Chapter 163: An Abnormal Family
"Oh! My beautiful Lina!" Arin's mother exclaimed as soon as Lina entered the kitchen.
"Mother! Father!" Lina cried out.
Meanwhile, Arin had already stepped into the house, squinting his eyes.
He looked toward the kitchen where he could hear their voices, but before he could walk there, they were already coming out.
Arin's mother, Marla Vale, was the first to come out of the kitchen.
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She had shoulder-length brown hair and sharp black eyes. She wore an apron over her clothes, signifying that she was cooking.
Her arms wrapped around Lina as they both walked out of the kitchen.
Following behind them was Arin's father, Godric Vale.
He had bright red hair and was wearing a normal tunic. He had a smile on his face as he stared at Lina.
One of the most noticeable things about him was his unkept beard, which a little figure in his arms was currently playing with.
The little figure that Godric was carrying was a boy who looked no older than three years old.
He was Arin and Lina's younger brother.
Edwin Vale.
He had bright red hair like their father, and he carried their mother's sharp black eyes.
He glanced at Arin for a second before he continued playing with Godric's beard.
Immediately after Marla set her eyes on Arin, she dashed toward him with the knife in her hand raised as if she wanted to stab him.
Arin's eyes widened for a second, but Marla had already reached him.
The moment she did, she wrapped her arms around him, trapping him in a hug.
"Oh, my baby," she muttered, her voice shaky. "I've missed you so much."
Suddenly, her voice dropped to a low, chilly whisper. "Don't you miss me...?"
The moment Arin heard that last part, he instantly wrapped his arms around her, smiling wryly.
"Ah! Of course!" Arin exclaimed. "I missed you so much!"
It was almost as if, had he not said that, she would have stabbed him with the knife she was holding.
Marla was on the verge of sobbing. "I know. Welcome home, you two."
"Hahaha!" Godric laughed out loud as he tapped Edwin's back. "I can already sense some changes in you, Arin!"
He suddenly squinted his eyes. "Are you, perhaps, a different person in my son's body?"
The world around Arin suddenly seemed to fade as a certain feeling gripped his heart.
'Wait.... Don't tell me.... He knows...?'
Godric's expression suddenly softened as he laughed again. "Haha! I'm just joking, son! I know sending you and your sister to Greenfield Academy was the right choice!"
Arin instantly calmed down. 'What? I almost panicked?'
Though, he was still wary and decided to always keep his guard up.
"Greetings, Father," Arin said with a smile as he walked toward Godric and was about to hug him, but then.....
"Pfft..... Dad, doesn't he know?" Edwin suddenly asked Godric while staring at Arin with mocking eyes.
Arin squinted his eyes as he stared at the pebble who was looking at him.
Yes, pebble!
Even for a three-year-old child, Edwin was quite small, and he looked so little in Godric's arms.
And wait! Did I say child?
Arin scoffed. 'Child, my ass....'
If anything, Edwin was probably the most abnormal and insane person in the entire family.
'I can't even help but think that he's a sixty-year-old man from Earth who got reincarnated into the body of this little child,' Arin thought.
'Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe my original little brother died before he was even born, and he was replaced with this sixty-year-old man from Earth.'
The things Edwin said, the things he did, and the kind of expressions he always had weren't normal for a three-year-old child at all.
Godric laughed as he asked, "Know what?"
Edwin facepalmed and sighed as he swung his tiny legs. "He was about to hug you..... Doesn't he know that hugging is for women?"
"Hahaha!" Godric laughed. "Well, you heard him, Arin."
Arin smiled wryly, laughing along with his father.
A few minutes later, Marla and Godric had finally finished embracing their children and letting them know how much they missed them. Though, Edwin growled and almost slapped Lina when she tried to carry him.
Lina sobbed as she sat down on one of the dining chairs. "He's acting like this because we weren't there to give him the attention and sibling love he deserved..... It's all our fault."
Arin scoffed as he also sat down. "That's on you.... Don't drag me into this."
Finally, Marla had finished placing all the food on the table, and they all sat down to eat.
Marla and Godric were seated facing Arin, while Lina was seated on the chair at his left.
