THE JUNIOR FAMILY COMPETITION
"What do you mean? Killing my nephew is not a crime?" he asked.
"There were guards of the city who witnessed everything. Duke Erriley struck the boy first. The boy's bodyguard killed the duke in retaliation. That is considered self-defense under the laws of Drachia kingdom", the advisor told the elder man.
"Insolence. Nobody dares kill our family's people, self-defense or not. If the Prince is not doing anything, I will. Prepare our guards, I will flatten that bastard's entire family", the elder told the advisor.
"I am afraid that is unwise. The news of Duke Erriley's killing by self-defense has been spread across Tarah city and the entire Drachia kingdom. If we touch the Kaleon family now, it will make us look bad in the court of public opinion", the advisor told the elder.
"What do you mean? How can news spread about something trivial like this?" the elder asked.
"The bastard boy has a newspaper who reported about this, and he had a story all laid out about his right to kill the duke and this newspaper is distributed all across the kingdom", the advisor told the elder.
"Newspaper, isn't that a rubbish paper that some useless scribes write on when they have no work?" the elder asked.
"No, the Kaleon family turned the useless paper into a publishing house, called the Herald Times now. Its popularity is spreading across the country", the advisor told the elder as he handed him the Herald Times.
The elder's eyes opened as he saw the graphic illustration of Duke Erriley's violent assault of the helpless boy, only to be thwarted by the valiant actions of a loyal bodyguard.
"This is ridiculous. It must be a one-sided account of what happened", the elder told the advisor.
"We know it is one-sided. The bastard owns the paper, but everyone believes in this imagery nonetheless", the advisor told the elder.
"Damn. Then we send out assassins to kill that bastard", the elder told his advisor.
"We tried that, but no assassin group dares to take the job. The bastard boy has many powerful guards. The Demon faced knight who killed Duke Erriley is a powerful legendary", the advisor told the elder.
"Then what can we do about it? We cannot let our family be killed without retaliation. We will lose respect among the families", the elder told the advisor.
"There is another thing. This Kaleon family is one of our minor families in Starri city", the advisor told the elder.
"What? A minor family dares to kill an elder, a duke in our family?" the elder asked.
"Erm… the Kaleon family recently obtained the Title of a Duke in Tarah city and now owns a large part of the east forests", the advisor told the elder.
"Damn, no wonder they dare to act so blatantly. But still they must be punished, minor family or not", the elder said.
"There is a way to do that without having to deal with the bastard boy's legendary guards. The family junior competition will start soon. We get our best scions to fight with the Kaleon outcast and kill him in the arena. There is nothing the prince or the public could do about it if the bastard was killed in a legal duel", the advisor told the elder.
"But we have never invited the Kaleon family to our family's competition before", the elder told the advisor.
"That was before they obtained the Title of a Duke. Now they are entitled and compelled to join the contest of the scions of the family", the advisor told the elder.
"So be it. Make sure we kill that bastard", the elder told the advisor.
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"Why should we come to this useless family meeting, the Mithrodocus clan don't respect us at all", I asked Orol.
"Be patient son, the elder of the family in Tarah city is willing to forgo your accidental killing of Duke Erriley and invited us to the family gathering", Orol said to me about the gathering that we attended.
"The killing wasn't accidental", I replied to him.
"Don't make trouble again, son. This is an important meeting of the family", Orol said to me.
"As long as they don't irritate me", I replied to him.
"Arrival of Duke Orol of Kaleon and his son, Earl Oriese of Kaleon" the announcer announced our arrival.
Nobody bothered with our arrival, so I walked to the dining area, while Orol went around socializing with the upper family.
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"Hey, who are you? I have never seen you before", a girl asked me suddenly.
"I am Oriese", I replied to the girl as I took some macaroons.
"Oriese? The Bully? You are Oriese the Bully they say in the Herald Times?" the girl asked me.
"Ah... you read my paper", I said to her.
"It is the trendiest thing in the kingdom nowadays, that newspaper of yours. Did you really kill Uncle Erriley or did you make that up?" the girl asked me.
"Uncle?" I asked her.
"I am Emily. Duke Erriley is my uncle although I don't like him much, but he is still family", she said to me.
"Yes, my bodyguard killed him", I told her.
"Is your Demon guard here? Can I see him?" she asked me not too concerned about the death of her uncle.
"They don't allow guards inside the party", I replied to her.
"Are you fighting in the arena later?" Emily asked me.
"Fight? What fight?" I asked her.
"All the families who come to the gathering will offer their younger generations a chance to show their abilities in a competition before the family", she told me.
"Nah, I'll pass. There is no use fighting with some kids", I told Emily.
"Hey, your name is in the register of competitors", Emily said to me as she checked a booklet in her hands.
"I didn't sign up for it", I told her.
"Your father did", she replied to me.
"Damn that Orol", I said out loud.
Soon, we walked over to the stage prepared for the junior matches in the family. This was an annual event of the family that determines the best seeds of the family to be further nurtured by the family.
This was also the best way for family members to gain recognition in the Mithrodocus clan, especially for those in minor families. That was probably the reason Orol signed me up for the useless competition.
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