate over the future all on her own!!

Ah, forget it! What was there to discuss, anyway? Husbands weren't of much use when it came to these matters! They only knew how to create more problems!

She recalled how the two revered city lords set up the marriage agreement between her daughter and Levi, and suddenly felt like suffocating her snoring husband with a pillow.

Hmph! He is lucky he married a wife with such good foresight!

With that thought, Cordia mommy got some light sleep, after which she got up early to wait for the two boys.

Thus, when Noah and Levi came down for breakfast, they found Cordia mommy sitting at the table, nibbling on graham crackers while watching some kind of drama on the light screen of her communicator.

After a brief “Morning”, Noah and Levi seated themselves in the same position as the day before and started their meal.

Cordia mommy seemingly didn’t move her gaze away from her communicator, although she was secretly watching the two from the corner of her eyes.

“Mom, what are you watching?” Noah asked offhandedly, his attention already fully locked on the butter he was spreading over his toast.

Something briefly flashed within Cordia mommy’s eyes as she gazed at the two boys, “The Stud Muffin and the Cupcake.”

Noah swallowed down his saliva; ah, that title really increased his appetite! He eyed the peanut butter cupcakes on the side and marked them as his next “victims”.

Seeing both her son’s and her son-in-law’s lack of reaction, Cordia mommy figured neither of the two had ever heard of this popular show. Thus, she had no choice but to elaborate, “It is a funny tv drama about two men from upper-class families – Muffin and Cupcake.”

Noah tilted his head, his voice dripping with sympathy, “Those two cutesy names… ah… they must be getting teased a lot at school…”

Cordia mommy forgot what she intended to say next and stared speechlessly at her little son. Noticing her befuddlement mixed with exasperation, Noah offered a timely rescue to the dying conversation, “From the name, I thought it was some kind of cute romance drama?”

“Oh, it is!” Mommy Cordia quickly jumped to grasp this thread of conversation, “Here is what happened – a wife and husband pair from family A were best friends with another pair from family B, so when the two women got pregnant at the same time, they decided that if the children were of the opposite gender, they would arrange a marriage for them. After a few months, the two women did an ultrasound, and indeed, the children were of the opposite gender. So immediately, they named them and set up a marriage agreement. Signed, stamped, and sealed.”

Noticing his mother’s enthusiasm, Noah did not wish to rain on her parade; thus, he played along, “Oh, and then what happened?”

Cordia mommy giggled, “When the children were born, it turned out that the gynecologist had misidentified Cupcake’s gender! Both were boys!”

Levi, who had only listened to the chatter half-heartedly, preoccupied with passing his baby a cupcake, suddenly snapped to attention. Arranged marriage? Two boys? His eyes narrowed. Was his mother-in-law implying something?

The potential implications were missed on Noah, who continued to humor Cordia mommy, “And then? They decided to abolish the marriage agreement?” If his mother enjoyed talking about her favorite show, just let her talk about it as much as she wanted.

“Yeah, that was the intention. What can they do when both children were boys, ah?” Cordia mommy’s eyes curved, “They thought, ah, well, it doesn't matter, the next child will surely be a girl.”

“The next child wasn't a girl?” Noah bit into his cupcake with relish.

“No, there was no next child.” Cordia mommy’s eyes glistened as if she was talking about some hush-hush juicy gossip, “The parents from the two families left the two kids to the grandparents and went together on a cruise, but their ship sank. So not only was there no girl, they didn't even get to abolish the marriage agreement!”

“So then what happened? How did they solve the issue?” Levi, who had been silent the entire time, couldn’t help but blurt out.

“They didn't, ah! They got married!” Cordia mommy instinctively looked towards her son-in-law, but seeing the other’s facial expression of great expectation, her façade nearly cracked. She quickly averted her eyes to her little son, who gave her an exasperated look. “What's that look? You have something against two men getting married?”

Noah shook his head, then licked his raspberry-jam-covered spoon, “Of course not…”

Levi’s eyes lit up due to his baby’s acceptance of same-sex relationships, but when he glanced towards his baby lovingly, his gaze got stuck on that seductive pink tongue licking the spoon.

Astar Levi gulped down hard, and Cordia mommy’s right eyelid started twitching.

After a brief suspenseful pause, Noah put on a look of a wise old man speaking profound words of wisdom, “If the two parties of the arranged marriage have no love between them, then why would their gender matter? They would only be a married couple on paper either way.”

Levi’s eyebrows furrowed. Does that mean that his baby wouldn’t mind marrying him as long as he believed that they would be a married couple only on paper? But would he, Astar Levi, manage to keep the pretense until the marriage?

Cordia mommy didn’t have Levi’s brain hole; thus, she blurted out what any normal person would have blurted out in the same situation, “And if there is love between them?”

Noah shrugged, “And if there is love, then the gender matters even less.”

Levi abruptly stopped eating, his heated eyes burning holes into Noah’s side profile.