My older brother Lucis's 9th birthday would be marked by a grand celebration.
I was not looking forward to the inevitable gathering of noble swine in this other world, held solely to show off their children.
Being still young, I naturally didn't have to attend, but the entire Anglus Family household had been as busy as ants on a hot pan these past few days, and my personal maid-butler was no exception.
It was just a child's birthday party, yet such a wasteful activity took "formalism" to the extreme.
Would Aisha, Lia, and I all have to go through this one day? No way, that would make me depressed.
In any case, today I'll watch with an amused mindset to see how these otherworldly nobles squander their wealth. And maybe Lucis will make a fool of himself, hehehe.
At night, many high-ranking adults arrived, and I secretly observed their faces from the shadows, feeling that few of them seemed benevolent.
There's an idiom, "Birds of a feather flock together," and considering Marquis Bahod's character, truly upright nobles probably wouldn't attend this banquet.
"Marquis Bahod, it's truly good to see you again."
"Marquis Bahod, we are truly indebted to your assistance with the Dronval matter..."
"Marquis Bahod, the Gustove Merchant Guild is grateful for your long-standing patronage..."
"Is this your esteemed son? He is truly a talented young man; we eagerly anticipate his future."
Such flattering and obsequious pleasantries were everywhere. After all, the Anglus Family family was one of the most prominent noble families in the country, so most attendees were nobles and merchants seeking to curry favor with my father.
Some even brought their young daughters, their intentions clear: to form a marriage alliance with the Anglus Family family. The noble society of this otherworld, with its arranged marriages treating children as political commodities, was truly nauseating.
Still, I felt a bit envious of Lucis. As the center of attention today, being called "Lord Lucis" by so many young ladies, he must be so proud his tail would be wagging to the heavens.
I am also a son of the Marquis Family, and I'm sure I'll experience this one day. Damn it, just thinking about such marriages, which disregard the feelings of the children, feels truly scandalous.
Oh, Lucis seemed a bit nervous under the gaze of so many adults.
Though I couldn't hear what he was saying from a distance, his hands kept rubbing against his pants, just like when I had to speak in front of the entire school in middle school.
Keep it up, young man. That's how people are forced to grow up.
After observing the decadent customs of the nobility for a while, I felt tired of it and decided to return to my room.
Due to the lack of entertainment in this world, reading became my only hobby. Books were extremely precious in this world, but being the Marquis Family, there was no need to worry about that.
When I first told Volth I wanted to read, he brought back several children's storybooks the next day. Reading these children's books under the butler's supervision was, to put it mildly, a form of mental torture. So, one day, I quietly followed him and found the room where the books were stored.
Since I knew too little about this world, most of the books there satisfied my strong thirst for knowledge. However, the most essential books to read right now were naturally those concerning the world geography, history of this country and surrounding countries, as well as research knowledge related to magic.
These books would surely be useful to me in the future. And since I couldn't read them all at once, I secretly took one back to my room, read it, then returned it and took another, repeating the cycle. This was now the third book, titled "The History of the Antasia Empire," seemingly a defunct nation.
Antasia Empire was built 300 years after the Origin Era passed, in Chaotic Era began. During the Chaotic Era, a King appeared on the continent from nowhere and rose up rapidly, together with a group of knights, suppressing the surrounding nations, Chaos, and Evil Spirits, creating a pure land, during the Era of Chaos. Thus establishing the Antasia Empire in the East of the Continent, which has continue till now which is 10,000 years later.
When I read the staggering number of Empire's existence broke my cognition. Normally, a human's lifespan is less than 100 and any Human Empire has difficulty lasting more than 500 years, now there is one that lasts 10,000 years.
Author, what the hell were you doing before. Why did you not write this in the novel and only focuses on the Hero and Heroine's sweet interaction and fighting the demon King. I wanted to curse that idiot author again. Suppressing my shock, I continued to read.
Surrounding the Antasia Empire are Ignia Kingdom, Elf Kingdom, Beasfmen Kingdom, and Demon Kingdom, with Demon Realm bordering more than 50% of the land borders alone.
When I read the name Beast Kingdom and Elf Kingdom, my spirit shot up like an arrow and I quickly turned to next page to read further. But to my disappointment, there was no news about the two kingdoms except a few words.
Why don't you add Beastmen and Elves. I wanted to know about the Beast eared girls and Elven girls... Ahem, I let my thoughts go through.
Oh wow, the second king was cuckolded by his ministers? How did the author of the book even know such a truth?
Knock knock knock--
As I was silently complaining about the book's content, a sudden knock on the door startled me, and I quickly closed the book and hid it.
"Young Master, are you in?"
"I am."
"Marquis Bahod wants to see you."
"Eh?"
Hearing that Marquis Bahod wanted me, my heart immediately jumped.
Did I mess something up? Was I caught secretly going to watch the excitement? No, even if I was seen, I didn't do anything attention-grabbing, so there's no reason to call me to account. Or was my secret book-taking discovered?
No, calm down. I need to avoid confessing unnecessarily. I'll wait until I'm there. Even if I accidentally did something to displease Marquis Bahod, I just need to apologize obediently. I'm still so young, so he should forgive me.
Walking down the corridor with Volth, the surroundings had become unusually quiet. It seemed I had been in my room for quite a long time, and most of the guests who attended the banquet today had already left.
"Master, I've brought Young Master Robert."
We arrived at Marquis Bahod's room. I walked in with a nervous heart, finding that others were already waiting besides me.
