The Extra of The Lunerra

"I don’t quite... understand what you want, Father..."

His yellow eyes turned from the documents on his desk to me, calm but sharp as they were.

"Aiden Tenebra, Julian. I’d like to meet him. As his friend, you can invite him here."

I swallowed involuntarily, trying not to avert my eyes.

"Why... do you suddenly want something like this?"

"Can’t I want to meet my son’s friend? Besides... if I remember correctly, he became a count recently. And since it’s our family’s job to supervise the counts... it shouldn’t be too absurd."

Having no idea how Aiden would react, what my father’s real intentions were, and more... I found myself in an even bigger predicament all of a sudden.

Should I let my father, the leader of the Virhen Family, meet with Aiden...

Or should I try to keep him away from Aiden somehow...?

I don’t want to cause something that could end everything at the slightest mistake!

"He will come tonight."

But that... was the last thing my father said. He didn’t even give me the right to refuse.

*******

Standing in front of the mansion, only a few hours after my father’s request... perhaps for the first time in my life, I was so nervous.

"Relax, there won’t be any problems. I was... expecting this, actually."

When I turned to the person standing next to me with his cane... Aiden... I noticed that he was very calm with a smile on his face.

How could he be so calm? He was going to meet one of the most important men in the kingdom after all... an unpredictable man, at least.

"Let’s meet Jonathan Virhen..."

Then he started walking without waiting for me. He passed through the mansion’s security without any problems, wished everyone a smile and good luck with their work, and made his way to my father’s office.

When he finally arrived in front of the office, he was still very calm.

I paused when I realized he was waiting for me to make the first move. With that, I stepped in front of him and knocked gently on the door.

"Come in."

And my father’s deep voice not only came from behind the door, it literally echoed through the corridors of the mansion.

I opened the door slowly and was greeted by my father’s usual office.

Aiden, meanwhile, walked in slowly with his cane.

My father was at his desk. His hands were on it, one on top of the other. His blond hair was combed nicely, as always, and his eyes, the same color, looked sharper than ever.

Aiden moved his cane aside, then bowed slightly and gave a very simple noble salute to the man in front of him.

"Count Aiden Tenebra, I thank Duke Virhen for his request to see me."

But my father, though he normally behaved quite differently, paid no attention to either the greeting or Aiden’s words this time.

"Skip the formality. We have nothing to do with formality here. And... you know that."

The smile on Aiden’s face only widened after my father’s words. Squinting slightly, he approached the desk and sat down in one of the armchairs in front of it. His eyes never once left my father.

"I know, yes. But I thought it would be a little more formal."

My father continued, completely ignoring what he had said.

"You formed a group that included my son, then you brought the whole group under your control, and then you got the whole academy under your thumb. I wonder why."

"To control my future and the future of my friends more easily, of course."

"You’ve created a company called Tenebra Group. You have a research laboratory and your employees are all... carefully selected. You have funding from the Holar Republic and the Cevilian Kingdom itself. What do you plan to do with it?"

"I could give the same answer, I guess. But I simply chose to make my career in the research field."

"You blackmailed the Bealy Family into working for you. You are in regular contact with the Potenbea and Quie Families. You have also recently established positive relations with the daughter of the Bistra Family. You have the full support of the Holar Republic and have established a political bond with the spirits that have just stepped on the planet. What is your purpose in amassing so much political power?"

And... Aiden answered him quite honestly.

"I am trying to become a recognized, feared, and important figure throughout the planet."

Without giving my father to say something, though, he continued his words.

"Saligia is after me, I could swear they want to kill me or take me alive more than anything else. Likewise... I am a target for many others because of who I am. I want to have the upper hand on them, I want them to think at least three times before making a move against me."

Aiden kept smiling, still maintaining eye contact.

"Am I... wrong to want these things?"

My father answered his question without breaking his expression for a moment.

"No, you’re not. But... you have to consider that your actions will have consequences. And that you will be suspected. And I... suspect you more than I trust you."

Aiden sighed lightly.

"Rightfully so."

"I’ve ignored your presence until now, because you were a friend of my son’s and he... chose to support you. But you’re getting stronger and rising too fast. How can I let my son, the future leader of the Virhens, be your supporter when I’m not even sure what kind of person you are? Potenbea, Quie, Virhen... having three of the pillar families on your side means you can easily start a rebellion as long as you convince them."

