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Carmen looked at the man for a moment before just saying: “Tell them that Carmen is here.”

The guard looked confused and exchanged a look with his partner. They didn’t argue back but just decided to do as asked. He felt the other guard keep an extra eye on Jake, making him guess the guy probably had some way to gauge people and how strong they were beyond merely using Identify - an ability like beasts had, making them know who not to mess with.

A few minutes passed before a few more guards made it out of the house before finally, Jake spotted someone that was clearly a member of the family. It was a man wearing a tailored tan suit who walked beside a woman in a relatively modest dress. Both looked to be in their forties to early fifties, and looking at Carmen’s conflicted reaction to seeing them, he had a good guess who they were.

Her parents.

Jake didn’t know what he expected, and neither did Carmen. He just stood back as they observed. Carmen looked at the two of them as they came closer, with the man clearly not in a good mood.

“Who are you?” he asked the moment they were within earshot. “What the hell do you want? Money? How dare you use the name of my dead daughter to-“

Carmen didn’t hesitate as she ripped off her mask and stared daggers at the man. “Who the fuck is dead?”

The man stopped with his mouth still half-open. His expression was odd, but the woman – Carmen’s mother – had the kind of reaction Jake would have expected from someone finding out their daughter was still alive.

She brought her hands to her mouth as she ran over and past the security guards, tears in her eyes. “Carmen? Is it really you?”

Carmen had no idea what to think. She saw her mother run over without any hesitation while crying like she was actually happy to see her. Meanwhile, her father still just stood there dumbstruck. She hadn’t seen or heard from her mother since her last court date. Sure, her mother had also been crying then, but she hadn’t visited her a single time in prison. She hadn’t even once made a call or sent a letter or done anything. How did she dare to suddenly act like she was happy to see Carmen after willfully not going to see her for nearly two years?

“What, surprised I am not dead?” she sneered at the both of them.

Her mother stopped a few steps away as the tears just kept streaming down. “I… I’m so sorry… about everything. I…”

“You what?” Carmen shot back.

“Carmen, do not speak to your mother like that,” her father said as he had now composed himself. “Stop making a scene and come inside if you want to talk.”

Glaring, she shot him a look as she felt her anger build. “What the fuck are you going to-“

She then felt a slight tap on her shoulder. She whipped her head around and saw Jake who was just shaking his head. Carmen looked into his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath. Don’t get too emotional… you are in control here.

“Fine. Lead us inside,” Carmen finally said. Her mother seemed relieved while her father nodded, still looking deep in thought.

The two security guards just stared as she saw her father raise a hand. “Hold it. Who is this man, and why are you bringing him along?”

“I am a companion, and I am coming along, no discussion,” Jake just answered. “I have been hired to and have no intentions of shirking on my promises.”

His answer was short, but it seemed good enough as her father only looked at him briefly before ignoring him. The moment he had said the words that he was hired, Carmen already knew that her father had passed judgment and now didn’t see him as anyone worth anything… he had always been an ass to service workers, but it had clearly only gotten worse.

Yet her mother seemed so happy. She wouldn’t stop crying and looked like she wanted to just give Carmen a hug. What the hell is up with… everything?

Man, if this wasn’t peak-level family drama. Jake could see Carmen about to lose it right away, but he noticed quite the discrepancy. Her father did indeed look like an utter asshole, but her mother’s relief and emotions felt incredibly genuine. Moreover, the glances the man tossed his wife were proof he wasn’t happy with how she acted.

Carmen had asked Jake to help ground her and give her reality checks, so he would do that. Jake had the lucky advantage that he quite frankly didn’t give a fuck about what happened to any of these people. All he cared about was Carmen not making a kneejerk reaction that she would come to regret. She was effectively holding a loaded gun at all times, and a single moment where she lost control could kill either one of them, something they clearly weren’t aware of.

Wordlessly they were escorted inside as Carmen walked beside Jake, her mother a bit off to the side, and her father at the front. The woman looked like she wanted to say something or at least get closer, while Jake saw the man with a deep frown on his face that he probably believed none of them could see as he had his back turned.

