Scumbag Fate System-Chapter 71: Moments With Yor (1)

Reinhard then leaned back, smiling at the blushing Yor. But there was still something he was curious about.

Yor rarely talked about her family.

Which was why Reinhard knew the next question might hurt. "Where does your family actually live? You’ve never mentioned where you’re from."

Yor blinked at the sudden topic shift before a small giggle escaped her lips. "I live in Luminous City. My family is the current Duke ruling over it."

The room went silent.

Completely silent.

Reinhard had expected many answers from Yor.

Being the daughter of one of the most powerful noble families in the empire was not one of them.

Reinhard blinked in surprise."... Dukes are second in power only to Emperor Verlion himself. That means..."

His voice trailed off as understanding crashed over him like a wave. Not just any noble family. Not just wealthy or influential. The Noctyne family was one of the most powerful in the entire kingdom.

That would also explain others’ reluctance to deal with her... Reinhard inwardly sighed as he realized this might have been common knowledge that the original body didn’t know. Offending a Duke, even though there is no abuse of status on the campus, was still a terrible idea.

Yor nodded.

"You didn’t know?"

"I... I wasn’t interested in those types of stuff."

"So you’re like Rika in that regard? It’s nice to know." She giggled at his reaction. "But yes, my family rules over a large section of the kingdom. Luminous City and all the territories surrounding it for several hundred miles."

Victoria leaned against the doorframe with her own surprise barely concealed. "I knew the Noctyne name was important, but I didn’t realize you were that Noctyne family."

"How many people are we talking about?" Reinhard raised a brow as he asked in interest and a bit of curiosity. "How large is Luminous City?"

"About two hundred thousand people live in the city itself," Yor explained as she sat back down on her bed. "Maybe half a million total if you count all the smaller towns and villages in our territory."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "It’s a lot of pressure, honestly. Everything the Duke family does reflects on the entire region. Every decision my parents made affected hundreds of thousands of lives."

"What’s it like there?" Reinhard asked as he joined her on the bed again. "Living in a city that important?"

Yor’s expression softened with fondness. "Beautiful. The city is built around a massive crystal formation that glows at night, which is why it’s called Luminous. The streets are wide and clean with parks and gardens everywhere because my mother insisted on it."

Reinhard blinked and said. "Your mother did?"

She nodded a giggle. "My mother was somehow amazing at creating a better community. She organized festivals every few months and made sure everyone knew their neighbors. Created programs where wealthy merchants would help struggling families because she wanted everyone in Luminous City to feel connected."

"And your father?" Reinhard prompted gently.

"Aldric was strict but fair," Yor said with pride coloring her voice. "He approved funding for schools and hospitals without hesitation and made sure the guard protected everyone equally, regardless of status. He listened to complaints from common citizens every chance he could get in open court."

Reinhard inwardly raised a brow. He was a bit more impressed with her father now.

She paused before continuing with something more complicated in her expression. "Together they made Luminous City into something special. A place where people actually cared about each other instead of just coexisting. The community there is tight-knit in a way most cities aren’t." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Reinhard held his chin and said. "I’ve heard from Rika that Luminous City has unusually low crime rates and high citizen satisfaction. Is that your parents’ work?"

"Mostly my mother’s," Yor admitted. "She had this gift for making people feel valued. Like they mattered. She’d remember the names of shopkeepers and their children. Would ask about their lives genuinely. People loved her for it."

Her expression darkened slightly. "Which made it so much harder when they became emotionless. When word spread that both the Duke and Duchess had fallen into some kind of catatonic state, the city panicked at first."

"What happened?" Reinhard asked quietly.

"The council took over administrative duties," Yor explained with her hands clasping together. "They kept the city running while my parents stayed locked inside the manor. They couldn’t leave or interact with anyone. They were just... existing."

Reinhard gently rubbed her back, making her smile and relaxed. "And the impact this had?"

She took a shaky breath. "Some families left because they lost faith in the Noctyne leadership. Merchants worried about trade agreements while other nobles tried to take advantage of the power vacuum."

"But the city survived?" Reinhard guessed.

