After coming to the royal palace, they rested at a guesthouse, and at around seven in the evening got invited to the palace.
Walking inside the palace, Ray was looking around at the luxurious design, and then his eyes fall on the dining table, with 40 chairs in total and two head chairs, the middle filled with dishes from which aroma was rising.The fragrance of spices and herbs entered Ray's nose as he took a deep breath with his eyes closed. He burst out in a smile, showing two of his teeth.
Everyone sat on the chairs, and coincidentally enough, Ray and his mother had to sit on the head chair.
"Bastard, why haven't you made my teeth yet? You should have made this world in a way that even a one-week-old could eat food."
Ray was angry but couldn't afford to miss the moment, so he thought with a smile while inhaling the air.
'Well, fiction authors always do that, though… no matter the genre.'
Ray kept staring at the food with wide, round eyes. He moved his head around, enjoying the sight and smell of the delicious royal dishes, most of which looked foreign.
'A villain reincarnates and then blushes while looking at a minor. An old-ass man reincarnates and accepts a 20-year-old as his father the next second, and that's just isekai. Let me tell you more—among thousands of people, the MC gets chosen even if he hasn't worked half as much as a in real life human, the villain works his ass off and gets beaten by the strength of friendship, drinking salt water and becoming muscular in a second, And romance? Oh, don't even talk about romance.'
'Yeah.'
His head lifted slightly, and his gaze fell on a child, wearing a pink dress, who was giggling while looking at him.
'She thinks she has a chance with me?'
Ray wiped away his saliva.
'Shut up, bastard. First of all, you didn't tell me about all this, and now you're calling a child who's wearing a pink dress a boy? Or if that mother makes her son wear pink without his consent… she and you are gonna get a lot of hate.'
Thomas responded as he looked at the child with narrowed eyebrows.
Ray's eyes came to normal, before he half closed his eyes.
'You mean pronoun?'
He looks at the giggling child with a straight face, as she showed two of their teeth.
'You're right… I guess I should ask them what their pronouns are and what they define as. I guess it might be— hehehehe.…'
'What do you define as?' Ray asked, as he began looking at other family members.
One of the children had their fingers to their mouth.
Another child with dark skin was resting in peace, completely unfazed by the noise of the surroundings.
'Did you feel like you belonged there?'
Another child was eating ice cream, as her mother taking it out from the glass with a spoon and putting it in their mouth.
'That's called luck,' Ray thought to himself as he kept looking at the ice cream with envy.
'Where do you belong, then?'
'You belong to the street?'
Ray started looking at their mothers. The mother of the first child had a bright smile on her gorgeous face with brown eyes.
'Ok, ok.'
The mother of the second child, whose body was slightly darker, was eating fruit from the table. She picked up the fruit with her muscular hand and crushed it between her teeth.
'Why isn't everyone eating?' Ray thought to himself.
'So you belong near Jesus?'
The next mother's skin was darker, almost matching her hair.
"A lot of Jesuses?"
Ray's eyes met the eyes of the mother, which were almost as white as a sheet.
Ray's eyes fell on her husband next, whose body was white as a sheet, but his eyes were as dark as a void.
Outer spoke proudly as Ray stared in shock at the family. The child who had been resting suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Ray. Black body, one eye dark as a shadow while the other was as white as a sheet, and a white line on the side of white eyes.
'…What are they?'
The woman with white eyes, who had been staring at Ray, lifted her head slightly.
"Seina."
Ray's mother turned her head toward the woman who had called her name.
"What about your child? Tell us something about him."
Seina was caught off guard by the sudden question, but she didn't let it show on her face.
'Why would she ask something like that all of a sudden?'
'No. How can you talk to me, think about all that, and write at the same time?'
Outer remained silent for a moment, then said.
Ray stayed silent, lost in thought, and looked at the woman.
"Seina?"
As Ray heard the voice again, he looked at his mother, who was looking at him. Then, realizing the situation, she turned her head.
"Huh? I was thinking about what I should say," Seina responded with an awkward smile, scratching her head.
"But to be honest, he isn't even as good as a normal kid. All he does is cry all day, and the only thing stopping him from crying right now is all the food. I guess he's too distracted to cry."
Cedric, who was sitting next to her, looked at her in silence. He just stared at her with a dumbfounded expression.
"Look how he would cry if I move him away."
Seina lifted Ray, turned around, and placed him somewhere he couldn't see the food. All the families, children, and the King waited for Ray's reaction.
She didn't have to tell Ray what to do. He knew his assignment.
Soon enough, the whole palace was filled with the wailing of the child.
"All right, all right."
Seina turned her head as she heard the duchess's voice.
"We got it. You don't have to make your baby cry anymore."
Seina looked at the duchess, who had a weird expression on her face, before bringing Ray back. Ray stopped crying and started staring at the food again.
'What a disgusting mother. Does she think making children cry is a game?'
The muscular mother thought, looking at the baroness with disgust.
"I would like to apologize to the king for causing such a disturbance."
Seina stood up and bowed her head before the king.
"Ray, you too." She turned Ray toward the king. Ray turned his head and looked silently at the king. The king did the same.
The room remained silent as they kept staring at each other—until Ray filled the palace with wailing once again.
"I deeply apologize, my lord. Please punish me however you see fit. Please forgive my child." She turned Ray, and held him close to her chest.
"No, no, it's fine. He is just a child." The king said with a bright smile.
"Thank you for showing us mercy, my lord." Seina bowed once again before sitting back in her chair.
"I guess we should start eating, right?" The king suggested as he pulled a plate from the table and filled it with dishes.
The king glanced at Ray while chewing the food, as Ray was drinking milk from the bottle. He picked up a glass filled with yellow juice and started drinking to cover his smirk.
'Was he an actor in his previous life?... It doesn't matter. Let's see how this goes.'