I remember when my relationship with my family—no, the Kralier family—worsened.
It was a normal day. Sunny, a bit cloudy, but a great day for reading books by the window.
I read the book Mark excitedly gave me when he was teaching me again.
The Kralier family assigned tutors for both Theresa and Mark. However, many tutors refused to teach me due to my not being of pure noble blood.
I told my father that it was fine and decided to move on.
While I was reading the book, I saw Theresa walking along the gardens of the mansion. Deciding that there's no better time to talk before she trains, I ran after her with the book in my hand.
"Theresa!" I shouted.
She looked back at me with cold eyes and stood there. I caught up to her panting and soaking with sweat.
"Good morning!" I said it to her with enthusiasm.
{...}
"Good morning," said Theresa, after a brief hesitation.
'Oh my, my'
It's the first time in two years that Theresa has responded to my greetings.
"Gonna train?" I asked her while smiling.
She nods a bit and starts walking.
As usual, I started walking with her. I talked to her about how Mark taught me things about water magic formulas and how a mage can implement those formulas with much more ease than a knight.
After like 20 minutes of walking, she suddenly turned around and asked me a baffling question.
"Do you think you're cool?"
'What the actual hell? What is this sudden question? How should I answer this?'
I started thinking for a brief moment. Suddenly, I got an excellent memory from my brain.
I've seen the Kralier family interview articles in my orphanage. Once, when the interviewer asked Theresa what type of person she liked to interact with, she replied with one word.
Confident.
So I started to breathe in and out and said,.
"Of course, I'm cool!" I said this while smiling confidently.
I didn't know those words would lead to many problems.
All I was was Theresa suddenly grabbing her rapier hanging on her wrist and thrusting it towards me.
All I could do was block it with my hands, clumsily.
*Pierce*
The sword went through my right-hand palm as lightning spread everywhere in the garden.
I was surprised, but I did not shout. It's not like I did not want to shout; I couldn't.
I was in so much pain that I couldn't open my mouth to shout.
"Don't you dare! Compare yourself with my brother Leo!" shouted Theresa as she looked at me coldly.
She removed her rapier swiftly from my palm, which made me whimper in pain.
While I was whimpering in pain, she walked off coldly.
I fell on the garden's grass as tears fell from my eyes rapidly. I clutched my bleeding palm as I called out for...who?
I couldn't call out to anybody. The people around me, whom I considered my family for the past two years, didn't even make an effort to get to know me.
I didn't have a family from birth.
I don't have anybody who I could truly call family.
With great struggle, I stood up. Blood was dripping on the beautiful, shining grasses.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Humphrey."
I said a silent sorry to the gardener, who treated me kindly whenever she saw me talking with Theresa.
I walked into the corridors of the mansion and returned to my room. The healer will only return in the afternoon, so I couldn't go to the healer's room.
I didn't want to make a big deal out of this and create problems in a family where they were grieving over the loss of their precious son.
I slept on the bed, wrapping my pillow covers around my palm. It was burning, like someone was scratching on the wound repeatedly.
******************
I woke up to the sound of the grandfather clock, signifying it was 12 p.m. I woke up to see the pillowcloth stuck to my wound skin.
I slowly removed it as I felt immense pain. White cotton was still around my wounds as I started moving towards the door to see the healer.
As I opened it, I saw a man standing there. Middle-aged, probably around 45 to 50.
"Hey kid! Took you long enough!" said the man, who was wearing a white shirt and black jeans.
"Uh, who are you?" I asked with caution.
"I'm your grandfather!" he said excitedly as he tried to lift me.
'He's....my grandfather?' I thought as he lifted me. It's been a while for me since someone lifted me like a child. I'm turning 11 this year, but nobody celebrated my birthday previously when I turned 10.
I don't know if my family even knew about it.
He started ruffling my hair and kissing my forehead.
"Whoa! You look so cute, buddy! Come on! Let's go eat lunch!"
But he stopped midway as he gently lifted my hands.
"Hey, what is this wound?" asked my supposed grandfather with a panicked gaze.
"Uh..." I struggled with providing an answer.
"I got hurt while playing with a kitchen knife," I said while trying to smile confidently. My lips trembled slightly when I smiled, but I hoped he didn't notice it.
The last thing I want is for people to know that my foster sister stabbed me with her rapier. It could cause trouble for Kralier's, suggesting that an internal struggle is going on.
Theresa attacking me with magic is considered us being playful by the maids, so we avoided being involved in nasty rumours.
My grandfather snapped his fingers, and we appeared in front of the medical room.
I felt a little nauseated, but my grandfather ruffled my hair gently.
"Don't worry, what you are feeling is normal for the first time experiencing spatial magic."
He opened the door, and we saw the healer sitting behind his wooden table and writing something on parchment.
He looked up to see who had entered, and he immediately stood up and bowed down.
"Lord Marcus!"
"Stop the formalities and treat my grandson," said my grandfather sternly, whose name I came to know as Marcus.
