Cale had never thought that going home would be something so disastrous.
But it is.
All because the news of him returning to the territory, after nearly two months being caged in the palace, got caught and soon spread like wildfire—
Alberu INSISTED for Cale to prolonged his stay after he fainted just as he firstly asked to go outside... which is, none other than the garden incident.
Cale, of course, had tried to explained to them that he merely take a nap, but sadly no one believed him.
Either way, it was a headache after a headache.
"...why are these people here?"
'Don't they have better things to do?'
Cale complained as he heard cheers of adults and children resounding despite how he keep his curtain drawn as he did not want to witness such horrifying sight with his own eyes.
"They're greeting their young master's return, of course, young master Cale"
That was Mary who innocently answered to his rhetorical question.
"Why would they greet such a trash... just, what kind of twisted story is this?"
Cale mumbled to himself, not knowing that both Rosalyn and Mary reacted immediately to that claim though did not say anything and just looked at each other with meaningful stares.
Obviously, if either Ron or Choi Han, who are guarding the carriage outside, heard about this, they'd definitely reacted differently.
That being said, Raon is not planning to be all hush hush with what his guardian just said.
"Human! How many times do we need to tell you? You are not a trash!"
He scolded the red-haired human as he's not yet fully comfortable on calling Cale with what his two older siblings would.
"Dongsaeng is right, Dad. You are definitely NOT a trash. You are our dad, nya."
Hong also said as if it was obvious.
While On, simply stared at the dumbfounded male as if saying 'give it up'. She knows that Cale would not be able to win this nor explain what he truly means.
On, that silver Cat, as always, actually understand what Cale means by not wanting to change.
Being 'a trash' is freedom to Cale.
Freedom from the needs to act like a true noble he's not.
Freedom from nobles' duty.
After all, Cale does not want to be shackled by anything, including custom culture and all.
In a way, he's truly a free spirited person.
However, his understanding is a bit twisted due to his self awareness of all the shits he's done. He's focused to the wrong lines.
And at this point, On found it difficult to explain all of this to his stubborn father and the excessively worried family.
If there's anything she learned well from Cale's behavior is to ignore everything that looked complicated.
Which, it seems like, she did it quite well, since Cale is currently practicing that behavior once again.
"I see. Okay."
He curtly said as if agreeing since he's unbothered to give proper explanation to any of these young children.
As expected of Cale.
It was that moment.
The carriage finally stopped and soon the door is opened for them.
Rosalyn and Mary left the carriage first, followed by the children.
And then, lastly...
"Cale...!"
That exclaim from the Duke tuned down the volume of the cheers as Cale finally revealed himself to his family and the others.
His expression is calm and there's no smile on his face, however, he did not look cold to any of them.
Cale could see Lily fidgeting like she wanted to rush to him while Basen looked quite excited himself, it's almost funny for that red-head Hero who had never thought that he'd ever be welcomed this way.
Cale glanced around and nearly shuddered at how many red roses and shields being waved around as the volume of the cheers risen once again.
Either way, it seems like he got too distracted that he did not paid much attention to his footing that he actually slipped on the last step.
"Ah."
His eyes slightly widened in surprise, though it's nowhere as rounded as the rest of people around him.
'Damn, that's embarrassing'
Cale only stumbled a little, but that was certainly embarrassing to watch.
However, unlike him who's quietly trying to kill his own mortification, none of his friends and family cared about that as they crowded around him in that instant.
"Cale-nim!"
"Human!"
"Cale!"
Many shouts of his name got him frowning with chills going down his spine at how quiet everything suddenly turned out despite him already regaining his balance.
"What are you screaming like that for? I am okay"
"Are you really? Cale, please do not lie about your health, son. Are you feeling dizzy? Hungry? You must be tired from the long journey..."
Deruth is rambling and it's giving Cale a headache.
"Father"
Cale tried to stop this man before he could get heart attack.
"I am truly alright. Why would I need to lie about that to you? To any of you?"
However, that's not the problem, as they all have witnessed just how twisted Cale's pain tolerance is.
His scale of 'I'm fine' and 'I'm okay' is still somewhere around 7 to 8 in the pain scale, while 9 is him unable to talk while 10, he can only lay down helplessly and probably one heartbeat away from death itself.
No body present could trust this Hero's claim anymore.
That being said, they have also witnessed how stubborn Cale can be, and did not say anything else regarding the topic that would definitely turned into a banter with no ending if someone decided to pursue.
So, instead, Violan smiled at him and grabbed his hands as gentle as she could with a nod.
"Either way, it is a long journey indeed, and it is nearing lunch time, so, how about we all get inside now? All of you could get some rest after the meal"
All of you.
Focusing on the people.
Focusing more on his friends.
Violan learned this technique from her son Rok Soo, and couldn't help her smile as that tactic seems to work wonderfully since Cale obediently nodded afterward.
It's easy to see that Cale agrees with that plan wholeheartedly.
And so, with that, the group went inside the estate with Cale pretty much in the middle of the small crowd, unknowingly setting the pace of their steps as everyone else slowed down so that their 'injured' friend and family member won't get rushed and probably feel more pain just from walking.
Cale, who did not know any of this, just leisurely walked as he then turned to Lily when he noticed something.
"You're growing so fast since the last I saw you. Now you're already this tall"
He glanced at Basen who looked even more mature himself.
"You too. You're growing so well"
He said in approval, making his two siblings smiled, one filled with warmth and tint of shyness while the other is brimming with joy that its brightness might even compete with the sun.
