Ilay entered the room with Richard. His bored and somewhat amused expression turned murderous when he saw his nieces. His gloved hands, which relaxed in his pockets, clenched by his sides as he walked towards them.
"Who does this little girl think she is, to attack my Karl like that?"
The man took a step forward, glaring at Christoph and Taeui, while the rest of the room stepped back, putting distance between them and the beast that had just entered the room.
Ilay's eyes locked on the man, and he stopped, turning to him in a slow, calculated motion. The corner of his lips quirked up at the edge ever so slightly as his eyes narrowed. Taeui moved by instinct, putting himself between them.
"Get out of my way, Taeui."
Taeui swallowed. He didn't know what to say to diffuse Ilay's temper, and doubted that there was something that would.
"This is what they want," Taeui whispered, taking a step closer.
Ilay's eyes were sharp as ice, and it was a wonder how Karl's father didn't drop dead right there.
'So what?'
That was what Ilay's eyes said. He was about to snap, and the chances were it wouldn't end with Karl's father going to the hospital. Karl stood behind his father, within his mother's embrace, tears falling as he looked at Amber and Scarlet.
"This girl attacked my boy!" The man spoke in anger.
Taeui glared back at the man, thinking he had a death wish. No, he had a goal and would even put his life on the line for it. Richard stepped up and stood in front of the man, closer to Christoph than Ilay, bringing his attention to him.
"We have two children crying and bleeding. Before we point fingers, we should ask them what happened."
Richard's voice was assertive but calm as he addressed the man and the room.
Ilay's eyes didn't leave Karl's father for a second. His glazed eyes told Taeui that whatever Ilay was imagining was grim, and there was a small thread of sanity that kept him from fulfilling his desires right that second.
"Uncle."
The voice was so low and frail, Taeui thought he imagined it, but then he saw Ilay look to where the voice came from, and the temperature dropped even lower.
Pop.
When Amber met Ilay's eyes, the bubble she was in that made it hard for her to breathe popped and she inhaled fresh air as if it were novelty. The high pitch noise became decipherable sounds but her heart still ran wild in her chest.
She found her strength and stood up, bringing everyone's attention to her.
"What's there to say? Everyone saw her attack my boy. These two are savages just like their uncle!" Karl's father raged as he looked at Ilay.
"Thomas, I understand your concern for Karl, however, Scarlet is bleeding as well."
Taeui was glad that Richard was there since his opinion was highly regarded and taken into consideration. And thanks to the way he directed the attention to the children, Thomas couldn't continue provoking Ilay straight away.
Ilay's attention was solely on his nieces again. Scarlet standing right next to her sister, silently crying and angrily looking at Karl. And Amber whose eyes remained on her uncle's.
However, Taeui noticed the storm in Ilay's eyes. It wasn't just anger he felt, there was something else conflicting with his emotions when his eyes met Amber's and he saw the jolt of her shoulders and the twitch on her nose.
Amber took a step forward and stood next to Christoph, looking up at Richard. She gulped and then spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear her.
"My sister and I were choosing what to have when he approached us. He said some mean things about our uncles, and when I ignored him, he pushed me."
"Oh, please. Kids push each other all the time," dismissed Thomas.
Unwavering, she looked at Thomas. "Scarlet pushed him back."
"You need your little sister to protect you?" The man scoffed.
Amber clenched her hands and her jaw. She was about to cry. Sniffling back her tears, she continued.
"You glared at him, calling his name until he punched her."
Thomas scowled, pressing his lips together.
"What happened next is what you only chose to remember. My little sister pushed him down and hit him."
She took a deep breath and grabbed Christoph's pants as if to steady herself. Christoph looked down at her, displeased, but didn't move away and instead gave her a short nod.
"That was what happened," she said, looking at Richard.
"Karl, do you have anything to say?" Richard asked gently.
The boy, in his mother's embrace, shook his head and bit his lips. A long silence followed. During that silence, Helena walked in and dashed to her girls, looking around angrily as she tried to understand what had happened.
"Is this how you teach your children?" Ilay said, his eyes finally leaving Amber.
"Big words for a killer like you," Thomas scoffed angrily.
"Ah, right. Shall I deal with it like I always do?" Taeui felt a shiver run through his spine when Ilay took a step forward. "It breaks my heart knowing Karl will grow up without a father. Oh, well."