"I don’t see in myself the potential to rule a country, I cannot lie."

"But you see the potential to take a country in your hands?"

"Because I don’t intend to control the country I take in my hands. I just... want it to be one of my trump cards. I want it to help me, I want it to be able to protect me and those who will stand by me. Answer me honestly, Duke Virhen..."

Aiden took his cane between his hands, his eyes narrowed and his expression became slightly serious for the first time.

"What do you think... is the future of this country, no... directly, of this whole planet?"

My father did not change his expression. He answered his question honestly, just as Aiden had asked him to.

"At this rate, annihilation."

And with what he said, I suddenly went from just listening to what he was saying to stiffening.

Annihilation...?

What does he mean, annihilation?

"Exactly. There is a great power in the universe that is targeting all advanced civilizations. And this great power... has never been stopped in any way until now. All those who have survived the destruction and slaughter that it has wrought have somehow found their way to Lunerra and settled here. Not on another planet, not with another species... but specifically here. And through the ’dungeons’ that emerged with our system."

As I thought about what he had said, something began to dawn on me. I couldn’t help my eyes widening involuntarily, but Aiden didn’t stop, he kept going.

"Humans are normally creatures who can only sense mana. But a miraculous system appears out of nowhere and gives them the chance to use mana, and immediately afterward, the planet is flooded with refugee species! All of them look like us. Humanoid, I mean. All of them use mana in some effective way, all of them know how to fight... They are led here by the very system that has given us power. The story they all tell is that they lost the war against a ’power’ they don’t want to name and they were displaced from their homes."

I turned my eyes to my father, trying to gauge his reaction.

But he... didn’t move a muscle, as if he was already aware of all this. He wasn’t surprised by anything.

"I don’t know when it will happen, but one day, it will be our turn. And someone... is preparing us for it on our behalf. And they’re succeeding, actually... but there’s only one problem."

His smile had already disappeared. It was... officially the first time I had seen him so serious, so cold.

"We are political as well as social creatures. And we think only about the immediate future, to the point of not being fully aware of the threat that is coming. We fight each other, we start wars... we destroy each other when we should be working together. Because everybody thinks that as long as they can get strong enough and take over most of the planet, they can do now what they couldn’t do before. Who knows, at this rate, maybe, we’ll end up destroying each other before the threat that’s coming. And I’m... trying to prevent that."

This was all stuff I’d never heard before. But as I kept hearing Aiden’s motives, his thoughts... I realized how naive I had been.

Nothing he said was beyond comprehension. The system, the dungeons, the other humanoid creatures, the ’same’ story they all told...

Even a child could connect them if they thought hard enough.

But no one did.

They preferred not to.

"If I try hard enough, I can make Cevilian and Holar allies even now. I’ve already guaranteed with the signed agreement that the spirits will work for the good of the planet in the worst possible situation. But that’s not enough, at least not for me. I want to make at least four races able to work together, preferably five, even if I know it won’t be possible... all of them. I’m trying to save not only my future, but everyone’s... the future of this planet."

My father was silent for a while, and then, for the first time, he reacted with something other than ’calmness’ and ’coldness’. He simply... sighed.

"You know and have already done so much more than I thought. I hope you don’t hold a grudge against me for doubting you, but I think I have my reasons."

A tiny smile appeared on Aiden’s cold expression.

"We don’t have to make a good first impression, we don’t have to trust each other instantly. We don’t have to trust at all, actually. The important thing is to accept that we have to approach the future together. I’m... just trying to build a future where I and my loved ones can live happily, that was my goal from the beginning, that will be my goal on the day I die."

And... I saw my father’s expression change for the first time in a long time.

He... curled his lips upwards, just like Aiden. Then, he took out a family crest from one of his desk drawers and dragged it across his desk to Aiden.

Aiden caught the crest before it fell, then his smile widened.

"Then... as long as you keep your purpose, you can get any support you want from the Virhen Family."

"Thank you for understanding, Duke Virhen."

And then... they both turned slowly, simultaneously, in my direction.

And then... they both paused, the smile fading slightly from their faces. Both of their mouths opened at the same time, in the same way.

"Oh..."

"Oh..."

And suddenly I realized something. The whole time they were talking... they didn’t look at me even once.

"Wait a second..."

These two...

Did they forget I was here?