人与ZO〇交

We were greeted by a butler at the entrance, and after the greeting, the butler whispered something to my father. I wondered what was going on.

"What!? My brother-in-law sent a letter in advance?"

After hearing what the butler had to say, Father\'s face turned grim. Then, he addressed us as follows.

"Sieg. Rio. I know you\'re tired, but when you\'re done changing, come to the parlor. We need to talk."

There was a hint of uneasiness in the air.

My brother and I nodded and went back to our rooms.

When I returned to my room, I was greeted by Marie.

"Welcome back, milady. Leon-sama. I\'m sure you\'re tired. I\'ll prepare some herbal tea for you before your bath."

"I\'m back, Marie. That\'s right. My father wants to see me. Would you mind getting me some evening clothes?"

"My goodness, what could he possibly want at this late hour? All right, then. I\'ll have them ready in a moment."

Marie walked a little hurriedly to the closet.

"Hey, Leon. You know, my father told me that my uncle sent a letter. Any idea what it’s about?"

As soon as Leon entered my room, he changed into his cat form.

A lot of things have happened and I\'m exhausted, so the first thing I want to do is get some fluff.

Picking up Leon, I sat down on the sofa and enjoyed his fluffy fur. Ah, it\'s soothing.

"I guess it\'s largely an apology for proceeding with the engagement without permission."

"You think so?"

I\'m not sure what to say. I think it\'s only natural for him to come here to apologize, but my family is furious as hell. Would they accept an apology so easily?

Worst of all, Mother might sever ties with her brother.

" ...... What do you mean by engagement?"

A chilly sensation emanated from behind me. Fearfully, I looked back and saw Marie standing there, holding a pair of loungewear. That ...... with a chilling smile on her face.

Her smile looked like the face of a terribly furious person.

"Well, you see, Marie. Ah, I\'ll explain later ......."

"Don\'t tell me ...... that the Prince Dumcrap did something to you?"

Heeee! So sharp!

"Can you please care to fill me in on the details later?"

"Of course, of course. I would never hide anything from Marie!"

She emphasized the word "details". It seems that it would be better to tell her everything. I\'m afraid of what Marie\'s reaction will be after that. ......

Leon was frozen by Marie\'s frigid presence. His hair stood on end, not moving a muscle.

Holding the limp Leon in my arms, I knocked on the door of the parlor.

"Come in."

Upon hearing my father\'s voice urging me to come in, I opened the door and saw that the whole family, except for May, was already there.

I was told that May had been awake for a while until she fell asleep from exhaustion.

I sat down next to my brother.

"Well, I guess we\'re all here. Let\'s start the family meeting."

There was an envelope on the table. The seal was broken, but the owl emblem was stamped on it. The coat of arms belonged to the Dukes of Paulford.

"As you may have guessed, Prime Minister Paulford sent me a message. He\'s coming to visit us tomorrow."

"Oh my, what is the Prime Minister doing at our house? Do you think it would be all right if I served tea with some dry mustard seeds?

Aside from Father, even Uncle\'s own sister, Mother, took the trouble to say "Prime Minister", which carried a note of bitterness.

"...I\'m not sure if it\'s okay to go outside when His Majesty the King hasn\'t sent for us yet. If it were me, I\'d voluntarily keep myself under house arrest. ......"

Even Big Brother was bitter and upset with Uncle.

"So how shall the Prime Minister be cook......? Ahem! I believe we should discuss how to deal with the Prime Minister."

Father, you were about to say, "How shall he be cooked?"

"What do you intend to do about it, Rio?"

Ah! Leon is back. Before I knew it, he was staring at my face.

I was angry with my uncle but seeing how my family members were angrier than I was made me calm down.

I released a deep breath and began to speak.

"First of all, let\'s ask Uncle about the situation. How did the engagement come about? It is possible that he was threatened by the crown prince, right?"

I inquired, but my parents shook their heads. They seemed to be saying that it was impossible.

"That\'s impossible. My brother may have made threats, but he was never threatened. Even if it was royalty."

Mother assured and father nodded his head in agreement. What a terrible thing to say.

"You can be angrier than that, Rio. He decided to engage you without your consent."

