The atmosphere inside the dining room was slowly changing. The clinking of spoons and forks against plates had long stopped. All the dirty used cutlery had also been cleared away, leaving the long wooden table now empty, reflecting the warm light from the crystal chandelier above it.
The dinner had concluded.
"Very well..." Allen said, opening the conversation. He looked at the people around him with a calm expression. "The dining table is clear. Please, talk about everything here, tonight."
Hearing the cue from the first spouse, Alrain, who was sitting right across from Oliver, immediately glared sharply, locking onto the prince's movements as if he were an investigator ready to interrogate a high-profile prisoner.
Meanwhile, the others chose to lean back in their respective chairs. They remained silent, acting as passive listeners to the intense interaction that was about to occur between the two of them.
And at that dining table, a question-and-answer session began, peeling away layer after layer of the Astoria Prince's intentions.
"Answer me honestly!" Alrain began with his first question. "Are you truly serious about wanting to marry and spend the rest of your life with our husband?"
"Yes, I'm incredibly serious!" he answered straightforwardly, without a speck of hesitation in his eyes.
"Since when did you feel attracted to him?"
"Since the first time we accidentally met in the academy library!" Oliver replied, speaking of the past. "At that time, I reprimanded him so he wouldn't be noisy in the library. But what happened? He instead reprimanded me back with much harsher and colder words in front of many people. He completely disregarded my status as the third prince of this kingdom!"
Oliver smiled faintly, an ironic yet sincere smile. "Only Arvin was the one person in that academy who dared to treat me like an annoying, ordinary human being in public. Since that exact second... I could not take my eyes off him."
Hearing the confession filled with slightly peculiar admiration, Allen, who was listening, secretly rubbed his neck.
An attitude like that is so very him! Allen thought to himself, trying hard to hold back a laugh so as not to ruin the serious atmosphere.
"Then, what about the royal family's side?" Alrain asked again, his tone still probing. "What is the King's, opinion regarding your feelings for him?"
"My father... he is a wise man. He lets me determine my own path in life without coercion." Oliver answered in a respectful tone, though a second later he snorted softly. "Even though I was quite annoyed with my father for arranging a marriage and wanting to marry me off to Arvin without my knowledge."
Alrain nodded and accept the prince's line of logic. However, there was still one crucial thing bothering his mind, which had always been the root of Alrain's hatred.
"Then, what is your relationship with your older brothers at the palace? Especially... with your older brother named Dalvanel."
At that exact moment, Oliver fell silent. His face slowly lowered, his breathing started to turn rapid, and his shoulders trembled violently as if a dark memory had just struck and forcibly torn his sanity apart.
And then...
Bam!
Suddenly and without any warning whatsoever, Oliver slammed the dining table extremely hard with both of his hands.
The sound of wood being slammed instantly made everyone inside the dining room jolt in shock. The atmosphere in the room, which had merely been tense before, now turned highly dangerous. Among them, several people immediately entered full combat mode, including Alrain.
The green-haired youth instantly kicked his chair back. At the same time, the mana around him surged violently. Sparks of lightning crackled in the air, merging with a sharp vortex of wind, forming a lethal magic sword right in his right grasp. He aimed the tip of that sword straight at Oliver's neck, ready to slash him at any given moment.
However, instead of attacking or defending himself, Oliver raised his face with eyes filled with pure hatred and overflowing rage.
"Never..." Oliver hissed, his voice trembling to hold back the anger that had already reached its peak. "Never dare to mention that devil's name again in my presence!"
Oliver did not avert his gaze from Alrain's figure in front of him. He kept staring at the green-haired youth with a sharp glare.
"I will never be willing to consider that vile and disgusting person as my own biological brother!"
Seeing the explosive emotional reaction filled with deep hatred, they looked at each other for a moment. They were very certain that at this moment, Oliver remembered the great war that occurred in 'that era'.
Realizing that Oliver was not a threat, but rather someone who shared the same enemy as them, Alrain slowly lowered his right hand and immediately canceled his magic. The sword of wind and lightning faded into mana particles and vanished into the air.
Alrain sat back down, and now looked at Oliver with a gaze that was much warmer, friendlier, and full of empathy.
"So, you remember everything that happened in that era?"
"Of course I immediately remembered everything right after you asked about the relationship between me and that devil just now!" Oliver answered firmly, his jaw still clenched, showing a hatred that had not yet subsided. "Remembering all the massacres he committed... I even feel dirty just to utter his name!"
Suddenly, Oliver's eyes widened as if realizing something extremely fatal. His face turned pale.
Without wasting time, the prince immediately stood up and walked hurriedly, leaving his chair to head out of the dining room.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Allen in surprise, looking at the back of the panicking prince.
"Of course I have to return to the palace immediately tonight!" Oliver answered without stopping his steps. "If this era progresses the same way as the previous one, I must warn my father right now, before he is murdered by that devil!"
"Wait!"
That firm and authoritative exclamation from Allen instantly possessed a magic of its own that made Oliver halt his steps at the doorway. The prince turned his body around.
"If you want to go to the palace, we will also come with you there right now. Because in this room, you are not the only one who knows and remembers the horrific events of that era."
Oliver stared at Allen and several other spouses of Arvin who were still sitting calmly at the dining table. A massive confusion struck his chaotic mind.
"What do you mean, Allen?" Oliver asked, not understanding. "In that era, weren't you... weren't you also hostile towards Arvin?"
Hearing that question, Allen smiled faintly.
"Then, with the facts that you remember, are you not aware of what you are seeing here?" Allen prompted in a gentle yet striking tone. "If I was his enemy in that era, then why can all of us now live peacefully and stay together in this mansion as his spouses?"
The question Allen had just asked made Oliver's eyes widen greatly, realizing just how insane his current situation was. Apparently, Arvin had gathered his former enemies from that era, altered their fates, and bound them all to his side in the current era.
"Hahaha..."
A hollow laugh escaped Oliver's lips, realizing just how reckless Arvin was for making his former enemies his spouses.
"Is that so? I truly did not expect that the five people who formerly allied with that vile man are now actually gathered and sitting together in this room as Arvin's spouses."
"Wait a moment! Five people?" Allen repeated, confused and curious at the same time. "Who do you mean by five people? As far as I know, the only people hostile to Arvin in that era were me, Ordion, and Davin. Who are the other two?"
Oliver raised both his hands. Without the slightest hesitation, the prince's two index fingers pointed straight, aiming directly at the faces of two youths who sitting silently listening at the dining table.
"Dylan Salverin and Arion! The two of them are the ones who were also on that devil's side and hostiles toward Arvin in that era, besides the three of you!"