Ning heard a few people talk and realized that Canon's name was actually not Canon. Canon was just a family name he chose after he became a baron and was allowed to have one.
His real name was Damir. He had started his Canon merchant business from a very young age and had become successful by selling a lot of different things. Once successful, he had chosen to make the business name his family name.
The old man had started socializing with the different people and Ning couldn't find an opening to talk about the bandit situation at all.
"Look at young Kell. He's already so big. Say, old man Canon, I know that the Freed family's daughter is young and a match for your son. Why don't you get him married?" a person asked Canon.
"I've tried finding girls for him, but he just wants to focus on the business for now," Canon said as he shook his head.
"I see. He does look like a person with very high ambition and will. Maybe once Zand comes back home from his studies, he can help his brother and relieve the load. That way, young Kell can focus some of his time on making a family," the man said.
Canon's face switched from a smile to a frown for a split second before going back to a smile as he said, "I hope he comes back soon."
Canon went from one high-status person to another, acting as the host of the party he was. For some reason, he didn't socialize with the people he didn't recognize at all. That made it hard for Ning to get a conversation with him.
Ning even wanted to just go talk with Canon's son who was called Kell, but the young man didn't seem like the type of person who wanted to be at the party at all.
Even with girls all around him, all he did was half listen and half ignore them. 'That guy is no good at all to talk to,' Ning thought.
He waited for Canon to get free. However, after speaking around for an hour, Canon finally went to the podium set up in the tent and started speaking.
"Once again, I thank every single one of you that came to this party. I hope you've had a good time here," the old man said.
"While it looks like I organized this party for social gathering, but the truth is, I have a motive behind this party," he said.
The crowd didn't get surprised at all when they heard this. People were expecting that to begin with. Some people guessed he was going to expand his merchant company. Some guessed he was looking for a lady for his son.
Some even guessed that he was going to reveal that he had gone from a baron to a viscount.
The old man opened his mouth and spoke, "As many of you know, my second son Zand is in a city far away for the last 3 years, learning the ways of an Aether expert."
The crowd nodded; that was common knowledge.
"However, that is all a lie. My second son was never in any school; that was a lie I made to hide the harsh truth. In actuality, for the last 3 years, my son Zand has been paralyzed from the neck down. He can't speak or make a sound either. He can't even swallow his food, and we need to feed him gruel just to keep him alive," Canon said as tears started rolling down his eyes.
Kell who was standing behind him also got sad when Canon revealed the truth. It seemed the truth had been weighing on them a lot.
The crowd was shocked when they learned the truth. They started whispering around causing a lot of murmur in the crowd.
"Please listen to me, I have more to say," Canon said and the crowd stopped speaking.
"One day, he accidentally fell from the second story, and hurt his spine, paralyzing him in the process. For the last 3 years, I've been secretly trying to find good doctors to find the treatment of my son's paralysis, but all the ones I found have been unable to do anything."
"So, if you know of any good doctors, please let me know of them. I will be forever grateful to you," Canon bowed towards the audience.
The audience grew silent for a few seconds, and Canon's heart nearly dropped to his feet in fear.
"Have you tried the doctors from Pestonia? They should be able to cure anything," a person in the audience asked.
"I have, but they aren't replying to my letters for some reason, and it is so far away that I can't go there myself," Canon said.
"You should try Doctor Jelba; I heard he's quite good," another person said.
"Sadly, he's already seen, my son. He couldn't treat him at all," Canon replied.
"What about Aether healers?" somebody else asked.
"I've asked for the few, but they didn't even find the cause of the paralysis, so they couldn't heal him at all," Canon said.
The audience suggested a few doctors, but no matter who they said, Canon seemed to have already called them and have them be unsuccessful. Canon was starting to lose hope
"I am a doctor myself. I can look at your son," Ning said from the side.
Canon's eyes lit up and looked at him in hope. However, when he saw how young Ning was, he quickly lost it. Canon smiled a little, and said, "Thank you young man, but I think I will need someone with more experience and knowledge. I hope that doesn't offend you."
"Not at all, but are you sure you want to miss an opportunity to save your son?" Ning asked. That got Canon to stop and think once.
"Kid, how can you even prove you are a doctor. How can we tell that you are not trying to take advantage of the situation to get close to us," Kell spoke bluntly towards Ning.
Canon frowned a little when he heard this but shook his head as that was the truth.
"I won't deny it; I am trying to get close to Lord Canon," Ning said. "However, that doesn't mean I am lying about me being a doctor either."
