The Tyrant's Pet

"Tilly thinks she's the greatest bluffer of all time. So Sunny sometimes backs her up to cause more confusion. But she's not sleeping. Though, you have to prepare yourself because Tilly might've misunderstood the time that it's just the two of you in this place. Just hope she didn't."

<strong>'Huh?'</strong>

Question marks filled Isaiah's speech bubble at Law's remarks, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, Isaiah assessed the people that came to the chapel for Abel's funeral.

His eyes first landed on the strange lady sitting on the first pew before moving his eyes to Sunny. Sunny already stood in front of Tilly, doing peek-a-boo to get a reaction from Tilly but to no avail. It was a silly sight to behold, but Isaiah didn't dwell on it.

Instead, Isaiah shifted his eyes to the men who came with Sunny. The first thing he caught was the man with golden hair walking in Isaiah's direction. Isaiah raised his guards on instinct, but then the blonde man turned on his heel, sitting on the first pew opposite Tilly's.

The young teen, Law, also followed the blonde man and sat beside him. Meanwhile, the young man named Claude sauntered in Isaiah's direction. But instead of sitting on the pews, he didn't stop until he was at Isaiah's arm's length.

"Condolences?" Claude flashed Isaiah a smile, tilting his head to get a glimpse of the coffin behind Isaiah. "So, he's Tilly's brother, huh? I heard many things about him, but I want to confirm one thing."

Isaiah's brows rose, watching Claude straighten his back.

"Tilly said her brother was a nutcase. Is that true?" asked Claude with pure curiosity swirling in his eyes.

Isaiah opened and closed his mouth, but no words came out. All he could do for a moment was study this young man before him. Somehow, he could feel that despite that this young man seemed to be in his early twenties, Claude was just as wild as Abel back in the day.

"That is a question I cannot answer," Isaiah replied solemnly, only for Claude to clap.

"So he is!" the corner of Claude's lips stretched from ear to ear. "I'm looking forward to meeting him. Don't worry. Even if Tilly failed because she fell asleep, I'll wake him up for you."

Claude winked at Isaiah before strutting away, joining Tilly and Sunny. Claude was just as carefree as Sunny, talking to Tilly, who wasn't even responding.

<strong>If Tilly claimed she was sleeping, doesn't that mean Tilly didn't want to be disturbed? </strong>This thought crossed Isaiah, seeing how Sunny and Claude bother Tilly, regardless of Tilly's claim.

Isaiah observed the three first, and they weren't talking about anything that could be deemed important. After a minute, he shifted his eyes to the opposite pew. The moment he did, he caught Law yawning while leaning back. The other man with him didn't move or speak, but he was staring at Isaiah as if sizing him up.

Isaiah never felt awkward in his life, but right now, it surprised him he could feel such emotion. There were five people in the chapel, excluding Abel and Isaiah. And these guests didn't seem to have that many questions — no, actually, it seemed they didn't have any questions at all.

There were many scenarios and expectations Isaiah had in his mind before he came face to face with these people. One of them was a thick and suffocating air that one would instantly feel the tension between him and them. He also expected that these people would try to intimidate him intentionally or not.

However, it didn't happen.

He felt no particular negative energy from them. If anything, this meeting felt rather… normal.

Did he just expect too much, considering what sort of person Marsella was? The first family member that showed up in the Haimirich Empire?

These people didn't seem they really didn't have goals or motives and simply attended the funeral.

"Sunny, how can you shamelessly giggle when we're at your grandfather's funeral?" Isaiah snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Claude's remarks. "Cry since he fed you while you're here. You too, Tilly. You should cry since your brother is lying over there."

Tilly faced Claude. "I am crying." Her voice was deadpan.

"Tilly, there should be tears like this." Sunny forced a tear out of her eyes, which rendered Claude and Isaiah speechless.

"Wow… can you really force a tear that easily?" Claude blurted out, now realizing how this little girl got her fingers wrapped around everyone.

"It took me ten years of practice —"

"You're five."

Sunny pursed her lips upon Claude's remarks, resorting to ignoring him as she faced Tilly. "Tilly, just think of any sad scenario whenever you want to cry. As for me, I always imagine that I will no longer have anything to eat, and that thought really makes me sad."

Tilly blinked. "But thinking scenarios that hadn't happened takes so much of my energy."

"..."

"Tilly, just think of anything that happened —"

"I forgot."

Sunny pinched the bridge of her nose while Claude's face was scrunched up while watching the two. At this point, he should've gone used to Tilly, but he just couldn't. Probably, if he lived with Tilly for a century.

As Sunny taught Tilly how to cry at a funeral, Isaiah set his eyes down. He stood in that same spot, listening to this menial conversation, Law's deep breaths as he had fallen asleep, and the other man's nonchalance.

It was really different from what he expected, and that somehow put a bit of ease in his heart.

Isaiah stood in the same spot without moving a muscle. He didn't know how much time passed, but he did notice that the light filtering through the stained glass slowly dimmed.

After so long, Isaiah felt another two presence approaching the chapel.

The moment he did, the conversation in the background and Law's deep breaths stopped. Isaiah slowly shifted his eyes to the open door, hearing light footsteps, and two shadows stretched inside the chapel.

"My god, Sam. I told you not to wander off." Soon, Isaiah heard a woman's sarcastic voice, along with the footsteps.

"I didn't wander off —" Another voice of a man followed after hers. "Right. I did wander off, but hey, I managed to meet you here, didn't I?"

As the two figures crossed the entrance of the chapel, what came into sight was a woman with curly hazel hair and a towering man with bright silver hair. Isaiah couldn't help but glance at Law, because that man looked exactly like this kid.

<strong>'So these are…'</strong> Isaiah's thoughts trailed off the moment he heard Sunny's excited call.

"Papa!"