Along the long road, drove a luxurious carriage.
In this world, carriages weren't pulled along by horses, rather the speed of the carriage depended on how much mana was being poured into the vehicle by the driver, who would also control the direction it was heading.
Inside the carriage sat five people, Vane, Alden and Alessia sat on one side.
Opposite to them were Alan and Miya.
"The nerve of this scumbag." Alan was openly trash talking the head of a great clan, but he didn't care.
He truly was a scumbag in Alan's eyes, not only did he have an affair while his wife was pregnant, it was with a lady who was 16.
Then, once the child was born, other than the time of naming the baby, he never once visited.
What an asshole, now out of the blue he is calling for the same two people he neglected for the past fourteen years?
What the hell?
Next to Alan, his mother had downcast eyes, her expression was slightly gloomy as she held her skirt.
Even though Miya was quite confident around everyone, when it came to the patriarch, her mood would instinctively become sour.
"Should you really be talking like this?" Vane asked, his eyebrow was lifted in amusement.
"More than anyone, at least I have the right to trash talk him."
"Hmm?" Vane allowed a faint smile. "Well, let's see if you can keep that up in front of him."
Besides him, Alden tensed and sent a sharp glance towards Vane.
"Don't test him." Alden warned.
"Hmm?"
"Because he really will." Beside Alden, Alessia was nodding her head to her brother's words.
Alan, who heard this, flashed an innocent smile.
"You all don't need to worry." He started.
Alden's eyes lifted as if to say, 'really?'
"Insulting him is the first thing I'll do." he finished it with the same smile.
Alden's face crumbled instantly.
"Oh, by the way, Vane." Alan looked at Vane.
"Hmm?"
"Was it that guy who named all of his children?"
"That guy... you mean the patriarch? Then yes."
"Wow, his naming creativity is really shit."
He'd been wondering this for some time now, he was named Alan, his half-siblings were named Alden and Alessia.
Why did they all start with an 'Al', although he didn't know the name, he knew he had an older brother who should be 19 years old by now, and he wouldn't be surprised if his name also started with an 'Al'?
"I have an older sibling, don't I? What's his name?" Alan just decided to ask anyway.
"... Alvin."
"Oh my god, his naming sense really is horrid." Then he started counting on his fingers. "Alvin, Alden, Alessia and Alan? What's with this guy."
Even Alden and Alessia lowered their heads in thought.
"Well... he was never really the best at naming things." Vane tried to defend the patriarchs honour.
"Pfft, what bullsh—" But Alan never finished his words, because the carriage came to an abrupt halt.
"We have arrived!" The carriage driver announced.
'We're here...' Alan exhaled a breath, then looked at his mother.
She was gripping her dress tightly, her head lowered even more than before.
So without saying a word, Alan held her hand and gave a reassuring squeeze.
She looked at Alan, then gave a soft smile and a nod before relaxing her expression, she needed to appear confident, not weak.
Click
Vane opened the carriage door. "Let's go."
Alden and Alessia first followed behind him.
Then still holding his mother's hand he stepped out.
A surreal view greeted him, giant iron gates that were wide opened showed the entrance to the estate.
The road ahead stretched toward the main mansion, its structure was incredibly large, but it was the centrepiece of the path that caused Alan to pause.
Rising from the centre of the road was a monumental statue carved from polished black obsidian, it depicted a woman draped in a heavy royal coat, her facial features remained unclear due to the material of the statue.
But her eyes, they were embedded with raw amethyst gems where her pupils should be.
Beneath the dark statue was a sign, it read.
[In honour of the founder of the grand duchy and a great hero of the world]
[Lyra Nyx Zevril, the first matriarch]
Alan paused momentarily, staring at the statue, it was his first time seeing a figure depicting something he only saw in fairytales his mother read to him.
Vane walked around the statue, and so Alan followed along with the rest.
Previously covered by the statue, the entrance to the mansion was revealed.
The path there was lined up, by maids and servants bowing respectfully on either side of the road, at the end of the path was a flight of stairs that led to the entrance of the mansion.
And right in front of the door was the man, someone he thought he might never see.
Tall and had youthful features, his short onyx hair looked neat and proper, with a pair of iconic violet eyes that were darker than Alan's.
Alaric Nyx Zevril, the patriarch.
On his left was a familiar figure he had seen four years ago.
Long blonde hair accompanied by a beautiful yellow dress, and two emerald eyes that were looking at Alden and Alessia.
Lady Tanis, the second wife of the patriarch.
On his right was someone, Alan, had never met before.
Flowing crimson hair that fell just past her shoulder blades, and a pair of ocean blue eyes, she wore a stunning red outfit that complimented her hair and looks.
It was lady Nari, the first wife of the patriarch.
It seemed Alvin, the first son of the family, wasn't here.
As they were reaching the flight of stairs, Alan overheard whispers from the maids on the sides.
"It's the bastard and his mother..."
"Why is he here?"
"No, why is he kinda..."
What the hell was that last maid on about?
Finally reaching the first step of the stairs, Vane kneeled.
"I, Vane Vandal, greet the patriarch!"
