Tangled By Fate

After hearing him, Darius laughed aloud, feeling bashful by the 'thank you' from a gentleman. "Ahahaha, don't worry about it. Catherine is like a sister to me."

"He can see a woman as a sister?! That's unbelievable!" Catherine mumbled at Veronica's ear.

"Hey, I heard that!" Darius glared at her.

"…" Catherine quickly looked away.

Fortunately, Vincent went inside to guide them to the lounge. He didn't hear Catherine.

They unpacked their backpacks in their rooms and went to the restaurant to have their meal. Except for Arthur and Ovior, the other four got free meals.

Every one of them got a huge portion of food. Darius was astonished and happy.

He gloated, "Now that's what I call breakfast. They know how much a person should eat for breakfast." 

He glanced at Catherine and said, "Why don't you fall in danger every now and then? I will protect you each time."

"And you get to eat this much every time? No, thank you," Catherine curtly replied. She thought, 'I don't want Vincent to go bankrupt. I cannot marry into a bankrupt family.'

Not knowing what she was thinking, Darius made a sad face. "Don't say it like that. Aren't I your brother?"

It was Catherine's time to be surprised. "When did you become my brother? Did your parents adopt me or something?"

Darius cleared his throat and dramatically announced, "At this moment, in a sacred place called 'restaurant', I officially adopt you as my beloved younger sister."

  "Oh, stop it! No one wants to be your sister," Catherine brushed him off.

"Tsk!" Darius clicked his tongue. "What a party popper."

"I heard that," Catherine glared at him.

Darius focused on his meal.

"Arthur," Veronica tugged her husband's sleeve. "I don't think I can eat that much. My stomach will burst."

"You can share half of the portion with me," Arthur stated.

Catherine looked at Ovior. "Would you like half of mine? It's too much for me as well."

"Sure," Ovior agreed. "This way I don't need to order mine."

After breakfast, they walked to the valley. Despite being winter, the weather there was rather warm.

They couldn't see anything after six meters on the lake. Everything was covered in heavy fog. They couldn't even see the sun. The scenery gave off a mysterious feeling.

Arthur took off his shawl and spread it over the grass. "Nica, let's sit," he invited her.

Veronica readily sat beside him and yawned. "I had to wake up early today. I'm so sleepy."

Catherine said, "If we didn't come here early, we would have missed this view." She seemed excited.

"Yeah, I know. It has been a while since I saw this scenery." Veronica looked nostalgic.

"Are you telling me you secretly watched this view without telling me first?" Catherine was upset.

Veronica unhurriedly explained, "Don't blame me. You were nowhere by my side and all of you thought that I was dead when I got to watch this kind of scenery."

"Oh… that's…" stuttering, Catherine cautiously took a glance at the gloomy-faced Arthur.

The mood suddenly became cold. 

To lift it up, Ovior said, "Maybe sometimes, I should drop all my work and go on an unknown adventure on my own." 

"You can go and make Arthur miss you. He will die working. Haha!" Veronica laughed.

Arthur turned toward her. "Do you want me to die?"

Veronica shook her head to clear up the misunderstanding. "Nope. That was a figure of speech. I just want you to value your friend, more than argue all the time."

"We don't fight," Arthur denied her claim.

Veronica: "…"

"Yes, do we look that childish to you?" Ovior stated this time.

"…" Veronica told herself in her mind, 'I've seen enough when you two get drunk.'

"Maybe you guys should invent something that can record everything. Something like a scenery," she suggested. 

She added, "This about it. When we have a fun time and want to capture that moment, we will record the whole event. Later, we can watch this if we feel like recalling our past time. What do you think?"

Arthur and Ovior exchanged glances. 

"This is something interesting," Ovior mentioned. "I've never thought of something like that. I mean most of the time, I'd rather not reminisce about my past days."

"Because your life is too boring. That's why I told you to have a girlfriend or something," Arthur told him.

