Chapter 63: Refusing to Be a Father, What Constitutes Eloquence?

[So there are thousands of choices ~ You can, of course, proceed according to your original plan.]

'What are you talking about, Lilia? Making it sound like I can help her?'

[Can't you?]

'You're driving me into a fire pit, dammit...'

[The beating of a butterfly's wings never ceases. Isn't your very existence helping her?]

[Look up.]

[Alan.]

Alan paused. It was as if he had sensed something, and slowly raised his head.

Zenith and Rudy beside the dining table had already turned their gazes toward him at some point. Paul, nearby, wore an expression of astonishment, shock, disbelief, and even a hint of painful strangeness, locking his gaze firmly on Alan.

A palpable sense of "pointing the finger" surrounded the "outsider."

Alan's mouth hung open as he helplessly met everyone's gazes.

Clearly, sneaking away from the dining table immediately after the incident, combined with his rich and conflicted facial expressions and a demeanor that seemed suspiciously prepared in advance, instantly drew everyone's suspicions toward this character who didn't belong in the original storyline at all.

And this newly appeared male—his stature never really resembled a child's; in this precocious world, he was approaching ten years of age, his sexual characteristics fully developed under the swordsman template, hardening like iron when using battle aura, and even...

Not to mention the "prior record" in Rudy's eyes of his somewhat abnormal interactions with Mrs. Somal.

[Am I right? The current situation is...]

Looking at everyone's expressions, Alan blankly answered the system's question, but out of sheer shock, he let the words slip out loud.

"The current situation is... I'm a father again?"

As his voice fell, a dead silence filled the room.

At that moment, Lilia, who had kept her head lowered all this time, finally sensed that the atmosphere was wrong. She looked up in confusion at everyone's dramatic expressions, then followed their line of sight to Alan, who was hurriedly covering his mouth by the wall.

The two exchanged glances.

Only the sound of the candle licking the air remained.

[Turn the tide and rescue the desperate situation!]

[Right now, amidst thousands of choices, the host has used his formidable personal charm to instantly curb the conflict in the original storyline, sparing Paul from the embarrassing predicament of being slapped across the face, cowering in a tremor on the floor, and losing his dignity as the head of the household.]

[You are Paul's god!]

'Get lost!!!!!'

Looking at Lilia's confused and blank expression, Alan felt his mind go completely blank.

'What on earth is all this!!'

Right at that moment, under Alan's dazed gaze, Zenith propped herself up. She stared at Alan in a somewhat stunned manner, and then gave a bitter laugh.

"Alan... I never expected you would be the first to step forward..."

Alan felt as though his hair was standing on end. He glanced in bewilderment at Paul, who was merely looking back at him with a terrified and blank expression, completely at a loss.

Then Zenith moved. She let out a slight sigh and stood up.

The sound of the chair scraping was unusually harsh in the quiet atmosphere.

And then.

"Slap!"

A crisp, loud sound echoed. Zenith didn't even look at Paul; she swung her hand and slapped him.

Paul clutched his face and turned to look at Zenith in astonishment.

Zenith gazed coldly back at him.

"Paul, how much longer do you intend to hide behind a child? Do you lack even the courage to take responsibility? How long are you going to react to Alan's completely absurd statement?"

Paul sat dumbfounded for a moment before his reason finally returned.

'How could Alan possibly be entangled with Lilia? What on earth is wrong with me... Am I so panicked that I've lost the accountability a man should have?'

His expression instantly turned dejected; he clutched his head, ready to confess his wrongdoing.

Yet immediately after, he heard Zenith's light words, which floated like a hydrogen balloon in the air, completely devoid of any grounded feeling.

"...Forget it. In your eyes, the promises you once made to me were nothing more than empty talk..."

Leaving behind those words, Zenith walked toward the second floor without looking back, returning to her own bedroom. As the door slammed shut with a loud bang, Rudy finally snapped out of his daze.

Because his attention had been diverted by the sudden intrusion of Alan's existence, he hadn't yet had time to take any action before Zenith had already left.

Lilia had lowered her head once more. She already realized that Alan's outburst just then was merely a clumsy, instinctive reaction born of being caught off guard, desperate to make some effort. Yet Zenith's departure left her noticeably at a loss.

She had prepared herself for Zenith's harsh scolding, physical abuse, or even immediate expulsion from the household, but she had never expected this outcome.

