VOLUME 8: CHAPTER 7

Ended up rewriting this five times.

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VOLUME 8: CHAPTER 7

“Hey, it’s been more than a day already,” pointed out one of the soldiers standing on top of the walls of Gryphon City. “That monster hadn’t moved an inch since then.”

The soldiers looked at the seven-headed monster sitting several hundred meters outside the walls. Its wings were folded and all of its eyes were closed.

“I heard that it’s waiting for the second young master,” said another soldier.

The soldiers looked at each other; doubt and uneasiness were evident on their faces.

As though they were afraid that the seven-headed monster would hear them, they huddled and lowered their voices to almost a whisper.

“But is it really the second young master?”

“That’s what I’ve been asking myself too! I once escorted the second young master to the brothels before, and I’m telling you… the one who showed up a day ago is an entirely different person!”

The huddled soldiers nodded at the last statement. They, too, found it hard to believe that it was the second young master.

“Forget the sword,” a soldier said in a mocking voice, “He can’t even cast a proper spell despite being taught by various magic instructors.”

The soldiers snickered. Most of them had been tormented by the second young master before.

A young soldier, who’d just climbed on the battlements, ran toward them and said, “I heard some news!”

The young soldier was a known gossiper. It must have been some incredibly interesting news, to make the young soldier this excited.

“Lower your voice. What is it?”

“I heard it from the Captain himself!” the young soldier said animatedly. “That creature outside the walls! That seven-headed monster!”

There was a small pause as the young soldier gasped for air.

“It’s the same creature who almost wiped out the royal knights of the capital!”

For several seconds, the soldiers stared at seven-headed creature. Slowly, their faces drained of all color.

They’d heard that the royal knights had been almost annihilated by a monster before. But never had they expected that it was the same creature currently sitting over there, just outside the walls.

“Y-You stupid greenhorn! Are you sure about this?!”

“There’s no doubt! I heard it from the Captain himself!”

The soldiers’ knees wobbled. They realized that they’d been stationed near a monster that had once killed dozens of people. If that monster suddenly decided to attack the city, even the Silver War God would probably be helpless to stop it.

They were truly fortunate that it had been obediently sitting there the entire time.

“H-Hey! It’s moving!”

The soldiers shrieked from terror upon seeing that the seven-headed creature finally started moving. It slowly unfolded its bat-like wings. Its seven heads slowly rose at it gazed at the western direction.

Soon, they realized the reason why the seven-headed creature finally decided to move.

A human, who bore the characteristic traits from someone from the Marcus Family, flew through the sky and quickly closed the distance. He hovered right above the seven-headed creature.

The seven-headed creature excitedly wagged its tail. In a deep voice that sent the soldiers shivers, it said, “Welcome back, God Evander.”

The human chattered with the seven-headed creature for a moment, patted all of its seven heads, then flew off and landed right on top of the walls.

Some of the soldiers instinctively took several steps back. There was no doubt about it. The young man was Lark Marcus, the second young master of the Marcus Family. The so-called black sheep of the Marcus Duchy.

The soldiers, who’d been gossiping about the second young master just a while ago, froze.

The second young master felt like an entirely different person.

“I need to speak with the Duke,” said Lark. “Take me there.”

There was an indescribable air of authority emanating from the second young master. Out of reflex, the soldiers made a snappy salute.

“As you command!”

***

The news of the second young master’s return immediately reached the Duke and His Majesty. To Lark’s surprise, both the Duke and King Alvis greeted him at the entrance of the duke’s palace. Standing behind them were Lady Ropianna, the retired general Carlos, Elias ‘Farsight’, and Lui Marcus.

“Welcome back, Lord Lark,” King Alvis lightly lowered his head in greetings.

“Welcome back, my son,” the Duke also lowered his head.

It was surreal that the Duke, who was known to have disinherited the original owner of his body, was now acting so amicably with him. The way he was looking at Lark – it felt as though he was genuinely happy that he was finally back.

Lui Marcus, on the other hand, was glaring at Lark. If looks could cut, Lark would have probably been bisected several times by now.

“You must be tired, my son,” said the Duke, emphasizing the last two words of his statement. “We’ve prepared a hefty meal in preparation of your arrival. Come. Come.”

Lark felt uncomfortable with the way the Duke was treating him right now. He met the eyes of the King. King Alvis slowly nodded his head, wordlessly saying that he’d already told his family everything.

With the Duke at the lead and Lui Marcus silently following behind, they soon arrived at the grand hall. Luxurious dishes were already served on the long table. Almost a dozen servants were lined up next to the walls.

“All of them had undergone the Oath of Silence before, after they’ve been freed of their collars,” the Duke said after they passed by the servants. “There’s no need to fear for any information from leaking out.”

“They’re slaves?” said Lark.

“Former slaves,” corrected the Duke. “They’re working here on their own volition. Please do not be mistaken.”

Although the Duke was treating him as though he was his son, he was definitely being more polite than usual. He even went as far as explain such mundane things to Lark.

Lark remembered the guards who’d accompanied him all the way to Blackstone Town. Although they knew that they would probably not be coming back to the Duchy, they still heeded the Duke’s orders to accompany his exiled son to that town, regardless.

