“Father.” Lucius nodded, acknowledging Cédric’s presence.

  For a moment, the two remained silent, causing great discomfort to Mira and the guards stationed at the entrance gate, who could only watch the two of them in silence.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Cédric asked in a cold voice.

  “Your Excellency, I can explain—”

  “Silence.”

  It was Mira who had spoken, stepping in front of Lucius as if to shield him from Cédric, but a single word uttered by the man made her freeze in place.

  Her action, however, succeeded in drawing Cédric’s gaze to her.

  “We will have a conversation as well, later,” he said, gesturing for Mira to withdraw.

  But to the surprise of both Lucius and Cédric, Mira remained where she was, her gaze returning to Lucius as if asking what she should do.

  “You may go. No—better, stay.” Lucius turned his eyes to Cédric. “It would be better if we spoke inside, wouldn’t it?”

  Frowning, Cédric nodded.

  “Very well.”

  Turning his back, he began to walk.

  “Follow me,” he said without looking back.

  “Young master…”

  Mira cast a worried look at Lucius, who told her not to worry.

  The walk between the two was as silent as their personalities allowed. Along the way, they encountered several servants of the manor, all of whom jumped in surprise upon seeing Lucius’s disheveled appearance.

  He simply ignored their looks.

  Soon enough, they arrived at Cédric’s office, where Lucius once again encountered someone he had not expected.

  “Husband,” Helena said, casting a complex look toward Cédric.

  Standing in front of the office door like a barrier preventing Cédric from entering it was his first wife.

  “You may return to the hall. I will join you shortly,” Cédric said neutrally.

  Helena, however, remained where she was, causing Cédric to raise an eyebrow.

  That’s the second time today.

  The second time his father told someone to do something and they didn’t, Lucius thought.

  How does he feel about that?

  Lucius grew curious. Was it more irritating to be disobeyed by his wife, or by a servant?

  “Did you not hear me?” Cédric asked in the same tone as before.

  Instead of answering, Helena looked at Lucius, who tilted his head, unable to understand the meaning behind that gaze.

  What does she want?

  Lucius did not know his father’s first wife well enough to guess her intentions.

  At last, Helena turned her gaze back to Cédric.

  “Be prudent, husband,” she said before leaving, casting Lucius one last glance as she passed him.

  With the path clear, his father was finally able to enter the office.

  “Come,” he gestured for Lucius to follow.

  Normally, Lucius was accustomed to seeing Cédric behind the desk when he was in this office. This time, however, his father stood at its center, arms crossed, gaze sharp as a blade.

  The distance between them was no more than three meters, but under the pressure emanating from his father, it felt as though they were standing face to face.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Cédric asked coldly.

  Lucius assumed he was referring to his current state, so that was what he addressed.

  “Some people from the lower district attacked me. I retaliated.”

  Cédric looked him over from head to toe before nodding.

  “You do not appear injured. Did you kill anyone?”

  Lucius shook his head.

  “No.”

  “Good.”

  Cédric nodded again, his expression softening slightly, though still hard as stone.

  “I spoke with your instructor today,” he said after another long silence.

  “Elliot?”

  “No. Johan.”

  Yes, I figured.

  That had been a joke. His father did not find it amusing.

  “This is the third time we’ve had this conversation,” Cédric said, tapping a finger against his arm. “There will not be a fourth.”

  Lucius listened in silence as his father continued.

  “I know you have been training alone in the forest on the estate grounds. That ends today. From now on, a guard will watch you every day—from your bedroom to your study, from your study back to your bedroom. And since I suspect you will attempt to train in your room, there will also be another guard stationed inside, watching you.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “That makes it sound like I’m a prisoner,” Lucius said with a cold smile.

  “A prisoner?” Cédric smiled as well, the same coldness in his expression. “Indeed, you may see it that way.”

  “I cannot accept that,” Lucius said, shaking his head.

  Cédric’s smile—if it could even be called that—vanished.

  “Accept?” he growled. “You are misunderstanding something, Lucius. You have nothing to accept. Only to obey.”

  The pressure radiating from Cédric intensified, enough to make the hair on the back of Lucius’s neck stand on end, his body urging—screaming—for him not to oppose his father. Still, his gaze remained steady, his voice as calm as possible.

  “I must disagree. And if you think about it for a moment, you will see that I am right.”

  Cédric said nothing, so Lucius took that as permission to continue.

  “Indeed, you can physically prevent me from training. But that is the only thing you can do. Will you force me into an academic career? Drag me to lessons? Will you have a guard force my eyes open so that I look at the teacher, listen to his words? And then what? Do you believe you will truly gain anything from that?”

  Cédric’s expression hardened, but soon shifted into a sharp gaze and a scornful smile.

  “You speak as though this were a debate,” he said, his voice low and controlled. “But it is not.”

  Cédric took a step forward.

  “You are correct about one thing, Lucius,” he continued. “I cannot force you to learn. Knowledge imposed is useless.”

  His eyes narrowed.

  “But I can prevent you from wasting your life.”

  Lucius did not avert his gaze.

  “Calling it a waste does not change what is important to me.”

  “Importance is not a criterion,” Cédric replied immediately. “Results are.”

  The silence that followed was heavy. There was no anger there—only calculation.

  “You have no talent for combat,” Cédric said, as though stating an obvious fact. “You never had. Your body does not respond as it should. Your perception is slow. Your Aura…” he paused briefly. “You will never be able to sense it. You do not possess sufficient potential.”

  Lucius heard Cédric’s words in silence. Perhaps at another time, they would have affected him, wounded him. But now, there was nothing.

  Why is that?

  Since awakening after that incident, he had been able to perceive these differences. His past self—

  “Even so,” Cédric continued, unaware of Lucius’s thoughts, “you insist on this path that has brought you nothing but pain and frustration.”