As for Edwin, he was seated on the chair at Arin's right. His legs didn't even go past the seat of the chair, and his food was on his lap because he insisted that he wanted to feed himself.
"Alright, let's dig in!" Godric announced.
Arin stared at the food as his expression paled, remembering all those times when the original Arin was yet to go to the Academy and was still eating his mother's food.
'I know I can't taste food now, but the trauma is still there....'
He glanced at Marla. 'And if I say I'm not hungry, that's another problem.'
'Be confident,' Arin thought, encouraging himself to start eating.
The moment he took the first bite of the bread mixed with stew, his eyes widened.
Originally, he wasn't supposed to taste the food, but it was so horrible that it even bypassed his Vampiric taste buds.
'Swallow it,' Arin urged himself, resisting the urge to vomit it out.
Lina was happily eating the food.... Something that had always confused the original Arin and was now confusing the current Arin as well.
"I knew it..... She's a villain," Arin thought.
Though, there was one person in the house who wasn't scared to talk about Marla's horrible cooking skills.
Godric dropped his spoon as he stared at Marla. "Hmm, I've told you many times to improve your cooking skills, but you don't listen."
Marla smiled sweetly as she raised her knife, which, for some reason, was always with her. "You don't like the food?"
Godric laughed. "Of course, I don't like it!"
He leaned forward as he looked at Marla sweetly. "You know, this is just a reminder that I might ask for your sister's hand in marriage. She can cook better."
He suddenly had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Hmm, maybe I should get her pregnant just in case."
Marla's smile was still present as she placed the knife very close to Godric's neck, leaving just a few inches.
"Haven't I told you that I'll kill you if you do that?" she asked, her smile widening. "Hmmm, maybe I should kill her too, just in case."
Arin's expression paled further as he stared at both of them. 'How can she say that so casually and even with a smile? And how is this man so comfortable with that knife so close to his neck?'
Marla then looked at Arin with a smile. "You like the food, right?"
She was slowly raising her knife while waiting for his response.
Arin instantly forced a smile. "Haha! Of course, it's great as always."
"Mum, you're such a great cook!" Lina added.
Edwin was busy swallowing his soup without a single care in the world. It seemed like he was already used to Marla's horrible cooking.
Suddenly.....
WHAM!
The door opened with force as a lady who seemed to be in her late twenties barged into the house, looking severely angry.
Marla tilted her head. "Uh, Lin, I've told you to always knock before you enter, or do you want to get killed?"
She raised her knife slightly, with a smile on her face.
"I don't care!" the lady called Lin barked.
"What is it, Lin?" Godric asked casually.
Lin's eyes landed on Edwin as her anger increased.
"It's your son, Mr. and Mrs. Vale!" she barked again.
Lina squinted her eyes. "What did Edwin do?"
"Tch.... This old man sneaked into my house a few hours ago and almost spied on me while I was bathing!"
"Oh, Edwin did that?" Marla muttered.
"This is the fifth time he's doing this.... Make sure you warn him!"
With that, she left the house.
Arin couldn't help but stare at Edwin, still wondering if he really was a three-year-old child.
Edwin, who wasn't even moved by what had just happened, caught Arin staring at him.
He instantly stood up on the chair as he brought his face closer to Arin's.
"Oi! What are you staring at?" he asked.
He leaned forward before raising Arin's chin. "Wanna fight? Huh? Alright, then. I'll beat you to a pulp!"
Edwin currently looked like a thug who was bullying a random kid.
At this point, Arin had begun to wonder if he would've picked the first option.
A father who was always talking about marrying his wife's sister and getting her pregnant.
A mother who was always threatening to kill her husband and her sister if he did that.
A twin sister who was showing signs of being a villain rather than a soft and kindhearted girl.
And.....
A three-year-old little brother who was acting like an old man, a thug, and loved spying on women while they were bathing.
This family wasn't normal at all!
"You know, you're also abnormal yourself," Seraphine said.
Before Arin could reply, a knock was suddenly heard on the door.
"Come in," Marla said.
As soon as the door opened and the visitor walked in, Arin's eyes instantly widened.
"W.... Who invited her....?"