866 – Crassius Assemble – 7

Children are cute. I can’t help but smile whenever I look at their small, harmless, innocent eyes.

Of course, there are people who are reluctant to have children. They simply avoid others, or they dislike the unbridled energy of children—for reasons like that. However, people who have had children are generally gentle and kind to children, perhaps because they see their own children as a metaphor.

And the father’s younger siblings and their spouses gathered here are people who have not only given birth to children but also seen grandchildren. In front of them, nephews and nieces appeared.

And the grandchildren of my eldest brother or eldest brother whom I hadn’t seen for about 20 years.

“…Indeed. Anyone can see that he is a child with Crassius’ blood in him.”

The first one to break the momentary silence and speak was Uncle August.

“With that thick black hair and black eyes. Even if you happened to see him on the street, you would have known he was Crassius’s child.”

Uncle August smiles as he looks at Pedi, who is at the front of the children. Pedi is definitely destined to become the next head of the Krasius family, as he has black hair and black eyes that are more vivid and intense than anyone else’s.

Even Pedi’s full-length sister, Yulia, has black hair. No wonder he seriously thought that Krasius’s genes matched Mar’s genes so well. Among them, Pedi is a perfect Krasius, even with black eyes.

“Nephew. What is that child’s name?”

“Ferdinand Crassius. He is my first child.”

“Wow, you are the next master of Crassius.”

After saying that, Uncle August put the glass he was holding down on the table and filled a plate with egg tarts.

“Okay. This is a reward for your nice greeting. Everyone, take one.”

Then he carefully approached the children and handed them each an egg tart.

The delicate way he knelt down and got down to the children’s eye level. Even that small gesture gave me a glimpse into Uncle August’s character.

“Wow! Thank you!”

“I ate well!”

And when the grandfather they were seeing for the first time handed them a delicious snack, the children nodded and happily accepted the snack.

To our children, ‘family’ is the people who treat them well and are grateful to them. In fact, who wouldn’t treat our children poorly, but family treats them with love, unlike third parties.

So, from the children’s perspective, it was a thrilling situation to see a new family they had never seen before, and as soon as they saw the family, they gave them snacks. It was only natural that the children’s favorability ratings would increase rapidly.

“That’s a gift I received, but my second brother is showing off.”

“I’m sorry. But I can’t give the kids cognac.”

At Aunt Josephine’s muttering, Uncle August gave a small smile and apologized.

‘oh.’

It was such a peaceful and everyday scene that I almost exclaimed in admiration.

It has only been a few hours since all seven siblings gathered together. To be honest, I was worried that we would only exchange 100 words today, but it seems that the power of blood is strong. The relationship has progressed so much in such a short period of time.

“It must have been because of my aunt’s tacit approval that my uncle-in-law was able to give me the gift without hesitation. I am grateful to you both.”

“Oh, oh, oh. That’s too kind of you.”

“It’s not someone else’s fault, it’s my niece who’s going to eat it. Yes, you can… give it to her as much as you want.”

However, even though the relationship between the siblings had improved, it seemed difficult for him to quickly become close with his niece-in-law.

Uncle August stutters as Trixie opens her mouth, and Aunt Josefina naturally lowers her eyes. It seems unconscionable to expect them to become close quickly after seeing those two.

It took a long time for my parents to accept Trixie as their daughter-in-law. The same goes for other fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law.

‘Tricky isn’t the type to really assert her authority.’

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Trixie, whose ears were slightly downturned.

With her title of duke, her history of over 100 years of reign, and her status as a great wizard, Trixie became a noble being that even the emperor could not treat her lightly. That was why even the nobles of high status, and even the dukes themselves, were respectful to Trixie.

However, Trixie has never arbitrarily wielded her power or exerted excessive pressure on other nobles. She was simply a researcher who devoted herself to the development of magic as a magic tower lord, and to put it a bit harshly, she was a hikikomori. Unlike Beatrix, the Duke of Servette, the half-elf Trixie is a harmless and kind-hearted being.

Still, the adults were afraid of Tricky and bowed their heads, because now they saw her as nothing more than a duke and not a niece-in-law.

‘Time will solve this problem.’

He wrapped his arms around Tricky’s waist, who was feeling gloomy inside.

One day, my uncles and aunts, my aunts and uncles will accept Tricky as their niece-in-law, just as I accepted Tricky, who I had only seen as a servant, as my wife.

“Ugh.”

“Oh my god, oh my god…”

“My nephew, he was an incredible man.”

Meanwhile, when I was having skinship with Tricky, the adults other than my parents couldn’t help but chatter and express their admiration and shock.

It was a little intentional. Our relationship is pure love without politics, and we treat each other not as dukes or imperial counts, but as a man and a woman. In order to show off, I became a hot man who expresses his affection in front of adults.

This way, they will adapt as quickly as possible. It is more effective to show something once than to explain it a hundred times.

“Sorry, we’re a little late, aren’t we?”

