There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 787: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 68

"Huh?" Bassena blinked in surprise. He thought Zein only suggested the father thing because they seemed to be serious about each other already. "Really?"

"H-how did you know?" Julia widened her eyes. She looked at Asa, but he shook his head to tell her that he hadn’t said anything to his father yet.

Zein leaned back and crossed his arms, replying nonchalantly. "If you’re just dating normally, you’ll tell Lucy or Kar first instead of coming straight to us like this."

Bassena arched his brow. "Is that the case?"

Asa shrugged and grinned at Zein. "As expected of you, Father."

"No, wait--" Bassena raised his hand. "You’re actually engaged?"

"Yeah?"

The sharp ambers zeroed in Julia’s bare fingers. "Without any ring?!"

"Well, I haven’t got the time to--"

"My son! Proposing! Without a ring!" Bassena stood up and gasped, eyes widened as if the world had just crumbled in front of his eyes. "What a disgrace!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Whoa..." Kar waved his finger to snatch a jar of cookies with his mana so he could snack on this live show.

Zein rolled his eyes and pulled his husband back to the couch. "You’re being dramatic again, Bas. You’ll look like Shin if you continue."

Bassena gasped again, looking even more scandalized than the absence of the ring. "What a horrid thing to say, honey!"

Zein chuckled. "He’s your future in-law, you know?"

Bassena turned toward Kar with a scowl, as if blaming his son for his choice of in-law--as if it wasn’t him who befriended that in-law first. Kar merely shrugged and ate his cookie. "What? He’s cute."

"That’s right--stop being so dramatic, Dad!" Asa attacked the esper too. "Isn’t it better to bring her to an artisan and make something she actually likes?"

"Where’s the romance in that?" Bassena argued and scoffed. "Your sister will scold you for sure."

"Oh, wait--where is she?" Asa looked around, realizing the most boisterous member was actually absent.

"Guardian Tree."

"Oh, phew..."

Julia was once again thrown into a whirlwind. What was this constant emotional shift happening in just a few seconds? She felt like she was in the middle of a deadline during his college days, and honestly...

"Pfft--" Julia clasped her mouth as a chuckle escaped her lips. "Oh, I--I’m sorry..."

"Welcome," Kar spread his arms from his chair, smirking. "Now you know that our family is not that special."

Asa grinned and stroked his--supposedly--fiancee’s shoulder. He had been saying it for so long; that his family was nothing special, that his fathers acted like regular fathers. But as expected, one had to experience it firsthand to believe that those legendary people were just humans in the end.

At least, she was finally calm enough to drink the refreshment and didn’t look so nervous anymore. Zein felt it was time for them to return to the topic.

"So, about that marriage?"

"Ah, we want to do it this week," Asa said, prompting both his brother and father to spray their drink in shock.

Zein glanced at the mess and spoke sharply. "You’ll clean that up, right?"

"O-of course," Bassena coughed and grabbed a napkin, cleaning the couch and the wet floor right away.

Kar did the same quietly, and none of them used magic, even though they were very much capable of doing so. The house staff also didn’t make any move, as if it was something normal to see their employers cleaning up around the house.

In that instance, Julia understood the hierarchy in the family.

Zein leaned back and crossed his arms again. "Explain."

Asa swallowed quietly before explaining what happened that night--well, up until his proposal, at least. When he finished, the three men raised their brows dumbfoundedly.

"For naming rights?"

"That’s not it! Ugh..."

"I can assure you that I’m not accepting because of that," Julia said quickly.

Asa grinned, actually feeling rather proud of the way he proposed. "But it’s neat, isn’t it?"

"Haa..." Zein threw his head back and closed his eyes. "I have to say you have a way of proposing, just like your Dad."

"What? I’m proposing normally," Bassena argued.

"You waited until you got ownership of this cliff."

"It’s a dowry, honey."

"Anyway, he’s your son alright," Zein sighed, looking at his grinning son.

Bassena scoffed. "My son would prepare a ring from a long time ago."

"Oh, put it to rest, Dad."

Zein clapped his hand. "Focus."

"Yes, Sir!"

Yeah. A clear hierarchy--Julia made a note in her mind.

"So, since you agreed to marry anyway, it’s fine to do it quickly so you can change your name listed on that project? Is that what you think?"

"Well..."

"We don’t really care about big weddings or anything, so just a quick registry office wedding like Uncle Dee and Uncle Joon is--"

"I disagree."

The conversation paused as everyone looked at Zein. Of anyone, nobody expected rejection from Zein. Especially not Asa.

"Father?"

"I don’t approve of you doing things this way," Zein said dryly, looking at Asa with a stern gaze.

Asa grabbed Julia’s hand unconsciously as if she was about to get snatched away. "W-why?"

"Asa, think about it," Zein tapped the armrest. "If you get married and her name comes out on top of the list, what would people think?"

Bassena glanced at his husband and sighed, answering for his bewildered son. "They’ll think she only seduced you to get her name up there."

"But that’s not--"

"That’s not what happened, and you’re the one pursuing her--yes," Zein cut him. "But other people won’t think like that. They’d spin tales about her, undermining her own accomplishment in the process. Do you know why?"

The one who replied was Julia. "Because I’m an orphan."

"Ju!"

"That’s the truth," she said calmly. "Even I think I have too much audacity...taking on Ishtera’s name..."

"That’s not true!" Asa denied aggressively, turning toward his fathers with a deep frown. "Father, didn’t you say we don’t have to care about what people say?!"