For some reason, the men working under the Duke were incredibly dedicated and loyal.

“Slaves are efficient as a work force, but there’s a limit on what a shackled human can accomplish,” said the Duke. “This is the reason why slavery has been long abolished in the Marcus Duchy.”

Lark was starting to see the Duke in a renewed light. Exiling his very own son aside, it seemed that he was a good master to his people. A charismatic leader people unquestionably followed.

After everyone had been ushered to their seats, the feast started. The King sat at the head of the table, with Lark sitting to his right, and the Duke to his left. Next to the Duke was Lui Marcus, and next to Lark was the retired General Carlos. Just by the seating arrangement alone, it was apparent that Lark was being treated to be at least on par with the Duke.

“Your Majesty,” said Lark, his knife slicing through the steak. “How much did you tell them?”

“Everything,” the King said.

As expected, his family already knew everything. No wonder Lui Marcus had been glaring at him all this time. The Duke, on the other hand, overhauled his demeanor and became amicable with Lark.

“I see,” said Lark. He sighed, placed down his utensils and stood up.

“I know that a simple apology wouldn’t suffice. I don’t know why I’m suddenly in this body, but…” Lark bowed his head low. “For taking over the body of your son, of your little brother – I sincerely apologize.”

Heavy silence fell. The King and his retinue wore complicated gazes. They were clearly uncomfortable seeing Lark lower his head.

The Duke, on the other hand, studied Lark for a moment. He nodded his head. He did not seem displeased in the slightest. On the contrary, it felt as though he was glad that Evander took over his son’s body.

The Duke said, “We heard from His Majesty. It’s something out of your control, Lord Evander.”

“Father!” growled Lui. He abruptly stood up, toppling his chair in the process. He smashed his hands against the table. “What are you saying! Out of his control! That’s it?! Are we not going to ask for an explanation? A way? A cure? We should be doing everything we can to find a way to return the real Lark Marcus!”

“The real Lark is probably dead,” spat Duke Drakus. “You heard the whole story from His Majesty, didn’t you?” The Duke raised his voice, “Sit down, Lui.”

Lui didn’t listen to his father. He glared at the Duke, then at Lark. Lui’s eyes were bloodshot, his hands were curled into fists, his entire body was quivering.

Lui looked as though he wanted to pummel Lark’s face to the ground. He looked as though he wanted to beat him up, until the real Lark came back. But alas, he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t bring himself to hurt one of his family members.

Lui bit his lips, creating a large cut on it. Blood flowed down his chin. He glared at Lark and the Duke for one last time then left the grand hall.

Moments after Lui left, those in the grand hall heard a loud thud sound coming from the direction of the hallway. Lui probably struck the wall with his bare fist out of sheer anger.

“Lui can really be stubborn at times,” said the Duke.

“You’re taking this lightly, Duke,” said Lark.

The Duke wryly smiled. “I probably look like a heartless father to you, Lord Evander. But you’ve never met the real Lark. The real owner of that body is a demon spawn. A human scum that should have never been born.”

Lark remained silent. He’d heard several times before how evil the original owner of his body was. Even the priest currently residing in Blackstone Town had been almost beaten to death by the original Lark.

“Honestly, I’m glad that you took over the body of that brat,” The Duke sipped his wine. “That son of mine killed some of the servants before. He beat up the soldiers he didn’t like. And when he started messing even with the temple, I’ve decided to finally exile him to that faraway town.”

The Duke smirked. “I would have exiled him to the Mullgray Islands had Lui not stopped me that time.”

This was the first time Lark heard of this. He knew that the original owner of his body led a hedonistic lifestyle, but he’d never heard before that he’d even killed people with his own hands. After all, Gaston never brought the topic up.

“Like mother, like son,” mocked the Duke.

“The mother–”

“—Dead,” said the Duke. “The damn maid died after giving birth.”

So many things had been cleared up from this meeting. The Duke was surprisingly accepting of everything.

“I have only one thing to ask of you, Lord Evander,” said the Duke. “Please consider it as,” he carefully chose his next words, “an exchange? The only thing I ask of you is for you to acknowledge that you’re my son, that you’re a member of our ducal house.”

The Duke was basically asking him to remain part of the Marcus Family, even after known of his real identity. Lark believed it was a comparatively simple request compared to the sin of taking over the body of the Duke’s son.

“Remain a member of the ducal house…” Lark pondered. “Alright.”

The Duke smiled, clearly pleased of Lark’s answer. He said to the King, “Your Majesty, don’t you have something you wish to say to him?”

The King furrowed his brows, displeased of the Duke’s blatant display of greed. Still, he could not find the words to admonish the Duke.

“Lord Lark,” said the King. “Or should I also call you Lord Evander?”

“Either is fine,” said Lark.

“Then, I’ll stick with Lord Lark,” said the King. He sounded as though he held a deeper attachment to that name. “I’ll go straight to the point.”

The King looked at Lark straight in the eyes.

“Please ascend the throne. Please become the new ruler of this nation.”