"And whose fault is that I'm like this!" If looks could kill, Arthur would burn into ashes by Ovior's glare.

"Now you know you two act childish," Veronica pointed out.

"They act more like married couples than you, Ver," Catherine remarked.

"Is that true?" Veronica was surprised and looked at her husband who averted his gaze.

"Now that you mentioned, it does look like it," Darius joined the conversation. "Arthur and Ovior are like a bickering couple. I've seen nobody bicker like that other than these two."

"Are you cheating on me with Ovior?" Veronica covered her mouth. She was on the verge of tears.

Arthur was helpless. "You know that's not true. You know I'm a straight guy, right? Did I ever make you feel that I'm gay?"

At that time, Veronica thought about what Roxana warned her about. She felt that Catherine was right on spot.

'My husband is leaning toward his best friend because he can't have sex with me,' she concluded.

Her expression became worse. She replied, "I don't know. Is it because I don't want to have sex with you that you went to look for Ovior? You always get drunk with him but not me."

As if to make it worse, Darius said, "There is a tradition In Tybu. On the day you were born, every year that day you have to share your meal with the person you love the most. Arthur always shared his meal with Ovior."

Catherine gasped. She couldn't control her expression this time. 

And Veronica? She was shocked and forgot to speak.

"Ovior gave his share of meal to Arthur as well," Ironin declared.

"…" Ovior and Arthur stared at their friend who was always so quiet as if they wanted to say, 'Did you have to blow up at a time like this? Can't you read the atmosphere?'

Darius gaped at Ovior. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

Ovior: "…"

"I can't believe this is the reason why you didn't have a woman in your life. I'm sorry, Ovior," Catherine felt guilty.

The reason why she felt bad for Ovior was because there was a rule. In their country, having a relationship with the same sex was like a crime.

Veronica looked at Catherine with teary eyes. She was still depressed. "Why did this kind of rule appear in Tybu? Other kingdoms don't even bother with who marries who."

Darius replied, "The reason behind it was the gay couple could never produce an heir. Not even with magic. When the magicians failed to make a human child with magic, the Queen banned gay couples."

"Why is she worried about gay couples? She didn't do it before." Catherine was curious.

Darius lowered his voice and said, "That's because the Queen believed that Ovior was gay."

Another series of gasping noises came from the girls.

"…" Ovior wanted to tear Darius apart. He tried to clear up this false claim, "It was all a misunderstanding. Just because I don't go on a date, doesn't mean I'm not straight."

Veronica wiped her tears. "Okay, so here is the deal. Why don't Ironin and I help you with your work and you get more free time and date someone? Anyone is fine."

What she meant – 'at least leave my husband alone.'

Ovior: "…"

Arthur: "…"

Ironin looked at her. "I don't want to do paper works." 

What's more, he hated paper works and everyone knew it.

Veronica gave him a pitiful look. "Please Ironin. My marriage is at stake."

Ironin: "…"

"What about me?" Darius pointed at himself. "I can help you guys with signing too."

Catherine frowned. "Huh? You are so dumb. How will you know which one is the correct document and which one is not? You will only give me pain."

Darius was speechless. 'At least I tried to offer my help.'

"No, Cathy. I think it's a good idea. Ironin can read the document. If the document is correct, he can pass it to Darius. Darius will seal it," Veronica suggested.

'So, even Veronica thinks I'm dumb.' Darius was depressed. 

"I agree. Signing and sealing are bothersome," Ironin responded.

"Okay, can we have a moment of silence?" Ovior came in between their plans. "I can see that you guys have a couple of misconceptions about Arthur and me but I assure you there is no such thing. I hate this guy."

"Likewise," Arthur replied instantly. "I hate him with my deepest part."

'It sounds so erotic,' Darius thought.

"Why? Is it because you guys didn't have a good time in bed?" Catherine asked.. "I swear if you hurt Ver again I'll murder you and you can't stop me from doing that because Ver will be sad and will hate you for killing me for the rest of your life. Can you take that?"