Chapter 118: A Death Sentence
"Sigh, I am going to miss having you around to drink and smoke with me."
’I am also going to miss fucking your beautiful wife’s exquisite pussy. I hope you die someday.’
I thought inwardly as I stared at my father-in-law, who patted my shoulder with an emotional voice, but I didn’t dare speak my thoughts aloud. Even though the old geezer could no longer use Mana, his old bones were still those of an S-Ranker.
I immediately faked tearing up, and thanks to my Oscar-level performance, it looked realistic, which made my father-in-law even more emotional as he patted me one more time before saying, "Take care of my daughters."
Saying that, he turned around and folded his hands behind his back, walking back into the house. I watched him until he was completely out of my sight before turning my attention back to my mother-in-law, who was standing beside her two daughters, Aleena and Maya.
The moment my mother-in-law noticed me staring at her, she froze. Her face turned slightly pink as she looked away, turning back to Aleena and pretending to talk.
Seeing her like this, I smirked and walked over to her with a purposeful stride.
"Mother-in-law, thanks for all you have done for us. I hope to see you again," I said in a fake emotional voice, and I noticed her swallow from the corner of my eye.
"Haha, I will come visit you guys in a few months so as to help out Aleena with her work and chores. By the way, help me look after Maya, Jacob," my mother-in-law said, looking at me with her eyes slightly squinted suspiciously.
"Ahem... Maya is like a sister to me. I will take care of her." I flashed a toothy grin and brought out my phone.
"I need your phone number, Mother-in-law, in case I want to reach you," I said, handing my phone over to her.
She paused for a moment and forced a smile before taking the phone and starting to type her number. She knew I was up to no good, but she couldn’t refute me.
After she typed her number, I took the phone and glanced over at Maya and Aleena. Maya looked impatient, as if she couldn’t wait to leave this godforsaken place, while Aleena, on the other hand, looked rough and tired from exhaustion due to vomiting throughout the entire night. As for Pico, she was already waiting for us inside the vehicle.
Maya gave her mom one more hug before happily carrying hers and her sister’s handbags into the carriage. Aleena also followed behind her tiredly after waving goodbye to her mom.
Once they boarded the car, my mother-in-law and I were left staring at each other. Immediately, her face turned pink, and she then turned to walk back towards the house, but I quickly blocked her path with a wicked smile curled on my lips.
"Mother-in-law, I hope to see you again soon. We’ll be expecting you," I said, hugging her.
As my mouth moved past her ear, I whispered in a hushed voice, "I am seriously going to miss you. Also, you should consider my request about carrying my child. It doesn’t have to be now, maybe in the future," I whispered while still hugging her.
Tiriana didn’t free herself from my hug just yet. She patted my back as if she was being emotional and whispered back, "Sigh, you really do have a pregnancy fetish, heh. But if you want me to even consider it, you have to prove yourself worthy of me carrying your child," she said before breaking the hug and waving at me, acting as if she didn’t just say something.
I was speechless by my mother-in-law’s shamelessness, wondering how she went from being flustered to domineering.
Breaking out of my initial shock, I smiled lightly and walked back into the vehicle. I’ve come to one realization.
Even though it might seem like Tiriana is now cheating on her husband, there seems to be more to it. Maybe even my dear father-in-law is fully aware I am involved with his wife but chose to pretend, or perhaps there’s something else. Now, I’m like a lost sheep between the two couples. However, one thing I am certain of is that as long as my father-in-law is still alive, Tiriana carrying my child is nothing but a pipe dream, which is why she said she would consider carrying my child in the "future."
This leaves me with her hanging question of how long Theodore has before his sickness fully consumes him. Since Mana is essential for all beings, it’s only a matter of time before his world rejects him and tries to eliminate him as a foreign object.
My face turned pale as I finally understood the gravity of Theodore’s condition. It wasn’t just a condition; it was a death sentence—a deliberately slow one. Even if there are people who could help cure him, they would run with their tails tucked between their legs since only an incredibly powerful person could inflict such a curse on someone of his caliber.
Just who the hell did my father-in-law piss off?
Suddenly, I felt Aleena waving her hands before my eyes.
