And the plot advances.
Silence returned to the room after the announcement was made by their father. Yuu was angered by how nonchalant his father was about it.
"B-but father, I'm not yet of age to be married," Shinoa pleaded but her mother looked at her sternly.
"Shinoa Ichinose, you do not talk back to your father like that," Mahiru Ichinose, the lady of the house, reprimanded. Yuu could see Shinoa shrink back into her seat. He hated seeing someone so strong lowered themselves in the presence of their parents.
"Isn't it a little sudden for Shinoa to be engaged?" Yuu asked for his half-sister.
"She will be 16 in half a year. That's why the wedding will be after she turns 16. The Tepes were very considerate to wait for you," Guren said and resumed eating his dinner.
Shinoa was picking at the food left on her plate and Yuu already lost his appetite. He knew he would be hungry later but he could not sit at the same table as the people that decided their political power was much more important than Shinoa's happiness.
"Please excuse us," Yuu seethed and pulled Shinoa out of her seat with him. His parents didn't even bother to call him back.
It was just like them, let Yuu do anything he wants as long as he appears to be the perfect child to everyone else, while Shinoa was chained down and have to bend their will. He wouldn't allow for it. He couldn't just watch Shinoa marry some man that she knows nothing about.
"Yuu-nii-san, it's okay." Yuu stopped in the hall as he finally returned to his senses. "It's n-not like I-I wasn't-"
"Shinoa," Yuu said and turned to face her. His expression softened as the sight of her crying. "I'm… I'm really sorry."
She merely shook her head as she wiped her tears with her sleeves. She smiled at him but he knew she was suffering inside. She might look tough on the outside, but it was the result of being ignored by their parents and being used as a pawn.
"Thank you," she whispers and gave him a hug. Yuu knew that neither of them could go against father's will but he wanted better for Shinoa.
~ The Choices We Made ~
Yuu stared at his parents just as they stared back at him. No words were exchanged during their ride to the Tepes' household.
The two Ichinose children knew that they were sealing Shinoa's fate by meeting with her fiancé. Yuu wanted to do something, anything to stop it. He had even considered throwing himself out the moving carriage. But even that would not be enough to prevent the inevitable.
When the carriage stopped, Shinoa reached over for her brother's hand and squeezed it as his parents left the carriage.
Yuu could only muster up a faint smile before following their parent's lead, then helping his sister out as a gentleman should. The head butler led them into the large mansion. Yuu always thought their house was big but the Tepes family was of nobility, which only made sense that they would have assets to show off their status.
"Guren-san and Mahiru, how wonderful it is to see you both." Yuu recognized the short pink-haired lady from the many parties they had attended. However, he never learned of her name, or title, so he was a little surprised to see her here.
"The pleasure is ours, Krul-sama," his father greeted and Yuu bowed out of respect.
"Your children have aged beautifully. Look at them," the short woman said and the three adults shifted their attention to the two teens.
"Your words are too kind, Krul-sama," Yuu said, though he wanted to complain about Shinoa's engagement. He knew it won't be any good if he made a bad impression out right. He'll have to find a chance later on and try to persuade the adults.
"My son would surely be happy to marry a lovely woman such as yourself. Please remind me of your name again dear," Krul asked. Yuu can't but find the artificial positivity of the situation to be unbearable.
"Shinoa."
"Shinoa, what a wonderful name. Just wait till my son sees you," Krul smiled and Shinoa politely returned the gesture.
"I apologize for being late, Mother." A voice called out from the top of the stairs. "I was much too engrossed in a book to notice the time."
Yuu watched as the young Tepes descend from the second floor. There was something familiar about the blond, yet Yuu couldn't tell what it was. There was something about his eyes that were a beautiful shade of blue yet seemed clouded with underlying emotions.
Shinoa elbowed Yuu right in the ribs to bring him back to reality where he realized his father was talking.
"And these are my two children, Yuuichirou Ichinose and Shinoa Ichinose."
"We have been acquainted before, but do allow me to formally introduce myself." His eyes scanned the four guests and Yuu froze when his intense gaze landed on him. "My name is Mikaela Tepes, son of Lady Krul Tepes."
"Let us be seated and discuss the details of this engagement," Krul said and led the way with her son following close behind.
Yuu knew that this was his chance to save Shinoa from an arranged marriage. But he needed to know more. He knew that along with the marriage, the Ichinose family will gain connections to the Tepes family, the other noble ruling family in the city.
The Hiragi family was the one of the two noble families in the country. For some reason, both families resided in the same city and some sort of rivalry came to be due to that fact that the current ruling family was the Tepes. Yuu doubted that his father married Mahiru Hiragi out of love, but out of rebellion. There was just something about his father and power. Yuu was swept into the mess as he was to be the successor of the Ichinose family. That was unless Mahiru was able to bear a son. Then Yuu would probably be forgotten as the baby will replace him.
Right now, only the four of them knew that Mahiru was carrying another child. Boy or girl would decide Yuu's fate and potentially free him from the family feud.
But he cannot abandon Shinoa. Not when she was the only one that was there for him after his own mother's passing. In the loveless Ichinose household, his mother was the only one that actually cared for the two children. She looked after Shinoa as her own daughter and loved her even more than Mahiru ever did.
The two Ichinose children were the only two that truly mourned her death. However, Yuu couldn't help but feel happy that his mother was free from the Ichinose. And he was going to do everything he could to free Shinoa from her potential wedding.