As all the guests left, Zeuxis was just left dumbstruck by the result of his little game.
He could not believe it at all. He was supposed to get the last laugh!
(That freak sister of mine could have been brought to jail! I could have had the nobles believe in me, and know the truth that Father is hiding!)
Ronin just grinned at this and approached his stunned brother.
"Did you not hear Father, Zeuxis? You are now disowned. You cannot step foot in this household anymore." He grinned wryly.
Zeuxis grabbed him by the neck and conjured his pseudo-dagger made of lightning again!
"And whose fault is that??? I should have killed you sooner---"
Whish!
His weak lightning dagger disappeared the moment Duke Taevas' sword sliced through it!
"It is your fault, Zeuxis. All your fault. I should have asked you to leave sooner." Duke Taevas gritted his teeth. "But I made a promise to your Mother to protect all of you, so I held back."
"Now you are endangering two of your siblings, two of the people she asked me to protect... and so I must let one go."
Zeuxis' eyes teared up. "Father... I did nothing but try to make you proud. I trained and I trained for my Triannum. Yet you never notice that!"
"First it was Maellan, then this little girl and her ice---- And now don't tell me this cursed little prune would be the next!"
"The next what, Zeuxis?" Duke Taevas frowned.
"The next person that you would give all your attention to! Who would steal your eyes away from me! I was once the one you were proud of the most! You said I was the future of this household!"
"It was not just you that I told that, Zeuxis! Maellan too when he was young!" Duke Taevad exclaimed. "Did you seriously think that I put on some special privelege to my children when I say those words? I was being a supportive father!"
Zeuxis cried: "Oh to the Abyss with that! Supportive father??? You were never home, never smiled at me one bit, never asked if I was doing alright with my Mage Focus! "
His father retorted: "Oh, so now you are pushing the blame on me for your terrible behavior? Is that it?"
Duke Taevas said with no restraints. "I fed you, give you a nice bed to sleep in, a roof above your head! I did everything I could to be a good father to all three of you!"
"The reason I was away was because I was looking for a cure to your younger brother's condition, and a way for us to continue surviving and getting money!"
"For the past five years, I did not even look for another wife! I worked and worked myself to the bone! And it was all for you!"
But Zeuxis was unconvinced by this, because he was too childish to understand. All that he could register in his mind was that his father was scolding him and shouting at him.
He won't accept that its his fault. His father was simply being unfair.
"Fine! If you are so tired of my 'terrible behavior', then I'll leave. I don't need you to survive at all. Even Maellan is surviving on his own at the Academy!"
He went upstairs to pack up his things while wincing and holding his broken arm, shouting:
"You'll see! When I pass my Triannum test and become the greatest student in the Spire of Warriors, don't come begging me to come back and take the last name Zafeiri! I'm no longer your son!"
The parlor went quiet for a while after that declaration.
Duke Taevas slumped on a chair and rubbed his forehead, already weary from the battle earlier. And now this drama adds up to his troubles.
Ronin just stared at him with blank eyes, and he interpreted it as him asking for praise for what he did earlier.
"....You did well, Ronin." Duke Taevas said.
Ronin shook his head. "I know, Father. I do not need your validation. I'm not like Zeuxis."
Ronin just turned his back on him and took his little sister's hand who was stunned by everything that just happened. "Come along, Bella. Cholie will have you cleaned up and changed."
And so, that was the aftermath of the Belladonna's 5th birthday party.
Zeuxis Zafeiri was disowned, his right arm still broken and not tended to.
A huge mess had to be cleaned, and many furnitures and display had to be replaced due to so much ruin.
Moreover....
No one wants to go to House Zafeiri anymore.
They became reclused, and people avoided their carriage whenever they travel the streets.
Rumors spread of a powerful Zafeiri girl that can bring major catastrophes and blizzards that can kill millions. People talk of ghosts of ancestors angered and latching onto anyone's legs if they stepped foot on the premises uninvited.
But Duke Taevas did not mind all this.
In fact, he felt at peace even with his family's reputation being ruined tremendously.
He did not aspire to smile fakely at fellow nobles anymore and act civilized with them. It was like a big burden on his chest was taken away.
Ronin on the other hand, was just patiently waiting for his next encounter with Cermin Drychspiel. He now have 1000 V-points, and Cermin had 0.
Not to mention he can be certain Belladonna Zafeiri would not join his harem, forever hating the prince for her disastrous birthday.
"How many girls does he have in his harem again, Kai? Was it four?"
[Yes.] Kai's holographic screen appeared by his side while he was on the library as usual.
"He has 4 girls in his harem. That's one down, three to go." Ronin wrote on his journal. "I wonder how I will take away the other three next."
[Belladonna can still change her mind. You can't cross her out yet.]
"I know that." Ronin grinned. "That's why I'm not stopping with the speech I gave to her that time. Repetition is the key. If something is repeated again and again..."
"It becomes true."
And luckily for Ronin, another incident came that further secured Belladonna's hatred for men, and of course, Cermin Drychspiel.