Gama City was a center of nobility, washed by the pale waves of the Lake of Oblivion and breathing peacefully in the shadow of the Kingdom City. Countless noble families had been born and maintained their existence in this city under the Gama Clan. Compared to other great clans, the Gama Clan was much more famous for its social relations; therefore, Gama City hosted even more nobles than the Kingdom City itself.
With the arrival of spring, the cool waters of the lake had receded, and the white stone piers on the shore began to sparkle under the sun. In every corner of the city, traces of the Gama Clan's unshakable and orderly authority were visible; the wisteria decorating the wide boulevards and the well-kept parks symbolized the city's wealth and security. However, the silence of this peaceful morning was struggling to persist in the main square. The presence of a single person there was enough for that.
Daniel seemed completely disconnected from the world around him as he placed the small, embroidered box he had bought from a shop in the square into his pocket. His excessively wrinkled skin, which once resembled that of an elderly man, had improved somewhat with his newly acquired abilities and the time he spent in the legacy, and his facial features had become more distinct; yet, the bitter, deep lines of his birth were still present on his forehead and around his eyes. His snow-white hair fluttered slightly in the wind, and the vivid yellow glow beside his right eye, which he covered with a black bandana, sent a shiver down the spine of anyone who looked at him.
"Aren't you going to take the payment?"
When Daniel asked the man in front of him, the old merchant suddenly raised his head and looked at the young man's terrifying face. He tensed for a moment, but Daniel was doing nothing. He was just standing there. He had extended the money with his hand, waiting for the merchant to take it.
No matter how clean, noble, and dignified Daniel's clothes were, the dull look in his single yellow eye was enough to terrify people. His appearance did not seem like that of a noble. As soon as the children playing in the square noticed him approaching, they stopped laughing and hid behind their mothers' legs. The sellers in the market buried their heads in their stalls to avoid making eye contact with Daniel. Daniel was aware of this silent fear and disgust felt toward him, but he gave no reaction. In the end, he placed the payment on the counter and left.
With calm steps, he crossed the square and headed toward the luxury carriage waiting for him. The moment he stepped into the carriage, the tense silence outside was replaced by the never-ending, rhythmic nagging of Daniel's younger sister, Selene, who was inside her large, puffy dress.
"You finally managed to come! Really Daniel, how long can you stay in that shop? Did you see the looks those peasants gave you? Ah, they are running away as if there is a monster in front of them!" Selene was sprawled on the seat across from Daniel, waving her silk fan rapidly. "You used to look like just a talentless old man. Now, at least, you look talented and maybe... hmmm... a bit charismatic, frankly. Those peasants can't distinguish talent. Forget them. What's the point of reacting like that just because you look a bit scary? Anyway, it's been good for me. Having a useful brother to come with me will be quite good. Viktor won't lift his head from work, and Julian knows nothing but spending time with whores. Only you are left."
Daniel looked into his sister's brown eyes. The young girl's sandy-blonde hair fell down her shoulders, and although she wasn't a unique beauty, she wasn't ugly either. Still, beauties were not few in the cultivation world, and as a child of a noble family, she was expected to be born more beautiful. If she were a peasant, she would be seen as beautiful, but the children of noble families who were her equals had higher expectations. This situation had caused some problems for Selene over time.
Daniel was aware of this. Neither of them had received much attention from their father. Therefore, they had some things in common, but Selene had at least received attention from her mother. Daniel, on the other hand, had remained like a stepchild.
"You could have gone with Rosalia."
"Hah! As if you don't know."
Selene pouted while examining the wrinkles on her brother's face. "But really, that bandana... couldn't it have been made of a more elegant silk? In social circles, power alone is not enough Daniel, aesthetics are also important. Anyway, after all, you are now a Sage; considering your age, that's not so important."
Selene would not stop; taking Daniel's silence as an approval, she began to pour out the messy structure within the clan. "I haven't even seen Viktor for days. Being the City Lord turned him entirely into a pile of paper. Every morning, he and my father Lyonel talk about the clan's income, taxes, and the city's order so boringly that I get sleepy the moment I get near them. The burden on Viktor's shoulders has completely detached him from us. And what about Julian? Do you know how many men my father sent to collect him from those foul-smelling brothels? Julian might be talented, but he wastes that talent only at drinking tables and behind velvet curtains. To escape from my father, he finds a new underground shelter every time. Julian's drunken laughter sometimes reaches the clan building, and I can see how the veins on my father's face throb with anger. Thinking about it, these moments are actually quite entertaining shows to watch."
As the carriage moved without shaking on the smooth stone road by the shore of the Lake of Oblivion, Selene paused for a moment and mentioned their older sisters. She could act as if she didn't care, but she did. "Rosalia is a total ghost. She buried herself in the library and inside those smoky alchemy cauldrons. She might truly be a good Alchemist, but she doesn't speak a single word to her family. My father brought so many nobles, so many young geniuses to her feet to marry her off, but Rosalia didn't even accept any of them into her room. Because of this, my father constantly has to discuss Rosalia's future and Julian's disgraces with Viktor. Viktor is trying both to manage the city and listen to my father's family troubles. It's really a pity for him too. Everyone can see that his siblings don't care one bit. Only my father doesn't see it."
Rosalia. She was the older sister for whom Selene had complex feelings. She had everything Selene wanted. Intelligent, beautiful, and talented. She attracted attention and had the option to reject it all. Still, Selene could not hate Rosalia. Because their eldest sister had always loved and looked after Selene. Selene could not find the strength in herself to hate her.
Daniel knew the real pain behind these superficial troubles of his sister. Everyone in the family was escaping somewhere; Julian to alcohol, Rosalia to books, and Viktor to responsibilities. Viktor and Rosalia had inherited their father's attitude. The other two siblings, Julian and Selene, had always been closer to their mother, seeking refuge at their mother's feet from their father's harsh and authoritative shadow. Daniel, on the other hand, had always remained the furthest out in this equation. Even his mother had begrudged him that fake affection she showed to her other children, leaving Daniel in his own silence.
The spring sun filtering through the carriage window sparkled in Daniel's vivid yellow eye. Despite all this, Daniel did not show a unique brokenness compared to his siblings. After all, his siblings were as problematic as he was, despite everything. That ice-cold distance between Lyonel and his wife was like a poison that had seeped into every corner of the house. Lyonel's few bastard children outside were a stain of shame whispered within the clan but never made official. Lyonel had never called them "Gama," but their existence was a testament to how rotten this noble family was.
"You were always the one talking in the past. It's as if things have reversed since you became a Sage," said Selene, for in the past as well, she was the one who spoke more. She gave Daniel one last look. "You used to worry more; now you just watch. Maybe there's a bigger plan behind those vivid yellow eyes, who knows? But for now, it's enough for you to represent me in your most impressive form at the next invitation. Hey! Stop acting like you don't care about me!"
Daniel did not react to these empty hopes of Selene. As the carriage moved through the peaceful streets of Gama City, he only felt the rhythm of that new energy in his cores and the weight of the family's nobility, which was doomed to collapse. However calm the lake outside was, the heart of the Gama family was that stormy and broken.
Daniel did not want the family to collapse like this.