Chapter 103: The Vorhelms
Chapter 103: The Vorhelms
The huge gates of the Vorhelm family were still opening when Lian took a step forward, the sound of metal echoed through the area.
Two years.
A full two years had passed since the last time he had walked through this path.
The last time he passed through these gates, he was a defeated teenager that almost everyone believed had no talent.
But now...things were a little different.
Not only for him, but for the entire family.
As soon as he entered, before he even had the chance to look around, a man around fifty years old wearing the formal uniform of a senior servant walked toward him.
Gray hair, a straight back, and a face that had been trained for years to show no emotion.
The man slightly bowed, not enough to be considered special respect, and not so little that it would be insulting, only formal.
"Your room has been prepared, Mr. Lian."
Lian looked at him for a moment, the fact that this old man appeared so quickly showed that the family had known he had arrived ever since he entered the city.
At the same time, he listened to the old man’s words and the way he addressed him, there was no "Young Master", no warm welcome, but there was also no look of contempt.
It was as if one of the family’s guests had arrived, nothing more, nothing less.
Lian understood almost immediately, no clear order had been given yet, which meant that even the family was not sure how they should treat him.
Some people probably wanted him to become a member of the family again, while others probably still saw him as the same untalented boy and did not want him to return under any circumstances.
And until the elders made their final decision, everyone preferred to stay careful.
"Lead the way."
The man only nodded and continued walking.
The farther they walked, the more eyes landed on him.
Servants, guards, gardeners, workers from different departments, many of them knew him, or at least had known him before.
Some were shocked when they saw him, some immediately lowered their heads, and some pretended they had not seen him at all.
But the whispers could not be hidden.
"Is that him?"
"He really came back?"
"I thought he would never come here again."
"I heard he saved a border city..."
"They say he killed hundreds of monsters..."
"Impossible...how could he become this strong?"
"Maybe it’s only a rumor..."
"But the news came from the government."
Lian showed no reaction, as if he had heard nothing at all, but inside, he quietly laughed, these same people had not even wanted to say his name two years ago.
It was strange that now he had suddenly become the main topic of their conversations.
After about ten minutes of walking, they left the central path.
The main palace was still far away, standing over the entire territory like a giant monster.
But that was not their destination, except for the Patriarch and his two wives, no one lived inside that palace, even his other brothers and sisters each had different places to live here.
The servant guided him toward one of the smaller mansions, the same old mansion, the same place where he had lived for years.
The moment the door opened, Lian stood still for several seconds.
Nothing had changed, almost nothing.
The wooden hallways, the old paintings, the windows that looked toward the western garden.
Everything was exactly the same, of course it was clean, it was clear that this place was cleaned regularly.
He slowly walked inside, opened the door to his room, and for a moment, time stopped.
The small bookshelf in the corner of the room, the practice desk where he had studied for years.
The shelf of old swords that he had collected, and even the scratch marks on the wall were still there.
It was as if the last two years had never existed.
Lian slowly walked toward the window, ran his hand over the wooden frame, and for the first time since arriving, he felt something close to nostalgia.
But only for a few seconds, then the feeling disappeared, because this house was no longer his home.
"Mr. Lian, if you need anything, you know how to call me." The servant politely said goodbye and left.
After he left, silence returned.
He sat down on the chair beside the window, slowly leaned back, and thought about everything that had happened during the last two years.
Ever since the day he was born, he had always been hated by his father’s other two wives, his own mother had died from illness when he was still a child.
So he grew up without a mother, and his father...his father was not the kind of man who spent his time with his children or even with the whole family, he was not even in this country.
While he was away, the family was controlled by the two wives and the Council of Elders, when he was a child and before he reached the Awakening age, the council had a good and mostly neutral relationship with him.
But his father’s two wives still tried to make his life difficult, however, they had many limits, and there were lines they could not cross.
When he failed his Awakening, everything changed, they used that chance to suppress him and push him away, and the council, while keeping its neutral position, did nothing to help him, except for some of his uncles.
But no matter how much they tried, they could not remove his family name or completely expel him from the family, because for that, they needed the direct permission of the Patriarch.
