The words of his family finally touched Paul's heart, making this man who had always been running away and unwilling to face reality realize the responsibility he had to take.
"..."
Hearing Paul's words, Zenith showed no emotion on the surface, but the slightly clenched fist under her sleeve showed that her heart was not calm.
Lilia also had a complicated expression. She clearly felt that she had some responsibility in this matter. She had failed to stick to her principles in front of Paul, and had even actively welcomed and done improper things.
She hoped that she could also accept some punishment, but Zenith made it clear that she didn't care about her thoughts and was mainly focused on Paul.
"Paul, were you serious about what you just said?"
"Of course, I am willing to accept any punishment."
Now, Paul would no longer run away. He was willing to accept all consequences and punishment for the mistakes he had made.
This carefree, erratic playboy had finally shown the steadiness and responsibility of a father and husband.
Seeing Paul like this, Zenith fell silent. She seemed to have gotten what she wanted from Paul's attitude.
But in the current situation, she couldn't just give Paul a light punishment. He had to pay the price for the mistakes he had made.
Therefore, after thinking for a while, Zenith slowly said, "Since you have made up your mind, then my condition is that for the next whole year, you are not allowed to return to this house. Go outside and reflect on yourself!"
"This…"
Unexpectedly, this would be the punishment. Paul hesitated, "If I'm not at home, what if the family is in danger?"
"Isn't Shirou here? Besides, you lost the duel to Shirou just now. There's no use in keeping a guy like you around!"
Zenith said frankly.
Hearing this, not to mention Paul, Shirou himself was embarrassed.
Because his victory was purely luck. In fact, when Paul pulled out the second sword at the end, he felt that he was very likely to lose.
If Paul had used his full strength a little earlier, he would have had almost no chance of winning.
Of course, only Paul and Shirou knew about this. In the eyes of outsiders who didn't understand swordsmanship, Shirou had indeed won the battle just now.
"I understand."
However, Paul agreed with Zenith's words. He took a deep breath and looked at Shirou, "While I'm gone, I'll leave the family to you to protect, Shirou."
"Leave it to me, Paul."
Shirou nodded. Of course he would protect everyone in the Greyrat family.
"Also, even if you go outside, you're not allowed to mess around with other women!"
Zenith seemed to remember something and immediately said, "If you mess around with other women while I'm not around with Lilia, you'll never come back to this house ever again!!"
"Of course, I won't do such a thing!"
Paul's eyes were clear, or rather, he was determined, "I plan to live next to the Buena Forest for the next year and use the year to eliminate the monsters in the forest, without contacting anyone from the outside. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Hearing Paul's words, not to mention others, Shirou couldn't help but look surprised.
He didn't expect Paul to still remember the monster riot in the Buena Forest. It seemed that he was just throwing a tantrum before, but in reality, he still cared about the safety of the village.
"Alright."
Seeing Paul was so sincere, and even willing to live a life isolated from the world for a year, Zenith finally stopped venting her anger and nodded in agreement.
Seeing that Paul's matter was over, Lilia couldn't help but step forward, "Madam, please give me some instructions too. I also need to be punished."
"Lilia…"
Hearing Lilia's words, Zenith fell silent.
It was impossible for her to have no emotions towards this maid who had seduced her husband.
If Zenith was a little more fierce, even if she ignored the other person's situation and directly kicked Lilia out of the house, it would be very normal.
But Zenith was not that kind of person. Especially since Lilia's body itself had defects, if she left the Greyrat family, she might encounter some danger.
"Mother, I don't think Lilia is wrong."
Rudeus couldn't help but speak when he saw Zenith hesitating.
He still appreciated Lilia very much. He used to often receive Lilia's help, and now he naturally wanted to find a way to repay her kindness.
"Rudy?"
"Everything is Father's fault."
"…Yes."
"Since it's Father's fault, it's not right to let Lilia have a hard time."
"Indeed."
"I have Brother Shirou as my big brother, and I feel very happy every day, so if the younger siblings who are born in the future can also have friends of a similar age, wouldn't that be better?"
"…"
"And, Mother, to me, both sides are my siblings."
"…I understand. Sigh, I really can't win against Rudy."
