Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1808: A Happy Family?

The dining table had been filled with warm laughter only moments ago, but the cheerful atmosphere gradually faded into an uneasy silence.

One by one, everyone noticed Young Aether sitting motionless, his eyes fixed on the image displayed on the tablet.

He didn’t blink.

He didn’t smile.

He simply stared, as though the childish drawing had awakened something buried deep within him.

Jonathan noticed the strange expression first. He reached over and gently patted Aether’s shoulder.

“Don’t take it to heart, man. He’s just a kid. Besides… he wasn’t exactly wrong.”

Emily nodded with an awkward smile.

“I mean… with most of your face covered and only your lips visible… he simply drew what he could actually see. Honestly, I think he did a pretty good job.”

Young Aether blinked once before a soft chuckle escaped his lips.

“Haha… I know. I was just… caught off guard.”

His eyes drifted back toward the drawing.

“…It’s frighteningly realistic.”

The warmth in his voice quietly vanished during those final words, leaving behind a chill that made everyone exchange puzzled glances.

Aether slowly smiled again, this time much gentler.

“I really like his drawing… It feels strange… as if it was trying to say something, yet you can’t understand it until the moment you finally see it. Haha…”

His gaze lingered on the crude sketch.

“That child… will become an incredible artist someday.”

Allen suddenly slapped both hands against his chest with exaggerated pride.

“Of course he will! Whose son do you think he is?”

Young Aether smiled.

Yet despite the curve on his lips, something behind his eyes remained distant. The smile reached everyone else… except himself.

The family gradually returned to eating.

A few moments later, Noah came jogging back from the restroom, tiny hands still damp as he hurriedly wiped them against the towel before climbing onto his small chair.

The instant he looked up…

Every adult at the table was staring directly at him.

“…”

Noah blinked.

Another blink.

Then, without saying a single word, he slowly picked up his tablet… raised it in front of his face like an emergency shield…

…and quietly disappeared behind it.

Only the very top of his messy hair remained visible.

Only Noah’s cautious little eyes occasionally peeked over the edge of the tablet before immediately ducking back down whenever someone looked his way.

Young Aether couldn’t help laughing.

“When you’re finished…”

Noah stiffened.

“…would you show me your drawing?”

“…”

Instead, the tablet rose another inch higher.

Only two nervous eyes remained visible.

Young Aether simply chuckled and shook his head before continuing his meal. The conversation naturally drifted toward the battle from earlier, with everyone eagerly asking about the monsters and the fierce fight inside the Hell’s Gate.

Jonathan swallowed another bite before looking at him.

“So… you destroyed that strange hypercube connected to the portal?”

Young Aether nodded.

“Yeah. During the fight, I accidentally destroyed it.”

Jonathan immediately turned toward Allen.

Allen silently nodded as realisation spread across his face.

“That explains everything.”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

“The portal shouldn’t have collapsed. It was already stabilised. If destroying that cube shut it down…”

His eyes slowly widened.

“…then perhaps every Hell’s Gate has one.”

The room fell silent.

Jonathan immediately continued the thought.

“If we can recover one intact… study how it functions… and figure out its purpose…”

A slow grin spread across his face.

“…we might actually discover a way to permanently close every Hell’s Gate.”

Even the sound of utensils quietly stopped.

Hope quietly settled over everyone.

For the first time in years…

The impossible no longer sounded impossible.

Emily finally broke the silence.

“Then what about everything you heard over there? If someone is manipulating both worlds… shouldn’t that become our biggest concern?”

Jonathan folded his arms before shaking his head.

“Not yet.”

Everyone turned toward him.

“With the evidence we have, the President would never believe us.”

He paused before speaking more seriously.

“And honestly… I don’t believe it either.”

Several brows immediately furrowed.

Jonathan calmly continued.

“What if it’s another layer of deception?”

He looked directly at Young Aether.

“What if someone deliberately fed you that story? What better way to defeat an enemy than convincing them they’ve misunderstood everything?”

His fingers lightly tapped the table.

“If our Empire starts doubting itself… hesitates… lowers its guard…”

His eyes narrowed.

“…that’s exactly when someone strikes.”

“…”

Emily slowly lowered her gaze.

“…That… actually makes sense.”

Young Aether stared at Jonathan without blinking.

Jonathan met his gaze without hesitation.

“Let’s assume you spoke the truth.”

He leaned forward.

“Let’s assume someone orchestrated everything from the beginning.”

Another pause.

“Now answer me this. What if… that revelation was also part of the plan?”

The room seemed to grow heavier.

“Our Empire has destroyed cities. It has spilled blood.”

He slowly looked around the table.