"Of course, Oraboni! I'm going to lead our household's knight brigade, I need to get even more stronger as well!"
Lily chirped as she carries her soon to be Niece, On, who's still in her kitten form.
"That is great. Work hard, play hard, remember what I said?"
"Efficiency is the key! I need to keep my balance as well"
Cale proudly ruffled her locks afterward before then chuckling softly at how his children looked jealous— he ended up patting their heads too as he did not wish for any sort of internal problem to occur from such a trivial matter.
Basen did not say anything about his ambition of becoming the territory lord as it has not yet being discussed altogether as the four of them had planned when Cale was still dealing with the scenarios.
Thankfully, Cale did not push the talk further either as he asked about what he had missed while he's away to his parents instead.
It did not take long until they reached dining room and soon their meals got served.
Cale was, as usual, busied with the youngest two who, despite their best effort, still have some ketchup and sauce on their faces once in a while, unlike On who eats clean.
This familiar sight brought smiles to everyone's faces as they were all eating peacefully with only some light chatters could be heard around the table.
That being said, the table later got quiet when Cale started to disassociate in the middle of wiping Raon's mouth.
"Human?"
The young dragon called out to the red-head who slowed down in his movement and just stared emptily.
"...he's at it again"
Raon mumbled without much ruckus as this has been repeatedly happening ever since Cale started his recovery.
Of course, everyone in the table has witnessed this happening before and knows the reason through the scenarios they had watched.
Which is why, no one said a word and tried to keep their act together even as Cale blinked and seems to get back to his senses 5 seconds later before letting out a quiet cough.
"Are you okay, Cale?"
Deruth asked, obviously worried, though he tried his best not to showed it excessively and made his son uncomfortable instead.
Cale simply nodded to him as he wiped his mouth with the napkin and neatly folded it so that nobody have to see the tint of dark red smearing it.
"Yes, father. I am alright."
And just as they all have predicted, Cale acted as if nothing happens and continued to eat his meal happily since he got slightly hungrier after that cough.
The Henituse Family got mixed feelings as they watched their oldest son and brother eating almost ravenously and only have a light shift in expression when he realized that he still can't drink wine and got himself some fruit juice instead.
'How unfair.'
He wished to be seen as healthy as soon as possible for this kind of reason.
It was a shame that no one would believe anything he says, and the only one who could possibly confirm his status is none other than the former Dragon Lord herself.
Raon's mother whom he needed to meet as well to asks for her permission before officially adopting Raon.
'And I was looking forward to it too'
Cale was looking forward to even a sip of any sort of that goodness.
After all, Henituse territory's winery is simply the best.
Too bad, he's still recuperating right now.
What he had not yet realized is the fact that no Alcohol is served to respect him whom they know, adores his drinks.
"Hyung-nim. You will be staying here for a couple of days right?"
That is the case, so Cale nodded.
Although Cale wanted to get back to the villa to check on the items he had bought and meet Sheritt as fast as he could, most of his party members asked him to stay for some days to rest after such a long ride.
Cale thought of Rosalyn and Mary who just joined them after an even longer journey and agreed to Hans's suggestion, not knowing that he was the reason why that deputy butler had offered the stay on the first place and not because of the Necromancer or Future Tower Master.
"We'll be staying for 2 or 3 days before visiting the villa."
"I see... when will you be back?"
Basen sounded disappointed that his hyung would not stay for long, though he seems to brighten up when Cale then answered to him earnestly.
"I'll be right back after taking care of some things"
Once he got his permission, Cale planned to make it official between him and his children, and such administrative work needs to be done at the estate so that it can be pushed faster than it normally would.
You know, perks of being a noble.
One of the wealthiest in the continents at that.
Cale was not able to hear what Basen said next as he heard something else in his mind instead.
["D-Dad!!!"
"Cale!"
The three children were the loudest to call out to his name.
Cale can hear their fear-stricken voices and his eyes trembled as he tried to open them.
Then, once his eyes opened, which took a lot of effort to do so, he could see how despair painted the faces of his family. Cale really wants to smack some constellations or gods, or whatever the hell they claimed to be.
He doesn't like seeing these kinds of emotions on his family's faces because he was for sure won't be able to forget it, disregarding the fact that this is a parallel world.
But merciless as they are, he couldn't do anything to refute. Couldn't even utter another word over the pain. Until lastly, after what seemed to be forever, he once again fell into deep slumber.]
Another random recordings got played as any other noises from the outside were canceled from his hearing, until...
Cough.
Cale nearly sighed as he covered his mouth before then reaching out to his napkin once more.
He was annoyed.
'What the fuck with these recordings, replaying anytime and anywhere as they wish?'
Cale knew that his family has been notified about his condition, and supposedly it wouldn't give them that much of shock to witness it happening in front of them as he could not helped it.
But twice?
And it's not even one hour yet to each other too?
'Ha!'
It looks like the Constellations are being a bitch today as well.
'Perhaps they're bored and wanting some more reaction from these mortals.'
Those Motherfuckers—
"Cale... I think you really need some rest, son"
That red-haired did not refute to Deruth this time.
It is better than being forced to explain anything anyway.
So, Cale nodded and let himself being escorted by Choi Han and Ron as he excused himself first before the others.
He missed the way everyone seems to let out their frustration with such a loud collective sigh just as soon he seemed to be out of hearing range...