Jake exchanged a look with Carmen, who just had a stony face. He tried to give her an assuring look, and she nodded a bit stiffly. For now, they would let her family take the lead and see what they planned on doing and what they would do. Jake took his time to scan the mansion with his senses and quickly noticed a vast underground complex. He also felt someone powerful in the house… but it was odd. Like, the aura was powerful, but it also felt almost fake? Now Jake was also curious.

Once inside the mansion, her father exchanged some words with a servant of sorts before leaving, practically dragging his wife along. Jake and Carmen were then led into a lounge room of sorts, where they sat down.

Jake took the initiative as he summoned a barrier of stable arcane mana, isolating them from the outside world entirely.

“What the fuck is wrong with them?” Carmen instantly shouted as she looked at Jake the moment he was done with the barrier. “And why did you stop me? Do you understand any of this shit?”

“No, not really… but your mother seemed genuine. There is definitely more going on than you know,” Jake shook his head. “I think hearing out their side can be beneficial. Not for them, but for you. If you don’t figure things out, you may discover something in the future that will make you look back at today with regret. If they prove to still be absolute assholes, you will always be able to turn the situation around to your advantage. Remember, you are in the right here. You decide what happens today, not them.”

Carmen finally sat down and stared at the expensive-looking coffee table. “What will you do if things turn bad?”

“Depends on what you want me to do,” Jake shrugged. “Ah, but I did place a Hunter’s Mark on each of your parents to keep an eye on them. To be safe, ya know.”

She just shook her head and smiled a bit. Jake knew she still had no idea what she wanted to happen and that it all depended on what her family chose to do. It was all a complicated reason, and Jake was just happy nothing was really up to him. He would just do his simple task of making sure Carmen made choices with an at least partly clear mind.

Minutes passed as they sat there, just chatting a bit. Carmen decided now was a good idea to discuss how many people undervalued good form while in the gym and how important it truly was when building muscle, especially when focusing on building specific muscles. Jake had rarely seen someone so obviously just talking about a random topic to take their thoughts off things, but he nevertheless listened and engaged.

It took more than twenty minutes before anyone even addressed them aside from the first servant. Jake had noticed many attempts to probe them and observe or listen in, but Jake’s barrier was too good for their bad scouting attempts to work. This wasn’t only because Jake was good, but because the attempts were half-arsed at best.

The door to the room opened, and in came another servant. “The family will receive you now,” the woman said courteously.

This choice of words was not lost on Jake, but Carmen didn’t seem to care much as she just got up. Jake had dispelled the barrier when he saw the servant approach and followed her out. Their welcome so far had been less than welcoming… they weren’t even offered tea and cookies.

They were led through the grand mansion and into what Jake guessed was a banquet hall. Jake already saw the gathering of people in the hall before the double door was opened. “Prepare yourself. It looks like they are pretty much all there,” Jake said, infusing his voice with a bit of Willpower to only let Carmen hear.

More than fifty people were gathered. Around thirty of them were suits or dresses and other such fancy clothes, while twenty were guards or servants. It was quite something. Jake saw Carmen steel herself as the doors were opened, revealing the entire hall and the many people gathered. It reminded Jake of the most intimidating job interview imaginable, with all of them just staring at the maskless Carmen.

Now, Jake had expected many opening questions… but not even he could predict this one.

“Child, what on god’s earth are you wearing?” a woman who looked to be well in her seventies with frilly hair and a baggy dress asked.

Carmen was wearing her combat outfit. Cured leather, metal bracers, heavy combat boots, and generally, she looked ready for a fight at any moment. The only skin she revealed was her face and bare hands. Meanwhile, every other woman in the room wore dresses or other “elegant” clothes.

“Mother, cut her some slack. She must have had a hard time traveling all this way,” another woman cut in.

“Doesn’t excuse her lack of proper etiquette,” a third woman cut in.

“Also, who is this man? And look at those… things on his feet. Do the servants not vet any random homeless person who wanders in?” a man chimed in.

