Chapter 111: Let’s have breakfast as a family

Seth smiled, seeing excitement on his father’s face.

Honestly, Seth wasn’t really concerned with his father’s opportunities or aptitude. As long as he was okay and happy, Seth was fine with whatever.

"I’ll be leaving with the others tomorrow," Seth informed.

The mysterious smile on Simon’s face finally waned. "So when next will we be seeing you again?"

Seth shook his head. "I honestly can’t tell, but from the current state of the world I can’t say soon."

Simon nodded in understanding. With chaos reigning across regions and continents, and with the convergence fast approaching, naturally it was safe to say Seth would be gone for a while.

He kept silent, pondering for a few seconds before he spoke. "Okay then, before you leave, have a breakfast with the family."

Seth’s expression instantly went dark. This was exactly what he was avoiding, but it still came anyway.

He sighed helplessly. Feeling his father’s intense gaze, Seth couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

He could see his father’s effort in uniting his house.

Simon was never pleased with how the rest of his children mostly ostracized Seth.

Which was why he always tried to make up for it by building a deeper bond with his last born.

But even then, he still wanted Seth to know what it was like to have siblings — ones he could rely on.

All this while, this couldn’t be possible because of the tight clutch his wife Liora had on her children.

She was a vindictive woman who never forgave him for finding a mistress, even if she was the cause of it all.

"Fine, I will try to make it... don’t blame me though when it gets awkward." Seth finally gave a positive reply, massaging his forehead as though trying to banish a headache.

Immediately excusing himself, Seth left back for his room.

’ugh! kill me now’ The more he thought about it, the more averse he felt. If it was he, his siblings, and his father alone, naturally things would have been preferable that way.

But Seth was dead sure his father would have a plus one. Seth hardly felt hate towards anyone.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t capable of it — he just always felt no one was worth it.

Except for one: Liora Duskreaver...

Simon finally smiled. He could only do this much; everything else would have to follow the course of nature.

He stared at Seth’s receding back. Simon seemed to feel a headache brewing, every excitement he had from his experience in the Origin Realm fading with the wind.

’Liora, Liora... why do you have to be so difficult?’ he lamented internally. She was the one forcefully carving out a gaping rift in his family.

Simon’s fingers drummed rhythmically on the side armrest. As the man of the house, he naturally couldn’t let this continue.

...

In the Duskreavers estate, specifically Simon’s residence compound where Seth and the others resided.

The residence compound spanned across hectares of land, holding about five buildings with two main ones.

One each for the master and mistress of the home.

In the mistress’s abode...

Everyone close to Liora Duskreaver knew she was a woman of immense pride and perfection.

She was all about the details, a perfectionist who couldn’t stand errors or imperfections.

Which was why she willingly betrothed herself to the only man she felt was perfect.

In charisma, in status, and in capability, Simon Duskreaver was truly the cream of the crop, the elite of elites.

A man who headed one of the big three families of the West — who else could be more perfect?

So when this perfect figure of hers erred, got a mistress, and still went ahead to produce a mixed-blood bastard, then had the audacity to bring him to her home...

She snapped. To her, this was the greatest betrayal ever.

But still, she remained obsessed with keeping her man perfect. And the only imperfection he had, the only flaw, was that little bastard Seth.

Though she didn’t go as far as to try and harm him physically — not that she could dare with Simon protecting him — mental tactics were still available to her, and she abused them to the fullest.

She always thought her children were on her side, but today she was beginning to doubt.

"You two were heading to your father’s residence without even paying your dear mother a visit... why?" Liora’s soft voice sounded.

She sat on a high chair, almost a throne to be exact, her legs crossed, her head slanted as a fist propped up her chin while the other arm relaxed on the armrest.

Looking at her features, one couldn’t deny she was indeed beautiful — a mature type of beauty. Her silver hair, a trait of the Duskreavers, flowed wonderfully down her sides, embracing her curvaceous figure.

Her eyes glimmered with a crimson sheen, another trait of the Duskreavers, as they trained their sights on two figures kneeling before her.

Her son Lionel, the firstborn of her house, and his sister Nora, the second.

The two knelt before their mother, their expressions unreadable, as they kept mute despite her clearly asking a question.

Liora frowned, but once more she spoke, this time posing a question. "Have you two completed the task I—"

She didn’t even have to finish. Lionel’s bold face cut her short with a single-word reply. "No!"

Liora’s expression became dark. "And you dare show your face here? That little bastard is walking around feeling good about himself for clearing a corruption zone, and my simple wish was for my children to prove they can do the same. Yet—"

Once more she was interrupted. Lionel raised his head, the dim lighting of the room highlighting his figure.

Lionel bore a stunning resemblance to Simon — his figure just as robust, his facial features sharp and handsome, his crimson pupils glinting with sharp lights.

His lips opened and he spoke.

"Time after time, Mother, you pit us against Seth. You saw to it that we built zero relationship with him.

You have denied him the love of his elder siblings. God knows you have denied him even more.

He grew up as an outcast, a shell of what he was meant to be, in a state of constant fear of overshadowing us, all because of what you fed him while he was young and his mind was still frail."

Liora didn’t interrupt, just stared and listened — half in shock, half furious.

Her child had never acted this way. She bred them to revere her and adore her, so where the hell was this coming from?

Lionel wasn’t done. "Mother, why do you have to do all this? Why do you have to curb his potential?

Who said we are inferior to him? Why does he have to be removed from the competition before it even began?"

Liora stared at them coldly. Indeed, true — why did she go that far to curb Seth’s potential?

Her mind drifted into a distant memory, recollecting the image of a valiant figure, a woman like her.

The first person who ever made her feel inferior. The only person who ever made Simon Duskreaver disregard all consequences just to be with her.

Seth’s mother... Liora’s heart palpitated as her mind recalled the figure with perfect clarity.

Those piercing blue eyes that commanded the world to bend before their presence.

Liora sighed, her eyes turning complicated, as she finally replied. "Because you can’t win!"

Lionel’s expression turned cold and Nora’s head snapped upwards. Did their mother just...

"Fine! Since this is the best we could amount to in your eyes.

The world has changed, and things are different. The opportunities are endless, and my talent isn’t small.

I will prove myself as his elder brother, and build our relationship even if it will cost me another."

He got to his feet, his younger sister Nora following suit. Though she remained silent, the cold conviction in her eyes already proved her stance.

And the two didn’t wait for a reply. They didn’t need Liora to say anything more, and they left.

Liora stared at her children, her armrest cracking under the pressure of her squeezing grip.

In the shadows, a pair of crimson eyes watched, lighting up...

"The chance is now..." a raspy voice whispered.

It flitted into a quick blurry shade, slipping into Liora’s figure.

Her eyes burned red with fury, a faint mist of shadows billowing from her frame.