The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 459: THE ONE

“You did good!” Mike told Axel as soon as they left Elena and Luna. “Try to be less tense in the future, we are a family!”

“Um!” Axel sighed and shook his head remembering how Mike was tense when his mother brought up his wives.

“Let’s go see Iris then!” Alice said.

“Before you guys leave… Axel… Can I have a word with you!” Margret who walked right behind them interrupted.

“Ah… OK…”...” Axel nodded to Mike and then walked toward Margret, who obviously didn’t plan to follow them. “What?” he asked with a frown. He didn’t like this manipulative girl at all. She had played him like a fiddle before!

“Take this!” Margret pushed a folder into his hand.

“Those are?”

“Your allowance!” Margret said. “There is also some data about your business, a phone, an ID, and some private clubs enrolment cards!” she spat.

“Oh… Did Father tell you to give me those?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah… Try not to ruin Victor’s image too much…”

“Don’t worry, now that I know the truth I will act properly!”

“Idiot! That would definitely ruin his image!” Margret scolded. “You have to act as a pervert!”

“Ah… “ Axel frowned, what did this slut want him to do now?

“Listen! Victor has two main personas! In the family, you act as a confident good son and brother, like you did earlier. However, on the outside, You have to act as an arrogant pervert rich young master!” Margret explained. “Understood?”

“No…” he shook his head.

“Think of it as being a guy with nothing to hide!” she said.

“...” he glared at her.

She glared back.

“Anything else?” he finally sighed.

“No… Just keep to reputable brothels...” she said, then began to leave, then hesitated, paused, and turned to face him. “Ah… Did you read the novels by Crimson Pearl?” she asked, squinting her eyes.

“I just read one…” he said. At the sect he was only recently allowed to get phones so he didn’t have the time to indulge in these media yet. In fact, he already forgot most of what happened in that novel, they are mostly all the same!

“Read a few others!” she said. “The author didn’t know how to use moderation, and ended up getting taken advantage of!”

The Author? That guy who committed suicide? What did she mean? Moderation? Were the novels too perverted? Did they have some secret?

Axel wanted to ask more, but Margret quickly left, not caring to say another word.

***

At the same time in a strange place lit by eternally gloomy torches.

“I am very sorry for your Lordship…. Alice von Weise just appeared out of nowhere and I couldn’t complete the mission…” Malcolm spoke as he bowed down, his head nearly reaching the ground.

“It is ok, Let’s drop the issue then…” The one who replied was a person sitting on a comfortable white throne padded with all kinds of pillows. For some strange reason, despite this person not using any disguise his shape was incomprehensible. Looking at him no one could make out what he looked like, nor what his gender was. Damn, even his clothes were incomprehensible as if one's eyes would keep forgetting what they saw as they looked at him!

His voice was not that of a male, nor a female but for a strange reason, everyone could guess that he was a ‘He’.

“What do you mean, your lordship?” Clarissa, who stood to the side dressed in her military uniform, asked. “Shouldn’t we get rid of Victor just in case? Even with the rights in our hands, he might try to do the movies anyway out of spite then wait for us to sue him!”

“The important thing was to fix the timeline… Since even our little rat couldn’t kill that guy, this would mean that Conformity is at play here. It is better to leave him alone!” he sighed after he spoke slowly.

“Conformity?” Clarissa asked with a frown.

“Celestia, I already taught you about that!” the lord said.

“Master! MY NAME IS CLARISIA…” she interrupted. “And you never taught me anything like that…”

“Ah really?” he paused as he pondered for a moment.

“Really…” she sighed. This almighty lord really has a memory problem.

He sighed. “ Listen… Conformity is the concept that a timeline can’t easily change… The fate of people, especially strong ones, would always make it follow a certain path!” the lord said. “It is like the inertia of the world stopping any large changes…” he added.

“Ah… Then what is the purpose of the existence of our organization?” Claricia asked.

“Sometimes, things happen making the change too big for the timeline to be able to cope with, like the effect of artifact demons or unforeseen circumstances like the case of your time travel,” he said. “One of our organization's goals is to remove such disturbances or mitigate them as far as possible!”

“Oh… And since Victor miraculously survived, does this mean he has a large inertia?”

“Yes, it is better not to mess with him for now, we just need to nudge him in the right direction, nothing more!” the lord said.

“Ah… Ok!“ Clarisia nodded. “Master… I meant to ask you this… Were there any other time travelers before me?” she asked. If not then Rebirth would have no reason to exist.