Zenith had just left like that. Why?

Clutching his head with both hands, Paul was helplessly banging his forehead against the table, wearing the expression of a collapsing sky.

Witnessing this scene, Alan—who had failed miserably as a father—fell into a state of bewilderment.

The current situation was completely different from the original plot!

Why did Rudy have the opportunity to intervene in the original story?

It was because Zenith, after getting angry and seeing Paul acting spineless, immediately assumed the posture of a mistress of the house and called for a family meeting, which gave Rudy the chance to absolve Lilia.

Yet this time, Zenith, who should have called a family meeting, went straight back to her bedroom?

What was going on?

Alan replayed the events in his mind for a long time before slowly arriving at a conclusion.

It was Alan's self-destructive behavior that had triggered a chain reaction. Paul, who should have immediately confessed his sordid conduct, failed to react in time due to sheer confusion. Instead, it caused Alan to speak up first, but his hasty declarations of fatherhood lacked any logic whatsoever, and Alan kept staring fixedly at Paul, which instantly convinced Zenith that the culprit was her own husband.

Up to this point, Paul hadn't even shown any intention of confessing his actions.

Zenith was deeply disappointed in him.

In the original work, Zenith's internal monologue explicitly mentioned that her state of mind at the time had been driven to a dead end, filled with anger; with just a slight loss of self-control, she might have roared at Lilia to get out, or...

Announced her departure.

And her reaction just now looked like the latter in every possible way... To the extent that Zenith was very likely up there packing her bags right now!

This plotline had completely deviated from the original work!

Thinking of this, Alan immediately looked at Rudy, speaking at a rapid pace.

"Rudy, do something! The Madam's condition is not right at all!"

Rudy snapped out of it, hesitated for a moment, and then glanced sideways at Lilia, whose face was ashen.

"...The current approach is simply to dump all the responsibility onto Lord Father... That way, there's still a chance to keep Lilia here..."

Hearing Rudy's reasoning, Alan felt a surge of anger. He kicked Rudy off his chair, grabbed him by the collar, hoisted him up, and bit out each word.

"Are you out of your mind?! If you keep acting like this, it'll likely make her feel like she's the superfluous one in this family! Do you still think you're playing some kind of family house at this stage? Where everyone is happy and gets along? Let the Madam shoulder it all by herself?! How is she supposed to shoulder it? By leaving the house herself?!"

It was the first time Rudy had seen Alan adopt such an oppressive posture, and he involuntarily cowered.

"Then... do you want to kick Lilia out? But if we just kick Lilia out directly... she'd probably die on the road. It's freezing cold outside. Wait... Alan, aren't you good at sweet-talking? Hurry up and think of a way to make Mother stay!"

Hearing this, Lilia lowered her eyelids and glanced at Paul, who was still futilely tugging at his hair while slumped over the table. Her eyes darkened for a moment, but words immediately slipped past her lips.

"The one who should leave is me... This is the punishment I deserve. I'm sorry, please make sure you let..."

"Lilia, I think we should calm down first..."

"Enough!!"

Alan barked in a suppressed voice, cutting off both Rudy and Lilia.

He took a deep breath, glanced toward the stairs, and let thoughts flash through his mind like lightning.

'In the original plot, Zenith accepted Lilia because she realized how much her son Rudy valued the family. So, does Rudy need to demonstrate his regard for the family once again here?'

'No! That's not the root cause... The root cause is "the family's attitude"! She couldn't bear to see Rudy, who cared so much about the family, feeling heartbroken. At the end of the day, she is fundamentally someone who cares deeply about the family. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.'

He turned his gaze back to Paul, who was slumped over the table feeling as though the sky had fallen.

'Paul was also panicked to a world-ending degree upon realizing the family might shatter; he couldn't make any rational judgments because the scumbag was completely out of his depth with panic.'

'Does she care about her family... If we proceed from that point... the best way to reverse the plot next is...'

Alan narrowed his eyes, a look of realization flashing through his gaze, and spoke rapidly.

"Rudeus, do you really think your mother has the fortitude to let go of this life, or rather, does she really know nothing about her own husband?"

Paul abruptly straightened his neck from the table, staring blankly at the two of them.

Rudy, meanwhile, quietly watched Alan. He sensed that the other person had already found a solution, and right now, listening was far better than interrupting.

