For several seconds, everyone in the room stared at Alexander with stunned expressions. Never before had he so blatantly disregarded his father's orders. In the past, he had certainly bitten his lip in silent anger and made no effort to hide his discontent. Yet this was the first time he had spoken out.
The confidence in his voice was also undeniable. It was easy to see that he truly did not care about whatever consequences his words would bring.
"You insolent… Do you plan to make a mockery of me and this family?" Arouraios said, rage boiling up within him.
"No, there is no need. You've already done a great job at that already."
Alexander's undeniably disrespectful reply was enough to snap the last string of patience that his father had.
"I will not tolerate this disrespect!" Arouraios shouted. "You will do what you are told and get out my sight if you know what's good for you!"
Alexander smirked and let out a slight chuckle at seeing his father so flustered. Before. he might have been afraid of the man's wrath, but not anymore.
The horrors he had faced in Tharildron's castle, and the bandits' leader had been far more imposing.
"I've already given you, my answer. No matter how much you bluster, that will not change." Alexander said, his tone expressing how fed up her was with this already.
Before his father could continue his outburst, Alexander tossed a large bag at him.
It was made with high quality velvet, and a clinking sound could be heard as it soared through the air.
Normally, Elias would have moved to intercept anything thrown towards his lord, but he had never expected Alexander to suddenly make such a move and was caught off guard.
Of course, the bag was not filled with any sort of dangerous substance. What was inside of it was several gold chips, gold slips, and gold strips.
When it hit Arouraios in the face, there was barely any force behind it, and the man only staggered back for a moment. Despite the bag being filled with metal, Alexander had tossed it with only just enough strength to reach his father.
"ALEXANDER! I'll have you lashed a thousand-"
Arouraios stop midsentence as he saw the contents of the bag that had just hit him in the face spill out on the desk in front of him.
Right before his eyes was a pile of currency worth a small fortune.
"This was how much you wanted to sell me off for, right? Well, I'll be purchasing myself in that case. With that, you can pay off the debts you racked up. In fact, I even added a bit extra so you can afford to have the mines brought back to working order. I don't really care what happens to you, but I don't want you to drag Mother and Nicolai down with you."
Another several seconds of silence followed Alexander's show of wealth and declaration.
"Alex, where did you get all of that?" Elena asked, being the first to regain her ability to speak.
There was concern in her eyes. That sum of money could not be obtained easily. If it could be, their family never would have fallen onto hard times when the city's main source of income had come to a grinding stop.
"I earned it by dealing with another problem that my father couldn't. You'll be happy to hear that the bandits that were lurking around the road between Malm and Lerwick have been wiped out."
This response promoted everyone in the room but Arouraios to glance towards the missing part of Alexander's leg.
He'd so far only told his mother that he had lost it to a monster, but there was no telling if he received this debilitating injury when recklessly hunting outlaws.
"Did you really take out that group of thieves? I sent out some scouts to track them down, but they never found anything." Alexander's uncle said, looking both intrigued and worried.
As the only titled knight in Malm, he was in charge of keeping order within the city as well as the surrounding area.
Unfortunately, the city's lack of funding currently limited the forces at his disposal. Keeping order within Malm was the best that he could do at the moment.
Alexander was about to respond to his uncle, but his father interjected first.
"D- don't think that this is enough for me to forgive you. I'll spare you any physical punishment on account of the wealth you've brought the family, but you will be confined to your room with only one meal a day until Stefanos and Daphne arrive. This engagement is about more than just money. It is to establish a valuable connection that our family can use." Arouraios said, attempting to hold onto a modicum of control.
"Even after all this, you can't accept what is going on. I'm not taking orders from you anymore. Once I've gathered my belongings, I'm leaving this city and heading to the royal capital. There I'll enroll in Fulminous Academy and become a knight. Since you've already disinherited me, I'll go out and earn what I want with my own two hands."
With all he wanted to do and say finished, Alexander turned around and headed towards the office's doors.
However, before he got far, his father spoke up to stop him.
"Take another step and I'll disown you. No longer will you be a part of this family. You'll lose your status and become a commoner orphan. I'd like to see you get into Fulminous Academy without any backing. Though, even if the king himself recommended you, with your leg the way it is, you would be expelled form the knights course within three months. It's actually laughable that you think that someone who can't even use magic items could ever become a knight. You're not even fit to be a common soldier. Leave this room now, and you'll end up dead on the streets before long, wishing you'd accepted my benevolence."