Leon couldn't help but be startled and automatically rummaged through his memories trying to figure out what had been said. Just, while he remembered a lot of things involving Russ, did not mean he recalled everything. Plus it was in the nature of children to make promises all of the time, some were kept, some were forgotten, but seldom were any that serious. It also didn't help his concentration that Jin Li gripped his waist more tightly, mounted together as they were on the back of Wu Ye.
Russ didn't take it to heart, knowing that Leo had become muddled due to whatever accident had turned some of his hair white and began to remind him. "Ye said ye would ge' yer education then come back t' the village t' take care of ye granda?"
The alchemist didn't recall, but it did sound like something Leo would have said, so he agreed; "En."
"Then d'ye recall abou' takin' a wife?" Russ asked him.
Both he and his Martial Artist felt rising foreboding in their stomachs, but while one was worrying his past words might upset a certain man holding him, the other was wondering just what sort of stupid promise his small alchemist had made and how much trouble was it going to cause him. "Ah, n-n-not really," Leon stuttered, nervously.
"It's jus' me sister is of age now," he carried on as if there were not a storm brewing in front of him, "an' it's no' like me da' an' grandma care abou' her marriage, so it's up t' me t' make sure she marries well! An' we always said wouldnae be great t' be real brothers!"
"D-d-did I... d-did I really pr-pr-promise?" Leon asked him, nervously aware that Jin Li was becoming increasingly irritated.
"En," Russ grinned, brightly. "O'course ye didnae have t' marry her now, just ge' engaged an' the formalities can be deal' with when ye comes home for good. Um, how long is tha' anyway? Ah, i' don't matter, I guess, she's still fourteen and can hold ou' a few more years..."
"Oh she can, can she," Jin Li snapped in a particularly low, angry voice. Leon swallowed in an attempt to dampen his suddenly dry throat, while wondering how to get out of the tricky situation and not upset his friend too much.
However, it seemed the fates were a little on his side. "Russ!" The girl was tanned, the sun having blessed her skin as she foraged and laboured growing vegetables for the family all these years. Leon didn't have much memory of her, only recalling now that she was often at odds with her older brother over certain things. Just like at this moment. "Wha' did I tell ye?! I don' wanna marry ye friend! He's too weak an' too soft! Wha' am I gonna do with a man like tha'?"
Jin Li snickered, wickedly and murmured into his ear that he didn't mind him being weak and soft, causing him to blush profusely. Unfortunately, Russ thought he was embarrassed by his little sister's words. "Taru, ye cannae day things like tha'! Leo is educated! How can he compare t' others?"
"Educated, so wha'? Can he lift a pig beneath each arm and carry them as far as town?" The girl crossed her arms about her blossoming chest. Her clothes were too tight, her grandmother too stingy to spare them cloth right now, so she wouldn't get new clothes until the spring and then they would be her older girl cousin's hand-me-downs. But, Rius was fairly flat up top and the boys in the village were becoming more and more aware that Taru was going to be well endowed. It was Russ' plan to marry her off to a good man as well so those boys didn't get the wrong idea about his sister! It was just that their opinion on what was a good man differed greatly.
"Taru, ye will marry Leo! We already agreed t' it!"
"What nonsense!" Leon groaned as a third voice made itself known. It was female and came from the entrance of home. Jin Li rolled his eyes as he leapt from Wu Ye's back, before helping Leon to climb off as well. Aunt Lessa eyed the large, black beast warily before continuing what she had to say. "Marriage is in the hands of ones elders. A marriage between your sister, Russ and my nephew has not the approval of myself, my father nor your elders, so it will not happen." From his rocking chair, Leonard snorted as he listened to her righteous speech, thinking it was ironic that she attempt to use filial rules now when it suited her. Like she had cared when he had attempted to intervene in her marital decisions.