“What if that story was designed to make us question ourselves? To fill us with guilt… slow our decisions… divide our leaders…”

His voice became sharp.

“…and while we’re busy arguing about whether we’re the villains… the real enemy wins.”

No one spoke.

Only the faint clinking of Noah’s stylus against his tablet echoed through the dining room.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Everyone’s expressions gradually turned grim as they looked at one another, silently processing Jonathan’s words. The more they thought about it, the more unsettling the possibility became.

If someone truly possessed the intelligence to manipulate two worlds from the shadows, then planting a carefully crafted lie to make their enemies hesitate was not impossible.

After all, there was simply too much at stake to place their faith in a single video that proved almost nothing.

It raised countless questions, yet answered none of them.

Young Aether remained silent for several long moments before finally nodding.

“I understand.”

His reply was calm and surprisingly brief, yet everyone understood what he meant.

He possessed almost no evidence capable of supporting such an unbelievable claim. Even if he believed every word himself, belief alone could never overturn the situation right now.

To every person sitting around this table, Arcane was humanity’s greatest saviour.

She had rescued the Empire during its darkest era, guided countless survivors through despair, and rebuilt a civilisation that had nearly vanished from existence.

Everything they enjoyed today had been built upon the foundation she created, making it impossible for anyone to casually accept that she might have been deceived… or worse, manipulated.

Sensing that gloomy mood, Lily suddenly looked toward Young Aether before speaking with innocent curiosity.

“So… Unc Aether… are you seeing anyone?”

Tang!

The sharp metallic sound echoed across the dining room as a spoon slipped from someone’s hand and bounced against a plate before spinning to a stop.

Everyone instinctively turned toward the source.

It wasn’t Young Aether.

It was Allen.

Allen stared at his daughter with a mixture of confusion, disbelief, and the unmistakable panic of an overprotective father whose imagination had already sprinted far beyond reality.

“…Why are you asking that?”

Lily blinked before casually shrugging her shoulders.

“I-I don’t know… just… general knowledge.”

Allen’s eyebrow twitched so hard it almost looked painful.

“What kind of general knowledge is that supposed to be?”

His expression gradually became more suspicious as memories from every romance anime he had seen flooded into his mind.

He knew this pattern.

The female lead suddenly became interested in the mysterious protagonist.

Then she casually asked whether he already had someone.

It always started with harmless curiosity.

Harmless, my foot!

That question was never asked for “general knowledge.”

It was reconnaissance.

It was information gathering!

It was checking whether there was already another heroine standing in the way.

Allen slowly narrowed his eyes before turning toward Young Aether.

‘Absolutely not. Not on my watch. I refuse to let my precious daughter become one of those romance novel heroines!’

His suspicious glare immediately locked onto Young Aether.

Young Aether simply blinked back with an innocent expression, completely bewildered by the hostility aimed in his direction.

‘Brother… I honestly have no idea why she asked that. I have absolutely no interest in your daughter.’

‘Please stop looking at me like I secretly seduced her while fighting monsters.’

Allen’s accusing stare felt so heavy that Young Aether almost wanted to defend himself despite having committed absolutely no crime.

It was the kind of gaze capable of making an innocent man question his own innocence.

Jonathan quietly watched the entire exchange while chewing another mouthful of food before letting out a helpless sigh.

“Allen.”

“What?”

“You’ve been reading romance novels again, haven’t you?”

Allen nearly jumped from his chair.

“I have not.”

Jonathan raised an eyebrow.

“You’re making the exact same face every overprotective father makes before the protagonist gets chased out of the house.”

“I-I am not!!” Allen’s face turned red… Lily covered her face in embrassment!

Emily covered her mouth, trying and failing to suppress her laughter and eventually regained her composure before looking back toward Young Aether with genuine curiosity sparkling in her eyes.

“But honestly… I was wondering the same thing.”

“You too?”

Allen wore the expression of a man whose entire world had just collapsed. He slowly turned toward Emily, clutching his chest as though he had suffered the greatest betrayal imaginable.

“…Emily.”

Emily blinked in complete confusion.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Allen pointed at her with a trembling finger.

“You… you asked him too.”

Emily tilted her head innocently.

“Why are you acting so dramatic? I was just curious.”

Lily nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, Dad. Why are you acting so weird?”

Allen clutched his chest even tighter as if another invisible arrow had pierced his heart.

“T-That’s how it starts…”

His voice trembled dramatically.

“It always starts with curiosity…”

He lowered his head, looking like a man standing on the edge of an emotional cliff.

“Then people start talking…”

“They spend more time together…”

“And before you know it…”

“My daughter becomes the heroine…”

He looked utterly devastated.