Yor nodded with a faint smile returning. "The community my parents built was stronger than that. The people of Luminous City pushed through the crisis. They understood that something was deeply wrong with my parents rather than assuming they’d simply abandoned their duties."

Reinhard inwardly whistled. That required a high level of trust, something he knew was extremely difficult to attain from a small community.

Let alone an entire city.

"They sent letters." Yor continued as her voice grew softer. "Thousands of them over the years to the manor. Saying they were waiting. That they believed in the Noctyne family. That whenever my parents recovered, Luminous City would welcome them back."

Reinhard sighed softly before saying lightly. "That’s remarkable loyalty."

"It’s what my mother built," Yor said simply. "Real connection with everyone in the community. That doesn’t just disappear when things get hard."

Reinhard absorbed this information as pieces falling into place.

The pressure Yor had lived under. The stakes of her losing control. The reason her family had been so desperate to find a solution.

"So will you visit Luminous City?" He asked carefully. "To heal your parents?"

Yor paused as her hands trembled slightly before she nodded. "Yes. Just like you said before, they love me, and you’ll have my back even if things go wrong."

Her voice wavered on the last words as old fear crept in despite everything.

Reinhard smiled as he reached out to caress her hair with gentle strokes. "Regardless of what happens. Just remember you have us waiting back here for you."

Yor’s eyes glistened with unshed tears as she nodded. "Thank you... That means everything."

Reinhard asked. "So what did you use to do with your family before everything went wrong?"

She blinked before her expression softened in nostalgia. "We’d do the most ridiculous things together."

"For example? Come on now, don’t have me guessing." Reinhard he gently shoves her with his shoulder.

Yor giggled as the sound brightened. "Once, my grandmother Helena convinced everyone to have a ’commoner day’ where we all dressed in regular clothes and walked through the market pretending to be normal citizens."

"How did that go?"

"Terribly!" Yor laughed. "My grandfather Marcus kept forgetting his role, and my father couldn’t figure out how to haggle properly. We got recognized within an hour because my mother kept unconsciously standing with a perfect noble posture."

Reinhard chuckled as he imagined it. "That sounds chaotic."

"It was amazing though," Yor said with warmth filling her voice. "We ate street food and played games at the festival stalls. My grandmother won a stuffed bear at an archery contest and gave it to me. I still have it at the manor back there."

She continued with more stories pouring out now that the dam had broken. "My grandfather would sneak me extra desserts during dinners when my parents weren’t looking. My mother taught me to dance in the ballroom while singing off-key. My father would read me adventure stories and do all the voices for different characters."

"Your grandmother taught you flowers, didn’t she?" Reinhard remembered the whispers in the mansion.

"Yes!" Yor’s face lit up. "She had the most beautiful garden behind the manor. We’d spend hours there identifying different species and learning their meanings. She said every flower tells a story."

More memories tumbled out as a painting of a loving, chaotic household. Family dinners that turned into food fights. Grandmother Helena teaches young Yor to shoot arrows in the training yard. Grandfather Marcus tells stories about hunting void monsters in his youth. Her parents danced together in the moonlight while thinking Yor was asleep.

"My father tried to teach me chess once," Yor said with a giggle. "But I kept moving the pieces wrong on purpose just to see his confused face. He’d get so frustrated trying to figure out my ’strategy’ when there wasn’t one."

Reinhard laughed at the image. "He sounds patient."

"He was," Yor agreed. "Both my parents were. They never got angry when I made mistakes back then. They were... just happy I was having fun."

Reinhard’s smile gently caressed her cheek, making her smile even more.

But then Yor smile turned bittersweet. "Those times were so amazing. Before the void power manifested fully. Before I became dangerous and everything fell apart. We were just... a family. A weird, loving, chaotic family."

Her voice grew quieter.

Like she was afraid the memories might disappear.

Reinhard cupped her face between his hands, then leaned in to kiss her deeply. Yor made a small, surprised sound before melting into the kiss. Her hands came up to grip his shirt as she pulled him closer while giggling against his mouth. The sound was pure joy, relief, and happiness all tangled together.

The kiss deepened as it grew more heated.

But Reinhard noticed something that made him pause.

Her hands were shaking again.