╠ Earth, Year 3050 ╣
_Star City_
The golden glazed roof tiles atop the huge palace-like building shone with a dazzling light due to the sunlight. The workmanship that had been used to create the palace's golden roof and red doors caused people to involuntarily feel a sense of seriousness when they saw it.
When gazed at from afar, a fog seemed to linger around the palace. The buildings that surrounded the palace were lined up neatly, just like the pattern a brick wall had.
The area that they occupied seemed limitless to the naked eye. The two words 'Gray Mansion' were carved into the fifty-foot-tall archway that stood in front of the entrance.
This enormous mansion that occupied an area of over one kilometer didn't belong to a city. Instead, it was a singular building located fifty meters northwest of Star City. From this, one could see that the owner of this mansion held an honored position within Star City.
During the current time of day, the bright and beautiful sunlight would shine on the sparkling glazed roof tiles, causing a layer of dazzling gold to cover the entirety of the Gray Mansion. One could even vaguely see this scene atop Star City's city walls.
The back door of the Gray Mansion's western area noiselessly opened, and a skinny figure quietly snuck in.
That skinny figure quietly followed the corridor and soon arrived at a place that was filled with many rooms that were standing side by side with each other.
There was nothing special about these rooms. They were just as normal as they could be but there was a room that was different from others at the very end of the segment. The door of this room looked as if it was made up of pure gold. There was the carving of a dragon that covered both parts of the golden door.
The skinny figure arrived in front of this room and slowly knocked on the door of the room two times.
"Come in!"
A melodious voice that sounded too seductive for any man was heard from the other side of the door.
Hearing this voice, the skinny figure gulped down the saliva that just appeared in his mouth and then slowly pushed open the door and entered the room.
Inside the room, a woman dressed in a red-colored cloth with carvings of lotus patterns was lying comfortably on the huge bed with the help of her left elbow. She looked beautiful and seductive even though she was already in her mid-thirties.
Although she already looked beautiful, the dress she wore was not only revealing her fair neck and collarbone, but it was also revealing half of her big pair of breasts, making her look too seductive to not be seduced.
The skinny man silently gulped down another mouthful of saliva after seeing this woman. A greedy light flashed in his eyes which he very profoundly hid quickly.
Lowering his head, he knelt down on one knee and said, "Lady Karen, I just received the news that that bitch has died."
When the seductive woman called Lady Karen heard this, she abruptly sat down straight and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Lady Karen. I'm sure!" Said the skinny man.
"What about that brat?" Lady Karen again asked while trying to suppress the happiness she just felt after receiving this news.
"He is still alive and is mourning over his mother's death!" Replied the skinny man.
"Hmm, you did a good job. Now, do another thing for me. Take care of that bitch's body before the Lord arrives and make sure there's no trace of how she died or the state she was in. As for that brat, eliminate him quietly without drawing attention. Spread a rumor that he couldn't bear his mother's death and ran away to somewhere unknown, disappearing without a trace."
"As for his sister... hmm, she's currently in Skyler City, so there is nothing we can do about her for now. Let's wait and see how things unfold, and we'll act accordingly when the time comes."
Lady Karen thought at first, silently calculating the ins and outs of what happened, what to do, and what could happen before giving out her orders.
The skinny man nodded his head and replied respectfully, "Lady Karen, I'll do as you said!"
Saying this, the skinny man stood up, took another deep look at Lady Karen's seductive figure and her half-revealed breasts before swallowing his saliva, and left.
After the skinny man left, a smile filled with satisfaction and happiness appeared on Lady Karen's face as she put the sleeve from her upper arm to her shoulder, correcting the way she dressed. She could not suppress her excitement anymore as she started to laugh suddenly.
.....
Not far away from the splendid "Gray Mansion", there was another dilapidated building.
No, this cannot be considered a building as there was nothing left except for ruin on the upper floor of the building.
The ground floor of this building was also not in better shape. The wall had its skin worn out and the floor was rugged.
Even then, the ground floor was clean and tidy.
In a small room on the ground floor of this building, a sixteen-year-old handsome young man was standing while looking at the dead body on the wooden bed with only one very thin bedsheet in front of him.
This dead body was of a beautiful woman who still had a smile on her face. This woman was the mother of this young man and one of the two people who truly loved him.
The other one was his elder sister who was currently in Skyler City because of some "cultivation" related things.
Tears were rolling down from the young man's eyes without any sign of stopping. He was weeping silently for his mother without letting out any voice.
"For what reason? Why is God doing such injustice to me?"
"Why is he giving me this fate? What did I do wrong?"
"Bastard! Why must I endure such injustice?"
The hands of the young man were clenched tightly, to the extent that his nails were piercing into his palm, and blood was flowing out like water, coloring more than half of his hand red.
This young man's name was Aiden Gray. He was the son of the Gray family's leader. His mother was his father's second wife, and she also used to be his father's best friend before their marriage.
After two years of married life, his mother gave birth to his sister. His sister's name was Alice Gray. He was three years younger than Alice.
Alice Gray had very good talent, had awakened a powerful ability at the age of thirteen, and was sent to one of Earth's biggest academies to cultivate, the Skyler Academy of the Skyler City.
When Aiden was only six years old, a great war broke out between two biggest countries. This war continued for an entire year before coming to an end.
Many people died and many cities were destroyed in this war.
In this war, his parents also participated. His father returned safely but his mother was badly injured and lost all of her abilities.
Aiden Gray did not know what actually happened, but from then on, his father started ignoring his mother and him. He only cared about his first wife and her children as well as his sister who was taken in by the Skyler Academy of Skyler City.
But something unfortunate happened again. Just one year later, his sister Alice Gray was plotted against by someone and was expelled from the Skyler Academy.
His sister didn't want to give up, so she stayed in Skyler City. She wanted to find a way to enter the academy again for cultivation. At the same time, she wanted to prove that she was framed.
When she was expelled from the Skyler Academy, instead of helping his daughter, his father abandoned her and told her never to set foot in the Gray Mansion again, for she had lost the face of the entire Gray Family.
In general words, she was driven out of the home by her own father.
At that time, Aiden Gray was only ten years old.
Aiden's father had never looked at his face from the moment he started to ignore his mother.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the First Lady, Karen Davis drove the pair of mother and son out of the house and forced them to stay in the abandoned building that looked as if it would fall at any time.
His mother didn't complain. She was happy as long as her son was with her. She tried to call back his sister, but Alice insisted on living in Skyler City.
Two months ago, his mother's injuries got worse.
Aiden went to the Gray Mansion to ask for his father's help, but his father didn't even come to see him. He was thrown out of the Gray Mansion by the First Lady's guards.