"Let me tell you a story," Ophiscus began as he reminisced about his childhood.
"Just like you, I was a naïve young man and I used to have a maid named Judiel." His face morphed into one of regret and longing, and his golden eyes lost their usual shine as he continued, "I liked her a lot; she was the one who raised me and used to pamper me."
SIGH
He sighed, little tears formed near his eyes, his hand which should be sturdy and give courage to his family began to shake in sorrow and anger, "But...."
SIGH
He sighed once again, calming himself down, "But she died due to my negligence."
William watched his father shed a few tears. He had never seen his father cry; he was his hero; he was his support. Ophiscus was, in a way, William's first friend.
William's body trembled, looking at his father's face. "W-What happened?" he asked, his voice barely louder than a mosquito.
"One of my brothers killed her," Ophiscus answered, dropping a bomb on William. 'Uncles? I have never heard of them before?'
"Uncles?" William mumbled while he narrowed his eyes, recalling whether any of his mothers had ever said anything about his father's siblings.
"Ah! You don't know about them; you see, my father, who is your grandfather, had two wives. Your aunt Vela and I belong to one of them, and my stepmother had two sons."
William nodded at the newfound information and looked at his father, wanting to continue with the story.
"Our stepbrothers and we didn't get along well. They always tried to bully us and undermine your grandmother in front of your grandfather. Your aunt and I always knew that we and they would fight for the patriarch seat. But we didn't expect them to go after our people."
William frowned as his father continued with his story; unknowingly, he replaced his father's step-siblings with his. 'Would brother Orion and big sister do that to me?', he pondered. But no matter how much he tried, he just couldn't imagine them trying to hurt William.
'They wouldn't; big sister cried a lot during the incident in the ice cave. My siblings are good people who love me as much as I love them.' He reaffirmed his affection toward his siblings.
Ophiscus intently watched his son going into a daze; he didn't disturb him as he knew that his son was thinking of something important to him, and he could also roughly guess what it was.
William shook his head and frowned, "My siblings are the best!" he mumbled and turned toward his father and nudged his head at him to continue.
Ophiscus nodded his head and continued his story, "When we were in our early twenties, our family went on a trip. Our father didn't come as he was busy, and we only took a few servants with us."
"Your aunt Vela had a hunch about our step-siblings planning something and warned our mother about it. We carefully observed their movements when they were around us, but they didn't do anything. Everything was normal until we returned."
Ophiscus's face became grim as he finished his sentence; his golden eyes shone with anger and hatred as space began to vibrate around them. "But those bastards didn't target us. They targeted our servants. My stepbrothers wanted to use our personal maids to spy on us, and if the opportunity arose, poison us."
William gulped nervously as he looked at his father; he had never seen him this angry before, his golden eyes that shone with confidence turned to purple obsidian. His face turned emotionless like a grim reaper as he continued.
"But the maids were loyal to us and refused to cooperate; my step-siblings got angry and made their servants r*pe our maids and killed them and fed them to dogs."
William's eyes widened when he heard his father, r*ping women; he absolutely abhorred it. He imagined the maids he plays with going through the same thing his father's maids went through. His entire body trembled in anger and disgust at his uncles.
Ophiscus got too carried away emotionally. Strange ruins began to appear on his hands while his hair stood straight. Space began to twist and turn as he recalled the incident.
"What happened to them?" William asked; he was ready to go kill them if they were alive until today.
Ophiscus looked at his son; he knew that William was sensitive to these issues and was quick to get angry if something happened to the ones he loved.
"We killed them," Ophiscus muttered. "Your aunt Vela went on a rampage and killed our step-siblings and their servants. She killed them so gruesomely that she got the nickname, the Bloodthirsty Demon."
"What about grandfather? Didn't he do anything?" William asked. He didn't know much about his family outside his mothers and his siblings, and mostly didn't care to learn more since he got all the love he needed from his parents and siblings.
"Your grandfather was stoic; he didn't meddle in the family affairs and let us do whatever he wanted."
"So they used his unresponsiveness to their advantage?"
"Yes, but we also used it since my mother killed my stepmother out of anger when she described how cruelly they had killed her handmaid, whom your grandmother used to treat like her own sister," Ophiscus said as he took a deep breath. He reined in his anger and calmed his mind.
"Then what did you do, Father?" William asked; he sighed in relief when he heard that those monstrosities had died, but he creased his brows when his father didn't mention his actions.
"Ah! That's what I wanted to tell you. I did nothing; I just sat in a corner and began to cry over their deaths. I really liked them as they raised me as their own son," Ophiscus answered, his face turning into one of regret as he looked out the window in nostalgia. He could sometimes hear them scolding him whenever he did some mischief.
"I was paralyzed with fear and self-blame that I didn't get out of my room for an entire month," he continued.
William's face was now hung low like a defeated person. He bit his lip while clenching his jaw, trying to stop his tears; he truly blamed himself for his fiancés' condition.
Ophiscus watched his son's reactions and knew that he had to continue, "When I locked myself in my room for an entire month and hadn't eaten any food. Your grandfather came looking for me."
He said as he continued watching his son, seeing that there was no reaction and William was still crying. He continued, "He broke the door open and beat me until I was on the brink of death."
"You know, that was the first time I broke my bones. In fact, my father broke all my bones into mush and then called in a healer to heal me and then continued to beat me until I began to curse him, venting all my anger and regret."
William flinched a little when he heard that his grandfather beat the shit out of his father. But that was just for a moment, as he resumed crying.
"He called me a failure. He said that I was useless and was a waste and I should have never been born as a man," Ophiscus muttered; his voice became heavy as he recalled his father's words.
"But I cursed him; I blamed him for all this as he was too distant from his own family."
CHUCKLE
Ophiscus chuckled as he recalled his father's response, "You know what he said?" he asked, looking at his youngest son.
"What?" William asked weakly.
"He said that just like me, he too has faced some problems. He too had people whom he loved die in front of him, killed by his own family. Sometimes he himself had to kill them since they had turned traitors."
William slowly raised his eyes at his father in shock; from his father's story until now, he had thought that his grandfather was a douchebag, but it seemed he too had some tough times.
"He told me that he didn't cower behind a door like a coward but faced his problems like a brave man." Ophiscus answered, "He told me one thing that I remember to this day."
"W-What is it?" William asked, his heart, which was embroiled in self-pity and self-deprecation, slowly beginning to gain hope at his father's words and eager to hear his grandfather's advice.
Ophiscus smiled at his son's eagerness and knew that he had almost lifted his son out of depression and needed only one last push. He ruffled his hair as his eyes turned serious; he straightened his back like a pole while his golden eyes shone with pride and confidence.
"A person who does things when he is confident in winning is not brave. But a person who knows that he will lose, who knows that he will be hurt. Who knows that he will have to sacrifice something, and yet chooses to do it anyway. Whenever he falls on his back, rises up with more ferocity and energy, and moves on even if he is hurt is brave."
His eyes shone with pride and confidence as he said,
"Men, are brave, William. And I want you to be a man."