Time flew by, in the blink of an eye, it was almost the end of summer break.
In other words, the day of Ian's 16th birthday has officially dawned.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Ian neatly tied his own tie and then straightened up the wrinkles in his dark purple suit.
Today was the day Ian turned 16 years old. A grand birthday party was about to be held to celebrate the occasion.
Around the same time in Ian's last life, his older brother had gone out on a business trip and he left Levi to look after him. However, obviously unlike this life, the Ian back then was as naive as a young child, he couldn't see eye to eye with Levi nor did he attempt to understand the other.
Luckily, the two didn't end up destroying the house, however, their relationship was as frigid as ice under one roof. Ian hardly spoke a word to Levi, trying his best to stay away from the person he deemed distrustful, like the plague.
By the time Angus returned from his business trip, it happened to be a day before Ian's birthday party that Angus had been planning since the year prior.
And neither Levi nor Ian had spoken a word to each other since Angus's departure and return except for the day Angus informed the livid, sulky Ian that Levi would be his caretaker while he was gone.
Except for the departure of Angus, Levi becoming Ian's guardian during his absence, and Angus's return date, everything else was different from the past life.
Ian and Levi had made up. They had also spoken to each other many times and even drank tea together—there was no cold war at all.
Ian took over the recruitment of new staff and found Chase.
Ian caused their surface company to lose their capital funds and be decapitated for a period of time, slowing down their plans.
Ian controlled a spy to do his bidding from now on instead of being bitten in the back.
None of this would have been possible without his past life's memories and the ability that came with him.
The young teenager looking handsome and suave looked at himself one last time in the mirror.
The transparent, reflective glass showed him the image of a young teen with long dark-to-light purple hair tied up to one side of his head, winding down his chest. A pair of light purple eyes mysteriously gleamed in the dark.
The natural light curls of his hair were brushed obediently straight and neat.
His purple bangs were swept aside to the left.
A gentle and polite smile hung upon his lips like a signature.
Silver chains wrapped around parts of his outfit gave off a cool, majestic vibe.
Altogether, the sense of elegance and gentleness that always stemmed from him became stronger than usual.
Satisfied with his appearance, Ian left his resting room for the banquet hall.
Opening the door of his exclusive resting room, Ian saw Butler Srca and Rip waiting outside for him.
"Wow! Big brother Ian, you look so different from usual! But so cool!" Rip exclaimed upon seeing Ian's dressed-up appearance for the party. "Oh, by the way, happy 16th birthday!"
"Happy 16th birthday, master," Butler Srca also gave his best wishes to Ian, sincerely.
Ian smiled and acknowledged their words.
Then leading the two of them with Ian in front, they moved forward to their inevitable future.
The birthday party was held within the Everett Estate territory, but not in the main mansion where Ian and his brother live. These types of parties, rare as they were, were always held in the auxiliary mansion, informally known as the "guest mansion".
Formally known as the Outer Mansion, it is located near the border area of the estate. It is a designated place where guests who come over for business or others stay for the night when necessary and where parties and banquets are held.
And because countless strangers and outsiders go through here, this is where most of the mafia group members live. An easier and more convenient way to ensure that those outsiders keep their hands to themselves and not go snooping around where they don't belong.
On the way to the banquet hall, Ian passed by many doors and rooms that were currently empty, but after tonight, all of them will be filled up.
It was a somewhat long yet short walk from the resting room to the banquet hall's double doors where Angus stood waiting for Ian with Levi.
Upon sensing the presence of someone, Angus and Levi turned around and smiled upon seeing that it was Ian.
Tonight, Angus dressed himself up in a black suit that was twerked to appear differently from his usual formal suit and tie.
Instead of the usual long and wide overcoat he wears on his outings, Angus wore a normal suit jacket as long as his hips.
Like Ian, his bangs that normally covered his forehead and casted shadows on his face were swept back to reveal his forehead and a pair of cold-looking, inorganic orange eyes that showed uncharacteristic warmth when placed on Ian.
When he squints his eyes, the dark beauty mark beneath his right eye becomes prominent, showing a kind of cold beauty that was often overlooked because of his dangerous aura.
Because the banquet invited many aboveground relations, Angus went lowkey and took off a lot of the earrings in his piercings, leaving only two dark blue circular earrings on the upper side of his right ear and one dangling dagger piercing on his left ear.
Angus looked playfully dashing if it were not for the unsmiling face that he habitually wore. However, the moment his eyes met Ian's figure, an arch unconsciously rolled out across his lips, replacing the straight line.
All of a sudden, his charm shone through and combined with the dangerous air that emanated from his body as a result of his line of work, he looked like a dangerous bad boy ready to crush the hearts of many women and challenge the limits of rules.
Beside Angus, Levi was also a sight to see.
His long golden hair sparkling in the chandelier lights like gold dust were pulled into a half bun with rivers of gold falling out from the side, pouring down his back.
Taking the place of his usual long robes, over the long-sleeved white shirt was an black aristocrat vest embroidered with jade green and gold threads into vivid images of unknown symbols and swirling leaves.