And since his family name had still not been taken away, it was clear that his father had not given that permission.
"Will he also be here?" He quietly whispered to himself, as far as he knew, his father had not returned to the family for three years and was still staying in the Black Sea.
While he was lost in his thoughts, suddenly there was a knock on the door.
Lian did not even raise his head.
"It’s open."
The door opened, and a young man with light brown hair walked inside, around eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing the formal clothes of the family.
His face had some features similar to Lian’s, but it was not as handsome.
"So you really came back." The young man said with a surprised smile.
"You’re still alive, Aaron?" Lian looked at him and then laughed.
"Sadly, it looks like you’re still alive too." The young man smirked.
Aaron Vorhelm.
His cousin, the son of the same uncle who had called him a few days ago, in the past he had mocked him many times, but in front of other people he had also defended him many times, and he had never been his real enemy.
He was more like a constant troublemaker who had somewhat good intentions.
"You came to make sure I’m still breathing?"
"Almost." Aaron sat down on the chair.
"The whole family is talking about you, what a great honor, you finally achieved something! Shouldn’t you be happy?"
"Not really, I have achieved even greater things."
Aaron laughed, then became more serious.
"You don’t understand how chaotic things have become, I didn’t expect you to come back, why did you return?"
"Partly because of the family’s pressure." Lian calmly said.
"Ah, it was probably my father and the others who liked you, after they saw the government news, they put pressure on the family so you could return...but how did you suddenly become an Awakened? Are those news reports real? But how?"
"Patience, hard work, and persistence, with a little hope in God." Lian shrugged and gave a simple answer, but his cousin’s words also caught his attention.
And Aaron continued.
"If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t, why are you saying nonsense? It’s not like I want to know your secret or that I’m jealous, maybe a little, anyway, now that you’re here, you should know that this birthday is not an ordinary one, almost every branch of the family is coming."
"Everyone?"
"Yeah."
"For a birthday?"
"You think this is only a birthday?"
Aaron smirked.
"This is the biggest family gathering in the last several years, actually, we haven’t had a gathering like this for a long time." He leaned forward a little and continued.
"Many global powers have been invited, and this is also a chance for every inheritance candidate to show themselves and gain support."
"Some people are even saying that the Patriarch might finally return..." He paused for a moment.
"And because of that, some people wanted you to come back, well, there aren’t many of them, and some others, who are far more numerous, were terrified that you came back."
This time Lian laughed, many faces appeared in his mind, he could imagine that not only were they unhappy, they were also terrified.
Silence filled the room for a few moments.
"You came all the way here to waste my time by telling me things I already know?"
"Sigh, show a little respect! No one dares to talk to you, but I still came all the way here because of you." Aaron complained, then took something out of his pocket.
"But that’s not all, actually there’s something more important I have to tell you, a short duel competition is going to be held." He placed a tablet on the table.
"What about this? Did you know this too?"
Lian turned on the screen, and his eyebrow rose.
A list of the participants for the ceremony tournament.
Dozens of names.
Several well-known geniuses, several heirs from the main branches, several famous talents of the family.
But something caught his attention.
His own name, Lian Vorhelm, was registered and confirmed, an official participant.
Even though...he had never registered.
He stared at the screen for several seconds, then quietly laughed.
"Interesting."
He could clearly see the goal behind registering his name, the family had very strict rules about competitions.
If his name was on the list and he did not participate, in such a huge event with guests from all over the world, he would receive a very heavy punishment, to the point that he might even lose his right to compete for the inheritance.
The people who registered his name had probably expected that he would not even come to the ceremony, and even if he did come, and even if he entered the competition, they had probably never thought, and still did not think, that he had even the smallest chance of winning.
"Those were the things my father told me to tell you since he couldn’t come himself, anyway, my job is done." Aaron shrugged and stood up.
"I have to go, my father will probably meet you tomorrow, I need to continue my training! No matter what happens, I have to get one of the spots."
"You should also keep an eye on your own brothers and sisters, you know they won’t show you any mercy." Then he walked toward the exit.
"Aaron."
Lian suddenly called out to him, making him stop and turn around.
"Thank you."
Aaron paused for a moment, then left without saying anything.