Dinner With Family by Hiroyuki Morioka (best novels for teenagers TXT) 📕

plan... it was like he’d morphed into some stranger. I thought that Rock would never fraternize with the invaders, even if it was an expedient maneuver. Which is why some recess of my brain lumped his son — which is to say, you — in with him. That’s why, in my head, the boy I knew since the day he was born stopped being my Jint Lynn.”

“I daresay we can talk about all of that at our leisure some other time,” said Jint, interrupting when a small break in speech presented itself. “I think the current situation’s more than alarming enough to warrant discussion, Till. Is this the time to be bringing up ancient history?”

“I was against it. Rock’s was an act of betrayal, pure and simple. He needed to be brought to court for it. But it’s not possible to punish Rock via Martinese law. He’d made the decision through all the proper channels. But the reps, they drafted special legislation just to...”

By now, Jint had gotten a vague idea why Till had got on the line with him.

“...There was nothing I could do. The sentence was carried out without delay, and didn’t require the System Premier’s approval. This was the law of the United Humankind. Albeit, the head of government didn’t have veto power under the Hyde System’s old set of laws, either. But even so, I had every intention of letting your father escape. If he escaped with nothing else to his name, I at least wanted him alive. I acknowledge we had to surrender, but I still think his becoming an imperial noble was a massive mistake. But everyone makes mistakes, and he was still my best friend. Do you believe me?”

“Of course I believe you. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Good. Listen, you don’t have to forgive me. If I went so far as to request your forgiveness, God would throw me in hell for that overreach, citing the sin of greed. But despite that, I just wanted you to know.”

“I’ve already forgiven you,” said Jint, and he meant it. All that mess in the aftermath of the birth of the Hyde Countdom was, to Jint, akin to an act of nature. Granted, it was trivially easy to point the finger at the one responsible. But to an eight-year-old child, it was nothing more than a sudden-onset flood of surreality. He’d felt no urge to hold a grudge against anyone.

“Hearing that has lifted my heart,” said Till. “I suppose this is it, then, Jint. I don’t believe we will ever speak again. I would like you to speak to Lina, though. I’m going to transfer the line to her, so do you mind waiting a bit?”

“Why don’t you let me see her? I mean, this call is audio-only.”

“Ahh... if only. I’m sure you look like a fine young man. If we could see your face, I’m sure she’d be elated, too.”

“Then it’s settled,” said Jint, relieved. “I’m wearing Abh noble clothing at the moment, but I’ll change for a private visit, so you don’t have to worry.”

“You can’t.”

“Can’t what...? You mean the imperial noble getup?”

“No. We can’t meet in person.”

“Why not, Till!?”

“Because I refuse to let you people set foot on our wife-land.”

Martin wasn’t the motherland, as Earth was, but rather the ‘wife-land.’

“Us people, as in Abhs?” asked Jint, discomfited. “The Abh don’t set foot on planets.”

“Stop evading! You know what I mean.”

“You’re not going to surrender...”

“Right. We’ve declared independence once again.”

“But you’ve still got Three Nations troops down there, don’t you?”

“Troops that used to be part of the Alliance, yes. But their former allegiance isn’t important. They’ve already acquiesced to following the orders of the Military of the Hyde Star System, and to becoming members of our society. It seems they were never too enthused by the war, and those soldiers are now model citizens of Hyde that we Martinese accept with open arms.”

“Can they be trusted?”

“Is that a question you’re asking the landworld administration, Lonh-Dreur?”

If Jint answered yes, Till would drop the line immediately. Which didn’t mean Jint had to bend himself into a pretzel lying, either.

“No. I’m just worried about you, and Lina... and also about...” Jint tried to speak the names of his friends from childhood, but it was no use. He saw some of their faces, but their names didn’t come to him.

“You don’t need to worry about us, Jint. We’re worried about you. All this time, we’ve been worried — how they’ve been treating you. We’ve looked on Rock, Count of Hyde with cold eyes for a very long time.”

“I can imagine.”

“I think you might not understand the full extent of it. There was animosity towards Rock himself, but that was outweighed by the suspicion against the Abh. When Rock was successfully given patronage as the wee little aristocrat he became, many were shocked the Abh kept their word. They’d thought the Abh would simply ignore their ‘promise.’ I was of the opinion that they’d keep their promise if for no other reason than to earn our trust.”

Jint, of course, was aware that the idea of earning the landworld citizens’ trust wouldn’t cross the minds of the Abh, but he kept mum.

“But following that, the situation shaped up into what you know today. I thought for sure that though you were left inside the Empire, your position would scatter by the wayside. When I learned you’d become the next Count of Hyde, it was a greater shock to me than what Rock did.”

“I get it,” said Jint, talking fast. If he didn’t hurry, he was sure the line would get dropped forevermore. “But I’m both the Count of Hyde and Jint Lynn, a born Martinese. I can do right by the system. I can work with you, and with your successors. It doesn’t even have to be a ‘surrender’ in the eyes of the Hyde government. We’ll just revert things back to the way they were. If intergalactic trade’s a no-go, I’ll suspend it. Lifestyles will suffer a bit, but the planet’s