Dias drove the carriage towards the Calpheon Castle, and a smile never left his face. He had watched over Damon ever since he was born, even when his previous Lord decided to live as a commoner. He played the role of an old hunter who lived near them, and every once in a while, he would go out to hunt and secretly give the meat to Damon.
"Uncle Dias, did you catch another bird?"
"Yes, look at this."
"Wooh, can you teach me how to use bow and arrow?"
He gave a small laugh as he thought back to those days. He was full of pride as he saw people welcoming Damon to the city.
'He would be a great Lord,' he told himself while smiling.
However, his smile soon faded when he reached the castle gates. A carriage with the symbol of the Acheron Family was waiting for them. The only difference was that the symbol did not have a sword drawn.
He immediately stopped the carriage while a frown appeared on his face.
"Did we reach the castle?" asked Damon from inside.
"Yes, my Lord, but some people are waiting for us," replied Dias; his voice was heavy.
Damon frowned as he could sense the change in Dias's voice. Just who could it be? he thought.
Dias opened the carriage doors for him as he stepped out to see the people who were waiting for them at the castle gates.
"We greet the Baron," the castle guards shouted when they saw Damon step out of the carriage.
The face of those waiting contorted when they heard the greetings.
Every family would have a black sheep, but it did not matter in most cases. However, it becomes a huge issue when that sheep thinks he is a lion and tries to bite his people.
Liam Acheron was the black sheep of the Acheron Family.
He was everything his younger brother, Lawrence Acheron, was not. Many times he had tried to gain control of the Acheron Family as its head yet had failed every time.
Damon looked at his uncle and family, standing beside their carriage outside the castle gates.
"You received a grand welcome from the people, didn't you, cousin," spoke a girl who stood by Liam, her hands crossed in front of her chest and nose pointing upwards as if she was looking down on Damon.
"Kinis!" reprimanded the woman in green dress and a hat, " you should show some respect to the possible head of the Acheron Family."
Her name was Stacy, wife of Liam Acheron. She, too, like her daughter, had a smug on her face as she looked at Damon with a high nose.
"Do you want to die?"
A powerful aura erupted as everyone looked towards Philip as he raised placed a hand on his sword.
"It's alright, Philip, let me handle this. I don't think father would appreciate it if I killed someone from our own family," he said before looking towards Liam and his family, "right?"
"Y-yes, we should not fight among ourselves, lest other people use this as an opportunity to strike us," Liam said hurriedly.
"Let's go inside and talk over dinner," said Damon before getting back into the carriage, and Dias drove it inside.
"I fear they might have come with bad intentions," warned Dias.
"Don't worry. They are just sheep trying to fight a Lion. Even if they have sold themselves to the foxes, they can't do anything to me," said Damon as he glanced at the carriage travelling beside them.
They soon reached their destination and got off their carriages.
"Dias, show them to the guest room. I need to take a bath and change. Get the dinner ready too," he gave an order before he started walking towards his room.
"Guest room? What do you mean by that? This is as much as our home as it is yours," spoke Kinis throwing a glare filled with daggers at Damon, but Damon ignored her as he gave one last order.
"Take good care of the guests, but you can use force in case they misbehave."
With that said, he walked off, not caring a bit about the shocked faces of his uncle and his family.
"Please come this way. I will lead you to the guest room," spoke Dias with a smile on his face. He was delighted by the order Damon had given, he may not show it, but Dias hated Liam to the core for how he would disrespect his previous Lord back in the days yet forgiven because Lawrence felt sympathy for his brother.
"Dias, you...," Liam tried to say something, but when he saw the three Knights looking towards him, he gritted his before looking at Dias.
"No need, I know my way around here," he said and started walking towards the guest room.
"Send some servants and take good care of them as Lord said," he instructed a maid before he too went off for his work.
Liam and his family soon reached the guest room, and Stacy could not hold back her anger as soon as they did.
"How dare he treat us like this? Are we not part of one same family? Husband, it would be best if you had taught that brat a lesson," she shouted, trying to vent her anger.
"Drop your voice, stupid woman. We are not in our home but our enemies. As for this disregard, he had shown us? I will make sure he pays for it," replied Liam, but one could see anger on his face.
The blatant disregard Damon had shown him was something he had experienced for the first time in his life. Even his younger brother Lawrence had never treated him in such away. He could not wait to rip Damon to pieces, but he calmed himself down. This was not the time to lose his calm. He was here for something more meaningful, which could change his life and status.
'Hehe, I would like to see how long you can be so high and mighty. I will take this estate and title from you and rule the Acheron Barony.'
Then he turned towards his daughter, who was sitting to his left.
"Kinis, are you sure you can depend on that friend of yours from Magic Academy?"
"Don't worry, father, that fool is head over heels for me and would do whatever I ask of him," she replied with a proud look, "before I came, I had already talked with him regarding this as you had said. Even if the previous Baron had not died, he would have helped us, moreover now it would be even easier for you to be the Baron after that sick man is dead."
Kinis was sixteen years old with a pretty face and blonde hair, inherited from her mother. She had blue eyes, which added to her beauty and her big chest added to her charm.
Liam looked at his daughter before giving a slight nod.
"With a count backing us, there is no way I can not be a Baron. I would love to see the look on the kid's face. I bet he will be shocked," he said, drowning in his imagination.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
After some time, they heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," said Stacy, arrogance visible on her face.
