Damn Reincarnation - Chapter 619

The main house’s long dining table was filled with various dishes. There were specialties from all over the continent, delicacies that represented each of the various regions, different types of desserts, and even local dishes with hundreds of years of tradition behind them. It was all organized as a buffet where one could choose whatever one liked to eat without having to worry about the meal’s flow.

Before she had married into the Lionheart family, Ancilla Kaenes had already been part of a prestigious noble family in Kiehl. This might be stating the obvious, but Ancilla, who had received a very proper education from a young age, didn’t exactly enjoy this type of meal setting because it lacked dignity. No, it wasn’t just on the level of not enjoying it; she truly hated it.

However, Eugene liked this sort of meal style.

He hated the style of plating where a few pieces of food would be placed on a large plate with only smears of sauce sprinkled around them, and all of the courses were bite-sized dishes that were served one after another without any seasoning. As such, when Eugene was first adopted into the main house as a foster child, after eating a meal at the main house he would always have to eat another meal upon returning to the annex.

But that was a story from long ago. As he grew older and gained enough influence to have a say in the matter, Eugene managed to persuade Ancilla to accept alterations in the main house’s dining style. He argued that it wasn’t like they got the chance to eat together every day in any case, and since everyone mostly ate outside with only a few chances to return home and have a home-cooked meal, wouldn’t a simpler style of meal be better for everyone?

If Ancilla had retained her past personality that would see her refusing to back down no matter what, there was no way that Ancilla would have readily accepted such an argument, but—

“Try this dish as well,” Ancilla urged softly.

The current Ancilla wasn’t as uptight or as venomous as she used to be.

After becoming the Matriarch of the main house, a position where she couldn’t be looked down upon by anyone, she had become much more relaxed.

Her children had all grown up, and Cyan had been confirmed as the next Patriarch, and he had even become engaged to the golden child[1] of the Ruhr Kingdom.

Although she still had Ciel to worry about... was there any wall in this world that couldn’t ultimately be climbed over[2]? Ancilla believed in her daughter’s potential. And if Ciel still couldn’t climb over the said wall, Ancilla believed that her daughter would eventually be able to knock that wall down, even if she had to crash into it dozens or even hundreds of times over.

It was due to all of these factors that Ancilla’s personality had grown softer. She was particularly affectionate at moments like this one when she was taking care of Mer and Raimira. The dozens of desserts that took up a whole side of this huge dining table had been specially prepared by Ancilla to feed Mer and Raimira.

“Really now, you’ve smeared it all over your lips,” Ancilla chided.

Even now, Ancilla was standing beside them, fully absorbed in caring for the two little ones. As she wiped away the cream smeared over the corner of Raimira’s mouth with her handkerchief, Ancilla had a soft smile on her face.

“Hm...,” Eugene awkwardly cleared his throat.

Everyone gathered here was aware of the truth. The fact that those two young girls that Ancilla was caring for so fondly, as if they were her daughters or perhaps granddaughters, were actually several times older than Ancilla, by about two hundred years at the very least. However, none of the gathered people were willing to point out this inconvenient fact or even think about it for too long.

The gathered people... that’s right, there were dozens of people attending this dinner. The only ones actually sitting down at the table might have been Vermouth and the rest of the family members of the main line, but there were dozens of other individuals also present in this room.

Not only were there servants carrying trays of food and utensils and supplying drinks, but also the Captains of the Knights of the White Lion and the Knights of the Black Lion, who were stationed away from the table with their backs to the walls. Moreover, there were even a few retired elders of the Council, though they had also politely refused a seat at the table and were also standing guard with their backs to the walls.

The reason for everyone’s attendance was clear. They were all here to see the Founding Ancestor of the Lionheart clan — a legend who had returned back to life after three hundred years. Everyone here had wanted to see the Great Vermouth with their own eyes. In fact, they had already seen him a month ago, but it was only natural that those who had been there at the time weren’t satisfied with such a short meeting.

So why were only the Captains present? This was because, no matter how large the banquet hall of the Lionheart estate might be, it definitely wasn't large enough to squeeze in the hundreds of knights of the White Lion and the Black Lion knightly orders who had wanted to attend. So among the many, many applicants who had desired to meet the Great Vermouth, those highest in rank were selected for the privilege.

Vermouth awkwardly tried to focus on the food laid out on the table while silently ignoring all the admiring glances that were being directed his way.

Strangely enough, the table in front of Vermouth was filled with traditional dishes that had been passed down over the centuries, particularly those belonging to the local cuisine of northern Kiehl and the Kingdom of Ruhr, and it was also piled high with all sorts of nutritious food.