“…and I’m suddenly the father who keeps saying, ‘Take good care of my daughter.ʼ”

Jonathan couldn’t watch the theatrical performance any longer. He sighed before giving Allen a firm, supportive pat on the shoulder.

“Come on, man. You don’t need to worry about your daughter.”

Allen slowly lifted his head, hope flickering back into his eyes.

“…What?”

Jonathan looked at him with absolute seriousness.

“Did you forget who he is?”

Allen blinked.

Jonathan nodded toward Young Aether.

“He only attracts crazy women.”

“…”

The dining room instantly fell silent.

Allen’s eyes widened.

He slowly turned toward Lily.

Then toward Young Aether.

Then toward Emily.

Then back toward Young Aether again.

A long moment passed before his shoulders suddenly relaxed.

“Puuu…”

He casually brushed imaginary dust from his sleeves before letting out an enormous sigh of relief.

“Hahaha… thank goodness.”

He wiped away imaginary tears from the corners of his eyes.

“I almost forgot about that.”

He looked at his wife and daughter with overwhelming gratitude.

“I’m so glad you two are perfectly normal. Hahaha… he’ll never, ever be interested in either of you. Thank goodness. I’m so happ…”

His laughter abruptly stopped.

A chilling glare landed squarely on the side of his face.

Allen slowly turned his head.

Young Aether was quietly looking at him.

He wasn’t smiling.

Allen immediately coughed and awkwardly looked away.

“…I may have spoken a little too confidently.”

Lily frowned in confusion.

“Crazy?”

She looked back and forth between the two men.

“What do you mean by that, Dad?”

Before Allen could answer, Young Aether calmly placed his fork on the table.

“We should finish eating before the food gets cold.”

His voice remained perfectly calm.

Perhaps too calm.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ever so slightly, causing everyone to instinctively fall silent.

Even Emily, who had only been joking moments earlier, felt an inexplicable chill hidden beneath his composed tone. It wasn’t anger or annoyance, but something much deeper that quietly warned everyone not to continue down that path.

Realising they had stumbled onto a topic Young Aether clearly didn’t wish to discuss, nobody asked another question.

The conversation naturally died down, and everyone quietly finished the rest of their meal.

Once dinner was over, Allen stood from his chair with a satisfied groan before stretching both arms above his head. His joints cracked one after another as he rolled his shoulders and looked toward Young Aether.

“Come on, Aether. Let’s get going.”

Jonathan looked up in confusion.

“Going where?”

Young Aether also looked puzzled until Allen answered.

“To the hotel I booked for him.”

Jonathan frowned so hard his eyebrows nearly met.

“…Hotel?”

He looked between the two of them in disbelief.

“Why the hell is he staying in a hotel? We have more than enough rooms here.”

Allen casually shrugged his shoulders.

“He was the one who insisted.”

His eyes subtly shifted toward Young Aether, carrying an almost pleading look that silently begged him to play along.

“He said he didn’t want to disturb my family.”

Young Aether immediately understood what Allen was trying to do.

After everything that had happened at the dinner table, Allen was probably still worried that his wife or daughter might somehow become attracted to him. Booking a hotel was his own clumsy way of keeping everyone comfortably separated.

Although the realisation left a faint sting somewhere inside his chest, Young Aether simply smiled without showing even the slightest hint of disappointment.

“Yeah, I asked for it myself.”

He stood from his chair and lightly dusted off his clothes before looking at Jonathan with an easy smile.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be perfectly fine.”

A playful grin slowly appeared on his face.

“Besides, if you really feel bad about it… you’re always welcome to stay at the hotel with me.”

Jonathan frowned as he looked back and forth between the two of them, unable to understand what was happening.

“Why do you want to stay away? I don’t get it. This house is huge! Heck, the three of us could sleep in the same room while everyone else takes the others without any problem.”

Before Young Aether could respond, Allen casually hooked an arm around his shoulder and began dragging him toward the front door.

“Well, he was the one who asked for it, and as his friend, I should keep my word. See ya~”

“W-Wait!”

Jonathan instinctively reached out, but the front door had already closed behind them.

Jonathan remained standing in place, staring at the closed door for several long seconds. His expression gradually darkened before frustration finally erupted. He slammed his fist onto the dining table with enough force to make the dishes rattle, startling everyone in the room.

“Is this his way of hiding from the truth?”

His sharp gaze shifted toward Emily.

“Huh?”

Emily lowered her eyes without answering.

Noah quietly shuffled behind his mother, peeking around her arm with nervous eyes.

Lily, Sasha, and Maiuri also remained silent.

Jonathan let out a cold scoff before leaning against the table.

“That stubborn idiot…” His jaw tightened as anger and helplessness mixed together.

“He can’t keep running forever. One way or another, he’s going to have to face it.”