"Please come with me, the dinner table is ready, and Baron will meet you there soon," the maid said while giving a slight bow.
"Baron? I would like to see how long he can be a baron," said Liam before he started walking towards the door.
The maid stayed silent and moved out of their way. As much as she hated the group, she did not let it show on her face and, with proper antiquates, led them towards the dinner table.
Soon they came in front of a large wooden door, decorated with ornaments and many other carvings.
"I thought I would be late, but it seems I am right on time," a voice came from behind them.
They all turned around and saw the person who had just spoken.
Dressed on black pants and a loose white shirt, Damon walked towards them with steady steps. His hair was still wet from the bath, and his red eyes gave him an aura that none could resist. The black glasses he wore just added more to his charm.
He was five feet tall, which could be considered tall for a twelve-year-old, and his handsome face could make any woman lose their minds.
Damon may look like a kid, but he would grow up to be a handsome young man in a few years.
When Kinis saw Damon, she could not believe it was the same shabby-looking boy from before. Unknowingly a slight blush formed on her face.
"Ahem."
Liam gave a fake cough when he saw his daughter's behaviour, snapping her out of her daze. But he forgot to notice that his wife, Stacy, had the same look like her daughter, which she quickly hid away after Liam coughed.
"Let's enter, or the dinner would get cold," said Damon as he walked ahead of them, with Dias following right behind as they entered the dining hall.
The hall was fifteen metres tall, extremely lofty and bright thanks to the torches lining the walls. Their light could even illuminate the mural on the roof.
A fifteen-meter-long table sat in the hall's centre with several chairs beside it but only one head chair.
Liam and his family walked behind them, and their faces could not help but hide their surprise seeing the grandness of the hall even though they had seen it many times. Liam calmed himself before walking towards the head seat.
It was for the eldest and the person with the most seniority. He was all smiles as he walked towards that seat, but soon his smile disappeared.
Damon sat on the head chair as if it was the most obvious thing to do. He then looked at Liam, whose's face contorted due to anger, and his words were adding salt to the wounds.
"Why are you standing there? Take a seat; I believe you all would be hungry after such a long distance you have travelled," he said before pointing at the other chairs.
"What is the meaning of this?" unable to hold on to his anger, Liam confronted Damon.
"Meaning of what? Uncle" asked Damon with a clueless face which further angered Liam.
"Did no one teach you manners? That seat belongs to the most senior person, head of the family, not to a brat like you!!" he shouted towards the end of his words.
Damon looked at Liam and a playful smile formed on his face. When Liam saw it, he could not help but have a bad feeling about it.
"Indeed, this seat belongs to the most respected and senior person, but let me ask you this," Damon held a fork in his hand as he played with it, "a man who could not even attend his brothers funeral, a man who sold himself to the enemy."
He then looks towards Liam, the fork still playing in his hand, "do you think such a man has the right to call himself respectful and a senior?"
"T-that...," as he stuttered, Liam hurriedly tried to deny the facts while looking for a reason, but he could not think of anything under Damon's gaze and the red eyes that seem to look through his soul.
"No need to make excuses and no need for apologies. I never expected much from you, Mr. Liam Acheron," the next words said by Damon made Liam and his family gasp as they meant more than what they seem.
Calling Liam by his name rather than 'uncle' only meant one thing.
Damon no longer considered them part of his family, but how could he? They had always tried to make things difficult for his father, consistently opposed the decisions he made just for the benefits they got from Baron Foxridge.
Did they think they could hide it from Lawrence? A man of wisdom and authority? He had long known, but he always ignored these facts, for they were his family. Damon planned to do the same since Liam was his father's brother, but when he did not attend the funeral? That was the bottom line which Damon could not let them cross.
"D-do you know what you are saying?" with a shout, Stacy stepped forward while speaking for her husband, who was too stunned to speak.
"I would appreciate it if you lowered your voice," replied Damon as unknowingly an ethereal aura spread from him. It was the same aura that had taken birth when he had raised his sword in front of the crowd.
kek
Everyone in the room gritted their teeth. Regardless of who they were, they found it hard to breathe under the suffocating atmosphere created by Damon, which he was not even aware of himself.
Liam looked at his 'nephew' and could not help but take a step back as he saw something in him he had seen many years ago. A memory he could never forget, a memory that might as well be the most prominent scar on his pride.
As the rain fell from the clouds, two young men faced each other on a training ground, with almost the same features. The only difference was that one was standing with his sword placed at his opponent's neck, who was on his knees looking up to him.
The young man with the sword released an aura, making one bow to him even against their will. The young man on the ground could not help but grit his teeth as he tried his best to resist that aura, but in the end, he had to drop his head. It was the resignation towards his opponent, his defeat, both physically and mentally.
Liam remembered that day as he looked into the eyes of his 'nephew,' no, the eyes of Baron Damon Acheron. A similar aura was forcing him to drop his head down, and once again, he tried to resist, he revolved his mana, but every time he looked at those red eyes which glowed ever so slightly, the fierce aura broke his confidence. The face of Baron Damon Acheron reminded him of the only person he had lost to throughout his life; his will broke once again.
This was not physical defeat or in terms of mana but rather in terms of his will compared to Damon's.
Liam Acheron once again dropped his head as he could no longer look in the eyes of the boy in front of him.