Edited by: bafflinghaze
Breakfast continued peacefully, with Guinivere’s occasional chatter and a discussion between Aurelion and Gareth.
Only Vespera and Neo sat there eating silently.
Vespera wasn’t one for small talk in the first place, whereas Neo had many thoughts brewing in his head. The two of them focused on their meals to the end.
Neo cut into his toast, the feeling of his etiquette lessons settling into his body like a second skin as he began to eat like Nazareth once more.
It was stifling.
He really missed the Modern Word.
“—And what of you, Nazareth?”
The cold voice of Gareth was sharp and clear as it directed itself to the oldest Odum.
Neo’s head snapped up in surprise.
He wasn’t paying attention to the conversation between his father and brother.
Sapphire eyes narrowed—looking as judgemental as Neo remembered, although he knew that his father didn’t mean to. With a sigh, Gareth asked him again. “How is your study so far?”
How was his study?
He couldn’t help but grimace. Second-year of Senior High at the academy was when he became particularly mad and twisted. He wasted most of his time scheming against his brother. His grades were the worst, and they certainly didn’t get any better in his third year. How in the world did he even manage to graduate—oh yeah.
He died the day before the ceremony…
Letting out a small breath, Neo decided to be honest.
It was not like he could lie. Quarterly reports were sent home every season and his current work ethic really was terrible.
“Not good. I promise I’ll raise them up as soon as I can.”
There was a brief pause, and if his father’s face wasn’t already ice-cold, he would have thought the man had frozen in befuddlement.
However, soon enough his expression became one of admonishment and he sternly spoke.
“The school year has started long ago, Nazareth. I do not expect much from you as you are not my heir,”
Neo frowned uncomfortably.
That was right. He wasn’t the heir. This fact had driven him toward the brink, not because he cared for the position, but because he felt powerless. What better way was there to topple the aristocracy than to sit in the seat of a Duke?
It was a fool’s dream and a reckless scheme. What qualifications did he have to snatch Aurelion’s birthright? While his younger brother cared for the people, Nazareth just wanted to sow discord.
Hearing his father’s words, Neo was glad he wasn’t heir.
His father was an awkward man. He moved stiffly and spoke bluntly. This was his assurance to Neo that he won’t have to bear the responsibilities of an heir—his own way of conveying to him that he can live peacefully off the fortunes of the Odum Family as one of its members and abstain from any noble duties.
He tried, but Nazareth couldn’t recognize those attempts of fatherly love.
Instead, he saw a man who believed he was a stain of his past and decidedly entrapped him in a house so he wouldn’t turn out to be a disgrace.
In reality, though, his father worried.
He worried a lot and was more of a mother hen than anyone would like to believe.
“—But do not forget that you are an Odum. We do not let our studies fall to the point where we must raise them. Nazareth, are you listening? This is serious. We are talking about your future.”
His father scolded him.
It was familiar to watch him rattle on.
“Yes, father. I understand.” Neo could only respond helplessly, his mind falling back into wistfulness.
He had a good life in the Modern World, but that life came with regrets of the past.
And now, here he was. Once more reliving the first lifetime.
Nothing had happened yet. Everything was still so peaceful.
—
Gareth observed his oldest son from the corner of his eyes.
Nazareth had appeared to breakfast with his hair cut to his nape and a docile manner to match.
He never paid much attention to this illegitimate child, not that he had much time to pay attention to any of his children. The Emperor had always kept him busy with work, so most of his information regarding his children came second-hand from the servants.
Aurelion and Guinivere were raised from infancy and were used to the duties of the aristocracy. They understood the undertones of affections in the household and were similar in personality to him and his wife.
This was the main reason why he had never had any trouble with the two.
However, his eldest had always been an anomaly.
It was amazing how no one ever wondered why the Odums have never had more than a son and a daughter. The mistake of his youth brought about consequences in the form of that bastard son, and even now, it was his greatest regret.
He regretted not knowing of that child on the streets who was five minutes away from doing something that would imprison him to a life of debt.
