(Meanwhile, Rroda mainhouse)

A vein pulsed on Venric’s forehead, his face pale and contorted into a scary grimace. In his shaking hands, he held a stack of papers. The trembling caused the papers to rustle, the soft sound piercing through the otherwise deathly quiet room.

His tea was slowly cooling off to the side, seemingly forgotten. Yet it wasn’t that he no longer wished to drink it, in fact, his mouth was uncomfortably dry. It was simply that he didn’t dare to sip it. For what he was reading was so mind-boggling that he would surely end up either choking on the tea or spewing it all over his papers.

The slowly acc.u.mulating anger could no longer be suppressed, it reached the upper limits of Venric’s tolerance erupting in one swell swoop.

Venric grabbed the first thing that came under his hand and threw it to the wall in a temper tantrum. That thing ended up being the luxurious teacup.

The force of his throw was so large that it created a loud boom when the teacup met the wall. The chandelier and the shelves shook from the impact.

Yet, there was no sound of shattered porcelain. There was only a hole in the wall, housing the teacup which was stuck inside, unable to fall to the ground. If one looked at it closely, the teacup didn’t have a single nick or crack. The gems were still as luxurious and eye-catching as ever. Even the dust and debris of the broken wall seemed to just slide past the glossy teacup.

“Over my dead body!!” Venric growled out, crumpling and tearing at the papers.

Those papers, those blasted papers, were the report on today’s activities of Kiel Rroda and Elaru Wayvin.

The report clearly stated that both had arrived and partic.i.p.ated in the exams. It even divulged their results.

Unexpectedly, both had achieved perfect scores.

Venric was only mildly surprised when it came to his grandson’s scores. It might appear that he ignored Kiel’s existence, but actually, he kept close tabs on the boy. Any potential liability had to be closely monitored.

Consequently, he was aware that the boy had been working hard and showed considerable talent and ability when it came to using magic. It was quite a pity that he was a mere non-mage. The fates were even crueler than Venric himself.

Therefore, while he did feel surprised that the boy’s ability reached full points, he wasn’t overly shocked. What shocked him was that the redhead showed an ability not any lesser than the boy. In fact, the report spoke of her ability quite highly.

Allegedly, it was so high that the instruments broke while trying to measure it.

This had never happened before in the history of Ashar University exams.

The more he learned of Elaru Wayvin, the more he understood just how little he knew.

The more he learned, the more he realized just how much he had underestimated her.

The more he learned…the warier he became.

However, what caused him to reach his current rare state of distress was what followed after.

Kiel Rroda and Elaru Wayvin went shopping for engagement rings.

Who gave you the permission to get involved with a female?! Even thinking about marriage! When did you intend to inform me, huh?!

This was not only a huge face slap to him, but also a slap to the dignity of the whole Rroda family. A wyrm they fed and groomed for 18 years had grown up to disrespect them and elope without any regard for their future development.

This was foreshadowing a scandal.

And what about the marriage? Who will inherit whose name?

Not just anyone could be allowed to wear the Rroda name. Only the worthy could wear it. Under no circ.u.mstance would random individuals be allowed to become a Rroda.

The Rroda name was n.o.ble. Anyone who wore it was, by extension, a n.o.ble.

You think n.o.bility can be decided upon so easily? So easily that anyone can just marry and become a n.o.ble?!

What if the two wanted the b.a.s.t.a.r.d child to inherit the name Wayvin?

That possibility, although minor, also crossed his mind.

And that possibility was even worse.

What would that mean? That would clearly mean that a n.o.ble discarded his own n.o.ble name, his own n.o.ble status, of his own free will.

Wouldn’t that be a slap in the face of every n.o.ble? Everyone would hold the Rroda family in contempt, laugh at them, jeer at them and mock them. They, who have been discarded by a wyrm. They who allowed a non-mage to shame them.

Wouldn’t that be clearly declaring: I am not one of you. You are beneath me. Who wants to be a Rroda? Who wants that empty t.i.tle? I’d rather wear a common name than be a.s.sociated with you.

Saying that Venric Rroda was furious would be putting it lightly.

If Elaru Wayvin turned out to be a powerful individual, someone of high value to them. Someone who they would want to recruit. Venric Rroda would even consider allowing the marriage. For if Elaru Wayvin wouldn’t shame their family and would bring them benefits, why oppose it? It would even deal with the problem of that b.a.s.t.a.r.d child’s future offspring.

Ever since the b.a.s.t.a.r.d child was allowed to wear the Rroda name, Venric had been worried about the possibility of an offspring. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d child was a non-mage. If he was allowed to proliferate, wouldn’t there be a possibility of more non-mages appearing within the family?

If he married an elibu, that problem would be dealt with.

If marrying that elibu would bring extra benefits, Venric would welcome the girl with open arms.

However, they showed no respect towards him as the family head, showed contempt to the Rroda family, showed no hesitation to drag their name through the mud.

Even if it would be beneficial, out of principle, Venric Rroda vowed that he would never allow that marriage.

Over. My. Dead. Body.

They even proceeded to dine in Black Pearl. Is he following the footsteps of his older brother? Is he openly provoking him, declaring that he was eloping with the girl? “If Rhur can do it, why can’t I?”