"R-R-Russ," Leon said softly, as his eyes noticed that the doors of nearby houses had opened a crack as gossipy neighbours watched and listened to the increasing volume between his friends and family on his doorstep. "I kn-kn-know you want the b-b-best for your s-sister, b-b-but its n-no g-good. You sh-should listen t-to her."
"I jus' don' wan' me da t' try sell her for a barrel o' wine!" Russ wailed, unhappily. "An' I though' ye go' on well with her!"
"B-because she is your s-s-sister," Leon smiled, gently as he let him down. He really could not remember making such a promise, perhaps he had just agreed as he had heard but not listened to his friend talk, while he was thinking about other things. Going to school and making his grandfather proud had filled his thoughts a lot in the days after they had learned that the recruitment for the Institute would be occurring in the nearby town that year. Jin Li squeezed his hand discreetly, before removing the saddle from Wu Ye. The beast shook its large body before entering the side building closely followed by Li Ming.
"Russ," Taru sighed and placed her hand on her hip, before nearing him to murmur beneath her breath only loud enough that her brother and Leo's family could hear. "I already know da' will try sell me for a drink, so does ma. So Bral has already se' a barrel to brew."
"Bral?"
"Yeah," Taru's expression became a little flushed and dreamy as she thought of Bral's strong physique and square jawline.
"But, isn't Bral a bi'... dim?" Russ questioned worriedly. The young man was a year or so older than them and also had a deep scar that marred his face from brow to cheek, he was even blind in the effected eye thanks to a wild animal attack when he was a little boy. If it weren't for that, he might have already been married despite his not so great brain.
"Who's dim, your dim, the whole family is dim!" She spat angrily, defending her man. He wasn't the most handsome and he wasn't the most smart, but he worked hard and without complaint and was very kind to his mother and gentle when it came to her. His parents and her mother had already secretly come to an agreement. The bribe of wine would see her father happily agree to it as well. She glanced at Leo, who seemed equally as relieved and smiled reassured that she hadn't hurt him because of her stupid brother. She liked Leo well enough, but he really was weak and wasn't what she wanted in a husband.
"Well, you have your head on straight," Lessa said, in an almost approving manner, though not completely. She knew of Bral, he was a fool, in her opinion and she thought only another fool would marry him. This girl was clearly only intelligent enough to realise that she did not match her nephew however and that was enough for her. "Leo would not be able to marry you even had you not, however. He is already engaged."
"Wh-What?" Leon immediately questioned. He had absolutely no knowledge about this and could only look inside the house at his grandfather, just that the old man looked equally as confused and also through out the same question.
"What?"
Lessa's cheeks became a little flushed, but she continued with her plan, completely unashamed by her brazenness. "It was something that Aleora and I came up with when they were little, him wedding my daughter, Siri, when they are old enough."
"Bullshi'!" Leonard growled, but Lessa did not backdown from her obviously made up claim.
"I have the engagement agreement right here!" She lied, wavering around a contract she'd had forged the night before and completed this morning. True it was her maid that provided the second fingerprint and the witness was her husband's small councillor friend, easily bribed by silver, but it looked authentic enough to be real.
Jin Li sneered and gathered his small alchemist to his chest, the action screaming of ambiguity. Leon did not squirm in his hold either, placing his hands calmly on his man's arm in reassurance and to clarify his position. "I'd like to see you try to uphold an engagement when the man is already bound and married. To me."
Just as everyone else did around him, Leon froze due to the words in Jin Li's statement. "W-What?"
Author's note; there are some amendments I'll be making over the next few days. I went back and scanned through 64 chapters to notice the odd glaring mistake when it came to background details. For example, I originally claimed that Leo was his grandfather's only grandchild. And Jin Li's own grandfather has had two fates! Both I easily fixable and don't effect the overall content. I'll amend the first as being the only grandchild to continue the family line (as he follows his mother's line rather than his father's) and the latter will be maternal and paternal grandfathers'. If there is any massive mistake, I'll let you know!