Maery took her sweet time finding herself an unopened beverage with the highest alcohol content she could find, while Levi sat at the dining table in silence with a grave look on his face, displaying a strange mix of impatience and forbearance.

He was impatient to get this over with asap so that his baby wouldn’t need to wait long, but, on the other hand, he was aware of the importance of this conversation, and rushing it would do no good.

He was the one in the wrong first; thus, he had to remain level headed and tolerant with Maery, no matter how long it took and how she chose to respond to the truth.

Now he could no longer go with his original plan to seduce his baby during this bachelor party and then come out to their families together, changing the marriage arrangement. Thus, the success or failure of his happy matter with his baby largely depended on the result of his talks with Maery.

If Maery insisted on holding on to this marriage or setting herself against him, then his baby might not be willing to “get between them”.

Levi couldn’t take a step back in this matter, and if the other side was also unwilling to compromise, then the two families would have a falling out. The dreaded worst-case scenario.

He couldn’t let that happen.

He needed to properly explain the ins and outs of the situation, with special emphasis on the fact that his baby held no responsibility for what happened. He didn’t wish Maery to misunderstand and blame his innocent little kitten. Whatever mistakes were made, it had nothing to do with his precious. She could hit and scold him, Levi, but she must leave his baby out of it.

Levi would lay his cards on the table, apologize properly and offer compensation. And hopefully, Maery’s anger would be placated, and she wouldn’t stand between his and his baby’s happiness.

As the minutes ticked by, the tension within the room rose, and Maery, whose fury had been doused by her baby brother’s cuteness, had once again started to boil.

Finally, the livid woman poured herself a glass, downed it in a single gulp, and slammed the empty glass cup on the table. “Astar Levi! How dare you?!”

Levi opened his mouth to respond but then realized he had no idea what the other was referring to. How he dare do what? Fall for her brother? Break off their engagement through a text message? Plan to marry said brother instead? Or could it be she found out he had already nearly eaten up her darling little brother?!

…

Thinking back… he had really done a lot of outrageous things recently, ah!

(; ﾟ 3ﾟ )~♪

Maery waited for a response for a moment, but the other remained tightlipped. Seeing the mix of hesitation and uncertainty flickering in Levi’s blue eyes, Maery nearly ground her teeth into dust.

This scum always had this same “wait and see” attitude whenever someone accused him of something! Refusing to admit his wrongs until the facts were laid out clearly in front of him!!

Maery took in a big breath to control a violent outburst that was on the verge of spilling out. “What’s this I hear about you refusing to marry and hooking up with a third party behind my back?!”

Levi’s tense face slackened in shock. He just got intimate with his baby this morning, and she already knew about it?? How did she find out so quickly?! Could it be that his baby told her?!

No, wait, that can’t be right… if she knew who he had been with, then she wouldn’t have referred to his baby as the third party…

“I didn’t hook up behind your back,” Levi righteously defended both himself and his baby. “I only made my move after breaking it off with you.”

Blood rushed to Maery’s head, and she nearly crushed the glass in her hand. This! Shameless! Slag!!

Fire threatened to spill out of Maery’s eyes as she sneered, “And how long have you been messing around with this homewrecker before officially hooking up, huh?!”

She poured herself another glass and slammed the bottle down.

“We haven’t ‘officially’ hooked up yet,” Levi’s eyebrows furrowed in displeasure, “and I haven’t been messing around. We’ve only met each other for the first time last week.”

Maery’s vision went black. Six years’ worth of a fiancé-fiancée relationship can’t even compare to a few short days with someone who is still without an official relationship title?!

“Falling in love caught me by surprise as much as it caught you,” Levi sighed, “But, no mistakes were made, and everything was a complete accident–” Levi abruptly stopped to correct himself, “No, not an accident.”

Thinking about his darling, his eyes softened into mush, “More like fate.” There was really nothing accidental about him falling for his baby, ah! It was more accurate to say that it was impossible for him to not fall in love with his darling.

While Levi was melting at the thought of his precious baby, Maery sitting opposite of him felt her head spin.

What. The. Fuck?!

What’s with that lovestruck gaze?!? щ（ﾟДﾟщ）

Holy shit! It was so un-Levi-like that it gave her goosebumps!

For a moment, Maery even felt respect for this unknown vixen. That was some love potion she had fed him! No, no, must have pushed him into a tank filled with love potion! Anyway, that shit must be the bomb! Otherwise, how would Astar Levi, this emotionally stunted block of wood, suddenly learn how to utter sweet nothings?

The man was as romantic as a brick! And nearly as emotionally dense as one!

Levi, who, after 6 years, still wasn’t even half as good at reading Maery’s thoughts from her face as she was from his, remained oblivious to her cynicism. He fell silent, pondering how to express his meaning in a way that would neither hurt nor provoke Maery.

Then, with determination, he continued, his tone somber, “I’m sorry, I am unable to keep our agreement. I know that my actions have wronged you and are willing to make amends, but I cannot marry you. I can accommodate your demands in everything you want as long as you don’t obstruct me from having a harmonious relationship with my baby.” After a pause, Levi quickly added, “Or make things difficult for my darling.”

“You sure are protective of your precious ‘baby’,” Maery sneered, staring at Astar Levi’s touching performance with a frosty glare, “You are in deep shit, yet still thinking how to absolve her from blame!”

Levi’s eyes once again showed that gentle look and his mouth couldn’t help but crack a wry smile, “It can’t be helped… I can wrong the entire world, but I cannot wrong this one person.”

Maery almost choked on her drink from the ludicrous words that came out of the other’s mouth.

If these words came from someone else, she might have found it touching. But when it came from Astar Levi, all she could feel are goosebumps!

The man didn’t have a single romantic bone in his body! How could he suddenly learn to speak such sugary words? This was clearly not something he came up with himself! He must have been brainwashed by that shameless third party!!

And this fool! How could he let himself get manipulated like this?!

Men! Must be thinking with their lower half!

Maery slammed her empty glass down and smacked her lips, “Who was it that said that the union of the two cities was paramount? That the heir produced by this marriage was of vital importance? And who was it that swore to see this thing through? And who was it that vehemently opposed the thought of extramarital affairs?” Maery couldn’t hold in her scorn, “Did water get into your head? Or did you forget to take your medicine?”

Author Note

Yay! Thanks to two wonderful, wonderful people ❤ who sent coffees my way, you guys get to have another bonus chapter! It’ll come out in a couple of hours when I finish it up. (ﾉ*^o^)ﾉ*