The healer approached me with nervousness, but he gently lifted me from my grandfather's embrace and made me sit down on a nearby leather cushion.
He took my right hand and examined it.
"It seemed like you were stabbed with a sword, Young Master Noah," said the healer.
I found it quite funny since it was the first time in this household that someone called me a young master. The maids usually called me Hey, He, or used my name, Noah.
The healer usually never speaks with me and just heals me.
A gentle yellow light started spreading from the healer's hands as it made contact with my wounded right palm.
Slowly, I felt a relieving and calming sensation. I also felt my fatigue and tiredness go away.
"Thank you, Mr...?"
"Mr. Brandon Kovlie, Young Master Noah," said the healer with a smile.
"You guys didn't introduce yourself to my grandson?" asked my grandfather with a cold look.
"No--"
"Cut the crap. Who is initiating this silent rebellion in the household against Noah?"
"Uh...."
The healer, named Brandon, trembled under my grandfather's gaze. Honestly, I felt pity for him. Unlike the maids, he never acted rudely towards me. I did his job whenever I came, and he let me off pretty quickly.
I turned towards my grandfather on my right.
"Grandfather, can we go get something to eat? I'm hungry"
I just wanted to get out of here as soon as I could. I felt whatever the healer was about to say might change my views about this household, and I at least wanted to hold his heavy topic at bay until some time.
Suddenly, my grandfather beamed into a magnificent smile.
"Okay!"
He gently lifted me and snapped his fingers before saying,.
"This conversation will continue, Mr. Brandon."
*********************
We were teleported to a pretty fancy restaurant. I have only read the articles and news I have seen in the orphanage.
We were standing in front of the receptionist suddenly, but strangely, she didn't seem to mind us at all. He swiftly took the telephone from his desk and called someone.
"One desk for Lord Marcus Kralier," said the woman receptionist, who was cute and beautiful.
He ended the call and looked at my grandfather with a smile.
"You can go ahead, Lord Kralier."
"Thank you, Sasha," said my grandfather, and we walked as I snuggled in my grandfather's hands.
My grandfather sat in a private room with me on his lap.
"Bring me all the premium dishes you guys have," said my grandfather to the waitress.
Within 5 minutes, I was sitting in front of many fancy dishes. I just looked at her in awe, drool forming in my mouth.
"You can eat it, buddy," said my grandfather with a chuckle.
I took a bite of the visually pleasing meat, and sure enough, it was too good. It melted in my mouth, and I couldn't help but squeal.
I started eating everything as my grandfather gently ruffled my head nonstop. It felt nice to be patted. I might actually get addicted to this.
As I took the last bite of the dishes in front of me, I involuntarily let out a burp.
I was embarrassed and blushed under my grandfather's gentle gaze.
"Aren't you an eater? Well, I'm glad you liked it!" said my grandfather as he patted me.
"This restaurant is amazing! It's even better than the Kralier houses' dishes," I said to him.
Honestly, I wanted to interact with him with caution.
But I couldn't help but feel comfortable with this man. I felt like he genuinely cared for me.
"This food...is better than the Kralier house?" my grandfather asked with an confused gaze.
"Yes...?"
After a brief silence, my grandfather again talked.
"Of course it is! Grandfather, from now on, will always bring you to nice places!"
I felt relieved with him. I wanted someone to pamper me like this. I wanted to be spoiled like this. I honestly just needed someone like this right now.
I don't care if I get hurt. I just said a silent prayer to every elemental god.
"I'm not asking for superpowers, nor do I want to become a hero."
"Please, let this moment last for a while."
******************************
(Marcus POV)
After Noah ate a satisfying lunch, I returned him to his room and made my way to my son's room.
"I should have come earlier," I mumbled as I thought about my new grandson, Noah.
I was on a mission tracking the demon's activities near the borders of the continent when I heard the news of my grandson's disappearance.
I couldn't leave my post since we were at a critical juncture, and if I were to miss that opportunity, valuable information could be lost.
Since my wife, Emily, was with them, I was assured nothing could happen and they would find Leo again. However, I was wrong.
They couldn't find him, and worst-case scenario, the whole world considered him to be dead.
My family was in shambles, but I didn't know. One day, I heard my son Samuel adopt a kid. A boy..
I didn't know why he did that, but I respected his wishes. As long as he felt happy, I was fine.
But what about the kid?
The first thing I did after returning to the kingdom was to meet my new grandson. As a commoner to a noble, I knew how suffocating the boy must feel in this position.
However, what I encountered was an injured boy who seemingly tried to cover up how he got hurt.
Moreover, the words he said at the restaurant still haunted me.
"The restaurant's dishes were better than our families' chef dishes." I mumbled.
Impossible.
The Kralier family is known to have the best chef on the whole continent.
Even the restaurant they just went to was managed by a high-level chef who learned under the Kralier family's head chef.
"Something shady is going on in our household."
"I must find what it is," I mumbled as I arrived at my son's office.