“I’m a giant compared to you!”
Realizing that Myuke was actually taller than her, Bram averted her gaze. She was fighting a losing battle, so she needed to find a different approach. Moments later, she swung her head back toward Myuke.
“Tell me how old you are, m’kay?”
“I’m twelve.”
“You’re older, and that’s all you could muster?” Bram smirked. “Pathetic, m’kay?”
“You’ve got some nerve to mouth off to your elders! Right, Daddy? Tell her!”
Bram’s eyes popped wide open.
“Y-You’re Anima’s daughter? M’kay...”
“I am.”
“S-So that makes you my stepdaughte—”
“Are you nuts?! Luina is my one and only mother, and that’ll never change!”
That revelation was a blow to Bram, so much so that she waddled backward. Trembling, she looked to Anima for comfort.
“You’re married? Tell me the truth, m’kay?”
“I am.”
“Get a divorce, m’kay?”
“We won’t,” Luina said snappishly, taking control of the conversation.
“Why not?!” Bram blurted in a fit of rage while she glared at Luina. “Just do what I tell you, m’kay?!”
“No. I love Anima, so that’s not going to happen.”
“I love you too, Luina.”
Anima reached for Luina’s hand and linked his fingers together with hers. The sight was too much for Bram, who started to tear up.
“Why?! You could fish up a whole school with those looks, so why’d you have to catch Anima?! Go find someone else, m’kay?!”
“Then why do you want to marry Daddy? I admit, he’s cool as hell, but there are other men out there!”
“Because they’re all weaker than me! I want a family that’s strong, m’kay?!”
“Oh, so that’s what you meant when you said I ‘passed’ at the end of our fight.”
Anima had finally caught on, to some extent. He still had no idea why she longed for a strong family, though.
“Every other man, all those people who came to exterminate me, failed. You’re the only one worthy of becoming my husband, m’kay?”
Bram gave an enthusiastic speech in hope of convincing Anima to marry her. He didn’t mind the attention, but what she was proposing was out of the question. There was only one girl in the whole wide world he would ever call his wife, and that was Luina.
“Excuse me, Lord Anima,” Shaer interrupted, “but we have to hurry.”
They were all going to miss the boarding call if they spent any longer standing around. Anima couldn’t have that, not when the girls were so excited to ride the ship. Even so, he couldn’t ignore a weeping girl either.
“I’ll pay for your ticket, so tell me everything on the ship, okay?”
Bram’s tears immediately dried up, and her face blossomed into a euphoric smile.