Chapter 7: 7. Complicated family

Luke returned home by 7 o'clock, completely exhausted and on the verge of passing out. 

"Young master, about dinner.."

"Bring it to my room. And prepare a bath"

Like a moody teenager, he slammed the door and fell on his bed. 

Today after school he was taught by Sebastian and agreed to meet with the other girl named Rita tomorrow to get taught alchemy. 

The content of magic class he has learned years ago has evolved and there were lots of new things he had to learn. It wasn't that hard to memorize but the problem was with the tutor. 

"Woah, you're so good at it!" 

"You got it on the first try? You must be a genius just like me!"

"Can you show me your magic again? I feel like it's as powerful as mine" 

The narcissistic tutor Sebastian kept complimenting him along with himself in a loud tone, gathering everyone's attention. By tomorrow, he wouldn't be surprised if a strange rumor were to spread. 

"Young master, you bath is ready. I've prepared new clothes for you. As for dinner, the Marquis has requested you to eat at the dining hall"

"Are you sure you heard it correctly?

"Yes, young master"

"Then tell him I'm too tired to lift a finger. I'm not going" 

It was Alaistar's unwritten law that Luke isn't allowed to enter the dinner hall thanks to his mother picking fight with his elder siblings every time they eat together. 

Maybe now that his mother is gone, they suddenly wanted to include him in their family play. 

'How stupid' 

After Kevin left, Luke grabbed his clothes and went to the bathroom. 

He didn't even dare to glance at his colorful body in the mirror and went straight into the water. 

The warm water which was in the exact right temperature washed away all his strength. 

Sitting in the bathtub, he glanced at his palm which started to stung after touching the water. Behind the palm were lots of scars covering the back of his hand. 

'Luke, took off your glove'

He hated hearing that sentence from his mother the most. 

Even after her death, her shadow was still stuck with him. 

The more he saw his hand, the more unpleasant he felt. Putting on the clothes that were brought by the butler, he left the bathroom in a hurry without even drying his hair. 

As soon as he opened the door, he was met with someone totally unexpected. 

"Marquis, what are you doing in my room?"

Seeing a person who beat him into a pulp yesterday sitting in his room while looking through his notes almost gave him a heart attack. 

"I called for you but you didn't come" 

"..."

"Go downstairs and eat. I've something to check here" 

"Like what? Do you think I stole something from the treasure room again?

"Now that you've mentioned it, I'm thinking about reducing your budget for this month"

"...."

"Go and eat" 

"Tsk, fine"

It's not like he has something to hide anyway. 

Before he went out, Luke didn't forget to grab the leather gloves from the table. The large wound on his palm didn't go unnoticed by the Marquis.

"Did you fight again?" 

"It was a duel"

"Did you win?"

"No"

"You got injured and didn't win?"

"It was against a 4th class magic-swordsman. What do you expect?"

Hearing their strange interaction Kevin sighed. 

Whenever these two spoke they always end up bickering against each other like children. He could understand Luke's attitude but Marquis Norton was certainly acting unreasonable. 

"You could've won if you tried" 

"Not after that 'training' with you" 

"Are you saying it was my fault that you lost?"

"If your parenting method was like normal person's, I wouldn't have ended up like this" 

Not wishing to exchange more conversation, Luke turned around and brushed past Kevin. Norton sat there in silence for a while before he asked.

"Kevin, tell me the truth. Am I really such a bad parent?" 

"Of course not, my lord. You are not just bad. You are the worst" 

"...."

"You told me to tell the truth" 

"Whatever" 

The Marquis couldn't refute his royal butler who basically raised him. 

And it couldn't be helped. He also grew in such an environment under an even worse father. Even though he swore to be a person better than him, it seems like things weren't really working out well. 

"Luke is a child with as much potential as Louis. If he just tries a little, he can get much stronger" 

A black shadow crawled underneath his feet as it spread around the room, blowing out all the candles away. 

Norton was currently searching for a certain object from Luke's room. It was a farewell gift left behind by the late Marchioness that was discovered today. 

12 cursed item spread around the mansion. If he can't find it before the full moon rises, someone amongst his family will be affected by the curse.

It was her last parting gift before she died. A gift befitting of her nature.

"Strange. I can't sense any of the objects here. Did she not put one in Luke's room?"

"I don't think the Marchioness would try to harm her own son, my lord. No matter how greedy it is, isn't she still a human?"

Norton didn't reply. Because in his eyes that woman was anything but human. 

Sensing the displeasure on his lord's face, Kevin skillfully changed the topic.

"Have you searched Young master Louis's place?"

