"Have you lost your mind!?"
Vaelen shouted in anger, glaring at the man standing in front of him.
When the public announcement from the Dawncrest House and Declan Dawncrest was made, he was surprised, he found it hard to believe that a man like Declan gave into Vaan's demand so quickly.
He doubted the situation for a second, however, he decided to give Vaan the benefit of the doubt and thought that he must have done something.
Now, however, when he finally learned what Vaan just did, Vaelen couldn't control his anger anymore.
"How can you do it!? Did you not see that he was planning this from the very beginning!? Do you even know what the consequences of your actions are!?"
"…"
Vaan stared at the man in silence, letting him vent his anger in silence, which, Seraphina, who was in the room as well found surprising. After all, this was the same person who went for a punch the moment he didn't like something.
'He is changing…'
Seraphina thought inwardly as she glanced at the man who was staring at the situation in front of him in silence.
Her eyes then fell on the woman's hand he was holding and she couldn't help but wonder,
'Is it because of her…?'
Thinking about it, Seraphina couldn't help but realize how Vaelen had actually been helpful to Vaan all this time.
In the limited time she had spent here, Seraphina had seen how Vaelen had acted, heck, just taking the most recent example, the moment the pole about Vaan leaving the Academy grounds was posted, the first person who had decent influence in the Academy and made a statement supporting Vaan was Vaelen. Not only that, he also personally visited everyone in the Vesta Family and made them not only vote in Vaan's favor but also make a public statement supporting him.
The man handled everything on his own and it wouldn't be wrong to call him the initiator of the Vaan support wave that had started.
So Vaan not letting his anger take over was not very surprising considering Vaelen was the man who had done so much for him.
Vaelen, however, didn't appreciate Vaan's silence.
"What are you silent for!? What? Don't tell me you were fooled! After acting so high and mighty, you were fooled!? I bet that bastard must have targeted that inflated ego of yours!
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})I don't care if you bet your Mansion, you were the one who received it, you can burn the darn thing for all I care, but what gave you the right to involve the Vesta House as well, huh!?
You don't live here and even if you did, you cannot take a decision like this alone! Did you discuss it with anyone here!? Did you ask anyone!?
Then what made you think you had the authority to bet the Vesta House!?
No, wait, I know what you are going to do now, you will go to that bastard, tell him that you have no authority to make such a decision, change the content of your bet, and if he doesn't agree, then leave the academy! You were going to do it anyway, weren't you!?"
Vaelen spat the words in his anger.
From the crazed look on his face, it was clear that he was deeply affected by the current situation, Lirael wanted to stop her brother, knowing exactly what he was feeling, however, noticing the look in his eyes, she knew it was useless.
Vaelen continued, he walked towards Vaan, his eyes still had that crazed look plastered on them, then, as he placed both his hands on his shoulders, he spoke,
"What are you waiting for? Go and do what I do.
"
There was a strange compulsive force in his voice.
A compulsive force that…
Didn't work on Vaan.
"The fuck are you talking about?"
He spoke, pushing Vaelen away from him and dusting off his shoulders.
"Don't put your insecurities on me, Vaelen.
You lost, I will not.
As for how I have the authority to make such a decision without discussing it with anyone else, you did the same thing before, Vaelen.
You didn't consider it with anyone, you fell for Declan's trick and lost the real Vesta House, forcing the entire family to shift to a Fake you now call the 'new' Vesta House.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Heck, you didn't even have a direct conversation with Declan, you got done in by a mere subordinate.
You, out of everyone, have no right to shout at me here."
Vaan didn't end there, he turned towards the rest of the people gathered here and,
"I was not tricked into this, when I signed the contract, I calculated all the risks and carefully considered everything.
Even if you ask me to go back in time, I will still make the same move.
There is nothing you people need to worry about, just trust me and live like nothing happened.
Although I couldn't get our actual House back through this bet, trust me, that won't take long either.
Anyways, if any of you have a problem with what I did, you can come forward, we will solve it through an unofficial duel.
After all, only the strong has the right to speak, no?"
A small smile appeared on Vaan's face as he looked around.
He didn't hesitate to face Declan, who, as much as he didn't wish to admit it, was capable of sweeping floors with any of the basic mages present here, then why would Vaan care about facing them?
lightsvεl m He had long since turned into a monster who could not be measured through normal means.
Three Circle Mages didn't mean anything, if he wanted, he could even defeat Elara, unless of course, the girl pouts and he loses on purpose just to make her happy.
Then, however, something surprising happened,
"I agree with Vaan.
"
Someone spoke up.
Of course, it wasn't surprising that someone here supported him, what was surprising was the identity of the person.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Elric glanced at Vaan and smiled widely,
"Since he seems so confident, I say we let him fight. What's the worst that can happen anyway? We lose our House? We have already lost it once, haven't we? What difference would losing it again make?
Honestly, just the fact that we have settled in this place is embarrassing enough, I don't think there is much of a 'reputation' we can protect here.
"
Elric laughed as he glanced at the other members of the family. Some of them snorted at his words, turning their heads away in anger, while some started thinking.
Seeing his words taking effect, Elric turned towards Vaan and,
"There is no reason for you to fight anyone since we already decided to make you the 'hope' of the Vesta Family, I believe you have full authority to make such a decision. There is no need for this debate in the first place.
If people here didn't trust you, you wouldn't be called the 'hope' of the family and someone would have already taken their stance against you by now.
And as you can see, since no one did it, I believe you are free to do whatever you want here.
"
Hearing those words, Vaan smiled.
"Thank you for that, Elric.
You make a good point, I didn't know you were capable of that."
Elric's mouth twitched in annoyance, he however, didn't let his smile fade and,
"Right? I was quite surprised as well.
Hahaha."
He laughed out loud.
Vaan laughed together with him as well.
A strange atmosphere formed in the room seeing the two men laugh.
Of course, Vaan could tell what Elric was trying to do.
This must be a golden opportunity for a rat like him.
After all, if he lost and they lost the Vesta House, then just like the case with Vaelen, he would be removed from the Battle of Heirs as well.
And once he, Elric's biggest competitor and the one who overshadows him in every way possible is gone, then in the race to the throne, he only needs to deal with Lirael, which, is comparatively easy and he wins the battle, becoming the next head of the family.
What is a little embarrassment in front of something like that? Heck, why would he even feel embarrassed in the first place? It isn't like he is the one who lost, now is he?
Yes, in Elric's mind, Vaan had already lost.
And just from the wide grin on his face, Vaan could tell exactly what he was imagining.
He, however, didn't bother saying anything else.
He simply turned toward the rest of the members of the family and,
"So? No one has any problems, correct? Then I will be taking my leave now.
"
Saying those words, he simply turned around, walking back with Elara and Seraphina following him out.
Once he left, Percival, one of the Protectors of the Vesta Family turned towards Orion and looked into his eyes, waiting for him to say something,
Orion, who noticed that simply shrugged,
"What? It is just children playing around with each other, let them do what they want.
"
"…"
The two Protectors just sighed, this man was simply too carefree.
