Chapter 135: A Surprising Nighttime Visit for Noah.

Dinner had started several minutes ago and Noah had barely tasted the food, not because he wasn’t hungry, but because the problem was sitting across from him.

Ava, his sister, had gone practically the entire dinner without speaking.

Normally, that wouldn’t have been so strange, since Ava could stay quiet when she was tired or focused on something, but Noah knew perfectly well what was going on.

’She’s angry.’

And she had reasons.

Noah had walked with her from the station and Ava had noticed he was worried.

She had asked him directly what was happening and Noah had told her that nothing was wrong.

He had even asked her to trust him so that, in less than twenty minutes, Sarah had cheerfully announced that Noah was engaged to Aria.

There was no reasonable way to justify that.

"Noah."

He raised his head and his mother Emma was watching him.

"Don’t you like it?"

Noah looked at the plate.

"What?"

"The food."

"No, it’s really good."

"Then why are you eating so slowly?"

Sarah smiled from the other side of the table.

"He must still be processing it."

Noah felt Ava lift her gaze slightly while his mother Sarah continued.

"It’s not every day you find out you’re going to marry someone so important from the Celestia family."

Noah closed his eyes for a moment.

’Mom, please.’

Emma seemed excited.

"I still want to meet her properly."

"Aria said she’ll arrange a dinner."

Sarah answered, at which Ava set her utensils down on the plate.

The sound was small, but Noah heard it perfectly, even though Emma didn’t seem to notice.

"That would be fine."

Sarah nodded.

"She also said we don’t have to worry about the ceremony expenses when the time comes."

Noah discreetly looked at Ava and she was eating again, slowly, without expression.

’This is getting worse.’

Sarah kept talking.

"At first I thought it was too sudden."

"Because it is."

Noah said, so Sarah looked at him.

"But after hearing the proposal..."

"Can we not talk about the marriage for the entire dinner?"

Emma smiled.

"He’s embarrassed."

"I’m not embarrassed."

"Relax, it’s normal."

"I’m not embarrassed!"

Sarah laughed, but Ava remained silent, so Noah looked at her again.

She felt the gaze, raised her eyes and they both looked at each other.

Noah tried to smile, but Ava didn’t respond, instead simply returned to her plate.

’She’s definitely angry.’

Dinner continued.

Emma talked about some shopping they needed to do, while Sarah commented on something about her work.

Noah answered when necessary and Ava practically didn’t participate.

The strangest thing was that neither of his mothers seemed to notice the tension and, for them, that was a normal family dinner.

But for Noah, every time Ava moved her utensils, he felt she was waiting for the right moment to confront him again.

Finally they finished eating.

"I’ll wash."

Emma said.

"I’ll help you."

Sarah answered.

Noah started to get up and Ava did too.

"Ava."

She stopped and Noah hesitated.

"Can we talk?"

Sarah intervened from the kitchen.

"About what?"

Noah looked toward her.

"Nothing important."

Ava let out a small laugh, but it wasn’t a happy laugh.

"No."

Noah turned back to her.

"No?"

"I’m sleepy."

Ava passed by his side.

"Good night."

Noah watched her go up the stairs while Sarah appeared with several plates.

"Is something wrong with her?"

Noah opened his mouth, but before answering, Emma said.

"She’s probably just tired."

Sarah nodded.

"She’s had a lot of classes lately."

Noah stayed looking at the stairs.

’Sure.’

They didn’t know anything about what had happened between them.

Later, Noah was lying down looking at the ceiling, since he had tried to sleep for almost an hour, but it wasn’t working.

Every time he closed his eyes, he ended up remembering Ava’s expression.

’I lied to her directly.’

That was what bothered him the most, since he hadn’t just hidden the engagement, but had asked her to trust him minutes before the truth came out.

Noah turned to one side.

’I need to apologize to her.’

The problem was how.

Ava didn’t seem to want to talk and Noah also couldn’t tell her absolutely everything.

He still couldn’t explain about Yume, Luna and Iris, much less the existence of the magical girls.

He also couldn’t tell her the complete truth about Aria and Ren without turning that into an even more complicated conversation.

’I could start by simply saying that I’m sorry.’

Noah stayed thinking.

’Then explain that I also didn’t know that Mom had already accepted part of the agreement.’

That was true.

’And tell her that I didn’t try to deceive her because I didn’t trust her.’

That was also true, since he had hidden the engagement because he wanted to process it calmly and then, at a favorable moment, tell her the whole truth.

Noah sighed.

"This can wait."

He was too tired.

"Tomorrow."

He closed his eyes.

’I’m going to talk to her tomorrow.’

Little by little he managed to fall asleep.

Noah didn’t know how much time had passed when he felt weight on the mattress.

At first he thought he was dreaming, but then he felt movement, so he slowly opened his eyes.

The room was dark and only a little light came in from the window.

Noah needed a few seconds to understand that there was a person next to his bed, so he sat up abruptly.

"What...?!"

A hand immediately covered his mouth.

"Quiet."

Noah recognized the voice and opened his eyes completely.

"Ava."

She brought a finger in front of her lips.

"You’re going to wake up our moms."

Noah gently moved her hand away.

"What are you doing here?"

Ava didn’t answer, so Noah looked at the clock and it was past two in the morning.

"Ava."

She remained sitting next to him.

"Why are you in my room at this hour?"

There was a silence, so Noah waited for the answer and Ava lowered her gaze, since for the first time since she had entered, she seemed unsure.

"I couldn’t sleep."

"And that’s why you came?"

"Yes."

Noah knew that wasn’t the whole answer.

"Ava."

She clenched her hands on her legs.

"I’m angry with you."

"I already know that."

"No, you don’t know."

Noah didn’t answer and Ava raised her gaze.

"You lied to me."

"Yes."

"I asked you directly if something was going on."

"I know."

"And you said no."

"I..."

"Then you asked me to trust you."

Noah lowered his gaze.

"I’m sorry."

Ava remained silent and Noah continued.

"Really, I’m sorry."

"Why didn’t you tell me about the engagement?"

"Because I don’t even know what to do with that."

"That doesn’t answer my question."

"I didn’t want to talk about it yet."

"With me?"

"With anyone."

Ava observed him, so Noah took a deep breath.

"Aria showed up with legal documents together with Ren, who was there, and they told me that their families had changed the agreement between them, so suddenly, I ended up included."

Ava furrowed her brow.

"Ren is involved in this too?"

Noah is going to have to give a lot of explanations tonight.