What if Arus didn’t actually love Aisha but had just imprinted on her? In other words, what if he just wanted to have sex? It might just be temporary lust, not love.
I wasn’t going to come out and say that was wrong. I had no right to say it was bad to live according to your natural human instincts. It might have started as temporary lust, but over time, it could develop into something real.
However, was Arus really capable of making good or bad decisions at his age? Could he really make that call?
This wasn’t even specifically about his age. Eris and I had first slept together when we were around his age. Well, in my case, I’d been over forty if you counted my previous life, but we would leave that aside for now.
Arus had barely said anything during the family meeting and had left almost everything in Aisha’s hands. If things had proceeded the way she wanted, we might have concluded that she was at fault for everything. Arus didn’t object. He left everything to Aisha, let her be the villain, and tried to escape from punishment. That was why Eris was so furious.
You could argue that he’d simply followed Aisha’s directions, but that wasn’t good either. This wasn’t a situation where there was only one person in the wrong. You could also argue Aisha was in the wrong because she was the older of the two and capable of making better decisions. However, as far as I was concerned, they were both responsible for their own actions.
Arus should’ve spoken up instead of letting Aisha cover for them. They both should have pushed back against me. He should’ve thought with his own head, no matter how clumsily it might’ve turned out. There was no way I could accept their relationship when he couldn’t do that much.
I studied Arus. He looked back at me with a terrified expression on his face. It felt like he’d completely shrunk into himself after Eris punched him, like he had no intention of trying to get through to me and out of this situation.
Seeing him like this made me wonder if Aisha had been cleaning up after him every time he messed up. Let’s say I told them, If you both love each other, it is what it is. But no marriage until Arus is of age. Would Arus grow from that? Aisha couldn’t control Arus this time. Hell, to my surprise, she couldn’t control herself. What about next time?
She’d been practically attached to Arus since he’d been born. I’d left his education in her hands and assumed she’d never teach him anything she wasn’t supposed to. However, when it came to things she didn’t know about herself, she had no way of educating him. She had to do some learning of her own.
Considering her past actions, she’d probably learn and grow from this. I highly doubted that Arus would.
Because he didn’t say or do anything earlier. Yeah, this isn’t gonna work. I need to separate them for now.
That’s why I was against this.
Honestly, though, that wasn’t why I objected. It was one reason, but it wasn’t the reason. Both Aisha and Arus could learn to do better as they went along. They could do that together. That’s why my resistance, my repulsion couldn’t be explained away by any of that. But then what was it? I didn’t know. Even so, I felt like I had to come to a decision here, at least for now.
“It’s a little early, but I’m going to have you attend the academy in Asura Kingdom. You’ll live in the dorms,” I said.
After struggling to figure out what was best, that was the conclusion I reached. It was almost the same exact one that Paul had come up with when he saw Sylphie and me together.
“What?! You’re ripping us apart?” Aisha asked, shocked.
“Exactly. Arus isn’t an adult yet, and I think he’s too dependent on you. It’s best to separate you two for now, so he can learn to be more independent.”
“Wait. Hold on, Brother. I know what we did wasn’t right, but I promise I’ll be more careful from now on. I’ll make sure I do what’s best for him. I know he’s learned from what happened. He gets it after his mom punched him. Please—”
“No means no,” I said.
“But why?! At least tell me why! Convince me!”
“Because I don’t want you two together.”
“I’m asking you why you feel that way! Because you want to make Arus marry Lady Ariel’s daughter? Because I’m in the way?!”
“No.” Where was that even coming from? It was true that Ariel had approached me briefly with something along those lines, but I never once gave her a favorable response.
“Then is it because I’m your property? Even though you never once treated me that way before?!”
“No. I’ve never thought of you like that.”
“Then why?! Give me a real reason! If you can convince me, I promise I’ll give up! Make me stop!” Aisha said desperately.
“Even I don’t know why! But no means no!” I said.
Aisha bit her bottom lip. It was rare for her to glare at me the way she was right now. In fact, I don’t think she’d ever looked at me like this before. It wasn’t scary. If anything, she just looked sad.
I knew how badly I was failing to express myself to her, but what else could I say? I had no way to explain the resistance I had to their relationship. Even saying it aloud did nothing to get rid of the gross feeling I had inside of me. It just felt wrong. Did I need a reason for the feeling? Did I even have one?
Even if I needed a reason, I didn’t care. I couldn’t put it into words, but I wouldn’t back down.
“No, Aisha,” I said as calmly as I could.
I was basically using my authority to force my opinion on her. There was no way she’d accept it.
Aisha stared at me in shock. She gasped for air a few times, and as she observed my face, the color drained from hers.
Abruptly, however, she started breathing again, and her shoulders relaxed. She took a calm, steady breath.
Had I been wrong?
“Right. When you put it like that, Arus skipped school today, and he’s had nothing but sex on the mind recently. It’d be bad for him to be around me,” she said.
I’d thought I couldn’t convince her, but it seemed I’d gotten through to her.
“I appreciate your understanding.”
“I get it, Brother.”
With that, our family meeting came to an end.