Alden, Alessia, Miya and even the servants, everyone kneeled.
Well, all except for Alan.
"Yo, you son of a bitch, ain't it a little late for a greeting?"
Everyone forgot to keep their head bowed, instead turned a bewildered look at Alan.
Especially Vane, whose jaws were practically hitting the floor.
Only Alden shook his head, while Miya held back a laugh.
"Alan is it?" Alaric spoke with a calm voice. "Indeed, it is a little late for a greeting, so come in."
With those words, Alaric turned around and entered the mansion, completely unbothered.
This time everyone looked at Alaric with wide-eyes, why the hell did he let it slide so easily.
Ignoring all the dumbfounded expressions, Alan started walking, as he reached the first step he looked back at Vane who was still kneeling with open an open jaw.
"You heard the guy, let's go."
First only Miya followed behind him, as they went past the still frozen lady Nari and Tanis, then entered the mansion.
...
'It's been a while.' Alan thought to himself.
Currently, Alan was in a reception room along with Alden, Alessia and his mother, as they were seated on the same sofa.
Of course, Alan wasn't having nostalgia about the mansion, he has literally never been here before.
It was his senses, his intuition.
During the days as Leon, he always had some kind of sense, that gave him a kind of warning whenever he sensed danger would come due to his following actions.
Which was also how he maintained his position as the greatest special agent, before he made his choices, he always had a sense of the danger.
It is also why he hadn't been holding back with his actions because he knew he would sense danger if his behaviour led to anything harmful.
It was also why he challenged Edward, Lucian and all the other soldiers four years ago because his intuition told him it would be fine.
Now for the first time in a really long time his intuition was ringing again.
But it wasn't in danger, it was warning him that there was something wrong about the patriarch.
Click
The door to the room opened, bringing Alan out of his thoughts.
Through the door entered Alaric, along with lady Nari and Tanis.
After walking a bit, they seated themselves on the sofa across from Alan, with Alaric in the middle.
Alaric looked at his children with an emotionless face, and spared Miya a brief glance.
"It's been a while, my children." He finally allowed a faint smile across his cold face. "Although, you all may be wondering why I have called you here."
He paused a little, then looked at Alan. "Especially you."
"Mhm." Alan merely nodded his head.
"I'll cut to the chase." His face turned serious. "In two years the fourth princess's coming of age ceremony will be held at the royal capital of the continent, you all need to be there."
'What a weird thing to make an announcement for?'
But Alan could obviously tell the reason wasn't that simple.
"Why?"
"Why? To obviously represent our house." Alaric responded as if it were a simple thing.
Alan smirked. "Then you don't need to worry."
"Why is that?"
"Because I plan to leave this family once I turn 16."
Alan casually dropped a bombshell, everyone turned to Alan in utter shock, everyone except Miya, she of course, knew about his plans.
It was natural to be shocked, because he just stated he would rather not receive any support from one of the three greatest house on the continent.
The most shocked for some reason was Alden, who was staring at Alan with trembling eyes.
Ignoring him, Alan was focusing entirely on Alaric, while he made that statement.
He saw Alaric's eyes widen slightly, the type of reaction that seemed to perfectly suit him, but something about that timing didn't seem right to him.
"You..." Alan narrowed his eyes at Alaric. "You can't feel emotions, can you?"
The moment he finished, his intuition which had been continuously ringing in his head stopped.
Everyone in the room was shocked again and quickly turned their head to look at Alaric.
Seriously, just how many times can this single guy shock them in a single day.
Alaric's lips twitched then stretched into a grin, but his eyes weren't smiling.
"How'd you know?"
His words of confirmation sent everyone's mind swirling, but both Alan and Alaric only looked at each other.
"Call it intuition." Alan smiled. "Though it looks like you weren't always this emotionless?"
Alaric leaned back into his seat. "Yes, you're right, even now, all the facial expressions I show is just my body instinctively reacting, rather than actually me."
"So what changed?"
"Hmm... it happened when I broke through to core rank 7 twenty years ago..." Alaric shook his head. "It's useless telling you, once you reach that rank you'd understand."
"You seem confident, that I'll reach that level."
"Who wouldn't expect their children to surpass them?" Then, with a naturally fake smile, he changed the subject. "Where do you plan to go after leaving the family?"
"The demons continent." Alan immediately replied, once again both he and Alaric ignored the disbelief on the faces of others.
Alaric blinked, then grinned. "Then you really need to attend the princess's age of coming ceremony."
"What?"
"There is no point in telling you." Alaric stated. "You just have to find out yourself."
Then Alaric rose from his seat. "Attend the ceremony in two years."
With those last words, he started leaving, just as he reached the door he turned around.
"I'll grant your wish a little early, from this moment on consider yourself as just Alan, the Zevril surname no longer follows you."
[Name: Alan Zevril]
↓
[Name: Alan]
Click
Alaric left, closing the door behind him.
Soon after, Alan also stood up and left the room deep in thought, leaving behind the still frozen figures.
Seriously, the amount of shock they experienced today was insane.
"...Would you all like some tea?"
Everyone just blankly nodded to Miya's words.