That child, who was left to wander for who knows how long? Who learned nothing but the deceptions of a brothel house, broken by the dredge of society.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Lf vlvc’a xcbk tbk la kjr qbrrlyif obg tlw ab rlgf tlw, jr fnfgsbcf xcfk atja jc Yvew Gexf kjr bcis mjqjyif bo tjnlcu akb mtlivgfc qfg ufcfgjalbc.
Nazareth was more of a miracle than anything else. An unexpected miracle, but nonetheless, a miracle.
Some in the court deemed him to be an ominous sign, but one look from Gareth promptly shut them up.
Gareth wasn’t oblivious to the schemes of his eldest son. He was aware of the one-sided rivalry Nazareth had against his second.
It just… Aurelion and Guinivere were easier to take care of. The two of them were similar to him and his wife, while Nazareth…
Nazareth was different.
Whereas Aurelion and Guinivere were cold and icy, Nazareth burned with emotions and acted on his own feelings and heart. Those were very good qualities, if not for the fact that he endangered his younger brother on a weekly basis.
Gareth didn’t know what to do. This was his first experiencing the struggles of parenting. He knew Nazareth was capable of good, he just needed guidance.
Ethics. Nazareth needed to understand ethics.
So when his eldest son came to breakfast looking as innocent as a lamb, he wasn’t sure whether to be wary or relieved.
He was most certainly not expecting such soft-spoken responses to be coming out of Nazareth’s mouth after he lectured him.
From the expressions on Vespera, Guinivere, and Aurelion’s faces, they didn’t expect this either.
For the second time that morning, Nazareth had brought silence to the table, and no one knew if that was good or not.
He made brief eye contact with his wife.
She raised a brow, but ignored him soon after, leaving him to wade in this pool of parenthood.
What should he say now? Nazareth was usually not this obedient.
Should he continue to lecture?
Or wait. No. His son might hate him even more if he did that.
Since it was going so well, should he stop the conversation here?
“Father…?”
He was brought out from his confusion when Nazareth called for him. He gathered his bearings once more.
“As I was saying, do make sure that your studies are taken care of immediately. If I don’t see any improvements soon, there will be consequences,” he finished sharply.
Vespera gave him a look.
—
Neo agreed with everything his father told him with a nod.
His father lied. His ‘consequences’ consisted of three things.
Confinement, food, and ethics.
Being confined inside his bedroom with food, water, and ethics-related books was what his father considered to be punishment.
Neo should know. He held the title of the number one Scummy Troublemaker of Noble Academy. It was almost a monthly ritual for him to be placed in confinement.
Aurelion and Guinivere weren’t prone to making trouble.
In fact, his father and stepmother never had a punishment system until he arrived at the manor.
His father was a soft man behind the glacial coldness of his face.
If his stepmother was the one doing the disciplining, she would make him run laps around the manor grounds…
He was a little shit.
—
For Gareth, it was disconcerting seeing Nazareth acting so… good? Nice? Perhaps his teenage rebellion was finally over.
He took another quick peek, expecting the boy to grow angry at his words, but he remained unusually calm.
Perhaps he could take this chance to start another conversation?
“Oh, yes, and Nazareth,” he said to him again, as if he had forgotten.
To his surprise, his son raised his head and directly made eye contact with him.
Gareth was suddenly lost for words since he had never came this far in speaking to his eldest. His mind automatically thought up a familiar topic.
“Those companions of yours seem to be one of the primary reasons your grades are slipping. Do get rid of them until you have yourself sorted out.”
He clamped his mouth shut and stopped talking.
It was better to end the conversation right here.
Before he messed up even more.
—
Neo was confused. He had friends?
Oh, wait.
Now that he thought about it, there was that group of people he used to hang out with at this time. They were the sons of noble families who he took advantage of. Using his connections with them, he had sent people after Aurelion constantly.
God, he was an asshole.
His father warned him last time about involving unrelated people in his schemes, but Nazareth didn’t care.
He assumed his father thought they were a bad influence, though the truth couldn’t be further than that.
Perhaps he should consider cutting ties while he could.
Aurelion stood from his chair.
“I will be leaving first.”
Gareth nodded, giving permission for his son to be dismissed.