Vermouth looked at the spread silently.

Had they thought he might be missing the food from the old days since he had been trapped within a seal for the past three hundred years? And had they thought that he probably needed a lot of nutritious food because he wouldn’t have been able to eat anything while he was sealing away the Demon King of Destruction and should thus be sorely depleted of energy? Vermouth could accept the reasoning behind their good intentions, but....

‘There was no need to go this far...,’ Vermouth thought wryly.

Of course, Vermouth didn’t show any trace of this resignation on his face.

While Vermouth was forcing himself to keep eating with a calm expression, Eugene finally faced the question that he had been preparing himself for all night.

“So why did you all come out looking like that?” Ciel asked ever so innocently.

“What do you mean?” Eugene awkwardly feigned ignorance.

He thought that he had prepared himself thoroughly for this question, but when he heard it being voiced, Eugene’s breath caught in his throat, and his mind went blank. As Eugene stubbornly kept his head down, glaring at the food on his plate instead of looking up at his interrogator, Ciel, who was sitting across from him, reached her hand into a pocket with a mischievous smile.

“I’m talking about this,” Ciel said as she took out a neatly folded newspaper.

As he caught sight of that object with a furtive glance, Eugene’s face crumpled as if he had bitten into a mouthful of shit. Eugene naturally knew the contents of Ciel’s newspaper. It was a special edition of the newspaper that had been published all across the continent a month ago.

“Don’t,” Eugene said threateningly.

“What exactly do you think that I’m going to do?” Ciel asked mischievously.

“You’re about to show everyone that picture,” Eugene growled.

“Of course I am,” Ciel admitted with a cheeky grin as she unfolded the newspaper.

A single photo completely covered the front page of the newspaper. It was the photo of the year, one that everyone across the continent would instantly recognize upon seeing. This photo would even serve as a record and representation of this era for the next tens, no, hundreds of years.

“The heroes who saved the continent,” Ciel read out the newspaper headline.

The photo recorded the six heroes who had emerged after defeating the Demon King of Destruction. In the photo, the six people were all standing there with their arms thrown across each other’s shoulders — and no matter how often you looked at it, they still looked like a group of the most awkward people in the world.

Each of them was just standing there stiffly, with their arms around each other’s shoulders, and while they might have what could be called bright smiles on their faces, it somehow all felt artificial.

“I didn’t do that because I wanted to,” Eugene defended himself.

“Then who exactly came up with the idea to do this?” Ciel demanded.

Eugene shook his head and said, “There’s no way I can tarnish my friend’s honor, so please allow me to keep silent on that matter.”

Ciel narrowed her eyes. “You’re the one who came up with the idea, aren’t you?”

“I already said that I wasn’t. Vermouth was the one who suggested the idea,” Eugene quickly sold out Vermouth, who was sitting right next to him.

Vermouth nodded and said, “That’s right. Even in that thick, pitch-black darkness of Destruction’s stomach, I managed to find myself thanks to your voices calling out my name. It was also thanks to those resounding reverberations that shook Destruction—”

“Reverberations?” Carmen repeated before Vermouth had even finished speaking. Her eyes shone brightly as she shuffled her chair forward and asked, “Just what kind of... reverberations are you talking about?”

Vermouth blinked before answering her question, “The ones from the attacks that were striking the Demon King of Destruction’s outer form—”

“Those attacks!” Carmen excitedly interrupted once more. “Did they really manage to reverberate all the way into the interior of the Demon King of Destruction?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Vermouth said, nodding once more.

“Oh, Ancestor,” Carmen said with a proud smile as she lifted her hands off her knees and placed them on the dining table. Carmen’s hands had already received healing, leaving them pale and unmarred. Still, as she clenched her hands into fists without caring about how badly they had recently been hurt, Carmen revealed, “I shattered my fists during those attacks.”

Vermouth searched through his memories.

He thought back to one month ago, after that... photo... had been taken. As the descendants of the Lionheart clan had all gathered around to see him, the one standing at the front of the crowd had been Carmen. Vermouth certainly did recall that her fists had indeed appeared to be broken and were covered in blood at that time.

“I knew that I wouldn’t be able to directly bring down the Demon King of Destruction with my punches, but I never stopped swinging my fists,” Carmen proudly recalled. “Even after my Dragon Claw was broken, Heaven Genocide had shattered, and my bones had cracked apart, I never stopped punching.”

What exactly were the Dragon Claw and Heaven Genocide? This question arose in Vermouth’s mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask her about those terms right now. This was because Carmen’s expression seemed far too serious for him to interrupt her for that.