Paired with the vest was a pair of white pants whose fabric puffed down the length of the legs and was tightly bound to the skin at the ankle. Similar to the vest he wore, jade green and gold threads embroidered swirling and curving lines on the two sides of the pant legs.
Ian opened his eyes in surprise, he has never seen Levi wear anything else other than those ancient long robes of his since he could remember.
He wondered what spurred Levi to wear something so different from his usual taste. Yet in spite of the style change, Levi looked stunning and sly in either one of the two styles.
"What made you change out of your favorite robes, Levi?"
"Since it's your birthday, I thought that I would give you a gift."
"…Your outfit is my gift??"
"Haha, no. Aren't you always thinking that I look pretentious in my scholarly form?—You can't hide your thoughts from me, young one." Levi added upon seeing the look on Ian's face. Apparently, Ian's inner thoughts had not gone unnoticed in Levi's eyes. "So I thought I would change things up a bit at least for today, and I just happen to have this outfit, so... In that spirit, happy birthday, Ian. And here's my considerate birthday present."
Levi fanned himself gently with his fan that he apparently did not discard with his ancient costume.
Ian, "…"
…Still as pretentious as ever…
"No good, huh?" Levi suddenly sighed to himself.
Ian, "…" Now Ian understood what it felt like for others to have their thoughts read by him like a book.
"Hahaha!" Suddenly someone burst out into loud laughter.
Both Ian and Levi turned their heads, only to see Angus laughing and having the time of his life watching them bickering—wait, was that them bickering??
'Haa… never mind.' Ian shook his head.
"Okay, let's get going," Ian said and changed the topic behind moving forward.
Having had enough of laughing, Angus signaled to the men stationed next to the double doors.
The men instantly came to life and pushed the heavy doors open.
A bright light shone out from the doors, blinding the eyes of those unprepared.
Rip blinked, his eyes dazzled, temporarily, all his colors were messed up.
Butler Srca fared better since he was prepared for this to happen. There was quite a bit of difference in the brightness of lighting inside and outside the hall, after all.
On the other hand, neither of the three were affected and they immediately walked out from the double doors, heading inside the banquet hall where countless guests were waiting for their arrival.
"Mr. Everett!"
"Chairman."
"Good to see you again, partner."
"We from XXX corporation wish your brother a happy birthday."
"We've all been waiting for you! Come, let's talk, I'll introduce you to…"
…
Many people crowded around Angus, as if he were the star of the night, pushing Ian and Levi away from the overwhelmed Angus.
Seeing that no one was taking note of him, Ian took the chance to squeeze himself out of the circle.
In his last life, because he insisted on sticking to his brother throughout the banquet full of strangers, he was dragged by him to get to know and greet many people. In the end, although Ian enjoyed the many compliments those people gave about his brother, he was also bored and tired to death.
One would think it was a formal greeting party rather than a birthday party for Ian.
Back to the present.
Apparently Levi had the same idea as Ian.
They both popped out at the same time.
Looking at each other, they shared a sneaky laugh and moved away from the danger zone.
Except for one or two that lipped well-wishes to Ian but whose eyes always remained on the powerful and influential head of the Everett family, everyone else focused their complete attention and flattery on Angus.
The birthday star was instantly forgotten by everyone.
Ian walked off to a corner nonchalantly. He had experienced this before in his first life so in a way, you could say he's experienced.
Been there, done that.
What else should he say?
He didn't care for their disgusting, hypothetical, calculating attention in the first place.
In fact, he quite pitied his brother who also didn't want their attention but had to put up with them.
But he understood, his brother was just far too outstanding for his own good.
Attracting unnecessary attention, how tiring.
From a distance away, Ian's eyes happened to collide with those of the tall Angus who stood out from the huge crowd of guests.
Their gazes met.
A glare and a warning flashed in Angus's eyes.
In response, Ian…
'Rest in peace, brother. Rest in peace.' Ian prayed in his heart with his eyes closed in heartfelt sadness.
Angus, "…I'm not dead yet. Just you wait, Ian, I'll be dragging you to meet all of them too."
Ian, "Well… it's not now anyways. Good luck, brother!" Ian saluted.
Angus, "Three words—Just you wait!"
Carefree and relaxed, although alone, Ian headed towards the deserted food table with a spread of deliciousness that was carefully selected from thousands of recipes and meticulously prepared by Head Chef Chase and his team.
Pondering which choice to start with, Ian seriously scanned every food item. But seeing so many mouth-watering dishes and sweets, Ian finally decided to just pick up and put onto his plate anything that catches his eyes.
Anyways, he had a lot of time to fill up until the end of his birthday party.
While Ian was munching away on his food and filling his empty stomach, a young man in his early twenties with a colorful head of hair was heading towards him.
Stretching out his hand politely for a handshake to the Ian who had his back to the other, the young man smiled full of interest.
"Happy birthday, young master Ian. My name is Elliot, I am here on behalf of EVL Wald, Inc. as its CEO. It's so nice to finally meet the rumored treasured younger brother of the famous Angus Everett."