My brother admonished me while patting my head.

"It\'s ...... when I suddenly heard the declaration of engagement, my mind went blank. I despaired that all my efforts to avoid an engagement with the crown prince had been in vain. But what has happened can\'t be helped."

"Even though His Majesty the King has promised to issue a gag order, this incident may continue to haunt Rio in the future as a negative rumor."

Regarding the event tonight, His Royal Majesty has promised to issue a gag order on the withdrawal of the engagement declaration, but you can\'t shut the mouths of the people.

In particular, nobles love scandals.

In the future, it is expected to be a topic of conversation at the Magic Academy and social gatherings.

"...For now, if my uncle wants to apologize, I will accept it. If it is for any other purpose,......."

If, for example, he asks me to consider an engagement with the crown prince, then--

"Let\'s go home as soon as possible."

◇◇◇

The next day, my uncle came to visit us at the exact time stated.

His countenance was somber as he was ushered into the reception room.

As my mother had previously mentioned, a cup of stale tea was presented to my uncle.

Normally, tea brewed with the finest tea leaves is prepared for guests, but the tea served to my uncle was the waste of tea prepared for our family.

Last night I stayed up late for a family meeting, so when I told Marie first thing in the morning about what had happened at the Royal Ball, she was silently fuming.

But, just as she was about to go assassinate the Crown Prince, "I\'m going to go kill the Prince Dumcrap for a minute," I desperately tried to stop her along with Leon.

As for my uncle, as per my mother\'s instruction, "I\'ll give him the benefit of the doubt today," she said, gleefully preparing a cup of stale tea.

A heavy air filled the reception room.

No one wanted to open their mouths.

Father let out a sigh and finally opened his mouth.

"So, Prime Minister Paulford. What brings you to our house today?"

"Alex! Please don\'t call me as if I were a stranger!"

Up until that point, my uncle had been looking down uncomfortably, but now he looked up. His face suddenly fell to the side as if in a state of alarm. He looked sad.

"But yes, I suppose so. I\'m sorry for what I did to you guys, including Rio. I owe you an apology."

My uncle stood up, kneeled, and lowered his head in the courtesy of a gentleman.

"I am truly sorry. I really am."

Silence ensued for a while.

"Brother-in-law, please look lookup. First, I would like to ask you why you did this."

My uncle looked up and sat back down on the sofa.

"It was ...... for Rio\'s happiness. ......"

"Rio\'s happiness?"

When father said this, he shuddered and slammed his fist on the table. The cup on the table shook and the tea spilled.

"If you truly want to make Rio happy, why didn\'t you consult me, the head of the family, first?"

"But from afar, Rio seemed to be on good terms with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. And didn\'t you guys happily mention that the Crown Prince was interested in Rio?"

"That was when Rio was still young. Things are different now!"

Father raised his fist towards the table again, prompting Mother to stop him as quickly as she could.

"Husband, please calm down. You\'ll hurt your hand."

Mother wrapped her hand around Father\'s hand.

"Ellie ......, I\'m sorry."

Mother nodded and shifted her gaze to Uncle.

"Brother, my husband is right. We are Rio\'s parents. It\'s hard for a parent to have their daughter\'s future decided by others without their permission. You are also a parent of a child, you understand that, don\'t you?"

"Ellie, but how is the situation different? Doesn\'t Rio like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

It\'s not surprising that it looks that way to my uncle who doesn\'t know what\'s going on. From an outsider\'s point of view, it would have appeared that we siblings and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince were on good terms. That\'s how we acted.

I took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Uncle. I\'d like to make it clear that I have a strong dislike for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Ever since I was a child, I\'ve been averse to him....... And that will never change."

"Rio, why? Were you aware of the Crown Prince\'s affection for you?"

"...... I was aware of it. But I cannot reciprocate the Crown Prince\'s feelings."

"Why do you stubbornly refuse the Crown Prince? Is there a reason?"

"That\'s ......."

What am I to do? My uncle doesn\'t know that I\'ve gone back in time. How am I going to explain it to him?

"Why don\'t you just tell him? If you don\'t, he won\'t be convinced, and he might even try to get you engaged to the Prince kid."

Leon spoke in front of Uncle!

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