"Mr. Witte, actually the reason I came here to interrupt you this time is because of my engagement with Miss Charlotte Witte... I'm sorry, I know this is a bit rude to the Witte family, but I heard..."
Marius kept drafting in his mind, trying to speak more sincerely.
"Well, I heard that Maca McClain also came here today, and... also did some things that made everyone embarrassed?"
Although Maka on the side was attracted a lot of attention by the table full of delicious food, she still couldn't help but shook her head when she heard Marius ask this question.
The Witte family was definitely embarrassed today, but that embarrassment was not caused by him alone.
And speaking of it, things like "I was tricked by Haierbo a little bit" made him feel a little uncomfortable.
As for Marius’s mention of his engagement to Charlotte…
"The Augustine family...are they officially joining forces with the Werther family to target me?" Maca looked back and forth on Marius' face, and secretly began to calculate in her heart.
Of course, it was impossible for Marius to be aware of Maka's existence, let alone that his every word and deed would be in the eyes of Maka, the "imaginary enemy".
Compared to Maka's noncommittal thinking, the eyes of the old Patriarch of Witte were obviously much sharper.
I saw him gently tapping the table with his knuckles, and said seriously:
"My child, are you worried that our Witte family will compromise because of McClane's arrogant behavior and finally give up asking Hogwarts for Charlotte?"
"Oh, no -" Marius hurriedly waved his hands and said, "How could it be! I just want to confirm whether my fiancée can still marry into our Augustine family as promised... In fact, if necessary, I..."
Halfway through his words, he seemed to be hesitant and subconsciously turned his head to one side. From the perspective of the head of the Witte family, he might have thought that Marius was thinking carefully about his words, but Maka noticed the slight wandering in his eyes.
"Well..." Marius continued, "I mean, Miss Charlotte Waite is my fiancée after all... If possible, our Augustine family is also willing to take action to 'take her back'."
What he said was quite straightforward, and precisely because of his little action, Maka had a little more suspicion about Miriam in the crowd.
"Is this what the woman wanted him to say?" Maka's eyes glanced at the wall not far away, without much expression on her face.
As a matter of fact, Miriam really didn't talk about this.
But Marius was not a fool. Although he was a little uncomfortable with it, he quickly understood what to do.
For example, when he thought that he would have to take the entire family into his hands bit by bit, he quickly understood that he first needed to have enough "assertion."
If you continue to follow the wishes of your elders in everything as before, even if you become the head of the family, you will probably become a puppet with no bloodline or surname.
Therefore, he took the initiative to propose to the old head of the Witte family that his family also wanted to take action. This was actually just the first decision he made to break away from the "family arrangement".
"oh?"
Regarding Marius's words, Old Werther's eyes immediately flashed with surprise.
It’s not like he has never seen this heir to the Augustine family before! But like today, Marius dared to make decisions for the family without the presence of the family elders. He had never seen Marius like this.
"It would be great if the Augustine family is willing to take action. But... Marius, I wonder if what you said also represents the will of your entire Augustine family?"
This is the first time that Old Werther calls Marius by his first name tonight, instead of continuing to call him "child".
It can be seen that as long as Marius can make a positive response next, he will be officially linked to the Augustine family in the heart of Old Werther.
But to be honest, although Marius looked normal on the surface at this moment, he was quite shaken in his heart. And this wavering forced him to glance over at Miriam again.
"Of course," Marius said loudly, "I am the sole heir of the Augustine family. What I say naturally represents the entire Augustine family."
When he said this "big words", Marius' heart was hanging. He didn't even know why he was so bold to make a decision that was completely opposite to the family meeting directly in front of the old head of the Witte family.
But now, he can only count on Miriam to keep her word and help him deal with the elders in the family.
"…especially Herbert!"
For Marius, the chief steward uncle who was unhappy with him all the time was always a chasm that he had to overcome.
"Okay, in that case, we can talk about this in detail after dinner." The old owner smiled and nodded, "Then, let's have dinner first! If we continue to talk, they should be cooled down..."
