THE LORD IS TOO OVERBEARING

Night Jewel Hotel, Randalvine.

Shirley, Clarissa, and Danzel had been staying in Randalvine for about a week. Many things had happened in the past one week, and they were a little bit too taken aback to properly process the bewildering development.

Upon hearing about the situation in Raneil Barony, Danzel and Clarissa had been terrified and glad at the same time; they were terrified of what would happen to the people, but they were glad they had escaped the Barony even before the tragedy had happened.

Still though, they were worried of the hotel's staffs' fate—the people they were close with. Although the father and daughter were grateful of Basil's initiative to take them away from Raneil Barony ahead of the others, they wished Basil had warned about the event to the other people too.

That way, not only could they save many people, but also prevent the situation from getting any worse. Of course, they didn't have any thought to blame Basil. They knew about the way he thought; they understood his intention fully.

"Will Poppy, and the others be okay? I'm worried..." Clarissa muttered under her breath. She was in the empty hotel's lounge room by herself, pacing back and forth.

"I am sure they will be okay ... Basil must have something planned for them."

At the heavy voice, Clarissa turned her body around. "Dad! Shirley!" She could see Danzel was entering the room with Shirley behind him.

"You've been standing there for hours; you make us worried," Shirley remarked.

"Well... I was just stargazing."

"No one stargazing in an enclosed space," Shirley replied in amusement.

Clarissa merely cleared her throat in embarrassment, and opted to stay silent; she was aware that the room didn't have any window. She was actually there because she needed time to think to herself about want she lacked—power—but she didn't want to talk about it.

Danzel, who was looking at the exchange, shook his head in amusement with a small smile on his face.

"The hotel is still providing food for dinner. You should eat, Clarissa." Danzel pointed his thumb behind his back. "Or I can just call for room service so you can eat in your room."

Clarissa shook her head faintly. "No, I don't need that, Dad. I—I am not in the mood to eat."

"If you worry about the other people that much, you should know that there are also people worrying about you. You have to look for yourself." Shirley frowned lightly. "I'm not belittling you or anything, but you're just an ordinary girl, Clarissa; you just have to mind yourself."

"I know..." Clarissa mumbled.

"Even if you worried about them all the time, you wouldn't be able to do a thing—we wouldn't be able to do a thing. None of us had the capability to do a thing; not even Brother can help much in this situation. So—"

"I know!" Shirley was put into silence by Clarissa's unexpected outburst. "I know I am weak. I know I am nothing compared to you. I know I am just a burden; I am aware of that!" Clarissa looked up, and stared at Shirley intensely. "That's why I'm here!"

"To contemplate what kind of a failure you are?"

"Yes!" Right after shouting that, Clarissa clutched her head in frustration. "Gah! You are so annoying! Why do you sound just like Basil?!"

"I'm his sister." Shirley casually shrugged.

Clarissa gritted her teeth in annoyance, then stormed out of the room angrily. "I'm frustrated! I'm going to eat something!" Clarissa opened the door, and slammed the door harshly.

Bang!

Danzel blinked his eyes in surprise and confusion; he didn't get what was actually happening. Turning his gaze to Shirley, he smiled awkwardly. "I am sorry for her behaviour, Shirley. I think she is having 'the' time."

"Don't worry, Mr. Danzel. At least, my method bears a result." Shirley waved her hand mildly.

"Method? What do you—oh! So that's the case." Danzel nodded his head in understanding and amazement. He had never thought about frustrating someone to the point of making them eat; it was simply brilliant.

"Yes, Mr. Danzel. I just wanted to piss her off."

Puzzlement quickly riddled Danzel's face at the response. 'Am I missing something?' was what his expression conveyed.

Shirley noticed that, but she pretended she didn't see that. She herself was pretty frustrated too; she needed something to amuse herself. Clarissa had been her perfect source of amusement.

Clarissa was too clueless of how the world worked, and too innocent to live in this world—just like any other civilian girl. Shirley envied her sometimes, as she found that side of Clarissa cute; still, she was often annoyed at Clarissa's innocence.

'Tsk! That girl won't live long in this world if she keeps behaving that way. Well, at least it is fun teasing her ... Holy cow! Since when did I become Julia?!'

Upon coming to a realization, Shirley was panicking inside. The more she thought about the way she currently behaved, the more she noticed that she was behaving like Julia; although not as shameless, she was just as loose-tongued.

Danzel, who was looking at Shirley's change of expression, blinked his eyes in confusion once again. 'What is wrong with teenage girls? They are so confusing.' He shook his head in helplessness. 'Why can't they be as simple as boys?'

Upon remembering Basil however, he shook his head once again. 'On a second thought, I have many complicated people around me ... Or am I just too simple?' After more than forty years of living, Danzel suddenly experienced a sudden existential crisis.

The two people were about to be drown in their thoughts, when something awakened them from their useless pondering.

Bang!