“In a way, there was a…” The lord paused then frowned. “I forgot damn it… I shouldn’t tell you about that.” he spat. “Never mind that… The critical phase is about to end soon anyway… ” he whispered to himself.

“Ah….” Clarisia asked. “What?”

“Nothing, you will forget about it as soon as you leave this hall… And you will find out what I meant pretty soon!” he said mysteriously. “Did you get any info about the Nutcracker?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Ah… Not really, it is as if it appears out of thin air then disappears again!” she said. “Even using all our artifacts we couldn’t track him!”

“Oh…” the lord paused. “Keep following any info about him but do not try to interfere, that guy might be the one…”

“The what?”

“Ah… A very strange and strong demon who will ruin this world.”

“What?” both Malcolm and Clarisia asked.

“You don’t worry about it. Just keep an eye on him for now. We still have many junctures that we would be able to use to stop him!” the lord said casually. “Make sure the matter in Vain city gets wrapped up cleanly… And be on the lookout for any more time travelers!”

“Yes sir!”

“What happened with the cruise incident?” he asked as if he just remembered.

“The demons were all cleaned up. It was conducted by a guy named Rain and a girl named Tulip…” Clarisia said. “They seem to belong to the Sunken Empire…”

“Oh… Tulip and Rain?” he frowned as he was trying hard to remember. “Those two are very important for the future… Don’t approach them!” the lord said.

“There seemed to be someone else there too… A little girl who could kill anyone by touching them. Rain seemed to know her, but we couldn’t get any info! ”

“...” the lord frowned. “She was killing the demons?”

“According to the witnesses, she seems to hold a grudge against them!”

“Oh… Try to find more info about her, tell Bianca or one of the others to approach Rain about it, but not to get too tangled with him…”

“Yes!”

“And keep an eye on the cruise's survivors just in case!” he said. “Even if one turned out to be a demon, just watch from afar, we will not interfere!”

“Ah… Ok…. “ Clarisa nodded.

“You two can leave now… ” he sighed.

“We understand!” Both Clarisia and Malcom bowed, then turned and left the room, forgetting a few things in the process.

***

Axel, who after finishing with Margret, followed Mike, Alice, and Lara across a windy path and soon reached a small isolated training ground surrounded by a small bamboo grove.

There a purple-haired girl wearing an expensive purple training suit was leading a few young men and women in a sword training session. As soon as she saw them approaching, she stopped swinging and put down her sword.

“STOP! Let’s take some rest!” she commanded and gave a signal, making a few maids who were waiting to the side hurry up to distribute towels.

Everyone lowered their wooden swords and as they wiped their sweat turned to look at the newcomers!

"Let me introduce you. Those are Mike, Alice, and Victor… They are not only our step-brothers but also Elite heirs of the family!” Iris said with a smile, not caring to introduce Lara who was a celebrity among her siblings. “Those 8 are Mary, Cara, Nima, Alicon, Richard, Roy, Juju and Roxy!”

They quickly bowed and welcomed the family heirs in unison. After having to keep up with the arrogant Max and Rex for a few days, they didn’t dare to relax at all!

“Hi! No need for formality…” Mike said, waving his hand. “Nice to meet you!” he said.

“Nice to meet you too…” they said as they relaxed a little.

“Are they your team?” Mike asked as Axel carefully inspected them. Did his father really plan to awaken all of his offspring?

“Yeah!” Iris nodded. “Rex and Max also gathered a few around them!”

“Team?” Axel asked.

“Ah… yes!” Iris said. “I forgot that you had that accident, let me explain!” Iris said. “According to Esteemed father, since our brothers and sisters didn’t have pure bloodline we can’t make them full family heirs, so he found a loophole in the family rules to make them disciples to work under one of the heirs!” she explained.

“Oh…” Axel nodded. If he was not kidnapped by that sect maybe he would have been among those guys now. “So I have to make my team too?” he asked.

“No,” Mike shook his head. “Since we are Elite Heirs we act as a kind of generals, we command a group of teams, but this will have to be decided later as Father didn’t really plan all of this yet!” he said.

“Oh…”

“Come on now… No need for nervousness, let’s take the time and get to know our siblings!” Alice said, making Axel sigh and turn to his nervous brothers and sisters.

Wait… Why was that girl giving him a flirtatious look? Wasn’t she his sister? Axel frowned, noticing one of the girls winking at him. Her name was Juju.

