The Extra of The Lunerra

Chapter 400 - 33: Future of the Lunerra

"I don’t quite... understand what you want, Father..."

His yellow eyes turned from the documents on his desk to me, calm but sharp as they were.

"Aiden Tenebra, Julian. I’d like to meet him. As his friend, you can invite him here."

I swallowed involuntarily, trying not to avert my eyes.

"Why... do you suddenly want something like this?"

"Can’t I want to meet my son’s friend? Besides... if I remember correctly, he became a count recently. And since it’s our family’s job to supervise the counts... it shouldn’t be too absurd."

Having no idea how Aiden would react, what my father’s real intentions were, and more... I found myself in an even bigger predicament all of a sudden.

Should I let my father, the leader of the Virhen Family, meet with Aiden...

Or should I try to keep him away from Aiden somehow...?

I don’t want to cause something that could end everything at the slightest mistake!

"He will come tonight."

But that... was the last thing my father said. He didn’t even give me the right to refuse.

*******

Standing in front of the mansion, only a few hours after my father’s request... perhaps for the first time in my life, I was so nervous.

"Relax, there won’t be any problems. I was... expecting this, actually."

When I turned to the person standing next to me with his cane... Aiden... I noticed that he was very calm with a smile on his face.

How could he be so calm? He was going to meet one of the most important men in the kingdom after all... an unpredictable man, at least.

"Let’s meet Jonathan Virhen..."

Then he started walking without waiting for me. He passed through the mansion’s security without any problems, wished everyone a smile and good luck with their work, and made his way to my father’s office.

When he finally arrived in front of the office, he was still very calm.

I paused when I realized he was waiting for me to make the first move. With that, I stepped in front of him and knocked gently on the door.

"Come in."

And my father’s deep voice not only came from behind the door, it literally echoed through the corridors of the mansion.

I opened the door slowly and was greeted by my father’s usual office.

Aiden, meanwhile, walked in slowly with his cane.

My father was at his desk. His hands were on it, one on top of the other. His blond hair was combed nicely, as always, and his eyes, the same color, looked sharper than ever.

Aiden moved his cane aside, then bowed slightly and gave a very simple noble salute to the man in front of him.

"Count Aiden Tenebra, I thank Duke Virhen for his request to see me."

But my father, though he normally behaved quite differently, paid no attention to either the greeting or Aiden’s words this time.

"Skip the formality. We have nothing to do with formality here. And... you know that."

As I thought about what he had said, something began to dawn on me. I couldn’t help my eyes widening involuntarily, but Aiden didn’t stop, he kept going.

"Humans are normally creatures who can only sense mana. But a miraculous system appears out of nowhere and gives them the chance to use mana, and immediately afterward, the planet is flooded with refugee species! All of them look like us. Humanoid, I mean. All of them use mana in some effective way, all of them know how to fight... They are led here by the very system that has given us power. The story they all tell is that they lost the war against a ’power’ they don’t want to name and they were displaced from their homes."

I turned my eyes to my father, trying to gauge his reaction.

But he... didn’t move a muscle, as if he was already aware of all this. He wasn’t surprised by anything.

"I don’t know when it will happen, but one day, it will be our turn. And someone... is preparing us for it on our behalf. And they’re succeeding, actually... but there’s only one problem."

His smile had already disappeared. It was... officially the first time I had seen him so serious, so cold.

"We are political as well as social creatures. And we think only about the immediate future, to the point of not being fully aware of the threat that is coming. We fight each other, we start wars... we destroy each other when we should be working together. Because everybody thinks that as long as they can get strong enough and take over most of the planet, they can do now what they couldn’t do before. Who knows, at this rate, maybe, we’ll end up destroying each other before the threat that’s coming. And I’m... trying to prevent that."

This was all stuff I’d never heard before. But as I kept hearing Aiden’s motives, his thoughts... I realized how naive I had been.

Nothing he said was beyond comprehension. The system, the dungeons, the other humanoid creatures, the ’same’ story they all told...

Even a child could connect them if they thought hard enough.

But no one did.

They preferred not to.

"If I try hard enough, I can make Cevilian and Holar allies even now. I’ve already guaranteed with the signed agreement that the spirits will work for the good of the planet in the worst possible situation. But that’s not enough, at least not for me. I want to make at least four races able to work together, preferably five, even if I know it won’t be possible... all of them. I’m trying to save not only my future, but everyone’s... the future of this planet."

My father was silent for a while, and then, for the first time, he reacted with something other than ’calmness’ and ’coldness’. He simply... sighed.

"You know and have already done so much more than I thought. I hope you don’t hold a grudge against me for doubting you, but I think I have my reasons."

A tiny smile appeared on Aiden’s cold expression.

"We don’t have to make a good first impression, we don’t have to trust each other instantly. We don’t have to trust at all, actually. The important thing is to accept that we have to approach the future together. I’m... just trying to build a future where I and my loved ones can live happily, that was my goal from the beginning, that will be my goal on the day I die."

And... I saw my father’s expression change for the first time in a long time.

He... curled his lips upwards, just like Aiden. Then, he took out a family crest from one of his desk drawers and dragged it across his desk to Aiden.

Aiden caught the crest before it fell, then his smile widened.

"Then... as long as you keep your purpose, you can get any support you want from the Virhen Family."

"Thank you for understanding, Duke Virhen."

And then... they both turned slowly, simultaneously, in my direction.

And then... they both paused, the smile fading slightly from their faces. Both of their mouths opened at the same time, in the same way.

"Oh..."

"Oh..."

And suddenly I realized something. The whole time they were talking... they didn’t look at me even once.

"Wait a second..."

These two...

Did they forget I was here?