Carmen declared, “I wanted to lend my fists to the mission of defeating the Demon King of Destruction, saving the world, and opening up a new path for the future. That was the sole purpose that kept driving me as I swung my fists. Among the reverberations you heard, Oh Ancestor... the reverberation created as I broke my fists upon the Demon King definitely had to have been included in them.”

“Lady Carmen Lionheart,” Vermouth said as he stood up from his seat.

Carmen tried to follow him in getting up, but Vermouth shook his head. He then started heading over to Carmen by himself.

“Among the reverberations that I heard, the sound of Lady Carmen’s fists definitely must have been a large part of it,” Vermouth said as he walked around the table towards Carmen. “I can now return to the Lionheart family and can talk and share a meal together with you all like this... it’s all because Lady Carmen and everyone else here shed their blood for my sake.”

“Honored Ancestor...,” Carmen called out in a tearful voice, causing Vermouth to smile gently.

Now standing next to Carmen, Vermouth placed his hand on her fist. “It is true that I am the Ancestor of the Lionheart clan, but I don’t want any of you to call me Ancestor. I want you all to call me by my name, Vermouth Lionheart. As a fellow member of the Lionheart clan, and as a member of our family.”

“Aaaah...!” Carmen gasped, her body trembling as if she had been struck by lightning when Vermouth’s hand was placed on her fist. She stared at Vermouth with trembling eyes as she tried to control her rapid breathing, “Fa... family...!”

Vermouth nodded with a smile. “Yes, aren’t we family? We both share the same Lionheart name—”

“Fa-father,” Carmen suddenly stammered out, causing Vermouth’s eyes to widen in surprise. Carmen continued, “Would it be alright... for me to call you father?”

“Huh?” Vermouth gaped in confusion.

“After all... didn’t you say we are family? Oh Ancestor — no, Sir Vermouth, you are my father’s father’s father’s father’s father... in other words, you could be called my father many times removed,” Carmen insisted.

It wasn’t exactly all that false a claim.

Vermouth hesitated, “But... being called father by you, Lady Carmen, isn’t that—”

“I already consider you my father, Sir Vermouth,” Carmen passionately declared.

“Even if that’s the case...,” Vermouth struggled to find a way out of this.

“Sir Vermouth, you are the father of all Lionhearts. Aaaah, the reason that my broken fist was healed back then... it was all so that I could feel a father’s touch on my hands,” Carmen began to shed tears once more as the warmth of their blood and flesh connection seemed to pass through Vermouth’s hand into her fist. “Please, grant me permission, Sir Vermouth, to call you my father....”

Vermouth’s eyes shook in violent consternation. It was difficult for him to understand how the conversation that they had just been having could have turned out like this.

However, her earnest eyes and the words, ‘father’s father’s father’ and ‘the father of all Lionhearts,’ seemed to be exerting a subtle persuasive power over Vermouth.

“If... if that’s what you want, then fine,” Vermouth gave in.

“Father...!” Carmen cried out, her fists loosening so she could tightly grab hold of Vermouth’s hand.

Her biological father had already left this world a long time ago. However, even her late father would surely be happy in the afterlife to see that the Great Vermouth had become her new father.

“There are so many things that I want to do with you, Father,” Carmen excitedly informed him.

“Ah, is that right...,” Vermouth awkwardly agreed.

“As your daughter, may I personally pour you a drink[3]?” Carmen offered.

Vermouth hesitated for a few moments before shooting Eugene a glance.

It was a silent plea for help to get out of this difficult situation that Vermouth had found himself in, but seeing the grin on Eugene’s face, it seemed like there weren’t going to be any helping hands incoming. Instead, something else made its way to him.

In place of a helping hand, what was approaching Vermouth was an empty wine glass. Vermouth glared at Eugene as he caught the glass that the latter had slid across the table.

“Congratulations on your new daughter,” Eugene said, clapping his hands as he watched Vermouth accept a drink from Carmen with a complex expression on his face.

1. The original text literally translates to jade leaves on a golden branch and is an archaic way of describing the descendants or family of royalty. In modern usage, the phrase is used to describe a favored child of a family. ☜

2. The original text uses the idiom: any tree in this world that can’t be climbed in the same context. ☜

3. In Korean culture, younger relatives pouring drinks for older relatives is an important display of filial piety. ☜



Openbookworm & DantheMan's Thoughts

OBW: How long before Eugene starts seeing that photo on t-shirts? He’ll never be able to escape it. Just like Vermouth won’t be able to escape his new daughter.

Momo: Carmen is hilarious. Vermouth is going to have his hands full because of his new daughter. On a different note, just one month after returning, Vermouth already has a potential girlfriend and a daughter.