I saw the outcome of the exchange, Instructor Dupont on her knees, her mask blown away into the air, and a trail of blood on her lips. Her face was the most beautiful I had ever seen, a divinely carved eternal jade, like a child's first dream, it was perfect.
"So beautiful!" I couldn't catch my tongue fast enough.
"You saw my face?!" She was shocked.
"I did but no one else will, no one else is worthy," I muttered unconsciously.
The perfectly toned body, the mesmerizing eyes, the dream-like face, everything was perfect, everything.
I caught her mask from the air and returned it to her face
"Thank you."
"Of course!"
With that, I completed the [Combat Mastery Class]
[Legacy-Quest complete! You have remembered [Dragon's Fall]!]
{Security Clearance: Lvl 4!}
Victorious, I left the hall and headed home.
.
.
.
I found Lucy outside watering the flowers and singing.
"You're so Art-Deco!~" she was in her own little world.
A sudden breeze came and knocked her off balance just enough for her to fall off the stool she stood on.
I rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground.
"You should be more careful, Lucy."
"Young master, am I ugly?" She asked out of nowhere with a strange expression.
"Not at all, why would you ask that?" I was confused.
"Why have you never called me into your bed?"
"Huh? Huh???" I was confused even further.
'Are maids in the Gray family meant to do this? or is mine broken?'
I flicked my finger and hit her forehead in the middle to wake her up.
"You're my cute little sister, stop listening to the other maids and their weird stories."
I put her down and walked into the estate.
"Make some tea and get some snacks, we'll have a guest soon," I ordered.
"Yes, sir." She answered.
It seemed like the other successors were more degenerate than I expected.
.
.
A bit later, the guest arrived. Jean came rushing through the door, clearly mad.
"How did you do it?! How did you disperse my [Gray Winter]?"
She sat down and saw the snacks and tea already prepared for two people. She didn't say anything about it but definitely felt defeated.
"That's a secret," I replied.
"Smart men aren't my type, you know."
"And greedy women aren't my type."
"*Sigh*" She gave up and settled down.
"So, why did you avoid me for two days?" I asked her once again.
"….Astal told me it would be better to avoid you. We're going to be enemies eventually.." She replied after a slight hesitation.
"Enemies? I don't think that's a relationship I can ever have with you,"
Her expression shifted slightly and she looked away.
"You know we're all enemies, those vying for the Gray throne are destined to battle each other,"
The Gray Throne is the seat of the family head in the Gray Family. I wasn't completely disinterested in such a thing.
"That's too far to worry about, think only of today, think only of me.." I leaned over towards her and hovered my lips near hers.
The moment our lips met, it felt right.
Thankfully, we were unrelated completely or I wouldn't know how to stop myself.
*CRACK!*
As Jean and I were deep in 'Negotiations', the sudden crack of breaking plates interrupted us, slicing through the air like a knife. We both turned to see the maid standing frozen, shards of porcelain scattered around her feet.
"To think a maid would ruin my first," Jean whispered in a low voice as her tomato-colored cheeks disappeared into the air.
"*Sigh* Lucy, are you hurt?" I stood up and went to help Lucy, my lips unsatisfied.
"I'm sorry, Young master, I-I-" She pointed at a dark corner in the room.
I followed her finger and spotted a black raven escaping through the window.
"Someone dared to spy on me?!" The anger I felt was deep.
In my lives, I had accumulated some deep resentments and matters I couldn't stand no matter what. My blood would rage any time I experienced them even If I tried to stop myself.
I hated betrayal, I hated Tyrants, I hated being spied on, I hated Failure and most of all I could never stand seeing anyone I cared for harmed.
The last one filled me with such rage that in my first life I destroyed an entire international crime organization single-handedly when they forced Ingrid Wagner, my wife at the time to turn on me. I destroyed an empire for taking my wife Sidania's arm in order to bait me into my second life. For my parents, for those I cared for, for those I loved, I would burn even the heavens.
'I won't forget this.'
I helped Lucy clean up and it was soon time for my final [Stealth Mastery Class].
The classes were simply the beginning of the Ville and were exclusive to the Successors but according to Alexander after all the students complete the classes, usually around the 8-month mark, the vassal families would arrive and the true fight would begin.
.
.
The location for the final class was a small forest surrounded by a 7th-class magic formation.
Why did no one else have to go through tests in their classes? Only I got such a 'privilege' as the top student in all of the classes.
"You've come, Shadow. This forest will serve as the final test for you, each student has a tag hidden on their body that you need to retrieve."
"What's the catch?" I questioned the easy setup.
"The tags explode if your enemy spots you, and the tags cannot be taken while the enemy is conscious. There are 12 tags you need to pass and 15 tags if you wish to pass with honors and receive a reward from me. All of the students are already in place, please start!"
"Let's get it!"
I was armed with dual daggers and a pistol as I leaped into the forest.