Chapter 49: Chapter 44

Peter

 

Peter stood in the middle of his dressing room, looking at the chaos around him. Various items of clothing were scattered on the floor. His mother had sent him servants to take care of an appropriate appearance, but Peter had sent them away indignantly.

He had his own idea of what was appropriate.

However, he could not decide. What were the perfect clothes for the scandalous occasion of this dinner? Should he rather appear inconspicuous there, or dazzling?

He held various shirts in front of him and looked through his pants, vests, and everything else. In the end, he opted for a mixture of inconspicuous and dazzling. He put on grey trousers, a white shirt, and a grey vest with mother-of-pearl buttons. Plus, of course, his sister's necklace. Shiny shoes were not to be missed. He tied his hair together with a silver ribbon since it was finally long enough for it. Satisfied, he looked at his reflection in the mirror and put on a few of his own bracelets.

Perfect!

He looked great.

It was enough to upset his parents, but not enough that they tried to force him to wear something else. And his choice was dazzling enough to leave a decent impression during the scandalous visit.

He left the rest of his clothes on the floor. Servants would clean it up later. When it was time for dinner, his parents were waiting for their guest in the dining room, where they had already taken their seats. Both were dressed in black. His mother wore blood-red jewelry with her black dress and she had her hair pinned up into a strict bun.

When servants brought their guest in, Peter almost stared at him open-mouthed. He was Friedrich’s image, except that his hair was reddish and not dark brown, like his father's hair. His mother's eyes narrowed and she gave her husband a venomous look before inviting her guest to the dining table.

"Thank you for inviting me", the young man said with a friendly smile. "Maybe I should introduce myself?" He bowed deeply before sitting down at the table across from Peter and surveyed the family with the gaze of a lurking, poisonous snake.

"Sure. That would be a good start", the queen hissed. She didn't even try to hide her anger.

"My mother named me after my grandfather and father. My name is Torsten Friedrich Neu. My mother is Anneliese Neu, who worked here until recently. I grew up with my uncle because my mother couldn't raise me herself because of her work here." Torsten smiled smugly at Peter's parents.

"Anneliese? I don't know that name...", said the Queen. There were a lot of staff working in the castle, so it was impossible to know all the names. Nevertheless, she emphasized this exaggeratedly. As if it were about an unimportant person. From his mother's point of view, she probably was.

Peter looked at his half-brother because he clearly was his ‘brother’. Torsten was unsympathetic to him. "Surely it was hard not to grow up with your own mother?"

Torsten fixed Peter with his eyes as if he were a mouse that Torsten wanted to eat. "No, my uncle's family was always kind to me, but he passed away a few months ago... My mother recently told me who my father was. Otherwise, I would have contacted you earlier. I always wanted to know who my father was."

"And what do you expect from us?" The queen's gaze was no less venomous.

"Now that I'm obviously part of this family, I want to be officially recognized as such. That's the least you could do, don't you think Your Majesty?" Torsten smiled. "The press has already informed the citizens... I recently read the article myself. And of course, I would like to get to know my family. I was really excited about the invitation."

"There is no proof that you are my husband's son." The queen did not look at him. Instead, she looked at the servants who were now serving the food. "Therefore, we will certainly not give in to such an impudent claim. But thank you for your honesty. Surely you thought you would become rich if you were the king's son? That you could marry into the nobility?" Now she looked at Torsten. "I'll tell you what's going to happen. After this meal, you will return from whatever hole you crawled out and then some of my soldiers will escort you and your mother out of the country. You have no use for me." Was she just trying to provoke him? Or was she serious?

Torsten laughed. "Benefit? No. I have a right to be part of this family. I am part of this family. Even if you chase me out of the country, it won't change anything... But for the press, that would certainly be an interesting headline."

Peter had to agree with him. After all, he looked like his father. It was impossible that Torsten was not Peter's half-brother. But something about his character worried him.

"Is that a threat?", asked Friedrich.

"No, just the truth." Torsten smiled contentedly. "I am your son, whether you like it or not. And surely it is better for your reputation if you acknowledge me?"

You are reading story WITCH – The Revolt at novel35.com

"You're worried about our reputation?" Friedrich looked at him doubtfully.

Peter poked around with his fork in his food and watched the conversation and the way his half-brother moved. He seemed very confident and smiled almost superiorly.

Torsten noticed this and turned his gaze back to Peter. "I like your vest. It’s very elegant."

"Thank you."

"I look forward to getting to know you better. I've always wanted siblings."

The rest of the dinner was quiet. Torsten talked to Friedrich and Peter, while the queen ignored him. That he would be chased out of the country seemed to be off the table.

After dinner, Torsten left them, servants led him out and the queen looked angrily at her husband. “How many times have you been with this servant? Do you have any more children I should know about?"

Peter's father seemed nervous. "None. There are no more..."

"I really should throw him out of the country, but he seems to be intelligent...", murmured the queen. “And he was right. If we receive him, we will stand stronger before the people than if we chase him away... I will find a place for him. But you!" She pointed her finger at Friedrich. "If I find out about something like this again, I will divorce you! I don't want another scandal!"

Then the queen left the dining room, snorting in anger.

"I wish you a good night, Peter", his father turned to him and left the dining room as well. He looked sad. Peter looked after his parents before he also left the dining room and let the servants clear the table.

He didn't like his new half-brother.

He seemed deceitful. Peter was sure he was planning something. But his parents had certainly noticed this. Peter went to his room and wrote letters to Paul, Ingried, and Julia. They urgently needed to know what had happened and Peter needed to write off his new worries.

Would Torsten now be an integral part of his life? He didn’t want that. Peter already had enough worries. He did not need a mischievous brother. And that's exactly what Torsten seemed to be. Malicious.

Peter was sure that nothing good would come out of Torsten becoming part of his family. If he even got a title.

He missed his siblings, especially Julia, even more. Would he see Paul and Ingried ever again? And when would he see Julia again? Only during her holidays?

Peter was sure that his mother had already sent a request to the academy to release Julia from lessons for a solemn ball. And then there was the next house viewing... And Fritz’s fiancée.

It was all too much. Too much at once.

Tired, he let himself fall on his bed. Why did everything have to happen at the same time? Why couldn't everything happen one after another? Why couldn't Babette just disappear from his life?

Why wasn't he a magician?

As a wizard, he would certainly have fever worries and clearly more freedom.

Freedom.

He was not free. Would he ever be?

You can find story with these keywords: WITCH – The Revolt, Read WITCH – The Revolt, WITCH – The Revolt novel, WITCH – The Revolt book, WITCH – The Revolt story, WITCH – The Revolt full, WITCH – The Revolt Latest Chapter