Blackie came out of the memory lane, feeling like he had aged 10,000 years!

Unfortunately, in his absence, the present versions of Levi and Maery, had not even matured a bloody second! They were still bickering exactly the same as before he had left!

"Would you stop making me sound like the plague?!" Levi snapped.

Maery giggled and easily dismissed his complaint, "Don't be silly. I wouldn't let my brother contract the plague!"

Levi, "…" (눈_눈) How can this person and his baby have the same parents?

And how can that very similar appearance between the two siblings evoke a totally different feeling in his heart?

“I can’t wait to see which unlucky bloke will end up with you!” Levi snorted, “You better make mental preparations. You won’t be able to find a better husband than me!”

“Nonsense! Nearly anyone is better than you!” Maery immediately refuted.

“Oh? Name one man that is or would be a better husband than me!” Levi challenged very confidently.

Maery, (눈_눈) "My father…"

Levi stiffened. That was his father-in-law they were talking about! He couldn't openly disagree! Otherwise, what if the man found out about it later and refused to give his son's hand in marriage to him?!

"That… your father is an exception… Name another one!”

Maery deadpanned, “My brother.” (눈_눈)

Levi’s eyebrow twitched. Alright… it was his loss… his baby was indeed the best~ (／≧ω＼)❤

That was one thing these two completely incompatible individuals could agree on.

Thinking about her brother, Mary looked wistful, (*/ω＼*) "I look at my father, then I look at my brother…" then she turned to Levi, “Then I look at you…" (눈_눈)

Levi, ‘…alright, I'll let you win this one because I admit that I am nowhere as perfect as my precious treasure.’

“Speaking about my father,” Maery got up to get herself a glass of water, “We need to tell our parents about the change in the wedding arrangements. You tell yours, and I’ll tell mine.”

‘True.’ Without further ado, Levi opened up the light screen of his communicator and called his mother. Astar mommy answered after a couple of rings, her image appearing on the light screen. Judging by her surroundings, she seemed to be in the lounge of Astar manor, drinking tea while supervising the manor repairs.

“Mother,” Levi opened up in a solemn tone.

“Son?” The woman put down her teacup and tilted her head in confusion. This son of hers only called her if he needed something. So what was it this time?

“I'm calling to let you know there has been a change in the marriage arrangements,” Levi went straight to the point, “I won’t be marrying Maery.”

Thankfully, Astar mommy had put her teacup down as a conditional reflex trained by years of dealing with her son, otherwise, she would have choked on her drink.

Levi gave his wide-eyed mother no chance to process the information before continuing, “I'm getting married to her brother instead. Please handle all the necessary arrangements.”

Seeing her son bringing his hand up to press the hang-up button, Astar mommy jumped up from her seat, “Wait, son!” ‘You didn’t explain anything!!’ “Did you and Maery have a fight or…?”

Levi paused in his motions just long enough to say, “No. I fell for her little brother,” and then he unceremoniously pressed the hang-up button.

Astar mommy stared speechlessly at her light interface, her wide eyes filled with turmoil.

Seeing how her son behaved the day before yesterday, she had an inkling that he might have developed feelings for little Aris… but… she had thought that her low-EQ son would take much longer to realize the nature of those feelings!

Astar mommy suddenly felt very gratified; it would seem that her son had inherited some of her EQ after all! Ai, what mess would this all have been if he had figured it out after the wedding?

No, wait! It’s still a mess, ah!!

Did Maery agree to this?? Did little Aris agree to this?! Ah! Son, you can’t just make this decision all on your own!!

Tears welled up in Astar mommy’s eyes, half from the fact that she felt very ecstatic for her son’s romantic awakening and soon to be very blissful marital life, and half because he had left a mess on her hands.

As an Empathizer, how would Astar mommy not know that her son and his fiancée didn’t have an iota of romance between them? If she could even interpret her husband’s grunts as "Yes, I'd love to", "I like that very much" and "Please marry me" then how would she not see something as obvious as the true nature of her son’s relationship with his fiancée?

However, since her son was willing to play out this little show to fool them, she’d just pretend to have been fooled. And besides, she had hoped that feelings would develop with time. However, after 6 years without any progress, Astar mommy was just glad that the two got along well enough not to suffocate the other in their sleep with a pillow.

Now, the issue lay with the fact that not everyone was an Empathizer like her!

With her wide, panicked eyes, Astar mommy turned to face a large light screen on the wall next to her that was currently in the middle of a video call with Cordia mommy. “This… this isn't how it looks like!”

Though Cordia mommy had heard the entire conversation, her demeanor showed nothing of it. She calmly sipped her tea, her eyebrows raised, “Oh?”

“My son isn’t like that! He would never cheat on his significant other!” Astar mommy hurried to explain.

“Is that so?” Cordia mommy’s poker face made the other unable to tell whether she agreed or not. But Astar mommy’s years of interacting with people told her that the other… wasn’t convinced at all!

Thus, the flustered Astar mommy nearly tipped her teacup over in her haste to exonerate her son in the eyes of his future mother-in-law, “Actually, Levi and Maery weren’t in that kind of relationship! They have no romantic feelings for each other! All this time, they have been pretending to date!”

Cordia mommy brought her teacup up to her lips, “I know.”

“Trust me, I am an Empathizer, I’m not lyin–” Astar mommy abruptly choked on her words, “Wait, what? You know??”

“Mhmm, The completely unruffled Cordia mommy hummed her confirmation and continued to sip her tea.

“…Maery told you?” Astar mommy guessed.

“No,” Cordia mommy swirled the tea in her teacup, “The whole fake dating business was my idea. I brought it up to Maery with excuses of public appearances and reputation, but actually, I was thinking that after a while of fake dating, feelings would grow, and they would start dating for real.”

Cordia mommy let out a long and heavy sigh, “Who would have thought, six years, and still nothing… No wonder! The groom turned out to have been gay all along!”

Astar mommy, “…” （　ﾟДﾟ）‘Sister, your schemes run so deep! Respect!’

Only after a long, long dumbfounded silence did Astar mommy remember that she was supposed to refute her son being gay. As a mother and an Empathizer, she had paid careful attention to her son’s feelings and never noticed him show any kind of sexual attraction towards men or women. It wasn’t a problem of sexual orientation but the fact that her son disliked contact with people. His brain simply didn’t process others as possible romantic partners but menaces that one should walk around if met on the street!

Astar mommy opened her mouth to explain but then stopped herself. Ai, forget it… actually, for all she knew, her son could be gay. And if he was to marry Cordia mommy’s son, wouldn’t this future mother-in-law feel better thinking that the groom marrying her son was gay?

Cordia mommy couldn’t possibly want Astar mommy’s “gay” son to marry her daughter? If he’s gay, then he could only marry her son, no?

Astar mommy felt proud of herself. See! She could be clever and scheming, too!

And with that thought, Astar mommy tentatively asked Cordia mommy, “Then… you… you have nothing against this turn of events?”

- Author Note -

If SSC series ever becomes mega-popular with a huge fandom following, I can already tell that there will definitely be Maery x Levi fanfiction. A bickering couple is always interesting to read about. And frenemies turned lovers is always exciting, ne~? (／≧ω＼)