"Kyaa!" Shirley jumped in surprise at the suddenly opened door. Turning her body toward the door, she could see the person who had slammed it opened standing in the doorway. "Julia?"

"Fu-fu-fu! As I expected, you must be in the most expensive hotel in the city! Do you miss me, girl?"

"Eh, no. Why are you here?"

"Gah! What is this feeling?" Julia clutched her chest. "It's a feeling of rejection!"

"Kuhum!" Julia's dramatical action was put to an end by someone's cough. "I am sorry for my daughter behavior." The speaker was a motherly looking, blond haired lady; she was Julia's mother, Viscountess Diana Chilston.

"Don't mind, Viscountess Diana." Danzel waved his hand slightly with a smile. "I am used to their ... Quirk." At the response, Diana could only smile wryly.

The mother and daughter duo immediately entered the room, and sat themselves in the biggest sofa. Danzel, and Shirley also followed suit as they sat themselves on the opposite side of Diana and Julia; they started having a conversation in the next moment.

"It's been three months, Mr. Danzel."

"Ah, yes, Viscountess Diana." Danzel bowed his head politely. "What brought you here, Viscountess Diana?"

"Your son's 'intuition' brought me here, Mr. Danzel." Diana smiled mysteriously. "Anyway, you don't need to be so formal with your future daughter in law. Fu-fu-fu." Diana covered her mouth graciously.

"No no no, I can't just—what?" While Danzel was gazing at Diana in utter bafflement, the other girls in the room looked at her like she was crazy.

"Did you eat something wrong, Mother?" Julia asked weirdly.

"Brother has a girlfriend already, Viscountess Diana..." Shirley muttered under breath.

"Seriously?!" Diana put her hand on her chest.

'Eh! She is serious?!' The girls exclaimed in their mind at how genuinely disappointed Diana was. "Huuh... I have no choice then." Diana shook her head, then exclaimed in determination, "I'll be the second one!"

"Wait a minute!" Julia stood up from the sofa, and put her hand on Diana's. "I am sure you ate something wrong; let's go the Church to get you healed!" She pulled on Diana's hand.

"Fu-fu-fu. I can smell the jealousy clearly." Diana laughed like a villainous stepmother. "You should seize your chance my daughter..." Pulling on Julia, she whispered, "I. Might. Steal. Him."

'She is crazy, but awesome! Awesomely shameless!' was what in everyone's mind currently; they had heard her "whisper" clearly. Diana glanced at her surrounding, then smiled softly. "I am glad that the mood has lightened up. Let us have a proper talk."

The othes were a little bit too taken aback at the sudden change of personality, but they nodded their head in the next moment; they were slightly grateful toward her, since she made them realize they had been indeed too tense.

"Mr. Danzel, do you know how long this event will last?"

Danzel's response was instantaneous. "I am sorry, I don't know." Although Diana hadn't said a thing yet, he knew she was talking about the information that Basil might have given him.

Turning to Shirley, Diana gazed at her mildly. Shirley understood what the look was conveying, as shook her head in the next moment. "I am sorry, Viscountess Diana. I haven't even talked with Brother for more than two months."

"I see..." Diana nodded her head. Glancing at Julia who had sat herself back, she turned her gaze to Danzel. "As a Viscountess and a Knight, I have a duty to protect my Viscountcy."

She bowed her head, then politely said, "When that time comes, can I leave my daughter in your care, Mr. Danzel?"

The room descended into silence at Diana's question; the mood changed dramatically, and the girls were caught off guard. Of course, Danzel, being an adult, was as calm as usual. "I can look over her, but loving her is a mother's duty, Viscountess Diana."

Diana raised her head, and smiled gratefully. "That is enough, Mr. Danzel." Turning her head to the worried Julia, she continued, "I will definitely be back."

"You didn't tell me anything about it..." Julia muttered lowly.

Diana didn't say anything as she merely put her hand on top of Julia's head. Tenderly caressing it, she said, "You wouldn't have let me go, if I have told you firsthand, would you?" Smiling warmly, she continued, "I will be fine. Your mother is a strong woman!"

Danzel looked at the scene, and smiled bitterly. Staring at his hands, he was reminded of his powerlessness. 'If only I wasn't crippled, Basil wouldn't have to be out there ... Well, I can't stop him anyhow.' He realized Basil was too capable to stay idle, but he still wished he could, at least, fight alongside Basil.

"Furthermore, I have to follow my heart." Everyone had thought Diana had finished her sentence, so they were a little bit surprised when she continued speaking. "I have to make sure of this feeling. I need to—"

Right before she finished her word, someone slammed the door of the lounge room opened. It was Clarissa who was holding a plate full of chicken wings in her hands; she was munching on the chicken like a hamster.

"—meet Basil," Diana finished.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"W-What?"

At the people's exclamation of bewilderment, Clarissa tilted her head in puzzlement. "Hm? What is happening?"

Ironically, even the three other people that had been speaking with Diana were also thinking about the same thing. 'This woman is so eager to have a husband!'