If anything, Old Werther only believed most of what Marius said. But no matter whether the decision Marius said was true or not, what the Werther family wanted to do now would not change.
From the moment Haierbo stood "behind" him, his Werther family didn't have much choice.
"This dragon meat pie tastes very good. It is made in Romania. Come on, Marius, come and try it too..."
…
After that, the dinner was quite enjoyable. Of course, a guy like Maka who can only watch from the side is not in such a beautiful mood.
After the meal, Marius and Old Werther really talked about the topic of "how to take back Charlotte". And in a conversation that couldn't be said to be a coincidence, the content of the discussion slowly turned to "how to deal with McClain."
Maka, the person involved, was sitting on the edge of the table nearby, rolling her eyes while listening, and occasionally pouring a sip of Immortal Yin potion into her mouth.
After pondering over some of the words of the old head of the Werther family, Maka immediately came to a conclusion—Helbo wanted to use the help of the Werther family to hold her back.
"Two possibilities -" he silently clasped his hands and counted, "One, Haierbo is making preparations for the demon summoning technique; secondly, Haierbo has not yet obtained the summoning part of "Abatail"."
No matter which possibility it is, it means that Haierbo needs time.
"His time is also my time."
Just as Maka was thinking about it, she saw that the conversation on Marius' side had finally come to an end. After being politely persuaded by the old head of the Werther family, Marius also declined accordingly, because at a glance he saw Miriam signaling that he should leave.
Seeing this, Maka put aside the matter of Haierbo for a while, and his eyes fell on Miriam not far away.
"Let's start here first! If we don't figure out Ewan Ravenclaw's true intention, if we are tricked at a critical moment, the consequences will be disastrous."
Without much hesitation, when Marius took Miriam out, he quietly followed behind.
Walking through the main hall and front courtyard of the Witte family, without the many lights in the mansion, the surrounding environment suddenly seemed much darker.
The man and the woman were relatively cautious, and neither of them spoke during the period when they left Werther's house. It wasn't until they turned a few streets and entered an alley that Marius couldn't help but speak.
"Miss Miriam, when I return to the family... what should I do?"
There is no doubt that this is what he cares about most now. To be honest, if he could get away with it now, he would have a lot of fun!
"Oh! I must be crazy tonight!"
But Miriam, who followed him quietly, smiled and shook her head.
"No, you are not crazy..." She reached out and held Marius' shoulders, staring into his eyes and said seriously, "Not only that, you also did a good job! At least it was better than I expected... If you If you can still maintain the calmness and calmness when facing the Witte family from now on, nothing will be a problem!"
"But," Marius took a deep breath and held it for a long time before saying helplessly, "You may not know that I was just holding on..."
Miriam saw that he seemed to lack confidence, and immediately reached out and patted his arm.
"Maybe you feel that you are not satisfied enough, but I hope you can understand that this so-called 'holding on' is not something ordinary people can do! I say, you have to have some confidence in yourself!"
When Marius heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"The dinner just now made me understand what it takes to be the head of a family... and I'm afraid this is just a scratch."
As he was talking, he suddenly sighed:
"Can I really do it and hold the entire Augustine family in my hands?"
"… I see."
A voice suddenly sounded in this deserted dark alley, startling both Marius and Miriam.
"who!"
Miriam, who was well-trained, reacted quickly. She immediately pulled out her wand and cast a silent spell in the direction of the sound without hesitation.
Immediately afterwards, the figure hidden near her emerged—although it was not at the location she judged.
"Hello," Maka looked at the two of them from side to side and said expressionlessly, "Can I say... 'We meet again'?"
"Maka McClain!"
Miriam frowned immediately when she saw him.
"Didn't the boss make an agreement with you before he left? We are working here and will not interfere with each other-"
"Hmph," Maka chuckled and interrupted, "Your 'boss' said it, but I didn't agree... Besides, it's not impossible for you to ask me not to interfere, but have you done it yourselves? "