"You're telling me my younger son tried to harass you for whatever reason he had and you did this to him out of self-defense?" Fhilhem asked, his face and voice seethed with rage.
"That is correct Master Phlegm." Seth said while nodding his head.
Every time he had to make mention of this man's name, he subtly twisted the pronunciation and ended with a different word. No one but the name owner noticed this wordplay. The bad aspect of it was that Fhilhem couldn't pin such an accusation against him since no one could bear him witness.
Well, if Raela was here, she would be laughing at the moment.
"Fine. What happened to my older son Raetin?" He asked, calming the anger in his heart.
"When I was done with Leyrin the little one…"
Everyone rolled their eyes when Seth called Leyrin 'little one.'
'Just who is the little one among all three of you?' was what Fhilhem wanted to ask but he calmed himself to listen to Seth's explanation.
"...his big brother came at me like an angry bull, saying he was going to teach me a lesson for the humiliation he suffered while we were dining and… that happened." Seth pointed at his swollen eye.
Fhilhem almost couldn't believe all that he was hearing. In fact, he didn't dare to believe. Assuming Seth had only beaten Leyrin the younger one, that would be understandable. But even Raetin, who was already sensitive to mana and could utilize it for basic strengthening, was beaten so one-sidedly.
Fhilhem remained speechless as well as the rest of the family members.
"Sigh. Master Fhilhem, once again, I apologize for all my son has done. He was in the wrong and I intend to discipline him when this is all over." Davyon, Seth's father said with a courteous bow.
"No, it's fine. My children were in the wrong too. It was merely a scuffle between kids and I don't intend to make this matter escalate." Fhilhem waved his hand to gesture that it was alright.
"Then I'll have to thank you for your understanding." Davyon smiled at his words.
'This bastard never planned to punish him from the beginning.'
"We have a change of plan though, so we'll be leaving the estate immediately. We have a long journey ahead." Fhilhem said as he rose to his feet. He wouldn't stay here any longer.
He wasn't afraid of himself being hurt. The little demon glaring at him might come hunting his kids again when he wasn't around them.
"Then I guess we'll have to part ways so early even though I would've been honored by your presence for another day."
'Another lie!' Fhilhem screamed inside.
"Please pardon us this time since we have lots of businesses to handle." Fhilhem tried his best to put on a smile.
"Let's go kids." Fhilhem urged his kids to follow behind him.
They wouldn't let things end like this. Raetin wanted to piss off Seth so he turned his head intending to insult him.
Seeing Seth intentionally staring and smiling at him, his body shivered. It felt like he had just brushed close to death's door.
He turned his head twice as fast as he had when he wanted to insult Seth.
Bang!
The door slammed shut. They knew Fhilhem was mad but didn't dare show it so he vented his anger on the door.
Davyon turned to his dark-haired nine-year-old son. "Sigh. What were you thinking?" He was rubbing his forehead as if in pain.
"Nothing. They tried to bully the heir of this family and got what they deserved." Seth shrugged his shoulders.
Sometimes, he was a cute adorable son but at times like this, he seemed to be possessed by someone or something.
"Fine. Go to your room. You're not allowed to come out until it's tomorrow. You deserve that much of a punishment." Davyon tried to look strict as he pointed toward the door.
"Ugh. Fine." He turned to leave this place.
"You should be thanking me for putting them in their place though." Seth mumbled as he walked away.
"I'll be leaving too." Rachel said as she stood up to leave the room.
"No, you should remain here. We have a problem to discuss but first, there's one more person that needs to be here." Davyon sighed as he sank further down on his chair.
"Get us Raela." Leah said loudly to no one inside the room but the maid standing outside the door scurried away to fetch Raela.
*****
Raela walked out of the room dejectedly after hearing what his parents had to tell her.
Apparently, Master 'Phlegm', as Seth would call him, had been here because of her. He had offered her family a marriage proposal and she was to be the bride.
He had proposed such before but it didn't work out. The bride, their eldest sister turned out to be a very rare talent and thus, she could automatically decide if she wanted the marriage or not.
"If only I had as much talent as my sister. No, even half as talented as her, I would've directly cut him up." She ended up speaking out her thoughts without even knowing.
"Cut who up?" A voice asked from behind her.
"Ack!" She jumped at the sudden voice and missed a step as she climbed down the stairs in front of her.
Before she could fall, a hand caught her and the same voice asked again. "What the hell are you thinking about so seriously that you didn't notice me getting closer?"
After stabilizing herself, she turned to the voice owner, who was none other than Seth. A young boy who was supposed to be in his room, reflecting on his actions.
Damn that!
He rarely listened to his father's instructions. If it had been his mother, he would've happily locked himself in his room.
"You scared me for a moment." Raela sighed upon seeing her brother and closest relative.
"That wasn't intended. So, what's up with you?" He asked with a reserved look that suggested he would be able to handle anything even though he was only nine years old.
"I guess you'd find out sooner or later so it's no big deal telling you sooner. Well, Master Fhilhem came by to offer a marriage proposal…" They both sat on the stairs as she began repeating everything she'd been told.
"So, you were saying if you had half as much talent as Rachel, you'd cut him down?" Seth asked at the end of her heart-touching explanation that he didn't bother listening to but acted like he did.
"No! You heard that wrong." She refused to agree to that.
"Come on. I know what I heard." Seth nudged her.
"Ugh fine. Yes, if I was half as talented as her, I'd do just that. He's a scourge in this land after all but I can't even sense mana yet even though my thirteenth birthday is four months from now." She dropped her head low so it touched her knees.
With a mischievous smile on his face, he asked. "What if I told you that you could be just as talented as Rachel?" Rachel was twice as old as he was and more but he always called her by name.
Maybe due to his past life as a dragon, he even viewed their father as a child but was respectful enough to call him father. Although he was considered a young dragon, dragons lived for ages and even he had lived for over a hundred years.
Raela raised her head and frowned at Seth. "Come on, I'm still not able to sense mana while sister Rachel did so half a year after she became ten. There's a huge gap and you should know that."
Seth giggled and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Well, see for yourself…"
She didn't see a thing.
Or did she?
Shining but tiny dust-like particles were floating all around them. The closer she looked, the more they became. Soon, they were floating toward her. More precisely, towards her abdomen and vanishing as soon as they got close enough.
She didn't notice as she was still shocked by what she was seeing but when Seth's hand left her shoulder, everything returned to normal.
"Congratulations." The only word to leave his mouth afterward.
Her forehead was drenched in sweat as she turned to look at him, her face a mixture of expressions. "What in the dragon's name did you just do?"
Seth only smiled and stood up. "I did nothing."
Inside he replied. 'You are welcome.'