Maybe when someone learned that they secretly had a great background, they would be ecstatic. All their worries and hardships would now be coming to an end and they could finally live out a life of peace.
However, this wasn’t how Leonel reacted in the slightest.
The first thing he thought of when he learned the truth was the number of people who had died when the Metamorphosis began.
No, died wasn’t the proper term. They had been sacrificed. For the sake of having an easier path of development and having less Invalids to deal with, these people had been discarded like trash by this Emperor that also happened to be his grandfather.
Leonel didn’t particularly feel abandoned by his grandfather either. Another human reaction would be to feel as though his existence had been ignored for so long. If his grandfather knew he had another grandson, why didn’t he come into contact with him sooner? But, once again, Leonel didn’t feel like this.
Leonel could tell from all the clues that his father likely originated from a higher Dimensional world. If he couldn’t piece this together, then whatever worth his calculative mind had would be next to zero.
Due to understanding this, he knew that the relation between his family members was likely quite strained and odd. By convention, a son-in-law should respect his father-in-law, but it was difficult to do so if the son-in-law’s standing was so much higher.
Things might be fine if Gervaise Fawkes was a normal man, but he was the Emperor of maybe the most talented fledgling world in existence. He was used to lording over people and having unmatched status, so what kind of oddities would it cause if his daughter suddenly married someone above him?
The first thought that someone would have in this situation was that Emperor Fawkes might use the Morales Clan to climb to a larger stage. But, judging by his father’s demeanor, Leonel could tell that he actually had respect for his grandfather.
Knowing his father, it was impossible for him to respect someone who would use such means to climb the social ladder. This likely meant that not only did his grandfather likely have a demeanor that at the very least treated Leonel’s father as an equal, it also meant that it was even more likely that he treated Leonel’s father as someone beneath him.
If those of the Dimensional Verse knew that a man of the Third Dimension had dared to treat a core member of the Morales Clan in such a way… Who knows how they would react?
The Morales Clan was so powerful that even an infant could likely eradicate a Fourth Dimensional world on its own, let alone a Third Dimensional world which Earth had been at the time of their meeting.
Thinking to this point, Leonel suddenly felt he understood the odd relationship between his father and grandfather.
If Emperor Fawkes really cared about using the Morales family and Leonel’s father was in the way of this, he would have simply contacted Leonel after his father had left. Leonel wasn’t a fool, since his father could leave both of the family’s heirlooms with him, it meant that his standing in the Morales family wouldn’t be small in the future either. But, obviously… this hadn’t happened.
However, this didn’t make Leonel suddenly warm up to this man he had been indoctrinated to worship since his youth, nor did his emotions toward The Empire change because of it.
Leonel sent a glance toward Noah, their gazes locking. He could see the same cold, indifference in the latter’s eyes. It didn’t seem to matter that most of his bones were broken and that he couldn’t even stand if he wanted to.
Noah didn’t say a word even as he met Leonel’s look. There was no pleading, no smugness, no expectation. He was simply there. It seemed that whether Leonel chose to cripple him or kill him right then and there, he wouldn’t flinch in the slightest.
Jessica panicked again seeing that Leonel hadn’t retreated.
“We…! We didn’t know that she was related to you!”
Jessica felt helpless. This was the only thing she could say.
They truly hadn’t known about Aina, the Emperor never said anything about her to them. They were only aware of Leonel’s appearance here due to Emperor Fawkes in the first place. Since he hadn’t said anything about Aina, how could they know?
But, the argument was feeble and Jessica knew it.
A Brazinger was a Brazinger in the end. Even if they knew Aina was related to Leonel, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t have made a move anyway. And, beyond that, this was more than just a matter of attacking a perceived enemy, it was also about attacking someone who was very likely the reason you won this battle to begin with.
Even if Noah had stopped holding back and unleashed his full power like he had against Leonel, it was unlikely that City Lord White would have been defeated if not for Aina. So, what was their excuse for this, exactly?
Leonel didn’t respond to Jessica’s words. In truth, he still wasn’t aware of everything that had happened in this place. So, he obviously wasn’t aware that Aina was the reason they had won the battle. That said, the fact that she had risked herself fighting for The Empire only to be treated like this in the end…
This thought alone was enough to fuel his rage.
Leonel turned and walked away, breaking free of Noah’s gaze without a word. He crossed the battlefield and entered the Segmented Cube that remained waiting for him.
He didn’t want to bear the burden of killing a family member. But, more importantly than that, he wouldn’t be able to bear doing such a thing until he understood how his mother would feel about such a thing.
For now, he would let Noah go.
With Leonel’s disappearance, a heavy fog that hung over the battlefield seemed to dissipate.
Arthur coughed lightly, sliding back into his armor to hide away his naked body.
‘Tch, that boy sure is a demon when he gets pissed off.’ Arthur shook his head, his lips curling. ‘And here I thought I finally met one of those beauty is more than skin deep unicorns. To think that the girl he fawns over so much is actually such a beauty, what a sly fox.’
Arthur looked around at the mess the battlefield had become and shook his head. It seemed he would have to deal with all the heavy lifting.
…
At this very moment, news of City Lord White’s death had already traveled to the ears of the Keafir family.