“What?!” Zach stood up and slammed his hands on the table. His eyes were shaking in shock and disbelief. “S-so, you had sex with a random prostitute or what? That doesn’t make him my sibling!”
“Mind your words, son.” Jack didn’t like the tone of his son. He looked at Zach with a stern gaze. “Rothsmiths take care of each other. You know this.”
“He is not Rothsmith!” Zach shouted and stormed away from the dining table. “As far as his name goes, it doesn’t include Rothsmith! Right, father?!”
He swung the doors open and stormed out of the dining hall. The echo of his footsteps faded into the distance.
“I will go talk with him.” Anna stood up with sadness in her voice.
She gently caressed her husband’s shoulder while passing by and gently smiled at Jesse before leaving the dining hall to go after her son.
“I am sorry, son.” Jack shook his head and moved his plate away, not feeling hungry anymore. “Zach is an emotional kid. I didn’t expect him to accept this right away.”
“It’s fine; I don’t really blame him.” Jesse said. However, even he didn’t expect such a strong reaction. He expected disbelief and rejection, but not this.
Jack sadly smiled and then moved his gaze to the last person left at the dining table.
Emma was sitting silently while clutching a red-eyed white bunny tightly in her arms.
It was unclear where she got it from, as she wasn’t carrying it when she came to the dining hall.
“Emma, this is Jesse. You might be seeing him as our guest often, so please get along.” Jack gently smiled.
“Mm…” Emma nodded and left the dining room before running out of the dining hall with her short legs.
However, she took the plate with her, not wanting to waste the food.
“She is a shy one and it takes time for her to warm up to you.” Jack said and stood up. “Still hungry? If you want, I can get the servants to deliver the food to your room.”
“It’s fine; I am not hungry anymore.” Jesse spun the wheelchair around and wheeled out of the dining hall silently.
He was also soon out of sight, leaving Jack alone in the dining hall.
Jack sat back down and stirred the lasagna on the plate with a fork. “Doesn’t have Rothsmith in his name, huh?”
He patted the chest pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, revealing the custody papers with two names on the bottom of the page.
There were two names signed—Maria and Terry Kraham.
“I don’t know what lie you told your husband, but I appreciate it.” Jack folded the paper and placed it back in his chest pocket. He wanted to show this during dinner but had no chance to. “These papers say otherwise… He is Rothsmith in blood and now in name.”
…
“I should’ve asked directions…” Jesse thought aloud with a hint of frustration in his voice.
He had returned to the fourth floor, where his temporary room was. However, there were hundreds of doors, and he couldn’t remember which one was his.
Therefore, he pushed the wheelchair forward while being completely lost.
After a while, he got tired of that and stopped in front of a draped, ornate window.
He moved the drapes out of the way and gazed out at the vast landscape.
“We… are not in the city?” Jesse thought out loud in wonder.
The Rothsmith Estate seemed to be surrounded by forests, flourishing valleys, and cloud-splitting mountains. It was a breathtaking sight.
He had rarely left Nocklund to see nature with his own eyes.
Martial Online was one of his first experiences in that department, but now he truly could see the endless beauty of the world.
“Enjoying the sights, young master?”
Jesse turned and looked at the black-suited butler. He was carrying a white headset with a golden visor very gently in his hands.
“Sebastian, right?” Jesse then looked at the headset in his hands, his lips turning dry. He grew excited to jump into the game and enjoy that majestic world.
However, after a few seconds of thought, he shook his head and returned his gaze to the outside view.
“I have brought your headset.” Sebastian said with a small bow. “Should I take it to your room, sir?”
“Yes, please take it to my room.” Jesse said with a thankful voice, but then remembered something and quickly turned to the butler. “By the way, where is my room actually?”
“It’s right here, sir.” Sebastian pointed at the door behind Jesse. Funnily enough, he had reached his room without realizing it. “Do you want a map? All servants have one; I could bring you one in case you need one.”
“Ah, that would be good, thanks.” Jesse nodded and then saw Sebastian enter his temporary room.
He left the headset on the desk before leaving the room and walking away.
Jesse took one last deep look at the surrounding landscape and then wheeled inside his room before closing the door right behind him.
The room was as large as his apartment back in the city.
He admired the elegant furniture and the neatly arranged books on the shelves.
The room felt like a sanctuary, a peaceful escape from the outside world.
He glanced in the direction of the fancy desk with the candle stand, the arranged books, and a quill pen on top.
His headset was right beside the arranged books.
His hands itched to pick up the headset and return to that wondrous world. However, Jesse shook the thought away.
He felt like he was getting more addicted to that game every day.
“They might come check up on me still. It would be rather rude to spend time in that virtual world instead.” Jesse thought about it and decided to focus on his responsibilities in the real world. 𝑜𝒱xt.𝒞𝑚
He pushed the wheelchair towards the bed, hopped off, and landed on the soft mattress.
He then pulled out his phone with his left hand and used it to swipe across the screen.
He was right-handed, but because of his ambidextrous training, he had also started to use his phone with his left hand.
He hadn’t noticed any significant improvement yet, but it was a long process, and he knew it.
…
“He is your brother, Zach.” Anna stood up from the chair and approached the door. She turned around to look at Zach, seated on his bed with his head drooping low. “Talk with your father. It hurts him the most if you don’t accept him as part of the family.”
Creak—the door opened and closed shortly after.
“Hmph!” Zach gritted his teeth and threw a pillow at the door. He then shot up and paced about with his hands on his waist.
He felt like screaming but decided to keep his frustration inside him instead.
He then rushed to the bookshelf made of walnut wood. There were collections of hundreds of books.
He always believed that books were the easiest way to get away from the world of responsibilities and stress.
Whenever he felt sad or pressured, he would read a book and forget about those.
“Which one… Which one…” Zach looked around the bookshelf for any good books. He then noticed a book with a brown hardcover and a figure etched on it.
[Ambrose, the Immortal Man]
Zach pulled out the book and began flipping through the pages.
“There is no way I was mistaken about the main character. I will prove it to him that I was right!” He took the book, returned to his bed, and began reading the book about Ambrose, the Immortal Man.