I Became the Rich Second-Generation Villain - Chapter 27: The Changes of the Mountain Villa

In spring, the ice and snow in the Northlands began to melt. Looking at the muddy roads, Bran couldn’t muster the courage to leave home. He had no choice but to wander around the manor and started decorating the steps and railings inside the manor.

On the second floor of the manor, facing the direction of the main gate, he erected a statue. Modeled after Danny, a falcon perched on the statue’s upraised arm. If one ignored the statue’s height and its completely motionless state, one might mistake it for a living person at first glance. But not everyone liked this style. The statue was too intricate, with every strand of hair and every fold of clothing, lacking the rough, rugged style typical of the Northlands. However, Danny was very pleased. Whenever she looked at the statue, her eyes were filled with a wide smile.

The Mountain Villa had been changing slowly and steadily. It wasn’t noticeable at first, but now, set against the castle, the villa appeared strange. It was like a burly man who had just been showing off his muscles, but then raised a hand with a delicate orchid-shaped finger gesture, revealing the manicure on his pinky finger.

The current Bran Manor was like that manicure on the burly man’s pinky finger—pretty, but pretty in the wrong place. Bran had covered the walls and edges of the entire manor’s enclosure with many decorative patterns, birds, beasts, all sorts of strange and peculiar designs. The top of the wall was also made undulating, winding, and twisting. Danny jokingly called the manor’s wall the “Wall of Sighs,” because when Bran added these patterns, he would sigh constantly and then tell some strange stories. The stories always started like this: “A long, long time ago…” Then Black Cat Huahua would habitually sit up straight and narrow its eyes.

At first, Danny wouldn’t come near to listen to Bran’s mutterings, just as no one would care what a child said to a doll. Once, after Bran had quickly created a little bird holding a stone on the wall as part of his routine and was about to launch into a long story, she, moved by curiosity, came closer and overheard a story about the bird Jingwei trying to fill the sea. From then on, the behavior of lingering to hear stories happened again and again.

As the manor gradually took shape according to Bran’s wishes, the Duchess began to appear here frequently. The younger sister, who was always by the lady’s side, also started to occupy a spot in Bran’s Training Ground. It was only then that Bran truly experienced the ferocity of Northlander women.

Bran’s mother had the tall and robust build characteristic of Northlanders. Although she was already a mother of several children, she was not overweight. There was a strong sense of rhythm in her movements, which seemed slow but were actually fast. Bran knew this was the result of years of uninterrupted martial training. Years of doting on Bran meant he rarely saw his mother’s stern side. In front of Bran, his mother was always that careful, gentle figure, as if afraid of breaking him.

So when he saw the strictness his mother displayed while training his sister in the Training Ground, and the toughness shown by that little loli, Bran felt deeply ashamed.

Bran did not hide his training methods. Here, Bran didn’t think the body control techniques he once knew and mastered could surpass this World. After all, here, generations of killing were constant; useless techniques only had one outcome—Death. Whatever helped you survive was naturally a good thing.

His mother quickly noticed Bran’s characteristics. This child pursued extreme speed but lacked a straightforward, charging spirit. What manifested in Bran was a slippery quality. She also noticed that when pursuing speed, Bran used a special technique: his whole body relaxed, sacrificing some strength for speed, and then, at close range, he performed a clever conversion of speed into power. “A pretty good and interesting technique,” his mother praised.

But some techniques were difficult to master. In this World where one needed to fight others, using an unpolished skill to trade blows with someone—wasn’t that asking for a quick Death? Although she didn’t plan for this son of hers to participate in the Adulthood Ceremony and intended to protect him well, if there was a chance, it wouldn’t be bad to personally train her beloved son a bit. So, the overly affectionate mother began to casually train her son and pass on her own experience and skills.

After all, women were women. Even the tough Northlander women leaned towards a softer, more subtle style in martial skills. Since Bran had his Attendant Danny, he had trained alongside her. Now, with his mother joining in, Bran’s martial skills lacked the straightforward, force-over-finesse momentum of Northlander men. Instead, they gained many softer, more subtle qualities. If this temperament came only from inheriting from the tough Northlander women, it might not feel too obvious, as Northlander women were also formidable. His temperament came more from his previous life’s experiences, eventually blending with the present Mortal World to form something strange and different from ordinary people.

Though destined to become an outlier among Northlanders, Bran was not yet aware of this. He still diligently imitated his mother’s movements, constantly training his young, gradually developing body—and doing so during the key growth period for a Northlander’s physique. We all know that martial training requires constant practice until some techniques become instinct, a conditioned reflex, a subconscious habit. This habit eventually becomes part of us, like breathing, all the time. Now, Bran’s models were two ladies—even if they were Northlander ladies, they were still ladies. Also, his first little martial arts training partner was his sister, the little loli Xirui.

…

At first, she just cared about her son, so she often came to check on him, noticing the place was gradually becoming refined and clean. By chance, she found it somewhat amusing yet speechless that the wolves entering or leaving the manor would comically rub their paws on the ground.

Gradually, the Madam began to like the environment here. From coming occasionally, she now lived here permanently, supervising the training of her children every day. She also posted guards at the manor’s entrance. Although Bran insisted on not wanting outsiders to enter the manor, like a little beast guarding its Territory, baring its teeth in a display of threat, he ultimately compromised. Bran insisted that starting from the second floor, no outsiders were allowed. Eventually, the abandoned blacksmith area on the first floor was converted into living quarters for the servants.

At some point, his older sister, along with her attendant, also moved into the manor, occupying a side building and declaring ownership. So, more and more people came to the Mountain Villa, and it began to slip out of Bran’s control.

Fortunately, when building the Attic originally, Bran had considered this possibility. The two-story Attic at the top of the villa appeared as a single structure, but it was actually four relatively independent attics connected to form a rectangle, creating a fairly large interior Courtyard. Though they seemed crammed into the same building, there wasn’t much interference between them. What truly upset Bran was that this Mountain Villa was no longer under his command. But at least some things were preserved. It seemed all those living here became more neat and clean.

For certain considerations, Bran moved finished products like weapons from the warehouse into the largest room in his Attic and installed a big lock on it. Actually, that lock was just for show, to confuse potential intruders. The real locking mechanisms were the hidden latches at the two corners of the doorframe. Bran often imagined the scene of someone struggling with the lock. To enhance the temptation, he wrote the three big words “Treasure Vault” on the doorframe of the room.