Another Stupid Isekai

I guess my words about frustration really worked on Celestine. We didn’t sleep much that night. It kinda felt like she was feeling that I called her out, and was trying to prove that I was wrong, that she was taking good care of me. Or maybe it was just her unnatural stamina. At this point, who knows?

I started the day with breakfast. My wife joined me in the kitchen when everything was almost ready, and then the rest of the family showed up. John was there too.

His appearance gave me this sudden urge to twist somebody’s head off. Weird, right?

I fought the urge because there was a more important topic to discuss, so when we gathered by the table, I came forward with everything I heard from Will. Obviously, I didn’t tell them that there was a chance of somebody acting from behind the scenes, directing this whole thing. Celestine joined me, telling them all what was her solution to the problem.

– I don’t know those guys, but I bet we can wipe the floor with them – Tihana said, then she started munching on toast with jelly.

– I feel like it’s my fault – Leonel then said, which made his sister almost spit out the food. – But it’s not like I was bragging about my victory. I tried to stay humble. After all, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

– You staying humble probably mounted theme even more – Celestine pointed out. – They felt like you didn’t see this as a victory worth celebrating. They probably thought you are downplaying your opponent.

– I think you are looking too much into this. Some chick started being too interested in Leonel, and a guy was chasing after her decision to take action. Or something similar. Probably a bunch of third actors jumped on the spread of information about Will declining the official duels, and here we are, in the middle of this shitstorm – I said.

– It could be – Tihana agreed, as she again started eating her toast, so she spoke with a full mouth. – I’ve seen plenty of dumb bitches, still pretty, looking after our little sweet boy.

Leonel’s face for a moment got twisted by a slight pinch of anger after he was called what he was called.

– At this point, it doesn’t matter – I added, cutting off the argument before it actually started. – I’m leaving the decision to you. Discuss among yourselves, and let me know if you want to fight, or not.

– I’m in – Tihana said immediately.

– What if we decide to not fight? – Carmelit asked, a bit shyly.

– Then I’ll handle it myself – I declared.

– No. I should clean my own mess – Leonel said. – It’s my fault. I’ll fight.

– They want to fight all of us since we pissed them off too plenty of times already – John pointed out. – I believe we should stand our ground as a group. With all due respect, Mister…

He suddenly became quiet, as he didn’t know how to call me.

– Just Peter – I rolled my eyes.

– With all due respect, P-peter, I think we should deal with this by ourselves. We should fight them – he restarted blushing a bit.

Tihana almost choked on her food.

– I never thought I will see this moment with my eyes – she said after she finally could, looking straight at me. – You two on a first-name basis. Wow… Just wow. I’m speechless.

– Don’t push it – I narrowed my eyes.

She was still chuckling but didn’t say a thing about that anymore. This situation also produced a moment of awkward silence, because others had to fight with their smiles too. Except for John of course. He didn’t find it funny at all.

– I’ll go talk with Will about how to arrange it – I broke the silence.

– Shouldn’t we go too? – Tihana asked.

– Relax – I replied. – We are just gonna come up with how e can possibly do this thing, and then you will get informed about everything. There is some shit going behind the scenes, very probably, so if you are willing to do this, you have to swallow the bitterness that it actually won’t be about you.

– What are you talking about, father? – Carmelita asked.

Because she spoke, I looked at her, and immediately was certain that the whole idea of fighting wasn’t really her thing. She seemed very worried.

– We don’t know yet – I shrugged my shoulders. – But some people are digging into that.

– By some people, you mean Daniel? – Tihana asked.

– I’m not gonna confirm or deny – I said. – This is something none of you should be bothered with. It’s Will and me who will handle this. We fought hard for this city many times, and we won’t go without a fight this time either. If there is blood to be spilled, it will be us who will do that, and it’s none of your concern.

– Wait… Somebody is trying to stage a coup? – Tihana’s eyes went wide.

She was sometimes too sharp for her own good.

– As I said. It’s my problem, not yours. Your problem is to be ready to fight in a proper duel if you want to do it. If you don’t want to fight, the whole thing is none of your business – I told her.

She sighed, rolling her eyes.

– I-i don’t w-want to fight – Carmelita raised her hand slowly.

– It’s fine. If you don’t want to fight, you don’t have to – I responded before anybody else could.

If that was what she wanted, I didn’t want other family members trying to convince her he should do this.

– Anyway… I’m off to Will, to discuss how we are going to do this. For more information, stay tuned. Oh, and don’t do anything stupid. Pretty please – saying the last words I glared at Tihana.

I kept the eye-contact despite her snorting loudly and rolling her eyes, then I left the house.

I wasn’t sure where to look for my friend, but it was still pretty early, so there was a chance I could catch him in his house, so that was the first place where I went too.