I, Claus Quintin, am a reincarnator, and this is my 708th reincarnation.
In this life, I was born as the fourth son of the emperor and the second son he had with his second wife.
Before me, the emperor had two sons and a daughter, and after me, the empress gave birth to another daughter, making me the fourth person in the line of succession.
But although I'm a prince, my situation is pretty delicate. My mother died shortly after giving birth to me, and my elder sister and I lost most of our support inside the palace. My other siblings, on the other hand, had the support of the empress and her faction, and because my two eldest siblings are male, it means that my possibilities to get the throne are very low.
Not that I'm interested in the throne though. After all, as someone that has lived for so long, few things can motivate me now. To be honest, I had been king and emperor in some of my past lives, and it's very tiring.
Unfortunately, my stepmother did not know it. She always thought of me and my elder sister as the biggest dangers towards her sons, so she had oppressed us from when we were small. To be honest, I don't care very much about it, but my elder sister has always hated my stepmother and my two eldest brothers.
My stepmother hates me with all her being. It's probably because I always outwit her tries to bully me, or because she ends failing every time she tries to find fault with me before the emperor. With time, it became a situation where she cannot see me without trying to scold me.
To be honest, she is pretty beautiful. My stepmother is 38 this year, with a fair face and wavy hair. Her chests are pretty big, and she radiates a mature charm that attracts all the gazes in the surroundings.
Unfortunately, she always had a hatred-filled gaze when looking at me. But it would be a joke to my status as a reincarnated individual if I'm disadvantaged when I face a simple woman.
Like now. Although it looks as though I gave her a reason to scold me for coming late, the truth is that I knew that my second brother was late too, so I simply came late and when she scolded me, I returned the scolding to her son.
And speaking of the devil, my second brother finally entered the dining room.
Unlike me, who came to the dining room wearing fitting clothes, my second brother was dressed sloppily. He had messy hair, and his face was pale and sleepy.
My second brother was a bit fat, and his face always had a wretched an evil expression. He was publicly known as the biggest trash of the empire, but he considered that tittle as a source pride.
He did not bother to greet our father or the empress and simply sat in his chair without paying attention to the surroundings. Father frowned seeing his behavior, but he ignored it and began to eat.
"... You are late, Bryan." The emperor said while suppressing his rage.
"Uh, I'm overslept." He waved his hand and answered carelessly.
"Hah, it looks like he dares to make us wait for him." I said sarcastically while looking at my stepmother.
When she heard my words, her face burned in rage and she hit the table and stood up. "What do you mean, brat!"
"Nothing, I'm just repeating your words." I laughed softly and began to eat my breakfast, ignoring the reaction of my stepmother.
"You...!" A strong pressure filled the surroundings, but I simply ignored it and continue eating. My father, on the other hand, could not endure this farce anymore.
"Did you not hear me!? I said enough!" Another wave of pressure appeared from my father and suppressed my stepmother's. He then looked around the table and spoke angrily.
"Lilia, are you not ashamed as the empress!? And you, Claus, show respect to your mother!"
I ignored him and continued eating my breakfast calmly. My stepmother also sat down despite the rage in his face.
"That bastard is not my mother's son!" But Bryan chose to speak at that moment.
He looked at me with a mocking gaze and an expression of ridicule. "He is nothing more than the son of a slut."
*Clang!" My elder sister, Dina Quintin, let her knife fall at that moment.
"Don't you dare to insult my mother!" She shouted furiously towards Bryan and stood up from his seat.
"What? You don't want to hear the truth, slut?"
"Bastard!" Dina glared angrily at Bryan and extended her hand. Instantly, a fireball materialized above her hand.
A wave of heat filled the surroundings.
When the fireball appeared, Bryan retreated in fear, and my elder brother, Alan, the empress and my father, stood up immediately.
"What are you doing!?" Alan filled his voice with qi and shouted to Dina, but I grabbed my sword and stood behind her. The dining room was just a step away from becoming a battlefield.
Currently, besides my little sister that was looking at us with an anxious gaze, everybody was ready to begin fighting.
But then, my father opened his mouth.
"Sigh... Is it impossible for us to have a peaceful breakfast at all? Dina, stop. Claus, take your sister away."
"Understood, father." I bowed expressionlessly and grabbed Dina's hand. She glared at our father angrily and realized that he did not plan to reprimand Bryan despite seeing him insult my mother. She then turned around angrily and left.
I followed after her and left the dining room.
Seeing it, my little sister, Lena, looked anxiously to the remaining people in the dining table, and after a brief bow, followed after us.
After we were gone, Bryan snorted in disdain and continued eating. "Trash."
My father, on the other hand, shook his head with a tired expression and left.