Mrs. Teresa, Mrs. Berolika, my mother Mrs. Lucia, and Mrs. Lilica stood behind my father as usual, their expressions somewhat grim for some reason, especially Mrs. Teresa, who had her head bowed very low.
Aisha stood by the wall, while Lucis stood in the very center of the room. Since his back was to me, I couldn't see his expression, but in this atmosphere, he must have been facing immense pressure.
Because directly in front of Lucis was the master of this room, and the only man seated, Marquis Bahod.
"You're here, Robert. Go stand by the side."
Without daring to speak further, I moved to stand beside Aisha against the wall. From this position, I still couldn't see Lucis's face, but I could imagine that if I were standing there, I'd be too nervous to breathe.
Marquis Bahod gave Volth a look, then Volth exited the room, gently closing the door. Now, only... no, it should be said that aside from the youngest, Lia, who wasn't present, the entire Robelian family was gathered. This was a very rare occurrence in this household.
What on earth is going on? What's going to happen next? Why does Lucis look like he's waiting to be judged? And what does this have to do with us?
"Alright, I don't have much time, Lucis. Do I need to specifically explain why I called you here?"
Marquis Bahod's tone sounded very understated. Huh? He didn't seem angry... or was he angry? I couldn't tell.
"No..."
Wow~ Lucis's voice and body were trembling. Watching from the side, I couldn't help but feel a little pity for him.
"Hmm, then what do you intend to do?"
Lucis knelt down, hands on the ground, and buried his head deeply.
"I'm very sorry, please... forgive me, Father."
A son kneeling before his father, begging for forgiveness. If I hadn't come to this other world, I probably would never have witnessed such an unusual scene in my life. And by observing the expressions of the others, it was clear that this was certainly not the first time such a scene had occurred.
Marquis Bahod let out a breath, then slowly stood up, walked around the table, and approached Lucis step by step.
It seemed Lucis had messed something up, and Marquis Bahod had specifically created an opportunity for him to apologize.
What? He called everyone here just for this? Lucis's apology was also full of sincerity, and then the father would pat his child's head, smile, and say, "Don't do it again next time," resolving the family conflict, and everyone would be happy and dismissed. As long as he hadn't committed some heinous crime, they wouldn't dwell on it, right? At least, I sincerely believed so at the moment.
However...
After Marquis Bahod reached Lucis's side, everything happened in the blink of an eye. Lucis's body arched as he was kicked flying against the wall, startling me and Aisha, who were close by, causing our bodies to tremble violently.
"Gah!!!"
Lucis let out a scream, clutching his abdomen where he had just received a heavy kick.
What... is this?
"If you... know... to apologize... then... don't... do... things... that require... an apology... in the first place."
Marquis Bahod did not let Lucis off the hook. A second kick, a third kick, a fourth kick... following the pauses in his words, he continuously kicked Lucis's abdomen with his right foot.
Lucis kept screaming, looking utterly miserable under the gaze of his family members. Everyone present was horrified to the point of suffocating by Marquis Bahod's actions.
What on earth... is this?
"Stop it, please... stop it."
Lucis's mother, Mrs. Teresa, was already sobbing uncontrollably, her plea so faint as if she feared it would reach Marquis Bahod's ears.
—Are you perhaps giving me an order?
It was not hard to imagine that if Mrs. Teresa had pleaded loudly, Marquis Bahod would have drawn such a conclusion and turned his anger on her instead. Even as a mother, her fear of Marquis Bahod prevented her from making any rash moves in such a situation.
"Father... Father... forgive... cough cough..."
"What exactly are you apologizing for? I don't understand."
"It... it was me... today... when pouring wine... I acci... accidentally... spilled the wine..."
..."Hah!"
Another kick.
At this moment, Marquis Bahod finally revealed his demonic countenance.
"Is that all? Lucis, you disappoint me somewhat."
"Father...?"
Marquis Bahod grabbed Lucis's hair and forcibly pulled his head up. His face was already disfigured by snot and tears. Aisha, beside me, couldn't help but tremble and tightly close her eyes.
"Yes, you trembled and spilled wine on a guest's clothes at the banquet, but what else? Did you behave well? You stuttered and were undignified, as if you'd forgotten all the noble etiquette I taught you before. Can you explain that to me, Lucis?"
"Ver... very... sorry..."
Lucis's voice was already hoarse, unlike his own.
"You completely disgraced the Roberian Family family today. It was a banquet to celebrate your birthday, yet you made me look like a clown. How do you intend to compensate for such a gaffe, tell me."
"Next time... next time... I will never... disappoint you..."
"Next time? Next time, huh... Fine, I'll be magnanimous and give you one more chance."
"Tha... thank you... Father..."
It wasn't hard to see that after I left the venue because I was bored, Lucis, nervous about his first public appearance before the nobles, couldn't maintain proper noble etiquette, which made Marquis Bahod believe he had lost face for the Roberian Family family.
Just for this... just for this, Lucis had to endure such treatment. And he was only a 9-year-old child, an age when many parents in modern times would still dote on them, fearing they might melt.
Is this the style of the great noble Marquis Bahod?
"If this happens again next time, you understand, right?"
..."Yes."
"Hmph, useless."
Marquis Bahod casually threw Lucis's head to the ground, then walked back to his seat.
I now had to realize that my perception of Marquis Bahod was still too naive. At the same time, I understood why he had gathered the whole family.
Purely to "kill the chicken to scare the monkeys."
After witnessing this scene, Aisha and I might not get a second chance like Lucis.