(#37) Family Dinner

How can he say that? To me, to be precise.

At the least, I am a Royal Advisor's daughter. He should have shown the respect for that.

Ana, you are within my grasp?! What nonsense is that? It sounds like I am the one who wants to run into his hands.

He is just a scumbag.

"Ana." Father called me.

"I won't." I said and every one at the table, that is, Father, Belle and Rais looked at me in a, what-the-hell, manner.

"You won't what?" Rais asked. "Nothing, nothing." I said, waving off.

"There is something, definitely." Rais said. "When I say there isn't anything, when there clearly is something, that means that you are not supposed to ask me about it, get it?" I asked.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I never thought that you can be so scary." Rais said.

"Did you get, or not?" I asked, staring at him.

"I get it, I get it. I completely get it. Goodness, I will do anything to get a scare like that again." Rais said.

"You better." I said, smiling, knowing that it will give him goose bumps. And as expected, he shivered and got goose bumps all over his body.

"You finally know how to differentiate the good Anastasia and the evil Anastasia. Good for you, other wise your life ahead will only get more troublesome." Belle said.

"You should listen to your sister sometimes. Don't always ignore what she has to tell giving the excuse tha you are the Elder Brother." I said.

"Yes, Madam. I will listen to everything that Lady Aesther has to say." Rais said and bowed.

I then got up from my seat and playfully slapped his head.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Remember that, at the end of the day, you are still my brother." I said.

He smiled. "You said it yourself. You can't back off now." Rais said.

"How can you, I mean, how you dare tell that to a member of the House of Aesther? We Aesther are long known for being truthful and keeping their word." I said.

"That I agree." Father said.

"And even if we want to break our promise and become a liar, we can't. Because, honesty is embedded tight in our blood." I said.

"Very true. That is why we are called Bad Liars by the society." Father said.

"But that is not very much of an insult, you see. It can also be interpreted as people who can't lie, that means, honest people." Rais said.

"Wow. Staying with me, you have gotten some of my characteristics and have started thinking about things." I said.

"As much as I would like to oppose, it is indeed the truth. After I started being with you, I started thinking before speaking. I then found out that, most of the things I speak are rather rash and unwanted." Rais said.

"It is a good thing indeed that you found it out by yourself and decided to change." I smiled.

"But," I interjected.

"But?" Rais asked.

"You can be at ease with me and speak your mind. But, only with me." I said.

"Why only with you?" Rais asked.

"Because the other old men in the assembly are vultures, waiting for you to make a mistake. Once they get something, even something small, they will elaborate it, and even make it sound like you did treason." I said.

"I actually don't want to scare a child, who has just gotten into this society. But you have to know the facts. The assembly, is a battle ground. And the worst mistake that you can make is, pitying them and underestimating them." Father said.

"I will always keep Lord Aesther's words." Rais said.

"Oh, don't call me Lord Aesther." Father said. "Even if my daughter hadn't taken you as a brother, you are still Jonathan's son. And you," Father said and pointed at Belle.

"What me? What did I do, Lord Aesther?" Belle started to get worried.

"Look, this is the matter itself. You get scared so fast, and let your guard down. Ana," Father said and turned to me.

"I know Father. I will train her." I said.

"I personally think that it will be good if you join the Aesther army too." Father said.

"I told her about it too." I said.

"That is good. Then I can always protect my sister." Rais said.

Suddenly Belle started crying.

"Belle! What is the matter?" I asked, going near to her.

"It is alright. If you are too scared to join the army, you don't need to." Father said.

"What is the matter, Belle? You can tell me everything. If there is any punk out there disturbing you, you can tell me. My martial arts are better too. I will beat him until even his mother can't recognize him." Rais said.

"Don't you think that is too much?" I asked Rais.

"Nothing is too much if it involves my sister." Rais said.

"I can understand what Rais means. I will feel the same way, if something involves you." Father said.

"Because I am sure that if a guy disturbs you and you don't like it, I might even send the whole Aesther army and tell them to bring his head." Father said, bending the metal spoon in his hand.

Whoa, my Father is so cool.

Come on Ana. Your Father is about to take someone's head. Don't you think you should advise him the opposite?

Yes, very true. Even though my Father is so majestic and handsome and brave and courageous, taking a life too much.

Exactly, you are finally starting to listen to me.

Because you are finally starting to make sense.

Hello Lady, I tried to advice you before, okay. But you were just too thick-skulled to listen to me.

Did you just call me THICK-SKULLED?

Yes, I did. Thick-skulled, thick-skulled, thick-skulled. Humph.

You-

"Ana?"

My Father interrupted my conversation between me and... myself?

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was just thinking. But still, I think we will talk first. If we come to a mutual understanding, then there is no need of violence." I said.

"That is true, but still." Father said.

"Exactly." Rais agreed.

"People. First of all, we don't even know why Belle is crying." I said and we all turned to Belle.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't feel like interrupting when you three were talking. Even though Lord Aesther talked about Lady Anastasia, I just felt... happy." She said, smiling.

"Oh, that is so sweet of you." I said.

"Look dear. I want you to call me Uncle. Both you and Rais." Father said.

"WHAT?!" Both Rais and Belle asked in unison.

"Yeah. You have to call me Uncle, when it is just us." Father said.

"But-" I cut Rais off.

"It is alright. You will soon get accustomed to it. Belle didn't first agree to call me Ana in private too. But after lots of practicing and even more scolding, she is calling me Ana, when no one else is present." I said.

"But all walls have ears." Belle said.

Hmm... I feel like Déjà vu.

Oh yes! This is the exact same thing I told to‑ Lindon when he asked me to call him Lindon.

Oh, I wonder what he is doing right now.

Will he be sleeping?

Considering the facts that he is both the King's secretary and the Crown Prince, I am sure that he does not get enough sleep each day.

Does he even properly?

Then next time I see him, I will tell him to eat properly.

Wait, I can make something for him, to show my sincerity.

Lady, are you telling that you are going to make food for the person whom you called scumbag?

I-I-I was not. I am just caring for him.

Yeah, caring for the guy who just called you a scumbag. Amazing.

"Ana." My Father interrupted my thought, again.

"Come to the garden. I have something very important to talk with you." Father said.

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Note for the Readers.

I am very sorry to be updating late. I had assignments to do and stuff.

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So, till next time,

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Last updated on-19-9-2020