As other ladies arrived, the somewhat turbulent atmosphere quickly calmed down.

Now that you’ve dealt with other nieces-in-law besides Tricky, the burden of facing the Duke will be less. Instead, the skinship between me and Tricky will remain in your mind.

‘That’s fine.’

That’s enough for today. It’s unconscionable to want to be full from the first drink.

I don’t know what the atmosphere of the banquet hall was like before we arrived, but I can be sure that it was definitely different from the current atmosphere.

“You said Cecilia, right? Would you like to try this cake too?”

“Mom told me not to eat anything but snacks before meals!”

“Oh my, you’re so smart. But you can eat a lot in a place like this. This is what you eat instead of a meal.”

“Are you sure?”

“Okay. It’s true.”

Uncles and aunts who caress, hug, praise, and feed the children with the heart of a grandparent. Suddenly, it has become a place to play with children instead of a place for siblings to meet, so the atmosphere is bound to be different.

It was embarrassing. The reason I brought the kids here was to ease the awkward atmosphere at the banquet hall by introducing the overwhelming liveliness of the kids. I didn’t intend to abruptly change the situation when the relationship between my father and my younger siblings was already developing.

‘Did you bring me here for nothing?’

I regret it a little. Fortunately, they all have grandchildren and they look happy, but this event was meant to be a dramatic reunion between siblings.

“Thank you.”

“yes?”

But contrary to my guilt, my father opened his mouth with a smile.

No, but when did you come here to my side? Weren’t you with your youngest aunt just a moment ago?

“We’ve been living apart for over 20 years, and we haven’t really communicated before that. So we didn’t have any common interests. We couldn’t even hope to have a conversation where we could empathize with each other and laugh.”

Whether I was surprised or not, I silently nodded to my father’s words as he lightly patted my shoulder.

My father was right. Conversation requires a topic that can be shared. However, these unfortunate siblings had been separated for 20 years, so they had no proper topic to talk about. Since they had not seen each other for a long time, they could talk about the past, but that past was a dark past thanks to my grandfather.

“Thanks to the gift, we were able to get things started. But we couldn’t keep talking about the same topic throughout the banquet.”

That’s true, too. No matter how good a talker you are, it’s impossible to talk about one topic for hours. My father isn’t particularly good at talking, and my younger siblings are similar.

“But look. We have nothing in common except for our bloodline of Crassius, but if there’s one thing we have in common, it’s that we’re both families. That’s why we became one when we saw our nieces and nephews.”

“okay.”

I looked at the banquet hall with my father.

The three uncles, the three aunts, and the three aunts and uncles also had smiles on their faces. They were bright smiles that came from the heart, not the mechanical smiles that nobles put on out of courtesy to show friendship.

Even my youngest uncle, Count Milkian, had been watching me steadily since I entered the banquet hall.

‘Adults who become one with their nieces and nephews.’

It’s as if retired seniors with nothing to do are gathering at senior centers or gateball fields and bragging about their grandchildren.

The difference is that they are not bragging about their own grandchildren but playing with other people’s grandchildren, but the communication for building friendship remains the same.

“So thank you. Even though we started it, it was you and the kids who carried it on.”

“If there had been no beginning, there would have been no way to continue. Even if I helped, it’s the children’s credit. It’s not something I should listen to.”

At my words, my father smiled even more deeply.

It was the brightest and lightest smile I’ve seen in a while.

***

A 20-year gap and the 20 years of past before that.

We lived as a family that didn’t really feel like a family for a total of 40 years, but it didn’t even take 4 hours for the awkwardness to go away.

‘It’s so easy.’

I drank the cognac my brother had given me and let out a chuckle.

Of course, the awkwardness has disappeared, but we haven’t become a family that can’t live without each other. Still, if you think about us from just 4 hours ago, it’s a huge improvement.

“This time, my eldest brother hosted the banquet, so should my second eldest brother host it next time?”

Everyone even agreed to make this meeting a regular gathering rather than a one-time thing. The order was simple, and at the same time, in order of age, as befitting siblings.

‘Everyone will like it.’

Before I left, the kids who had encouraged and cheered me on, telling me to get close to my siblings. If I tell them this news, they will be happy as if it were their own. Maybe they will be happier than me, saying that they can proudly say that they are the cousins ​​of the Inspector General.

Yes, someday we’ll be able to meet our cousins. Or even our second cousins. It’s not possible right now, but someday.

“master.”

‘huh?’

As I was thinking that and about to bring my glass to my lips again, I heard an unfamiliar voice from the entrance.

“I’m hungry. Why isn’t anyone feeding me at mealtime?”

It’s strange. I can clearly hear voices, but why can’t I see anything…?

“chick?”

He lowered his gaze at his wife’s words.

A little chick was whining to his nephew.

“What? How did you find out about this place?”

“It smells delicious here.”

And it’s not a squeaking sound, it’s human speech.

‘Ugh.’

This banquet. It is truly a strange banquet.