Really… The von Weise family was a group of weirdos!

***

“Unfortunately…. You are not a demon…” the female knight who finished scanning Victor with a strange pulsating amulet said with annoyance. Yup, she was the same female knight who was at the competition.

“Unfortunately?” one of the soldiers to the side wondered in a low voice. Their lieutenant had been acting strange ever since she met this guy when they entered the Library to check everyone for demonic possession.

“ She wanted to imprison me and make me do all kinds of perverted stuff…” Victor whispered to the soldier in a low voice that was not low at all!

The soldier who heard him almost gasped as he turned and looked at his boss who was glaring daggers at him… DAMN IT! HE SHOULDN’T HAVE ASKED

“So, am I free to go now?” Victor smirked and asked.

“Yeah… The princess sent a message that you must take care and return to the castle early…” the female knight spat as she gestured to him to leave with her hand like he was some kind of a fly.

“Cool! Did she catch that demon?” he asked.

“Classified information…” she coldly spat. If he wasn’t the princess’s consort, she would have flattered that stupid face of his with her fist. Too bad she could only gnash her teeth.

“I see… See you later then!” he said. “Oh and when you have the courage to face your twisted fetishes you can always find me at Lady Rosette’s castle!” he added as he turned to leave, making the female knight almost throw the artifact in her hand at him.

DAMN THAT BASTARD!

Ignoring her and the very nervous soldiers who were going to be punished for no reason later, Victor leisurely walked out of the library.

Lyra was waiting for him at the street outside with Emira who was busy eating some cotton candy which was ‘Invented’ by Rosette. The little girl ran to his side as soon as he stepped out, offering him some cotton candy.

“Thanks for taking care of her!” Victor said as he rubbed the little girl’s head. “You are not the bad sprout I thought you were!” he added unnecessarily.

“Blah! You are the fucking bad sprout!” Lyra retorted back.

“I am just saying… “ he shrugged. He expected her to hurry and find that demon with Aerith, but she decided to stay with Emira and this proved that she can still be redeemed… No, the spanking was still a must, but he would go easy on her!

“Let’s go back to the castle… I need to hurry and see what happened with that demon!” she spat as she turned and began heading toward the carriage that was waiting for them. She didn't want to hear a compliment from this baster.

“Did Aerith catch him?” he asked as he quickly followed.

“Yeah… I don’t know the details though!” she said.

“Oh… As long as she is fine…” Victor nodded. He was not worried about the demon, Aerith was powerful enough to apprehend him. He just had one thought at the moment, as he couldn’t wait to reach his room and then begin checking his loot! So he held Emira’s hand and climbed into the luxurious carriage that started moving as soon as he closed the door.

He pondered if he should make some small talk with Lyra who was sitting in front of him, but noticing that she turned her head to look out of the window on purpose to avoid him, he decided to spare her and to take the time to check on his blood slaves.

Emira was by his side eating her cotton candy, so he didn't need to check on her.

Lin was fine… She was learning how to cook from Hilda. She could now fry an egg without turning it into a piece of charcoal. Not bad!

Alex was as usual training with her spear like a young hero… two girls were watching to the sides with stars in their eyes. Axel seemed to have used the old good excuse that he needed to awaken his bloodline before sleeping with them, so they were rooting for him… No HER!

Danial was at school hitting on two sisters who joined his class recently. That guy was good!

Tom was having lunch with his 'Father-in-law' and Caspian. Not bad, the info this idiot was collecting would be vital for him once he returned!

Mike was meeting with his brothers and sisters at his father’s mansion. Oh… He met one of them long ago, that slut Juju. She was hitting on the fake guy…

Victor sighed, shaking his head as he inspected the others then….

HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS….

He gasped, jumping to his feet and bumping his head on the carriage's ceiling.

“OUCH!”

“WHAT?” Lyra asked nervously, reaching for her dagger as Emira looked at him.

“Ah…. NOTHING!! Just a mosquito bit my butt…” Victor said casually as he sat down quickly and closed his eyes. He was not in the mood to make an elaborate excuse as he looked again through Mike’s eye who was talking to one guy.

This guy was definitely the one… THE ONE WHO KILLED HIS FAMILY! THE YOUNG LIGHT LORD!

Although his face’s shape was slightly different, Victor would never forget this guy’s eyes!

Impossible… Was he his brother? His name was… ROY!