Zenith sighed heavily, suppressing the last bit of dissatisfaction she had with Lilia, "Lilia, stay in our house. You are already family! I won't allow you to leave without permission!"
"Madam…"
Hearing Zenith's words, Lilia couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hand, her eyes filled with tears.
Zenith reached out and hugged her, and the two leaned on each other.
Seeing this harmonious scene, Shirou couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, realizing that a crisis that could have led to the breakup of the family had finally been resolved smoothly.
…
The next morning, Paul packed his things and prepared to leave for the Buena Forest.
Due to Paul's previous mistakes, no one from the Greyrat family came to see him off, only Shirou got up early and happened to meet him.
"Paul, are you really going alone?"
Shirou looked at Paul, unable to help but feel a little worried.
Paul laughed and said, "Don't worry, don't you believe in your old man's strength? Although you used that weird trick last night, if I was a little more serious, you definitely wouldn't be able to beat me, Shirou!"
"This…"
Shirou couldn't help but smile wryly, realizing that this man's personality was still that of a boy to the end.
But he himself was actually the same as Paul.
Shirou was also unwilling to accept the fact that his victory last night was actually a defeat. Therefore, he planned to continue honing his skills in the future and one day defeat Paul head-on.
After seeing Paul off and watching the man's figure disappear on the road with his horse, Shirou slowly turned around and found that Zenith had appeared behind the door with a thin shawl on her shoulders at some point.
"He's gone."
Zenith's expression was quite complicated, with a degree of relief, as well as complex and confused feelings.
"Zenith, do you hate Paul?"
"How is that possible?"
Zenith seemed a little dazed by this question, but quickly smiled wryly, gently stroking Shirou's head with a gentle expression, "Actually, I had guessed that something like this might happen today. That guy is stupid and likes women, so I had prepared myself and thought that something like this would happen one day. I was just too shocked yesterday because it was too sudden."
"This… Paul is indeed that kind of person."
Shirou couldn't make any defense for Paul. He was usually used to the Greyrat family's reaction to women's interests.
Yes, not only Paul, but even his younger brother Rudeus was also a womanizer.
But Shirou himself didn't have this preference, so he was somewhat out of place in this family.
"Yeah, Paul is actually much more restrained than before. In the past, he was a guy with no morals who could be described as a rapist. Maybe there are your brothers or sisters somewhere, but I just don't know about them."
While speaking, Zenith couldn't help but increase the force of rubbing Shirou's head, "Shirou, don't become that kind of adult."
"I probably won't."
"Well, you can rest assured about that. But Rudy…"
Zenith sighed deeply, making it clear that she couldn't rest assured about Rudeus.
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him."
Shirou said with a smile, "No matter what happens, I will use all my strength to protect this family."
"Shirou…"
Zenith looked at the boy with the gentle smile, and the corners of her mouth also slightly curved into a smile.
She gently pulled Shirou into her arms, letting the boy rest on her lap.
Shirou was initially uncomfortable with this embarrassing posture, but gradually, he lost his resistance and even fell asleep directly on Zenith's lap.
As a child raised by Emiya Kiritsugu, he had almost no memories of his mother, and he didn't know that a mother's warmth was such a comforting thing.
Although he had always tried to treat Zenith as his mother, it was not until this moment that he truly felt almost maternal love and realized that he had always been fantasizing about such warmth.
In his sleep, he returned to the Emiya residence after a long absence and found a silver-haired girl in front of him.
He was initially confused by this stranger girl, but then he immediately realized that this was Servant Emiya's memory and that the girl in front of him was a girl named Illya in Servant Emiya's memory.
In Servant Emiya's memory, he had learned a shocking fact during the Holy Grail War: Illya was Emiya Kiritsugu's daughter and his older sister.
At the time of knowing everything, Illya had also shown a gentle attitude and given Servant Emiya a lap pillow, giving Servant Emiya family-like warmth.
However, Illya herself died a few years after the end of the Holy Grail War due to the failure of all organs in her body.
Servant Emiya then lost his only family and completely embarked on a lonely journey to pursue justice alone…
Shirou realized that Servant Emiya's heart also always longed for the existence of a caring family.
That was why neither he nor himself wanted to make the same mistake again.
---
Read 55+ advanced chapters on patreon.com/yeyeqiu
Free member can read up to 4 advanced chapters