The Thrill of Marriage is Momentary, the Aftermath is a Crematorium

Brenna quickly stepped forward and, half-laughing, half-exasperated, pulled the little girl away.

“Shirley! Let go! This is your cousin, you can’t bite him!”

The little girl, pulled away, pouted in dissatisfaction, pointed at Black with her milky voice, and said righteously.

“Didn’t you say you were going to bring me something tasty? This person is all hard, not tasty at all!”

Black: “…”

Several dark lines appeared on his forehead; for a moment, he was speechless.

‘Whose brat is this, with a face just begging to be smacked?!’

Brenna looked apologetic and explained to Black.

“Cousin, I’m sorry. This is my little sister, Shirley.”

“She was born after Mom and Dad came to the imperial capital. She’s only five this year. You two have never met, so she doesn’t know you.”

Black looked at the little pipsqueak who was glaring at him as if he were a walking piece of cake.

He felt both amused and surprised.

He hadn’t expected to have another…

…cousin with a pretty good bite in this world.

As Black stood in the courtyard talking with his cousins, he suddenly heard the creak of a door opening.

A middle-aged woman in a luxurious silk dress walked out gracefully from the house.

She was well-maintained and still possessed a certain charm, but her brows carried a lingering air of arrogance.

Like a proud peacock.

Black only needed a single glance to immediately recognize her.

His aunt, Denise.

The reason he could confirm it so quickly was simple.

His impression of his aunt’s “peacock aura” was too profound; even after more than a decade, it hadn’t changed in the slightest.

In fact, as the family’s fortunes had improved, it had gained a touch more imperiousness.

He remembered his mother once saying that his aunt had been the village belle in her youth, beautiful as a flower, with suitors lining up from one end of the village to the other.

Even a viscount had come to propose marriage.

At that time, his aunt could have married into the viscount’s family and lived the life of a noble in fine clothes and with choice food.

But she just had to meet the young and handsome Victor at the market, fall for him at first sight, and, against her parents’ wishes, insist on marrying this poor fisherman.

However, the saying, “The thrill of marriage is momentary, the aftermath is a crematorium,” described her situation perfectly.

Black’s family had been fishermen for three generations and were quite poor.

When Uncle Victor was young, he could barely scrape together a few copper coins.

The passionate vows of eternal love were fragile in the face of the trivialities of daily necessities and the reality of poverty.

Denise came from a declining baron’s family. Although they had fallen on hard times, she had lived a relatively comfortable life growing up.

Suddenly falling to the bottom rung of society—the unpalatable food, the shabby living quarters, the tight budget—the gap in her heart grew day by day.

Regret sprouted like weeds.

But she was the one who had cut off ties to marry him back then, so how could she have the face to return to her parents’ home now?

Thus, all her grievances turned into daily complaints and scolding.

All of which were poured onto her husband, Victor.

And Victor was a typical henpecked husband who never talked back and only endured it silently.

This displaced anger naturally spread to Black’s family.

In Denise’s eyes, Black’s family was just a bunch of poor relatives who couldn’t be brought out into polite society.

When they were young, Black and his sister had received no shortage of disdainful looks and scorn from this aunt, leading the siblings to have no fond feelings for her either.

Now, seeing his uncle’s rather grand residence, Black figured his aunt had finally achieved the affluent life she had yearned for.

Logically, she should be much more content.

But he keenly sensed that when Denise’s gaze swept over him, it still carried a hint of contempt.

“Shirley, come here!”

His aunt frowned, reaching out to pull little Shirley, who was sticking close to Black, to her side.

Her tone was filled with disgust.

“Don’t go touching strangers. What if you touch something unclean and get sick?”

When Brenna saw her mother come out, she quickly ran over to introduce him.

“Mom, he’s not a stranger, he’s Cousin Black! On the ship a few days ago, it was Cousin who saved Leán and me!”

However, Denise only gave Black a faint glance and replied nonchalantly with an “Oh.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

She said it perfunctorily, then picked up Shirley and turned to walk back into the house.

“Don’t just stand there, come in and have a seat.”

Black didn’t mind his aunt’s coldness; in fact, he found it somewhat amusing.

In his eyes, although his aunt was harsh and snobbish, she wasn’t cunning.

All her emotions were written plainly on her face. If she didn’t like you, she didn’t like you, and she couldn’t be bothered to pretend otherwise.

She simply didn’t want to be associated with a country bumpkin like him.

In the living room, Victor and Leán surrounded Black, asking endless questions.

They were especially concerned about the situation back home and Black’s experiences over the years.

Black patiently answered them one by one.

Victor asked how Black had managed to clear his name and even become a Dragon-Slaying Guard.

This question was a bit tricky.

Black recalled the day’s events, activated his talent for lying, and began to spin a tale.

He said that he had solved a case at the Qingxin Tavern that day, which not only cleared the Saintess of the accusation of favoring the rich over the poor but also caught the eye of a high-ranking member of the Dragon-Slaying Guard.

Thus, he was specially recruited into the Dragon-Slaying Guard.

Although the logic of this excuse was sound, it was a bit unreasonable.

Fortunately, Brenna said she had also heard about the incident and was surprised to learn that the one who solved the case was Black.

Therefore, Victor didn’t ask any more questions, only saying that it was for the best that he was safe.

However, when Denise heard the words “Dragon-Slaying Guard,” she finally looked at Black properly.

Only then did she notice the black Dragon-Slaying Guard uniform he was wearing, and the one-star emblem on his chest.

Her expression froze.

“Ahahaha, Black, the tea has gone cold. Let Auntie pour you a fresh cup.”

Then she silently poured out the inferior tea from everyone’s cups and secretly replaced it with the best black tea in the house.

This little trick, witnessed by the others, was nothing short of awkward.

Fortunately, Black didn’t call her out on it.

Brenna quickly changed the subject, saying to Black.

“Cousin, the day after tomorrow is the opening ceremony for Dragonheart Academy. Do you Dragon-Slaying Guards need to provide security?”

Black remembered that Leon and Land had indeed mentioned at the tavern that their squad was to assemble at Dragonheart Academy the day after tomorrow.

They were to assist in maintaining order for the opening ceremony and the new student entrance exams, and were required to be in full uniform with weapons.

He nodded.

“Yes, I have a mission there.”

Hearing this, Leán said happily.

“That’s great! We can go together! I’m a new student at Dragonheart Academy, and I’m supposed to register the day after tomorrow!”

Victor also smiled and said to Black.

“We’re taking Leán to the academy the day after tomorrow. Since it’s such a coincidence, let’s all go together.”

Black nodded in agreement, his face impassive, but his mind was on other matters.

In truth, even if the Dragon-Slaying Guard had no mission, he would have had to go to Dragonheart Academy the day after tomorrow.

On the first day of the new school year, there would be an entrance exam for new students.

A significant event would occur during this exam.

It would severely traumatize Kristine, causing her mental state to deteriorate rapidly.

No matter what, Black had to intervene in this event.