"Ahh! The male lead is sooo handsome!" Xixi squealed excitedly as she floated in circles above Ethan's head, her fluffy white ears flopping with every spin. "Such a shame he's crippled though. What a waste of beauty!"
Ethan winced and hissed under his breath, "Will you shut up?! Keep a low profile, will you?!"
To everyone else, it probably looked like he was talking to himself—or worse, arguing with thin air.
Meanwhile, Xixi continued wriggling its nose innocently. "Host, don't worry! No one else can see me except you. Ordinary people can't even sense my presence, so you can relax."
Ethan's lips twitched. Relax? How could he relax when he was being forced to talk to a squeaky ball of fluff that only he could see?
"Is he… talking to himself?"
"Yeah, I think so. Didn't you hear? They say he's not right in the head."
"Hmph, a useless cripple and a fool. Honestly, they suit each other."
The two members of the Luciano family leaned close, whispering behind perfectly polite smiles. Their words were low, but not low enough. Malice lingered in their eyes, like they were savoring every bit of venom they spat.
Ethan's steps faltered, but he forced himself to keep walking, his expression calm—as if he hadn't heard a thing. But the faint twitch of his jaw betrayed him.
Crazy? A fool?
They were lucky he wasn't in his real body—he would've flipped the damn table. But now? Now he had to smile, lower his head, and play his role like a good little side character.
Since they think he's a fool, then he will act like a fool.
Putting on a naive, clueless smile, he practically skipped to the empty seat beside Damien. His soft slippers made no sound on the polished floors, but the silence in the room was heavy enough to suffocate.
He sat down cheerfully. "Waaaah~ such a big table. So shiny," he murmured in an exaggerated tone, running his fingers along the gleaming wood like a fascinated toddler.
The heads of the family exchanged subtle glances, some looking annoyed, others amused. No one said a word.
Beside him, the male lead didn't even blink. Damien sat as if no one had arrived. Eyes fixed forward, lips set in a flat line, he treated Ethan like air—unbothered, unaffected, uninterested.
Ethan glanced sideways at him, grinning wide. "Hello, hubby~" he whispered under his breath, feeling the urge to vomit, hearing his sweetly fake voice.
However no reaction.
Not even a twitch.
Ethan's smile twitched. "Okay, cold type... noted," he mumbled to himself, reaching for the glass of water in front of him.
"Host… are you sure this is your strategy?" Xixi asked, floating nervously behind his shoulder.
"If they think I'm harmless, they will lower their guard," Ethan muttered behind his smile. "Let's see who the real fool is in the end."
He picked up a spoon and stared at it like it was a foreign object. "Which end do I eat with again?" he said aloud, tilting it upside down. "Ah, right... the shiny one."
A few quiet snickers followed.
Damien still didn't react.
Ethan peeked at him from the corner of his eye. The man didn't even spare him a glance, as if the seat beside him was still empty. Like Ethan didn't exist.
Wow, cold was one thing. This man was pure glacier.
One of the older women, her hair pinned in a strict bun, cleared her throat. "He should have stayed locked in his room," she whispered loudly to the man beside her. "Bringing him here is a disgrace to the family."
"I heard he tried to jump off the balcony last week. Madness runs in his blood."
Ethan kept his smile in place, but his knuckles tightened around his spoon.
"Silence."
The single word thundered across the hall, echoing with such authority that the noisy whispers and muffled chuckles died instantly. An old, commanding voice followed, deep and booming.
"He is a member of this family. You will treat him with respect. He is Damien's wife. To disgrace him is to humiliate Damien himself."
The hall fell into a suffocating silence.
Ethan's hand froze midair, the spoon almost slipping from his fingers. His brain short-circuited. ...Wife?!
The word slammed into him like a cold bucket of water. Shivers crawled down his spine. Wife? He? No—absolutely not! He was a man, a breathing, walking, very much male human being!
Why did they call him a wife as if it was something normal?!
Oh yeah he was in a BL world.
Ethan turned stiffly, his gaze locking on the source of the voice.
It was the old patriarch, his eyes sharp, his back straight despite his age, his very presence alone demanded submission. Chairman Vittorio Luciano.
The man's gaze was cold and absolute, daring anyone to object again.
And just like that, everyone lowered their heads and quietly resumed eating.
Ethan blinked. No more insults? No more side glances? All it took was one sentence from the old man?
He didn't complain though.
he moment he tasted the food, his eyes widened. The flavor exploded in his mouth—it was on a completely different level from the cheap meals he used to eat. Juicy roasted meat, buttery bread, and soups so rich he could drink them forever… this was the kind of food only the wealthy could enjoy.
He had to admit, it was heaven. So, while the rest of the family ate like elegant nobles, Ethan shamelessly stuffed himself, one dish after another, determined to enjoy every bite to his heart's content.
Between bites, he discreetly studied the people around the table. Some were hypocrites, some where schemers, others were just dumb puppets in the family.
.
Different faces, different roles, yet they all shared one thing in common: they despised him. Every single one of them looked down on Ethan and had no qualms about humiliating him whenever they got the chance.
The only reason he hadn't been completely crushed yet… was because of the patriarch. Occasionally, the old man would step in to shield him—not out of affection, Ethan knew—but because of the unborn child in his belly. To them, he was nothing more than a vessel, a tool carrying the bloodline.
He was lost in his thoughts when the old man's deep voice rang out again.
"Damien, you'll be sleeping with your wife tonight."
"...!"