312 Family Dinner [3]
Silence descended in the hall and even the armor-clad knights standing there seemed like they wanted to run out of this room.
It was a funny sight. The soldiers of the Morningstar family are feared and revered throughout the world. Yet, those fearsome warriors were scared of what was going to transpire in this room.
Soon, only Lucas' voice reverberated throughout the deafening silence that filled the grandiose dining hall.
"I was forced out of my own home! You are right, Adel. This is indeed your family because I lost mine years ago! I haven't eaten in this dining hall since the day I awakened my mana core! This is the first dinner in years I'm having here!"
Gritting his teeth, Lucas rose from his chair and slowly started walking toward Adel, who looked back at him without a speck of expression on his face.
"I used to be upstairs in my room, crying while listening to you guys talking here! I yearned for you all to look my way and acknowledge my existence! I felt like a stranger in my own home, with no one to talk to!"
Stopping right before Adel, Lucas continued, "And you… You were my brother. But you made my life a living hell! You had no idea how painful it was for me and how easy you had it!"
Adel rolled his eyes, a frustrated look plastering itself on his face.
"Easy?!" He scoffed. "I spent my life living in the worst kind of hell there is before I finally got my chance at life! Before the heavens finally took pity upon me!"
Lucas threw his head back and laughed erratically before growing silent and asking through gritted teeth, "Oh, what could possibly be worse than what I had suffered in this mansion?!"
Adel slammed his hands on the table again and rose up to come face to face with his older twin brother. "Sharing the same birthday as you!"
After a bit of pause, he recomposed himself and continued, "Turns out when your twin brother is an angelic prodigy, you have no choice but to live under the shadow cast by his silver wings!"
Adel took a menacing step forward, bringing his face barely an inch away from Lucas', and bellowed:
"So you were ignored after your awakening? Well, boo hoo! Yelena and I lived like that until your awakening! You and I share the same birthday, but no one remembered mine until I finally outshone you! No one paid any attention to me until I finally surpassed you! Not even my own parents acknowledged my existence until I finally stepped out of your shadow!"
A manic giggle escaped Adel's lips as he continued, "So please, hold it against me for the rest of your miserable life, but I relished the moment when you awakened with low potential! I reveled when I saw the despair in your eyes! I cherished the fact that you could never surpass me! It's ironic, but your worst day was the best day of my life, big brother!"
Lucas glared at the young man before him for a few moments before bursting into laughter.
Adel stared at Lucas in puzzlement until the silver-haired boy's laughter subsided and he began to speak, "And you said you weren't jealous? Well, this, my dear brother, is jealousy! You idiot! Throughout our lives, I was in the spotlight, and you hated me for it. But even after I was forced out of it, you were not the center of everyone's attention, were you? You still share that spotlight with Yelena. And now, with my recent rise in fame, you must be feeling threatened, am I right?"
Adel clenched his jaw tightly for a moment before parting his lips, revealing his pearly white teeth as he spoke with mockery and determination present in his voice:
"I don't need any more validation. I've already surpassed you! I've defeated you several times! You're not a real threat to me."
Lucas couldn't help but smirk. "Your actions seem to suggest otherwise."
Adel balled his plans into fists as he retorted, "Is this newfound confidence of yours the result of Leo Kurogami taking you under his wing like a dog? The same man that my father defeated years ago for the throne of the West?"
The smirk on Lucas' face vanished as he uttered a challenge, "Okay, enough talk. Summon your spear."
Adel scoffed, dismissing the beckoning of his brother. "You don't have the nerve."
Lucas shook his head. "Take out your weapon, or your courage will be splattered on the floor with your blood in the next second."
Before they could continue, however, Reynold stood up from his seat. The mere act of his rising up from his chair sent an obliterating pressure rolling throughout the hall.
Both Lucas and Adel gritted their teeth as they felt their own father's bloodlust.
In the next moment, Reynold yelled out and retracted his killing intent. "Return to your rooms, both of you!"
Both Adel and Lucas objected immediately.
"What?! Are you really grounding me?! He started it!"
"You've disowned me! You can't ground me!"
Reynold's eyebrow twitched as he shouted, "I can and will do whatever I want to the two of you as long as you're under my roof. If you have a problem with that, I can just arrange rooms for both of you in the nearby barracks."
"Tsk! Come, Solis! Luna!"
"Tsk! Sera! Stop stuffing your mouth and come!"
Both Adel and Lucas fell silent at that suggestion, clicking their tongues before calling their beasts and finally exiting the hall.
Once they were gone, Yennefer looked at her husband and let out a wistful sigh. "They've grown so much, haven't they?"
Reynold remained silent for a moment before leaning forward to take support from the dining table and responding, "I wish there was another way."
Yennefer nodded solemnly, rising to rub her husband's back, which was currently carrying the weight of the world.
Seeing this, the guards and servants left the dining hall to grant their lord and lady some much-needed privacy.
Yennefer hesitantly brought up another topic, saying, "He's back... You understand what it means, don't you?"
Reynold hesitated before finally nodding. After a long pause, he muttered with a heavy heart:
"It's starting… isn't it?"
