Yograj head whipped toward Razeal, his face darkening as realization dawned. "If you really are her son… then she'll be coming back here to fucking take you!"

He spun around, scanning the open sky, almost as though expecting Merisa herself to descend from the heavens like a vengeful goddess. His shoulders stiffened, a rare crack of unease breaking through his otherwise casual demeanor.

"You.. are you an idiot, boy?!" Yograj barked, his voice rising with agitation. "If you're the son of the Virelan family… did you ask permission to come here? Did you even think? Do you not realize they don't give a damn about imperial laws?" His hand raked down his face, his voice dropping into a mutter half to himself. "You'll bring them down on me too… damn it all, now I'm tangled in this mess too…"

He clenched his fists, his mind racing. He could almost see it.. Merisa herself storming across the ocean, fury burning like wildfire, the Virelan family tearing apart sea and sky to drag their runaway heir back into their clutches.

His first instinct was pure survival. He actually considered it taking Aurora, grabbing her, leaping off the ship and fleeing before disaster struck. His weight shifted slightly toward the edge of the deck, his jaw tight with the urge to escape.

But then Razeal's voice cut through his spiraling thoughts, calm and composed.

"Don't worry about it," he said flatly. His gaze didn't waver, his tone steady. "I've already taken care of that problem. She won't be coming after me. Not here. Definitely."

The words landed with an eerie finality.

Maria's brow arched, her eyes narrowing as she studied him. What does he mean by that? Taken care of how?.. She honestly though.. Virelans won't come since.. Imperial law?.. But now when old man said.. It seems...

But Yograj only frowned deeper, disbelief plain on his weathered face as he jabbed a finger toward the boy. "What do you mean don't worry? Boy, this isn't something you just shrug off. They might already be on their way. The Virelans those lunatics won't give a damn about imperial laws. If they think their bloodline heir has run off to Atlantis, they'll tear the sea apart to drag you back. You'll put me in this mess too!"

His voice cracked louder, almost as if he himself believed Merisa might come storming across the waves at any moment.

But Razeal, in stark contrast, stood with calm composure, his black eyes steady as night. His voice carried no weight of fear, no hint of hesitation. "Don't react too much, old man. She won't come. I know her."

Yograj stopped pacing, blinking in disbelief. "She won't?" His tone was skeptical, like the boy had just told him storms could be tamed with a whisper. His lips twisted into a doubtful frown. "Even if she doesn't, her husband will. Won't he? Your father?"

Razeal's answer came so casually it froze the air around them. "No. Don't worry about him either. He's dead."

The words fell like heavy stones on the deck.

"Wait… what?!" Yograj's jaw dropped so far it looked like it might unhinge. His booming voice echoed across the ship. "Dead?! What do you mean dead? That man was strong! Stronger than most I'd seen. Maybe not as talented as her, aye, but he wasn't weak either. Who the hell could've killed him? The Empress? A god?!"

He rambled quickly, questions tumbling out of his mouth without pause, until he froze halfway through his speculation. His face shifted from confusion to horror, as though his own mind had pieced together the answer before Razeal even spoke.

Razeal's tone didn't change, still flat, almost indifferent. "His wife."

The old man's entire body stiffened. His eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What… WHAT?!" His voice cracked so high it startled a few birds from the distant horizon. "Why would she kill him? What the hell is going on with your family?!"

He almost staggered forward, nearly grabbing Razeal's shoulders just to shake the truth out of him, his old instincts gnawing at him with disbelief. His heart raced, the thought looping again and again. Merisa killed her husband?

"Because he was her brother?."

The answer came like as if it was a fact? Like why even need to ask?

Yograj stood frozen, mouth open, words stuck in his throat as he tried to process what he'd just heard. "She killed him… because of that?!" His voice cracked again, louder. "Wait.. But didn't she already know?! She married him, didn't she?! She must've known before the wedding, so why.. why in the gods' names would she.. "

His questions spiraled into confusion, looping endlessly. He scratched at his scalp, pulling at his long hair as though answers might fall out with the strands. His mind simply couldn't piece together the logic.

Razeal, on the other hand, only shrugged, his face calm. "I don't know. But she did."

The boy's voice carried no weight, no sorrow, no confusion. It was the tone of someone talking about spilled milk rather than a mother killing her own brother-husband. That only made Yograj's brain itch even more.

The old man's jaw twitched. His mind was already spinning, but he forced himself to ask the question that now burned in his chest. His voice came in bursts, stuttering with urgency.

"Wait… wait, wait, wait. What about you then?" He pointed a crooked finger right at Razeal's chest as though poking the truth out of him. "You're the heir of the Virelan family now, aren't you? With your father dead, doesn't the responsibility fall on your shoulders to take care of the bloodline's future? Even more reason for them to come here and."

Yograj leaned forward like a hound catching the scent of madness. His words poured out faster than his wrinkled brain could organize them. "You have a sister, don't you? Right? You must. Don't you?" His eyes narrowed, catching the faint flicker on Razeal's face.. barely a reaction, but enough for him to leap on it like a starving wolf. "Ah-ha! You do, don't you! So tell me, boy.. are you going to marry her too? To keep the family going?!"