"I did and I already found 3 items" 

That was a lot considering the rest of items were all spread out. It was proof of how much she despised Louis's existence. 

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"We need to find the last 4 objects in two days. Shall we go search the annex?"

Norton concentrated all his focus on searching for the object once more yet he really couldn't find anything. 

Considering her nature, it's likely that the remaining objects must be with Luke. Because she was that kind of person who'd use everything for her goal, even if it's her child.

But strangely Norton didn't feel the smallest cursed energy. 

"Fine. Let's go"

He felt uneasy to leave the room until the end.

*****

After that little chat with his father, Luke walked to the dining hall. 

"Luke?"

'Tch, what a bad luck'

Both Louis and Loraine were having a dinner. The pair of sibling looked at him with their huge black eyes. 

"Nevermind, I will just eat in my room"

"What are you saying?!"

Like a ghost, Marie appeared behind him and pushed him inside. 

"It's rare for the three of you to have dinner together. Sit down" 

"Ow ow, okay I'll sit down. Just let go of my arm"

The middle aged maid was grabbing his sore arm with all her strength. After a bit of struggle, Luke was finally set free. 

'Why are these two having dinner this late?' 

He felt awkward as he sat besides the two people who were basically strangers and started to eat in silence. 

"Marie"

"Yes, young master?"

"Get out. Your presence is annoying me"

Luke was cold even to the maid who raised him. But it couldn't be helped. Marie was behaving in a very suspicious way. Suddenly Luke's eyes landed on the dish Louis was about to eat.

"Wait, Louis did Marie bring your food?"

Louis paused before he took a bite and answered in a way as if he couldn't remember well. 

"Maybe?"

"Marie, take that dish out with you. Take Loraine's as well"

"Y-young master.." 

Marie's eyes were filled with tears. It was obvious that the son of a lady she served for her entire life didn't trust her one bit. 

"And you, what's your name?"

"N-Na..na.."

"Nana, go and bring new dishes. If there's something mixed in it, I'll have your head" 

The maid named Nancy kept stuttering due to fear so Luke got her name wrong. But she didn't dare to explain and only bowed.

"Yes, young master!" 

The young maid ran off quickly. After her  Marie exited the hall with the two newly made dishes with an expression that seemed ready to break down. 

"Luke, what're you doing? Are you doubting Marie of all people?" 

Loraine was so shocked by his action that she couldn't do anything for a while. 

It is true that Marie was brought in by his cruel mother but she was kinder than anyone else. Sometimes she acted like a mother to Loraine, who never had such a figure in her life. 

That's why as much as she wanted to ignore Luke, she couldn't put up with the way he treated her.

"It won't hurt to be more careful" 

The girl slammed the table at the ignorant response. 

"Luke Alaistar, what is wrong with you? Marie has been with us even more longer than you. And you suddenly barge in and kick her out, all the while hurting her feelings?" 

"Loraine, calm down..." 

"How am I supposed to keep my calm? Luke is the one she worries about all the time! Imagine the pain she must've felt when he accused her out of nowhere!" 

"Tsk" 

Luke clicked his tongue.

It was really impossible to have a normal family dinner for once. With his fist clenched, Luke tried to reason with his sister the last time. 

"Loraine, listen to me. Marie is not a person she seems on the outside. All of that is just-" 

"How do you know? Have you ever spend more than one hour with her?" 

"..."

"You haven't right? You treat your servants like they're objects with no feelings. How can someone like you possibly understand how humans feel?"

His sister's words were like sharp knives stabbing his heart one after another.

Even Louis felt like Loraine went too far. But Luke stood up from his chair before he could say anything. 

"Just talking to you makes me age 10 times. I'm eating in my room" 

He should've known better. 

No one in this mansion will trust his words. His words weren't even worth over a maid's. 

'I guess I earned it' 

For a moment, the mother whom everyone despised flashed across his mind.

She always acted ill to gain people's sympathy and when she was actually ill, no one believed her, deeming her as a woman who spouts only lies. It was a situation similar to that.

'I'm really my mother's son' 

He couldn't even eat one meal without having a fight. 

Even though he wanted to pass this day peacefully just for once...

Luke shook his head. 

He has already become who he is so why regret it now? 

If things go wrong and his siblings despise him so much, he can always take his inheritance and start a new life somewhere far away. 

For now graduating from the academy was more important than Loraine and Louis getting poisoned. Since Louis has resistance and Loraine is a potion expert, they definitely won't die. 

"Let's study hard for a grade above C" 

Thinking so, Luke went to bed in a slightly better mood. 

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