Hearing his father's words, Alexander stopped in place.
Arouraios figured that this was a sign that his rebellious son finally realized who was in charge here. Yet, the smug grin on his face quickly warped into a mask of terror.
With an expression utter disgust, Alexander turned around and glared at his father.
Ripples of magic power that were palpable emitted from his body, and everyone in the room could sense an immense strength coming from him.
Alexander was allowing his anger to fuel his immense magic power into his orichalcum ring.
His current physical abilities were heightened to an all-time high, and he was a moment away from striking his father.
In response, Arouraios suddenly manifested an ornate diadem around his head. This was the control unit for a relic known as a Foundational Core.
Only certain settlements within the six human kingdoms possessed these special magic tools. In times past, before the War of Calamity, every new city was first established with one of these magic items.
It gave whoever was in charge of it access to a number of spells that could be used within their territory. Most were for maintaining and protecting the city where the Foundational Core was located, but some of them were meant solely to defend the magic tool's master.
As the viceroy of the Malm, Alexander's father had been granted the privilege of utilizing this powerful item.
'If you are hesitating because you don't think you can win, I can guarantee that the ring you possess is stronger. The magic a Foundational Core can conjure is powerful, but it has its limits. Especially the one that man wields. It is a low-quality model. A few solid blows from you would be enough to break through its defenses.'
Tharildron's sudden assurance stopped Alexander dead in his tracks.
He honestly was about to let rage consume him and punch his dirtbag father in the face. He might have even ended up killing the man.
However, if that was what the former Shadow Dragon Lord wanted him to do, it would likely only be to his detriment.
'Killing him my solve the disownment problem, but it will bring about a whole host of new ones.'
Having calmed down, Alexander eased the magic power building up inside him.
"You're not worth it. Disown me if you want. I don't care." Alexander said, before turning around and exiting the room.
Without stopping, he headed directly to his room despite the irate yelling behind him.
When he arrived, there were already a couple guards standing in front of the door. From what they would have been told, Alexander was supposed to be under house arrest. Once he entered his room, they were supposed to ensure that he stayed there.
"Before there is any confusion, I'm only here to collect my things and then I'm leaving. My father plans to disown me, so there is no need for you to worry about keeping me here."
Leaving two very confused guards outside his room, Alexander walked inside.
Even though it had only been a couple of weeks, being inside the familiar space felt nostalgic to him. Ever since he had become aware of himself, this had been his place. Somewhere that belonged only to him.
"This will probably the last time I set foot in here, though." Alexander muttered forlornly.
While he could not stand Arouraios, this place was his home. There were people he cared about here, and memories that he cherished.
Still, this place was his past. To move forward, he would have to abandon it and strike out on his own.
Alexander quickly headed to his closet and began stuffing clothes into a large bag. Of all of his possessions, these would be the most tedious to replace. Outfits tailored to fit his body would take a good deal of time and money to obtain, and any readymade or secondhand clothes would be of a far lower quality.
After he had finished packing the essentials, he stored a few treasured items into his dimensional cache. It certainly would have been easier to shove everything inside the convenient magic tool, but that would only draw people's suspicions.
"That should be everything I need. I wish I could take everything, but it just wouldn't be practical."
Having collected all that he wanted to take with him, Alexander opened the door to his room.
To his surprise, the two guards that had been stationed there were gone. In their place, was his uncle, Elias.
"Please don't tell me that Arouraios sent you to stop me. I really don't want to fight you, uncle."
"Arouraios, huh." Elias said, noticing how Alexander no longer referred to the man as father.
Fortunately, he had not been ordered to impede Alexander. Instead, he was here for another reason.
"I'm going to be accompanying you to Torden City. My sister, your mother, got into quite the argument with Lord Arouraios after you left. She didn't want you to be dismissed from the family. Still, your father was adamant about disowning you, so a compromise was made."
Alexander's uncle then explained that he was going to adopt Alexander and make him the heir to his title as a knight.
It would lower his status by a bit, as he would no longer be the son of a viscount, but it would still be far better than ending up being considered someone without parentage.
Things like this were not uncommon. An exceptional child from a lower ranking branch family could be moved up to part of the main family, and the opposite was true as well.
"What about your daughter? If I inherit your title, then she won't be able to."
"No need to worry about that. She's too gentle a soul to take up the blade. And as my wife and I seem to be unable to conceive another child, my title would have ended with me anyway. A knight that cannot fight is no knight at all. But she'll be fine, my daughter has the making of a wonderful scholar instead." Elias said, a proud fatherly expression on his face.
Alexander had some other concerns, but his uncle dismissed them all. His mind was already made up.
"Now, let us leave before your fa- before Lord Arouraios changes his mind. If the two of you came to blows, I'm not sure what I would do."
Following behind his uncle, Alexander exited the estate that belonged to the viceroy of Malm. A place he would never be permitted to enter again so long as Arouraios ruled the city.