"I did," Zein nodded. "But that’s because we’re strong."

Even if Julia became an Ishtera, people would still see her as someone who came from the ’outside’. There would be people whispering poison about how she was nothing without the name Ishtera; people who whispered about how she would be abandoned one day.

No matter how foolish and weak a poison was, it didn’t change the fact that it was dangerous and disgusting.

"Asa, I know how it feels to be subjected to people’s poisonous tongues and minds when I was still weak," Zein continued. "I know very well that Julia is a strong person, but it’s not something that I wish someone else would experience for a long time."

Asa bit the inside of his lips, remembering that his father used to live in the kind of hardship that most people wouldn’t be able to stomach. "Oh..."

Zein smiled and softened his voice. "If it’s possible, I’d like the world to truly know how much we welcome her to the family," he said. "And having a proper wedding with a proper reception is a way to do that."

"I see..."

Asa breathed in relief. In panic, he had thought that his father didn’t want the marriage to happen. So it was only a matter of timing.

"I understand, Father, but...what do you think, Ju? If we wait longer, your name..." Asa bit his lips. "Should we go by given names?"

"No, that’s..." Julia shook her head. "I’m no longer thinking about that."

"Oh?"

Honestly, the reason she was so obsessed with it--with any achievement for that matter--was because she wanted to have a firm foothold to receive an award or a tangible milestone that she could show in front of her benefactor one day.

But since she already met them anyway...

"Well, even if she uses her maiden name for now, won’t it automatically change in the system once you get married and her name changes to Ishtera?" Kar commented, looking at the information he had just searched for in his commlink.

"Oh, that’s true!"

That being said, however, Julia still looked somewhat uneasy. She kept looking down and fiddling with her skirt. Zein smiled softly--as someone with a somewhat similar experience, he could understand her better than anyone there.

"Of course, we don’t have to have a big wedding," Zein said, observing the girl closely. "The most important thing is what the bride wants."

Julia flinched. "Me? Oh, no--I’m..." she shook her head and lowered it again. "I don’t think I have the right to decide on such a thing."

"Of course, you have the right," Zein chuckled. "You will be the family’s daughter. You can decide what you want to eat at your party, what you want to wear, and who you want to invite."

The green eyes widened and blinked slowly. "I...can?"

"As you grow, I know you have grown to be more realistic about your expectations," Zein smiled in understanding. "But let’s forget about that and return to your childhood; when you still feel like you can dream about anything."

Even Zein still dreamed when he was a child; dreaming about getting out of the red zone, about eating nice food, about wearing comfortable clothes. It eroded with time and abuses, but he could attest that every child had dreams.

"Have you ever dreamed about what kind of wedding would you like to have?" Zein asked again. "It doesn’t matter if it sounds silly."

Patiently, they waited for Julia to speak. They knew it was hard enough for her to face this situation. To some extent, she was similar to Zein; pulling out those buried innocence took time and the willingness to open a locked chest.

"I...never thought about marriage," she started quietly. "But...one day, when I was still living in the orphanage...one of the teachers got married."

"And? And?" Asa rubbed her hand, encouraging her to continue.

"We...had a small party in the orphanage’s garden; the kids became the flower girls and boys, and the other teachers cooked the meals for the reception," she continued, a simple smile unconsciously appearing on her lips. "I never really thought about weddings, but...I still remember how lovely and warm it felt back then..."

"How nice," Bassena curled his lips. "We also have a small garden here."

That was a lie; their garden was big enough for the kids to play hide and seek for hours in the past. Kar was the witness. "I watered them this past week."

"We also have some excellent cooks in the family," Zein added.

"Right; we can invite family and friends only--although there are quite a lot, so it can’t be a ’small’ party--oh!" Asa snapped his fingers. "Let’s invite our colleagues and your orphanage friends and teachers, Ju!"

Julia looked at Zein. "Would that be alright?"

"Of course," Zein smiled. "What’s a wedding if it’s only the invitees of the groom?"

"Hehe..." Asa grinned and intertwined his fingers with Julia, totally in bliss.

"To be honest, there’s another reason why I want to have a proper wedding," Zein said.

Again, everyone paused to look at Zein; this time with curiosity. The blue eyes still focused on Julia, which made the girl feel nervous again. Was this the power of hierarchy? Because he was the patriarch?

"I had experienced walking down the aisle, and I had experienced walking someone down the aisle," Zein glanced at the man beside him. "My husband, however, had yet to experience that."

Julia blinked, turning to her fiance. Asa, however, looked as surprised as her. Slowly, she shifted her gaze back to Zein and Bassena, eyes widened in a daze as her brain digested the guide’s words.

Bassena was startled at first, but he immediately chuckled softly as his husband glanced at him with twinkling eyes. He looked at the shocked girl--his future daughter-in-law--and smiled. "Would you let me have the honor?"

"...y-yes--yes!" Julia felt her throat lodged as she screamed her answer without much thought, the lumps climbed to her eyes and fell down her cheeks in hot tears. Asa hugged her tightly as she buried her face in her palms, slowly understanding the fact that she had just got a family.

A real family. Even before she was officially married.

But of course, there was no calm moment in that house when everyone was there. The door suddenly burst open, and a golden storm with a pair of blue flashes came inside.

"What is this?" Lucy gasped at the congregation in the living room. "What meeting is this? Why didn’t I know anything about this?!"