  Cédric’s eyes locked onto his, the hardness giving way to gentleness.

  “And I wonder why. Is it for approval? Do you believe I would think less of you because of your limitations?” Cedric scoffed, dismissing the idea. “I see you. All of your effort, your commitment. Your lack of talent is… unfortunate. Nothing more. There is no reason for me to think less of you simply because you lack what it takes to become a great warrior.”

  This is… surprising.

  Lucius even doubted that such words were coming from his father. Though—

  “I am not doing this for your approval, Father.”

  “Then why?”

  Lucius answered without hesitation. “Because strength is the only thing that does not lie.”

  He clenched his fist.

  “Perhaps in the past, I sought your approval, your recognition. That is no longer the case. I simply wish to pursue this ideal. I am not doing this for anyone else—only for myself.”

  Lucius wondered whether his words had reached his father. He received his answer in the next moment.

  Turning slightly toward the door, Cedric spoke without raising his voice. “Enter.”

  The door opened, and two guards appeared, positioning themselves behind Lucius.

  “You will escort him,” Cédric said. “Everywhere. If he attempts to train, you will stop him.”

  So that’s how it is.

  For someone so methodical and rational, how should one describe Cédric’s actions? Lucius smiled.

  “And when I resist?”

  Not if, but when.

  Cédric turned to him.

  “Then they will use sufficient force to restrain you.”

  The guards exchanged uncomfortable glances.

  “No serious injuries,” Cédric added. “No excesses.”

  Lucius inclined his head slightly.

  “Understood.”

  Cédric frowned.

  “I was not speaking to you.”

  “I know.”

  Lucius took a step forward.

  The guard on the right immediately extended his arm, blocking him.

  Lucius did not attack. He simply kept walking.

  The impact was blunt. Shoulder against chest.

  The guard grunted in surprise and shoved Lucius backward. He stumbled, nearly fell, but steadied himself.

  He tried to advance again.

  “Young master—” the guard began.

  Lucius pushed.

  The second guard intervened, grabbing him by the arms. Lucius struggled—not to escape, but refusing to yield.

  “Enough,” Cédric said, watching everything with visible displeasure. “Take him.”

  The guards dragged him out of the office.

  Lucius said nothing more.

  The guards, one on each side, grabbed Lucius by the arms and escorted him out of the office—or at least tried to. Lucius planted his feet firmly on the ground, leaning his body backward as he used all his strength to stay in place.

  “Ugh…!”

  To the surprise of both Cédric and the guards, despite the difference in size and physique, they had great difficulty moving Lucius. The issue lay in how he moved—pulling back at the exact moment the guards exerted force, nullifying all their momentum.

  “Grab his legs. With his feet off the ground, he won’t be able to resist,” one of them said to the other.

  “Alright.”

  The second guard nodded, reaching downward to grab Lucius’s legs.

  But as he did, Lucius drove a knee into the guard’s face.

  “Agh!”

  The guard fell backward, hands covering his face as blood flowed freely from his broken nose.

  “Damn it…!”

  While cursing, the other guard moved quickly, slipping behind Lucius and immobilizing both his arms.

  “Damn, my nose. He broke my nose…” the guard said, covering his face with one hand while using the other to haul himself back to his feet.

  Cédric, who had watched everything in silence, wore an expression of deep displeasure.

  He’s strong.

  Lucius used all his strength to try to break free from the guard restraining him, but the grip was like a serpent’s coil, making him feel increasingly suffocated.

  Soon, the other guard returned to restrain Lucius’s legs. Just like before, Lucius tried to strike him with his legs, but with his guard raised, the man blocked every attempt, eventually managing to secure Lucius’s legs, one under each arm.

  Thus, the guards carried him out of the office under Cédric’s merciless gaze.

  It was an exhausting journey—for both Lucius and the guards. Nearly ten minutes were required to reach his room, a path that under normal circumstances could be completed in a fifth of that time.

  “Just calm down already, damn it,” the guard grumbled as they threw Lucius onto the bed.

  Lucius thought that, normally, this was not how a knight treated his master.

  Well, considering that said master just broke said knight’s nose, that’s to be expected.

  “So now what do we do?” asked the guard with the broken nose.

  “Now? Now we watch him,” the other guard said with a shrug.

  His gaze then shifted to Lucius.

  “Young master, you heard His Excellency. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice.”

  So I can still choose that much?

  Lucius laughed at the thought. The answer was obvious.

  Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the window.

  “Damn it!” shouted the knight with the broken nose.

  The other knight said nothing, immediately giving chase.

  He’s fast.

  By the time Lucius reached the window, the knight was already right behind him.

  However—

  Instead of trying to open the window, Lucius launched a backward kick toward the knight, who, cursing, crossed his arms in front of his chest to block the attack.

  The knight blocked the blow successfully, but was forced to take several steps back from the impact. In the meantime, the other knight reached Lucius, appearing at his left flank and throwing himself against him.

  The two rolled across the floor, coming to a stop with the knight on top of Lucius, pinning both his arms beside his head.

  “Enough of this nonsense!” the guard shouted angrily.

  In response, Lucius slammed his head into the guard’s face, snapping it violently backward as the man screamed in pain.

  “That bastard…!”

  With eyes red with rage, the knight raised his fist into the air.

  “Hey, stop it!” the other knight shouted.

  But his shout came too late. In the very next instant, Lucius felt a powerful impact strike his face.

  Heavy.

  It was the heaviest blow he had ever felt, as if struck by a sphere of steel. It bore no comparison to the blows of his brothers.

  Too heavy. No human strike is like that. So… this is Aura?

  His vision instantly blurred, his consciousness sinking into darkness.