The man trembled in fear, his bravado completely gone as Ilay's eyes looked directly at him, without an ounce of mercy. For a moment, Ilay looked at Taeui, telling him to step aside, but in the time that Taeui pondered his choices, Amber walked towards them.
"All of you keep calling uncle Ilay a killer and a monster who wouldn't hesitate to kill everyone here. However, the way I see it, the only reason anyone is hurt at all is because of your son."
Ilay watched as Amber stood next to him and confronted Thomas again. He noticed how her clenched fists trembled at her sides and how small beads of perspiration dotted her face.
"Shut up, girl. No one cares what you think."
"This began with your son, so shouldn't we start with him to resolve it?"
Taeui's attention turned to her. She reminded him of Kyle.
"Who do you think you are talking back to me? Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"
"Did you teach your son manners, or only taught him how to hit children smaller than him?"
That was definitely her mother's boldness.
"You brat! I'll teach yo–"
"Don't shout. It's rude."
"Enough!" Interrupted Richard. "This won't go anywhere. So let's end this peacefully. Karl should apologise to the girls, and Scarlet to him."
"My boy will not apologise to anyone!"
"Then you apologise," said Ilay. "Apologise on behalf of your son and apologise for yelling. Like Amber said, it's unbecoming."
"What?" He glared at Ilay and then looked at Richard with his mouth open.
Richard nodded, either he apologised or his son did. Thomas pulled Karl by the arm, his small eyes red and puffy. Thomas glared at his son and, without a word, pushed him.
The boy looked at Amber, standing next to Ilay, looking back at him. She wasn't glaring nor looking down at him. She wasn't looking at him with pity like his mom did either. And that just made him angrier and sadder.
Before Karl even apologised to Amber, Thomas walked away from the room without looking back. Karl's tears ran dry as he turned to Scarlet, in her mother's embrace, and he apologised too. He felt a jab in his heart seeing her angry expression, with dry blood on her nose and eyes, soaked in tears. The boy and his mother left the room after Scarlet apologised to him. Then, one by one, the guests in the room began dispersing.
Ilay remained silent as everyone left, fighting a battle on his own as his eyes focused far away. Helena and Daniel walked away with the girls, Richard and Christroph followed them, leaving just Taeui and him in the room.
Alone in the room, Taeui stepped closer to Ilay, staring into his eyes, focused elsewhere. Taeui caressed Ilay's cheek softly, bringing his attention back to him. His eyes focused on Taeui. Ilay removed one of his gloves and pulled Taeui's nape to him, lightly kissing him on his lips, before putting his gloves back on and walking away.
Ilay disappeared for the rest of the day, only returning right after dinner time. Taeui was in their room, spread on the bed, when Ilay walked in, and lay on top of Taeui, resting his face on his neck. His weight was a comfort to Taeui, who relaxed under him.
"You did well," Taeui said, hugging Ilay.
"She flinched when she saw me," Ilay muttered. "She is scared of me, but she still talked to me just now, pulling me away for a moment."
"What did she say?"
"She asked me to teach her how to fight."
"..."
"I said no. I told her I would protect them and she wouldn't need to learn how to fight nor inherit Riegrow if she didn't want to."
Ilay scoffed. "She looked me dead in the eye and said she hated me and ran away crying."
Taeui held Ilay closer, brushing his fingers along his back.
"I made her cry, and I don't even know why. Should I have said yes? Even though she is too young for any of this?"
"I don't think she hates you, she is just going through a lot. She saw her sister getting hurt because she tried to protect her."
"Fighting doesn't suit her at all. She should understand that."
Taeui took a deep breath. She knew that better than anyone, and that probably made it even harder for her to bring it up, and have her uncle say no just like that.
"Think about it like this. Imagine that situation with you as Amber, who doesn't know how to fight and me, act-first-think-later Scarlet, who rushed in to protect her sister. How would you feel?"
"I would kill the fucker who hurt you."
Taeui chuckled. "Right. But Amber is not the type to fight and when she was pushed, she didn't do anything and instead her sister got hurt."
"So?"
"Amber is probably feeling guilty, thinking her sister got hurt because she didn't fight back."
Ilay chewed over Taeui's words in silence. He couldn't wrap his head around it. He never felt guilty before, so he couldn't relate to it. He clung to Taeui, thinking about it, feeling Taeui slowly fall asleep under him.
"Taeui, be careful tomorrow."