Venric Rroda’s eyes flashed murderously. “Lawrence.”

Lawrence, who had been standing quietly, without moving even a twitch, like a statue, finally moved and spoke: “Yes, your grace.”

“Those fools that previously claimed that Kiel Rroda and Elaru Wayvin didn’t arrive to take the exams. Deal with them.”

Venric paused briefly. He wasn’t stupid or hasty. Of course, a question occurred to him: how did they manage to slip past my men?

It could be that the men were momentarily distracted. Or it could be that they disguised themselves, so the men couldn’t recognize them.

They were either incredibly lucky or shrewd – already perfectly aware he had sent men after them.

“Also, send trackogs to smell them out. Kiel Rroda’s smell should still be lingering on his luggage. Find and bring me Kiel Rroda and Elaru Wayvin. There is no need for courtesy. I don’t even care how. Just bring them to me.”

Lawrence bowed deeply and responded calmly. “Yes, your grace.”

* * *

Kiel stared at the livid blond in front of him who looked as if he wanted to ma.s.sacre him where he stood. Like he wanted to pierce Kiel with thousand needles, shred his body into ten thousand pieces.

The blond’s face was so red that one could almost see steam rising from it. It might even be hot enough to fry an egg. His limbs were twitching as if he was barely restraining himself from strangling Kiel.

His eyes flared venomously. Their message was clear: if we weren’t at the library, if fights weren’t forbidden, I would have already pummeled you into nothing!

No matter how furious he was, he didn’t want to create too big of a scene. He couldn’t openly attack him either. A n.o.ble publicly a.s.saulting another n.o.ble would be a scandalous event. Even if Kiel didn’t pursue the matter, avoiding involving peacekeepers, it would still not be beneficial to the blond guy in any way.

If he wanted to deal with Kiel, he would need to use another method…

“Rroda vermin! I challenge you to a duel!!” The blond exclaimed in a loud tone so everyone in the reading section could hear him clearly.

Kiel’s eyebrow twitched, but he responded in a calm and collected tone. “Actually, my name isn’t Vermin, it is Kiel. And you are?”

“You dare provoke me without even knowing who I am?” He let out a derisive laugh. “Listen well! I am Gaine Farhice!”

Kiel frowned. What a cliche bad-guy behavior! It's like he is taking his lines from random bad guys from cheap novels. This is ridiculous!

And to make matters worse, this guy with bad conversational skills was actually the younger generation genius of the Farhice family, first in line for the family head position. Farhice family was an extremely powerful and influential n.o.ble family of engineers and array masters. Their domain was one of top 5 biggest cities of Halnea, the famous city in the clouds – D’Arca.

Rhuuuuur! Of all the girls you could have targeted, why must you target the sister of the future family head?!

Kiel got the urge to kick Rhur so hard he would fly all the way to D’Arca, and then some more, so he could fall off the edge.

Luckily, his internal thoughts didn’t show on his face. “I have no desire to fight with you. There is no enmity between us.”

“No enmity?” Gaine laughed coldly. “Coward! You dare to blabber your mouth but don’t dare take responsibility!”

Kiel sighed and finally put his book down. It seems that there was no way to salvage this situation and appease Gaine’s anger. Still, he didn’t want to gain a lifelong enemy because of something so stupid.

“If you are adamant on settling the score, why not opt for a friendly contest? How about we compete in who will have the higher score in Muni exams? That should settle it, right?”

The two stared into each other’s eyes, daring the other to look away first. One pair of icy blue against one pair of frosty black.

Their staring contest lasted for a while. The tension in the air reached all-time high.

Gaine’s eyes flashed with coldness, he seemed to have finally gotten his temper under control. “The loser has to publicly apologize to the winner.”

Kiel had expected Gaine to suggest the stakes. He didn’t want to apologize to this arrogant b.u.t.tcracker, but even if it came to it, he could do it. He could put on a kind and dignified mask and sing praises to the heavens, all to uphold his image of a perfect prince.

Therefore, without hesitation, he nodded. “Alright. Good luck.”

Gaine glared at him coldly. “Those with ability don’t need luck.”

A stinging pain pierced through Kiel’s chest as he heard that line. Gaine turned and stalked away, not looking back even once.

“Those with ability don’t need luck.”

A famous quote by Alann Farhice, the ancestor who established the Farhice family.

The man whose deeds became legends. The only non-mage in the whole history of Halnea that managed to shake the hearts of everyone and stand on the top of the world. The only commoner who managed to gain the t.i.tle of n.o.bility, not through marriage, but through his own power.

The man who Kiel couldn't help but look up to.

His mother always used to tell him stories about Alann Farhice when he was little. However, the first time he heard that quote was actually from a person who inadvertently changed his life forever. A person whose existence gave him strength and encouragement to strive for the top, made him believe that if he worked hard enough, he could one day be the second Alann Farhice.

He never thought that one day the line that changed his life would be used against him. And it came from the mouth of a Farhice.

Kiel clenched his fists, his gaze heated up. The blood inside of him started to boil.

My apologies Alann Farhice. To this descendant of yours…I’ll show no mercy!