Levi eyed the annoying woman from the corner of his eyes and decided, ‘Nope! If I had not interrupted her, she would have definitely continued splitting property!’

But, forget it, he’d be magnanimous this one time and let her keep her face.

As for the issue of an heir, that was indeed the most important matter that needed solving; otherwise, their parents wouldn’t agree to the change in brides even if all three people involved agreed to it.

At least in this, he, Astar Levi, had been fully prepared! And thus, Levi lifted his chin up high with an air of a peacock spreading his feathers and proudly presented the results of his long and arduous research. “Men can’t get pregnant, but it doesn’t mean that two guys can’t have a baby together. Science is very advanced nowadays. Since men also have an X chromosome, it’s possible to make an egg cell using their DNA.”

Maery gave him an odd look, “Advanced? That tech has existed for decades...”

Levi pretended not to have heard the other’s jab, “We’ll make an egg cell of your brother’s DNA in the lab, and I shall generously donate my swimmers, and then we can rent a uterus…”

Maery kept patiently nodding, with a gentle smile on her face, “And where do you intend to get that done?”

Levi produced the first candidate he remembered from the top of his head due to their company having the highest customer satisfaction rating, “ReLife.”

“ReLife?” Maery’s expression morphed into a compassionate look one would use to gaze at a disabled child, “They specialize in cloning pets for rich people after their original pet dies.”

Levi’s confident expression stiffened, “I am still working out all the details...”

Maery shook her head with an “as expected, he is really useless…” facial expression. “Never mind.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, “I know a guy at the fertility department of the research institute who can get it done... you... just use all of your pitiful brain cells to think carefully about how to make my baby brother happy for the rest of his life...”

Levi had complaints written all over his scrunched-up face, ‘I was preoccupied, ok! Woo baby first, find out the details of producing an heir second! And...' “I don’t need you to tell me to make my baby happy! That’s what I planned on doing in the first place!”

“Alright, alright, I know, I know.” Maery placated him as if cajoling a temperamental toddler, “Now, that we’ve gotten that out of the way, Lev, tell it to me honestly…” Her previously gentle facial expression turned irate, “When you figured out you had the hots for my bro, why the fuck didn’t you call me right away and ask for my help in pursuing him?!?”

“I don’t need your help in pursuing him! And I did call you.” Levi sneered, “You didn’t return my calls.”

Maery, (・―・) “...”

…Fair enough. (; ﾟ 3ﾟ )~♪

“But, wait!” Maery’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, “I know you! Since you had to talk to me about something this important, how come you didn’t send your men over to kidnap me?”

The question stumped Levi for a moment. “I already thought you would get pissed when you found out and kidnapping you would definitely not increase your approval value towards changing marriage partners.”

Maery tilted her head incredulously, ”Why did you think I’d be pissed?”

Levi glanced at the annoying woman, and it finally sunk in that he seemed to be in the clear. Oh! Good! Then he needn’t hold back his temper anymore?

His tensed back relaxed, and his facial expression twisted into scornful expression one would use to look at an intellectually inferior being who’d just asked the dumbest question possible. “With how protective you are of your precious baby brother, how would you accept me as his future partner? Not only are we both men, but you also always complain I am not good ‘husband material’ and that you drew the short end of the stick by having to marry me! Not to mention how much you were looking forward to the wedding, investing so much effort into–”

Maery’s feathers were ruffled, and she jumped to clarify, “You make it sound like I was looking forward to marrying you!! Bah! If it weren’t for the union of two cities, who’d want to marry you?! I wasn’t looking forward to the wedding itself! I was looking forward to getting this nightmare over and done with! After the wedding, we can finally stop pretending like we are dating! Urgh! Six years of weekly meetups are already my limit! The sooner we marry, the sooner we can get that heir up and running and then divorce!”

“Oh, you are at your limit, are you? Wasn’t this entire fake dating your idea?” Levi laughed coldly, “You say you just want to get it over quick, but who was it that spent six months organizing the perfect wedding and designing the perfect wedding dress?”

“This is it! This is exactly why I keep saying you are no husband material! You simply don’t understand the delicate heart of a woman!” Maery stomped her feet, “It doesn’t matter whom I’m getting married to! If I am to have a wedding, then it better be the best damn wedding possible! Bah!” Maery looked at the other as if she wanted to spit at him in disdain, “Thankfully, my painstakingly designed wedding dress won’t be wasted on you! Good riddance!”

It was now Levi’s fur that got ruffled, “Good riddance, is it? And yet you were really looking forward to our honeymoon!”

“Of course I was looking forward to a vacation! It would be even better if I didn’t have to take you along!” Maery tried to smack Levi upside the head again, but this loner wolf was done receiving a beating, so he naturally dodged.

“So, what you are trying to say is that you are totally not pissed that I went back on what we agreed on? And not angry that those six-years' worth of time and effort went to waste either?”

“Ah! Ah! That’s right! I almost forgot!” Maery, who had just managed to calm down, got agitated again. She attempted to smack Levi on his chest, but the other slapped her hand away with his own.

Maery held her slapped hand in indignation and pursed her lips, “Six years of putting up with you for nothing! I’ve lost so many brain cells dealing with you! Coughed up so many liters of blood in anger!! Ah, ah!”

Unresigned, she attempted to slap Levi on his chest several more times, their spat nearly turning into a scuffle between preschoolers. After finally managing to get a hit in, Maery’s anger evaporated, feeling mightily pleased with herself. “Well, all’s well that ends well. Instead of thinking about those six years as wasted effort, I should think of it as safeguarding my brother’s future hubby in his place.” (／≧ω＼)

Maery’s eyes curved, and she hummed happily, “Yes, it’s all a matter of perspective! Right! You have it all backward! You say 6 years of wasted time and effort; I say I only had to wait 6 years for you to be taken off my hands! What’re six years when compared to the eighteen years that are the minimal duration of our marriage? What pissed? I couldn’t be happier!”

“Oh? So beating me up is how you express your happiness?” Levi didn’t give her any face.

Maery turned her head away awkwardly, “I only got mad earlier thinking that you betrayed our family and were now trying to take advantage of my baby brother’s good temper to bully him to death...”

Then her cheeks flushed shyly, and she pushed Levi’s chest coquettishly, “Ok, sure, I also got a bit mad thinking that the precious cabbage I raised for 18 years would be eaten by a pig like you... but ah, on second thought, it’s fine as long as my brother agrees, and you treat him well...”

- Author Note -

Actually, that whole production of egg cells from DNA isn’t made up. It can really be done nowadays. Unfortunately, it only solves the issue of male same-sex couples producing offspring. Since women don’t have the Y chromosome, their DNA can’t be used to produce sperm. But I’m sure there will be a solution to that in the future, too. Like, I don’t know, borrowing a Y chromosome from a third party?

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