Villain Steal the Heroines

"You all may already be aware that Luke is an early-stage sword apprentice. And I know it is quite surprising, as children are typically not permitted to train until they reach the age of seven."

As my father took a pause in the middle, I flared up my aura for all the bigwits standing below to sense my rank.

My aura suppressing ring was well hidden below my white gloves, so it wasn't a problem that someone would notice it and make weird assumptions.

Woah!

As soon as my aura spread, there was another commotion down below, but this time I could see that it was only from the side of our family members and some vasal families.

The other guests, no matter how small or high their ranking, only had a superficial smile on their faces, and I could sense their scrutinising gaze and jealousy filled eyes.

Although they smiled on the outside, I am sure they were cursing me to die inside because who would want the children of others, especially their competitors, to be geniuses?

no one, at least not in this world where the strongest fist is the last word of justice and weakness is a sin. It was also for this reason that I wanted to show my strength while at the same time not showing it too much.

Nonetheless, their superficial smile was enough for us to gloat in our heads and look at them with a gaze full of mockery.

Of course, everything was done within boundaries so as not to infuriate them and make an enemy out of everyone. It was only enough to make them a little jealous and unhappy.

Father gave everyone a moment to think about what he had said, and when he was happy with how they reacted, he went on.

"However, you will be surprised to hear that he got this result with less than one year of training, and that too was allowed to him only because he begged his mother to train him. He's a really stubborn kid."

But the more he spoke in that nonchalantly teasing tone, the more red my face got.

Although it was my intention for him to say it that way so that people would relax their guard a little against me, but watching my embarrassing black history become public really made the corner of my mouth twitch.

Especially after noticing some people who were looking at me with that "I understand you" gaze and thinking something like, "Children are all like that."

Thankfully, those little nympho girls still looked at me with admiration; otherwise, I wouldn't know which hole to find and hide my head in out of embarrassment.

In any case, my inner monologue didn't seem to have any impact on anyone, and my dad carried on talking.

"Although at that time, Chloé did train him personally, none of us expected any short term results from him, nor did we put pressure on him as we were worried about him getting injured."

But after this paragraph, he paused for a second again.

When my father said those words, the attendees below nodded their heads in acknowledgement because they had also been through the exact same experience.

It wasn't rare for children of noble houses to throw tantrums and ask their parents to train them before the age of seven, as usual, after watching the guards and soldiers train every day and listening to those heroic tales by their mothers of heroes slaying demons.

Nevertheless, most families do not allow their children to train before the age of seven, and some may delay training for as long as 8–9 because they do not want their children to be injured as a result of their weak foundation.

So for them, the fact that Duke Brandon allowed his one and only genius son to train before the appropriate age really came as a surprise.

Additionally, what my father said about not pushing me was also reasonable, because if one tries to push the advancement of their children at an early age, many aristocratic families can also do it with early training and using precious herbs.

It's just that they don't do it because it would affect the future growth potential of the child.

That's why when the news came out, it caused a ruckus in the Kingdom, because everyone knows that Duke Steeline wouldn't be so foolish to risk his child's future for a petty success.

which even now makes many people wonder about the true reason behind my advancement, as to whether I am really a genius or if something else is going on here.

Fortunately for them, my father knew about their doubts, so he didn't keep them waiting.

"To be honest, even my wife Chloé and I couldn't believe it when we saw our son becoming an early-stage sword apprentice, because even geniuses have to grow to a certain extent before starting in earnest, but with no answer, we could only conclude that our son is a genius with a naturally talented body, but today, after receiving the greatest surprise of my life from my son, now that I look back to that time of Luke's progress, I understand everything."

These words set off an explosion in the minds of some, and soon even those who had been disinterested in the event as a whole had their attention glued to the stage, waiting for my father to speak again.

I mean, who doesn't want to know the secret behind this kind of thing? Wouldn't it be good if they could somehow use it to let their children develop from a very early age?

Nevertheless, the smart ones had already guessed what kind of announcement my father was going to make next.

However, they still looked at the stage curiously with anticipation because the next thing would decide many things about my and the Dukedom's future.

"I know, I know, you might have all already guessed what I am going to show you next, so without wasting anytime, let's begin the process, because as we all know, an early stage sword apprentice before the age of seven is praiseworthy, but it is still incomparable to the presence of a title."

While saying that, he took a pause and glanced at everyone, and his words really made some of the aristocrats' mouth corners twitch.