His voice had risen to a shout, the questions tumbling out of his mouth in a mess, like dice rattling across a table. He was so wrapped up in his own frenzy he didn't even notice Maria choking slightly on her drink at the bluntness of it, or Levy blinking so rapidly he looked like his eyelids were broken. Aurora simply froze at absurdity of words.

Razeal blinked, staring at Yograj as though the old man had grown horns. His reply came slow, flat, almost incredulous.

"No. Why would I marry her?"

Yograj flung both arms into the air, looking like he was about to pull out what little hair he had left. "To keep the family lineage pure, boy! The purity! The eternal purity!" His finger jabbed the air as though the word itself was divine law. "The Virelans have been doing this for generations.. generation after generation, direct lineage only!"

His tone was so matter-of-fact, so absolutely certain, that Levy nearly coughed into his hands. Maria rolled her eyes so hard she nearly saw her brain. Aurora just muttered under her breath, "This is insane…"

Razeal tilted his head slightly, confusion flickering across his usually cold features. "What are you talking about, old man? Who said anything about marrying?"

Yograj blinked back at him, frozen mid-gesture like a statue. His mouth flapped once, then twice. "I mean… isn't it important? You and your sister.. you're supposed to marry, right? For the family? To lead the Virelans, to produce the next heirs, to.." He waved his hands wildly, his voice rising with each word until he was practically screeching. "To have a son and daughter who can do the same damn thing again, so the future generations continue! Isn't that the whole bloody point?!"

The old man's voice cracked like a rooster at dawn.

Razeal's answer was calm, his voice even, as though explaining math to a particularly dense child. "Yeah, I'm aware of that tradition and ritual very well. But there isn't anything about marrying your sister."

The silence that followed was thick. Then Yograj's entire face scrunched up in disbelief, like a man trying to swallow vinegar. "Then what about… about… having pure lineage, boy?!" His hands trembled with the sheer force of his frustration. "How do you get kids then?!"

His voice had risen so high Levy thought the old man might actually pop a vein.

Razeal didn't even flinch. "Who said you need to marry to have kids? Every Virelan of pure lineage has the right to marry the spouse they choose.. whoever they love. Family or not. They have every right. Marriage is about choice. The bloodline continues regardless. Where do you think coletral lineage came from.. Not pure onea.."

He said it so casually, so calmly, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

Yograj, meanwhile, looked like he'd been struck by lightning. His face shifted between shock, horror, and sheer confusion. His mouth opened and closed soundlessly before he finally croaked out, "So you mean… they'll still have to… with the direct Virelan bloodline… but they don't need to marry them?"

"Yes." Razeal nodded with all the serenity of a monk.

Yograj blinked once. Twice. Then a third time. His face darkened, his lips trembling before the words burst out of him like an explosion.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

The curse echoed across the ship, making Aurora jump slightly and Maria mutter under her breath, "Finally, some honesty."

Levy's lips twitched as he fought to keep a straight face, but his shoulders shook anyway. He wasn't sure if he should laugh or just sit down and pray.

"This is just fucked up!" Yograj thundered, throwing his arms into the air again. "Absolutely insane! The most batshit family tradition I've ever heard of and I've lived long enough to see people marry goats for blessings!"

Maria nearly spat out her drink at that, while Aurora covered her face with one hand. Levy just muttered, "Goats… really?" under his breath.

But Yograj wasn't finished. His voice cracked as he leaned forward again, wagging his finger furiously at Razeal. "So let me ask again, boy. You will have kids with your sister, won't you? Definitely. And then… what? You'll go off and marry someone else on the side?!"

The disgust in his voice was so thick it could've been sliced with a knife.

Razeal tilted his head again, still calm, still collected. "No. Why would I?"

The old man froze, eyes bulging, before he let out a strangled cry. "But didn't you just say FAMILY FUCKING PURITY?!" His voice cracked so hard Levy flinched as if glass had shattered nearby.

"I don't care about it," Razeal said flatly, almost lazily. "I've already given them what they want. So they won't come after us. Don't worry, old man."

His tone was final, his expression steady, but Yograj just stared at him, his wrinkled face twisted with the most confused expression possible for a man his age.

His lips trembled, muttering half-formed words as though his brain couldn't decide which sentence to finish. Finally, he just slapped a hand over his own forehead, dragging it down his face dramatically. "This boy… this boy's mind is either broken from eternal hold or he was born this crazy."

Yograj shook his head furiously, throwing his hands up one more time. Yeah definitely. No. It's not me who got crazy in that hell hole. I'm not the one crazy here. It's him... He jabbed a thumb toward Razeal, his face red and exasperated. Him. Definitely HIM."

Razeal, of course, stood calm and unbothered, as though none of this had even slightly affected him. His black eyes glinted faintly as he looked at Yograj's theatrical meltdown, and he simply shrugged again.

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