"Honey, why do you keep zoning out?" Aleena asked, and I flashed her a smile and turned on the vehicle, backing out of the yard.
Once we got on the highway, I switched to flight mode immediately because the elves are ridiculously slow when driving, even on the highway, and all of them followed the traffic like zombies. Even on flight mode, there’s a limit to how fast I could fly over cars and buildings.
"Pfft." Aleena let out a chuckle, noticing my frustration.
She suddenly turned back and faced Maya and Pico sitting behind.
"Maya, close your ears. I am about to talk about adult stuff with my husband," Aleena said with a blank expression.
Maya raised an eyebrow before her mouth curled into a cocky smile.
"Sister, don’t you think you are being unfair? I am already an adult. I am sweet eighteen, baby!" Maya retorted, thinking she had won, but suddenly, Aleena pointed a finger at Maya and cast a spell.
The next moment, Maya tried to talk, but we couldn’t hear anything. This made Maya panic, but when she figured out what was going on, she calmed herself.
Pico, who was sitting beside her, looked absolutely terrified. Of course, she knew Aleena was strong, but she didn’t know she could casually make someone mute with just the flick of her finger.
"What did you do to her?" I finally asked.
"I cast a barrier around her that filters out whatever we are saying. I just made it so that she wouldn’t be able to talk since she’s yapping," Aleena explained.
I shook my head at her weak excuse and asked what she wanted to talk about.
A smile played on her lips as she looked at me and Pico with quick glances, her smile growing wider.
"I know you and Pico have been having sex a lot more than normal lately. Of course, with that much sex, something is bound to happen sooner or later. I just want to ask what the hell Pico is thinking since Zen is still so young?" Aleena asked in a stern voice, finally revealing her real intentions.
’Woah, how the fuck did she find out?’
Despite the turmoil stirring in my heart, I tried to stay calm as much as possible, only putting on a faint smile.
When I looked over at Pico, she looked embarrassed, her face flushed red.
Seeing the both of us not say anything, Aleena let out a sigh.
"Pico, I am not against you having a child. It’s your body in the end, but just imagine if everyone else plans to have a child. Who would take care of Zen? Besides, don’t you think you should make some money too before planning to carry another child?" Aleena spoke.
It might look like she was berating Pico at first, but when I thought about it carefully, I figured she was just worried about her since Pico doesn’t really have any reliable source of income. Plus, taking care of a newborn, along with Pico, would be too exhausting.
Aleena spoke again. "Honey, you promised to get us a maid, but it turned out that woman was your old-time friend, and now we have another member. When are you going to get us a maid?" she asked impatiently.
I don’t like it when she’s like this, nagging all day. This is the downside of having a harem. When you are always around your women, they just nag at you all day. Only scumbags enjoy having a harem. Who would they nag at when I am out trying to fuck the widow from the next street, heh?
If being a scumbag would give me peace of mind, then I would gladly become a scumbag.
I suddenly frowned and glanced at Aleena.
"You just nag all day when we are supposed to be having a great time during the journey. You even muted your own sister and made Pico cry. What more do you want?" I said in a stern voice.
I saw her freeze. She wanted to talk, but the words didn’t seem to come out of her mouth. Then her eyes suddenly grew teary.
I wanted to apologize, maybe I was being too harsh since I hadn’t talked to her like that before, but I held back and didn’t say anything.
"I am sorry," she muttered. "I am also sorry for nagging and berating Pico for her choices," Aleena added.
Before I could speak, Pico spoke up. "It’s fine. I know you are watching out for me. For us theriantropes, our abilities are not limited by pregnancy. I would only get occupied after giving birth and taking care of the newborn. However, during the pregnancy, I plan to make a lot of money by becoming an adventurer. Hus—master already promised to form a party when we return," she explained.
I didn’t fail to notice the slip-up in her words when she wanted to call me husband and changed it to master. But I don’t really mind what she calls me. She should say whatever she pleases.
For the rest of the journey, no one spoke a word. Maya sulked and read a novel due to being muted by her sister initially and only talked to me when she wanted to buy snacks.
After a few hours, we finally arrived home.
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Note: Don’t buy privilege Chapters for now.