Indeed, Alan had never intended to extract an answer from Rudy. He answered his own question at a breakneck speed.

"You know very well that she can't bear to leave, and I understand your thoughts too. You can't bear to see Lilia, a pregnant woman, thrown out onto the street to die, so you eagerly shifted the blame. Whether it's Uncle, who originally did wrong, or me, who had the opportunity to commit the act—either will do. As long as there's a target to absorb the Madam's current resentment, you figured this matter could be gently brushed aside, right?"

Rudy blinked. That was indeed what he had been thinking.

Alan met his gaze, his expression deeply earnest.

"Your method might work, but it completely ignores the Madam's feelings. It's equivalent to completely imposing your own will upon her and making the choice on her behalf. Rudy, ask yourself from the bottom of your heart, is this right?"

Rudy's gaze faltered.

"I'm telling you, this is wrong! The one who is at fault is Uncle, not the Madam! She, Zenith, is entirely a victim. By what right do you have the authority to make choices on her behalf??"

Paul sat nearby with his mouth open in astonishment, wanting to say something, but Alan slammed a hand onto the table, startling him with a jolt. Lilia was drawn by the commotion, looking at Alan with an ashen face.

The latter, however, swept his gaze across all three of them.

"What Uncle is concerned with is how to prevent this family from shattering. What Rudy is concerned with is not wanting to face the prospect of Lilia being driven out of the house. And what Lilia is concerned with is how to quickly shed her guilt so she can accept punishment and face her judgment."

"All three of you are currently considering problems entirely from the perspective of your own selfish interests, each trying to resolve your own internal 'dramas,' yet not a single one of you is putting yourselves in Zenith's shoes. Is this really okay?"

The three of them froze in unison.

Alan extended his palm, holding it flat before their eyes, and curled his fingers one by one.

"There are five things Uncle and Lilia need to do right now:"

"One: Strip away your own selfishness and put yourselves in the Madam's position to consider the issue, rather than instinctively thinking first about how to steer the situation toward the outcome you desire."

"Two: Go upstairs, find the Madam, kneel down to confess and apologize, and beg her to grant you a chance to speak."

"Three: Express your true thoughts about this household—whether you cherish the current family atmosphere and what you hope this family will look like in the future."

"Four: Plead for the Madam's forgiveness and make your commitments to her regarding the future."

Amidst the gradually recovering gazes of Paul and Lilia, Alan curled his final finger, turning his head to look at the dazed Rudy.

"And lastly! Hand the right of choice back to the victim! Await the Madam's judgment upon the two of you before you! Do not have someone step forward to forcefully shove her head down and make decisions on her behalf. That is the greatest respect you can show her as a person."

"Do you understand? Make Zenith, a living person, feel that she is valued by this family, that she is loved and cherished by her family, and let her regain her anticipation for 'family.' That is the only thing you can do, and that is the best choice to salvage the current predicament! Instead of constantly ignoring the victim's feelings and each figuring out how to achieve your own desired outcomes! Forcing a victim to swallow the bitter fruit and digest it all by herself—I want to ask you people, who the hell is in the wrong here! Huh?!"

Suppressing his voice, Alan hurled his words like a string of firecrackers into the faces of Paul and Lilia. Then, his expression abruptly turned cold. Ignoring Paul and Lilia, who wore varied expressions, he slowly turned his head and cast a deep look at Rudy.

'If it reaches this point, the groundwork is laid... Make Zenith feel that her family members cherish her, and steer the situation back to the original plot where Zenith accepts Lilia because of the family's attitude.'

'This is the optimal solution for the current deadlock.'

Alan raised a hand and pointed toward the stairs.

"Go. Any later, and she'll probably be done packing her luggage."

Yet Rudy, who had just exchanged glances with Alan, suddenly smiled silently.

'Alan's the same as ever... Those pleasant-sounding, beautiful words...'

'Then next... in order to cooperate with his train of thought, what I should do is...'

Rudy reined in his smile and turned to look at Paul, who was inhaling and exhaling to build his psychological resolve, and Lilia, who was clutching the corner of her dress, looking utterly conflicted and on the verge of tears.

"I think Alan is right. So, Lord Father, Lilia."

With a deliberately naive and childish tone, he spoke as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Shall we go?"