Isn't it as praiseworthy? You can only say that because your son is a genius who now appears to have a title as well.

But it is enough for us normal people if our child achieves early-stage sword apprentice rank by the age of 9 or 10 without a title, but for you shameless man, acting as if it isn't worth it, your consideration really makes people difficult to swallow.

An amusing smile appeared on my face because I knew that the people sitting below would be having similar thoughts, if not exactly the same, as I too was inwardly praising my dad for his shameless behaviour.

Actually, even I have to say that I didn't expect my dad to be so well versed in this kind of act.

It's no exaggeration to call my dad the prototypical villain; he has a special talent for igniting envy without destroying relationships. After all, who could possibly begrudge him for wanting the best for his child?

—Really, it's about a title.

—It looks like a high ranking title; otherwise, the duke wouldn't exaggerate it so much.

—Hey, our family didn't even have an F rank title; I'm so jealous.

—Shh! Don't say much and just observe. I think it's most probably a C or B rank title, or it could even be an A like that of the first royal princess's.

—Hissss!

As soon as that speculation was put up, people couldn't help but suck a deep, cold breath in fear and disbelief.

However, now that the topic of the title has come up, it has also made them realise that my previous rank must somehow be directly connected to it, which is exactly what I wanted them to believe.

They were all waiting to see what kind of title the Steeline family's sole heir would have awakened.

It was okay if the duke hadn't mentioned it, because even though it is about genius kids from a noble family, that doesn't necessarily mean that they would awaken a title.

It was actually not a shameful matter, because titles are actually that rare.

On the day they turn seven, children are tested privately in the morning, so if there is good news, it could be announced at the party at night.

That's why when most aristocratic families don't have their children awaken a title, they usually don't mention it during the celebration; it's like a tacit understanding between everyone, and no one takes the initiative to talk about it.

However, now that the Duke mentioned the title, it gave people the signal that the little Steeline heir has already awakened a title, and with how much my father hyped it up, it also gave them the signal that it was certainly not a low ranked title, making people all the more jealous and curious.

Soon, with the signal of the duke and under the anticipation of the crowd below, a silver glass sphere was brought in by the butler, who placed it on the middle of the stage above a golden stand exactly in the middle of the stage.

However, what most people didn't notice was that as the butler was adjusting the silver sphere in its position, my gaze shifted to some people dressed in white religious clothes who were sitting on the right side of the hall with very few people sitting around them.

In the novel, these people were not supposed to be present at Luke's birthday party, but they were all personally invited by my father today on an urgent notice after my request, because they are going to be one of the main highlights of this event, my next line of defence and my greatest supporters after my family, who will protect and support me, and they will also give me one of the best heroines of this plot for free.

"Hehehe"

You guessed it right—they were the people of the Church of Light, a denomination full of crazy believers who venerate and believe in the goddess of light, Theia.

Their presence here meant a lot to my plans, and I was really grateful that my father had managed to invite them on such short notice.

There are many different religions in this world, and each one has its own power and influence in the various kingdoms and empires that make up this world.

And the church of the goddesses of light is the religion of this kingdom of Netopia, the religion with the second greatest power in the kingdom after the king, even above the dukes.

Of course, that's only because they never interfere in political matters; instead, they even help the royal family maintain their rule, protect the kingdom against the demons of the north, etc.

Even the whole royal family, including the king himself, reveres the goddesses of light, and this custom has been going on for centuries.

However, because these people of the Church of Light get easily offended due to their crazy nature, they rarely interact with others, and those who can't handle them also keep a respectful distance from them.

Nevertheless, this didn't dim their powers even a bit, and it is also because of this reason that they don't attend events like this, anything not related to goddesses of light isn't worth their while, and they despise attending such events.

But they were here today because my father personally invited them, assuring them that today would be a big event related to the Goddess of Light, even bigger than finding the saintess, which even alerted the archbishop and Cardinal, but because the Cardinal couldn't arrive in time due to the large distance, the archbishop was here this time with many Paladins and priests.

scaring the hell out of some nobles who didn't know why they were here.

"Luke, come here and drop your blood."

Following my father's words, as soon as I dropped my blood on the sphere,

Voom!

With a heavy momentum, a bright light that burst forth from the sphere drowned the whole hall, and as the light receded after a second of showing its majestic presence, there were only five dominating words left on the silver sphere.

Rank (S) [Ruler of Light]