Then, Guinivere also stood up. She walked over to Gareth and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“I need to go as well, father. Anna and Mary have invited me for tea.”
“Yes. Have fun.”
And she was also dismissed.
The dining table now only had Neo, Gareth, and Vespera left.
It was still very awkward, so Neo finished his coffee and nodded to his father.
“Have a good day,” he told the two adults quietly and stood up to leave.
“Wait,” Gareth stopped him.
Neo paused. “Yes, father?”
Gareth inspected this child with a contemplating look. There was a war in his head as if he wasn’t sure why he had stopped him. Nazareth’s strangeness gave him mixed feelings.
With these swirling thoughts in his head, Gareth finally said, “Nevermind.” Prompting that he had given up comprehending the situation. With great effort, he forced out three words, “Enjoy your day.”
Neo stared at this man with renewed recognition. And then he gave a very small and subtle smile.
“I will. Come, Rainier.”
Rainier seemingly materialized out of nowhere, standing behind Neo like the ever Capable Servant.
“Yes, Young Master Nazareth.”
The servant and master pair left.
—
Alone at the dining table with his wife, Gareth ordered the servants to clear the plates.
“Gareth,” Vespera suddenly spoke, sending shivers down everyone’s spine. Her voice, chillier than his own and unexciting as ever, spoke for the second time that day.
Vespera never made it a habit to speak much, but when she did, it reaffirmed the reason why Gareth married her in the first place.
“Good try, but I’ve seen better attempts.”
Her monotonous voice showed that she wasn’t very impressed.
And then she went back to drinking her earl grey tea, an amused smile suddenly appearing ever so slightly on her face.
Gareth didn’t ask her for anymore detail. She had met her daily quota of words today.
Resignedly, he stared at the door.
—
Neo and Rainier stood at the entrance of the manor.
“Young Master, would you like me to prepare us a carriage?”
“Yes. Thank you, Rainier.”
The casual ‘thanks’ had some of the servants passing by and the guards standing at attention looking at the master-servant pair with bewilderment.
Rainier stepped away to call for a coach.
Now left alone, Neo stood there with an air of awkwardness.
He put his hands inside his pockets and felt some of the servants peeking at him.
Feeling uncomfortable by their stares, he ended up placing his hands behind his back.
There. A neutral stance.
Unbeknownst to him, the multitude of gazes seemingly increased with suspicion.
After all, Young Master Nazareth could be carrying a weapon in his sleeves for all they knew.
He had done that on multiple occasions.
Better to be safe than sorry if he happened to be holding a knife. He had habitually stabbed the coach drivers if he didn’t like them at first glance…
A carriage with the Odum emblem arrived in front of the entrance.
The driver stepped off and courteously bowed.
“Where would the Young Master like to go today?”
“St. Achillas Cemetery.”
His mummy’s final resting ground.
Alouysia Webbers lived and died as a commoner. She was only twenty when she had Nazareth and tried her damn hardest to raise her son as best as she could.
In the Red Light District, she was the most well-known prostitute and it took quite a large fee to even have her serve tea. When she died of illness at the age of twenty-seven, Nazareth was devastated.
Gareth had come for him nearly a year after she died. He arranged her funeral and burial, placing her in the best cemetery in town—for commoners, of course. She was a lowborn from the slums. Her place of rest was already a big favor. If she were any other whore, she would have been cremated and forgotten, her ashes scattered to the four winds to be fertilizer for some farms.
Neo boarded the carriage and sat down. Rainier took a seat at the front with the carriage driver.
“Let’s go.”
—
The drive to the cemetery was quiet. Neo observed the scenery outside the carriage with a newfound interest.
If he were to compare the Modern World to this one, he would say that this world was far less advanced, technologically and socially. For one, the internet didn’t exist and medical science was still seen as the devil’s work by the Church.
The lack of technological advancement, however, could be made up with magical engineering. There were healers and magicians who used subtle magic approved by the Church.
For example, night pearls, which were the equivalent of a light bulb, required a combination of electric talismans drawn by magic engineers and a mixture of fluorescent fluids made by alchemists.