“Now, now, let’s all calm down,” a fourth woman finally said as she raised her hand. Jake recognized her instantly as the woman Carmen had mentioned was her hated aunt, the mother of her most-hated cousin, Beatrice. To note, then Beatrice was not present in the room currently, but Jake saw her in another room off to the side, clearly observing them through some monitoring device. With her was a relatively thin and nerdy-looking man with glasses. He was currently giving her a shoulder massage as she looked at the confrontation between Carmen and the rest of the Salvento family.

“Carmen, it truly is you,” the aunt said as she was all smiles. “I cannot tell you how much of a surprise this is. We had feared the worst when we failed to get in contact with you after so long, and I cannot tell you how happy we are to see you return to us. I am sure that if you work hard, then our family can find it in our hearts to forgive you and move on. With the world in such turmoil, isn’t it a great opportunity to give new chances?”

To her credit, Carmen didn’t lose her shit but just stood with a steely face.

“That’s it?” she finally asked after a good five seconds of silence.

“Carmen! Be respectful, and do not make this more difficult than it has to be!” her father yelled from across the room. He was red-faced, and Jake noticed how Carmen’s mother was just standing all the way in the back, looking down with tears in her eyes.

“Nothing is difficult here,” Carmen shot back.

“She is right,” the aunt agreed. “Now, Carmen. I must know, why did you come now? Why come at all?”

The mixed messaging could not be more clear. On the one hand, the aunt welcomed her back with open arms while simultaneously questioning why she would come back as if it was obvious she wasn’t welcome.

“I felt like I had to,” Carmen answered truthfully.

“Daft as ever,” the old woman – Carmen’s grandmother - said. “After all the trouble you caused, you dare show your face like this again? You dare show up covered in dirt, ignoring all etiquette and social norms by just barging in the door? Without a single apology? You should be on your knees begging for forgiveness from your aunt and your cous-“

“Enough!”

Jake had expected Carmen to be the one yelling, but while the voice was similar, it wasn’t her. Her mother broke out of the crowd and ran towards Carmen as she stood in front of her. “This is… enough!”

Carmen stared confused at the woman’s back. While it made a bit more sense to Jake, he chose to stay silent as he curiously observed.

“Maura, what in god’s name are you doing!” Carmen’s father yelled. He looked both worried and infuriated at what was happening.

“This isn’t right or at all what we agreed! You promised-“

“Maura,” the aunt cut her off as she stared down at Carmen’s mother. “Think very carefully about what you want to do or say next.”

The woman hesitated as Jake decided to get a little involved. He infused his voice with a bit of Willpower and whispered into the woman’s ear.

“Just speak. Do not underestimate your daughter, and share the truth. Have no doubt that the side you now stand on is the superior one.”

No one but her heard his voice, and she looked bewildered for a moment, but it seemed to have given her the confidence. She gritted her teeth as she yelled:

“Why should I trust anything any of you say! I already lost my daughter once, and I will not do so again! You promised me she would be out of prison within a year and be back with us! You swore you were doing everything and that as long as we kept our distance, we would be fine! You never did anything!” the woman practically screamed.

“Maura, shut your mouth right now and apologize! Get back here and-“

“No! I am not leaving my daughter again!”

The situation had turned tense a lot quicker than expected. The woman called Maura had only managed to share a few details, but Jake could see Carmen was shaken. She looked unsure of what to do, and Jake placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

Carmen looked up as she collected her thoughts. She seemed to make a decision as she stepped forward. “I think there are some things I need to know. Mother, please follow me so we can-“

“Dear, I will need you to stay so we can talk this out,” the aunt interrupted her, and Jake saw the guards move to cover the door. “Having you and your mother simply leave like this will just cause issues no one wants, wouldn’t it?”

Jake just sighed internally. What a fucking moron.

And, of course, they just had to make it even worse as the side door swung open.

“Now, what is all this ruckus? Is my retarded little cousin causing a ruckus again and in need of another lesson?”

The cousin entered, and with her was the nerdy-looking man that gave off quite an odd aura. Finally, all the related parties were gathered in one room for the highest stake game of family feud imaginable.