Volume 16 Chapter 16: Keith’s Worry

In the carriage, Eri and Fira played on the side with the furballs; Keith had taken out a ball for them to play catch. Eri would toss the ball, and Mir or Lei would bounce it with their faces back to her arms.

It would be a smooth ride if there weren’t a dark aura coming from the side.

“Lei, catch!” Fira pushed the ball, which was two times larger than her, over to the chocolate furball.

“Po!” Lei caught the ball before launching it back! “Bwgah!” Fira caught the ball with her face as she rolled backwards!

Eri caught her and lifted her up, “Okay?”

”Mmhmm!” Fira puffed her chest out, “I am the great Fira! Getting hit in the face is nothing to me!”

Then why do I see tears? Keith didn’t retort; he noticed tears gradually forming at the corners of her eyes.

“There, there.” Eri patted her head gently while Mir and Lei snuggled beside the spirit. Fira sniffled, “I am the amazing Fira! Let’s keep going.”

“Mmhmm!” “Po!” “Po!”

“There, there.” Sitting across from them was Keith, who continued to stroke Carolyn’s head while she hugged his arm. It was not an ordinary hug; it was a bear hug. She latched onto his chest with both legs and her arm stretched across his body. This koala had no plans of letting go soon.

“Can you let go?” I need air. For Keith, this hug slowly became that of a python; she was squeezing the air out of him. It wasn’t for Aria flapping air at them; he would have fainted.

“No.”

“Didn’t you do this before?” Last night, Carolyn and Scarlet slept in his bed; they had a tug-of-war. His hand was still sore from patting their heads. Carolyn rubbed her face into his chest and hugged tighter, “I will not let go! It’s been too long!”

“It’s only been like two weeks?” A month tops. But Carolyn’s eyes narrowed as she looked up, “And what happened during that time?”

“…”

“Do you need me to recall for you?” There was no need to. In a matter of weeks, he had caused so much trouble. He faced off in a tournament and stopped a coup. To top everything off, he got engaged! The first two were already national crises!

The last one alone infuriated her; the icing on top!

“To think you would get married to Scarlet.” Carolyn’s voice was cold; her eyes narrowed like a hawk, prepared for war!

“I don’t know what happened there either.” Keith thought the engagement was off the table; the original plan was to win and then nullify the engagement. It didn’t have to be him marrying Scarlet after the tournament; he just wanted her to be free from this political nonsense. This worked better with Alastair rejecting him after he had won.

Who knew the king would backtrack on his statement!

Keith sighed at the thought before turning to her, “Wait a moment, how do you know?” One thing didn’t make sense: this news should have reached Carolyn, who was in the Solis Kingdom!

“Father was the one who told me. He said you were about to get engaged to Scarlet and told me to come here.”

“What?!” How did Julius hear about this?!

“I should be the first wife.”

“…” Keith blinked.

“Got a problem with that?” Carolyn’s eyes curved into crescent moons.

“…” Silence; the only answer to all of this was none other than to be quiet. If he answered, it would only cause headaches.

“Also, you must be more mindful from now on!” Carolyn pointed her finger at him. Keith looked away. “I do not have any say in this matter.” This was not up to him; how was he supposed to stop any of this? It was not like he wanted to cause trouble?

“You can’t say that! Just say you will stay by my side and will not cause any trouble!”

“That’s even worse!” With those words, Carolyn began to chew him out, but it was going in one ear and out the other. His focus was now on Eri, who had stopped playing. She was leaning on Mir as she slept. Mir had gotten larger as Eri leaned into his body with Lei in her arms and Ruby sleeping on top of the choco ball. It was a serene and cute atmosphere. However, the only thing going through Keith’s mind was worry.

How will she react? Eri remained calm and receptive during their trip to the demon kingdom. She knew how to behave in important matters. She got hit by Draezar, but she took it like a champion and continued forward. The child was mindful of her surroundings.

But this was not the case here. Eirendale was a snowy climate that was not suitable for children. Well, she is a fox; it should be fine. That concern was out the window, but another one came to mind: Leon and Laura. How would they react to Eri? If the three of them don’t get along…

His complexion paled merely at the thought.

“What’s wrong, Keith?” Carolyn held his cheek. Keith regained his composure, “Sorry, I was lost in thought about a matter.”

“Eri meeting with Leon and Laura?”

“…” Bingo.

“I stopped talking after a minute when you stared at Eri.” Knowing how her scoldings were futile, she stopped.

“There shouldn’t be an issue,” Carolyn grinned, “It will be fine.“ The three will get along with one another; they’re well-behaved.” She soothed him as the carriage slowly arrived at the mansion.

Keith gently nudged Eri, “Eri, it’s time to get out.”

“Hug.” Eri was still half asleep as she raised her hand, and he picked her up as they exited. The moment he got out, something had latched onto his legs: two little chicks.

“Big brother!” Leon and Laura grinned happily as they looked up. Keith smiled, “Hello, you two. It’s been so long.”

“…” But the two didn’t respond as they locked onto Eri. Eri did the same as they stared at one another.