The social classes of this world were also more prominent and instilled into the people. The government was still a monarchy with power. The nobility class was above everyone, the commoners worked, and the people of the slums did whatever they could to survive.
This was the age where humans teetered between civilization and catastrophe.
Gas-powered vehicles also didn’t exist. Coaches were popular with the aristocracy, but horse-riding was also a common sight.
A majority of things he had taken for granted in Modern Society would now take time and patience since the development of this world strayed from the one he’d grown used to.
Neo sighed a little. He really missed his cellular device.
“Young Master,” Rainier called out to him from the front of the carriage.
“Yes?”
“We are arriving in town soon. Is there anything you might need before we arrive at our destination?”
Neo thought for a moment.
He’d dressed nicely for a visit to a cemetery. Rainier was with him. There was a carriage ready to take him to and fro.
What else did he need?
He looked down at his empty hands.
Oh.
“Stop by a flower shop first. I want to buy a bouquet.”
The carriage entered the town. It drew a lot of attention from the common people due to the Odum emblem.
Soon enough, the carriage arrived in front of the first flower shop the carriage driver could spot.
Rainier stepped off first and went to help Neo out of the carriage. The fact that he did this with ease despite the blindfold on his face was very impressive.
After being helped from the carriage, Neo found himself standing in front of a flower-covered building. Flowers decorated the little shop and displays of arrangements encompassed the storefront with colorful bouquets. A sign was placed at the front of the shop, with the words ‘Graham Florist.’
Neo paused when he saw it.
The name sounded somewhat familiar, although he wasn’t sure why.
He opened the door and stepped into the shop.
The bell at the door rang.
“Welcome to Graham Florist. How may I help you?” A gentle voice called out.
Neo stood at the entrance, looking in wonder. Behind him, Rainier also stopped. The two of them looked around, trying to find where the voice was coming from.
“Over here!”
Their eyes turned toward the source of the voice.
A giant arrangement of gardenias came within their line of sight.
A plant spirit, perhaps?
But then, the arrangement lowered, and finally, they could see the person behind it.
Neo was somewhat shaken. It was hard to forget the face of this person.
After all, he had tormented him for an entire year.
With soft brown hair messily tied into a small ponytail and placid grey eyes, the boy had a smile on his face, small and subtle, but charming at the same time. Neo noticed he was slightly taller than him, perhaps by an inch.
One could barely tell he was a year younger than him.
The boy was Sutton Graham, the commoner who Nazareth kidnapped and nearly murdered.
—
Step 4. Patiently sit and wait while your father observes you with a keen eye and finishes evaluating your unusual behavior. You may also accidentally meet someone who, in the past, almost became a victim of your attempted-murder-plot. If so, please proceed with caution and play it cool.
If I were in Neo’s shoe then I would feel suffocated living in that house😵😩
Thanks for the chapter 💕
Thanks for the chapter!
thanks for the chapter!
I feel distressed for all of them…
thanks for the chapter <3
Thank you for the chapter (≧▽≦)
Wahhh there goes our Vespera and Gareth being as cute as ever
Thanks for the chapter 💕
Love you so much ~(´>᎑<`)~ kiss kiss❤
The Odum parents sound cute to me!
Kkkkkk Play it cool!
Thanks for the chapter!
Gareth and Vespera look like good people, im glad
Vespera. Not gonna lie, she’s growing on me. I’d love for her and Neo to bond. And hey, they might even be able to talk about diabolical schemes (aka how to tease the Duke and his heir) during coffee/tea time. She has that elegant air to her that screams “noble last boss villainess” but without being a villainess… I’m confusing myself. 🙄 Anyway that little bit of personality that you let us see of Vespera I’m really liking it.
Why is Neo wearing a blindfold?? 🤨🤨
How nice would it be if only Neo went back before he branded Rainer.. 😕
If I was Nazareth I’d feel suffocated in that house too, I wouldn’t go around killing people but I would probably end up killing myself with the misunderstandings and feelings of loss (of how to live on) plus loneliness. I can’t imagine how a young child would feel after losing the one person they considered their whole family then automatically being put as a member of another family. I’d probably just end it all lmao
Ty!