Chapter 162: Wedding (5)

Rewen seemed to understand what she was saying. He picked up and carefully placed her on his shoulders. Instantly, his head became a drum. "Babysitting is tough."

Just then, a pat came on his back. "You bet it is."

It was his Uncle, Josh. After coming to the inner part of the villa, Rewen took him to where his mother and Master were. 

Rewen was still a bit uncomfortable with him and didn't know how he should respond. Eventually, he decided to talk about the kid. "What is her name?"

Josh took a seat near his nephew. "Shirley."

"Shirley… nice name."

Josh didn't respond. All of a sudden, his expression turned deadly serious. Staring straight at Rewen, he opened his mouth. "Do you dislike your mother?"

Rewen was silent for a while, then shook his head. "Not really. I'm sure she has her own circumstances."

Josh nodded, then continued. "But you do feel indignant about being dragged into an unrelated business, right? I have heard about your current circumstances. I don't fully believe that the world I live in is not real but I couldn't care less about it. What I do care about is that my life, no matter what, would go in a single track. You, however, are different. You now have two, no, three routes and you have to tread in all of them. Do you feel that you have been treated unfairly by circumstances?"

Rewen was a bit offended by the wording but then he lightly laughed. "Of course, I do. Unless you have an entire day to listen to me, you wouldn't know a single thing about my circumstances." He was a straightforward person. If he was asked a thing, he wouldn't sugarcoat anything and answer how it is.

"Oh, okay." Josh's eyebrows perked up. "You don't need to tell me about your circumstances in the other world. Even if you do, I can only give an insensitive reply. However, what I can help you with is matters regarding this world."

Rewen smiled a smile that wasn't a smile. "Can you persuade your mother to withdraw this marriage?"

"I can." Josh immediately answered back.

Rewen hadn't anticipated such a quick reply. "Then please do so. This marriage could possibly ruin both my and my partner's life."

"I won't do that."

"Of course." Rewen picked a sweet from the table and ate it.

"But I can help you."

"Well, I thank you for your kind intentions but I don't really need any help."

"You look like you do."

Rewen scoffed.

Josh adjusted his sitting posture and let out a sigh. "Do you know what responsibility means?"

Rewen stayed silent. Usually, he would have spoken out but when he looked at Josh, he felt that he (Josh) was really serious.

Josh paused for a while, then continued. "It was about when I was twelve. My ticket to get admitted into a reputed institution was cancelled because of her birth. Father had already died in the Antonio-Julian War back then and Mother too died soon after she was born.

"Imagine a young man brimming with ambition was confusedly handed over a baby and told that his road to the future would be cut off. It was certainly tough to get by. Aside from physiological difficulties, I also had to adapt psychologically. I passed on my psychological burden to your mother. Just thinking of her cutting off my road to success made my blood boil. Sometimes, I even tried to kill her then cried at night thinking how scumbag of a guy I am.

"Years passed. Eventually, I overcame my difficulties and obtained strength, both literally and figuratively. Your mother grew up to be a splendid woman in my eyes. A part of me still believed that I hated her and the only reason I continued taking care of her is because of the responsibility. That all changed when your mother ran away from home. 

"I never panicked so much as I did back then. I went out to search the kingdom. It took nine days but I single-handedly searched every corner of the kingdom. I… still couldn't find her. Disheartened, I went back home only to see your mother having a friendly chat with a man inside my room. Even with all my willpower, I couldn't hold back my anger and struck her. Did I bring her up only for her to run away? What if something had happened to her? 

"As soon as those thoughts came to me, I realized… that I can't possibly think that I hate her. I began to regret my decision and wanted to apologize but by the time I realized that your mother spewed out some rebellious sentences and ran away from home again. I sent my men to secretly follow her but didn't chase after her. She was only fifteen back then. She certainly hadn't grown old enough to make her own decisions. I let her be, thinking it would take a huge load off my chest.

"Unfortunately, if anything, it only increased my unease. In the beginning, I looked after her because of my responsibility as a big brother. Time passed and I started to look after her because I just liked to. Responsibility, to me, is a friendly, forceful but equally powerful term. It held me and my sister close to each other but after a certain point, I no longer needed the help of 'responsibility'. Depending on what your definition of responsibility is, it can heal your heart but in the long run, you have to rely on yourself."

Josh stopped speaking. He got up from his seat and went to talk with nobles nearby

Rewen, who was listening attentively to him, leaned on the chair and looked up without saying anything. His respect for Josh as a person increased. He went back and forth comparing his and his Uncle's circumstances. 

'Would taking responsibility for my action count as reasonable responsibility? Would following my mother's words count as reasonable responsibility? There isn't any reason why they couldn't. So then… Why does it seem so empty? Where did I go wrong?' He thought about it for a long time but couldn't reach a conclusion. 

"Dah!" The little imp halted his thought process by eating his hair.

Rewen brought her down to his face level and made a scary face.

*Slap*

The little imp delightfully laughed and slapped his cheeks with both her hands. 

"..."

"Haha! Serves you right! Mister I-Look-After-Receptions." Junar's voice came from behind.

Rewen turned around and saw the group approaching him. "Who let these poor people in?"

Salica came running towards him and snatched the little imp from his hand. "Aww, such adorableness is fatal for my heart. What is her name?"

"Shirley."

"A fitting name!" Bianca smiled and went near the little imp.

Rewen's eyes remained fixated on Bianca. He got up from his chair and slowly came near her. 

Bianca slightly panicked. In the past, she had made fun of his skinny physique and oftentimes extorted some money from him. A few days ago, she found out that he had been a victim of interference all this time. Tonight, she also found out that he had been raped. Adding on all the things she did in the past, she didn't know how to face him.