86 Luke's Story 1

"Congratulations Joanna!" Juliana held the newborn baby in her arms.

Joanna was covered in sweat and blood as she faintly smiled to hide her pain from her sister.

Her hair was tousled and messy from three days of labor. William tightly held her hand to comfort her as he looked greatly distressed.

Juliana carefully passed the newborn to Joanna to hold as the baby didn't make a sound.

* * *

"This is the last child we're having. Why did you engage our first son to the Suilett family?" Joanna complained to her husband.

Joanna didn't plan to have two children. She was satisfied with having one child.

However, the Suilett family's only daughter was deemed to be a perfect match with her only son.

Joanna gritted her teeth as the Roselia family needed a heir.

The elders in the council had absolute control of all the districts. Joanna envied the people who lived in the second district as they had the freedom in their lives.

She knew that many people who die to be in her position. Joanna was part of the prestigious Pelargonium family in the first district.

It was part of the top ten families in the first district. Joanna had a younger sister and a older brother.

From the time she was born, she was immediately matched with the heir of the Roselia family who was three months older than her.

Age was a important factor when making engagements between the families.

Joanna met William when she entered kindergarten from the age of four.

William was the only child his parents had. Since he did not have any siblings, he was more spoiled and arrogant than anyone she had met.

Joanna instantly disliked William as she avoided him much as possible during her years in school.

When they were in school, they simply conversed the bare minimum needed to get their work done.

After they have gotten married, Joanna regarded their relationship as truly business partners as she was swamped with never ending work given by her parents-in-law every single day.

Joanna constantly thought of the people in the second district. People who didn't have their entire lives planned out for them.

Following the unspoken law determined by the council, Lucius was to become to heir to the Suilett family since he didn't possess enough mana to be the heir of the Roselia family.

The heirs of the Roselia all possessed the enormous amount of mana.

That's why Joanna was relieved when Luke had unparalleled amount of mana that was much greater than the previous generations of the Roselia family.

'I'm never going through that terrible suffering again,' Joanna faintly smiled as Juliana passed Luke into her arms.

"I know," William sighed as he took in Joanna's anger.

"Luke will be our heir," William tried to calm Joanna down.

* * *

Her parents-in-law gave her mountains of work on managing their property and territories in the fourth and fifth districts.

Luke innocently babbled his first words at the age of one.

"Book" Luke pointed at the bookshelf behind him.

'It's William's turn to watch Luke today!' Joanna was angry at William.

William was out to inspect the territories in the fourth and fifth district. Unfortunately, he couldn't make it in time to go to the first district to watch Luke.

Lucius entered school last year. Once the children of the elites entered school, taking care of them wasn't much work.

Looking after Lucius was much easier than looking after Luke. Since Luke was not engaged yet, she didn't take turns looking after her children with another family.

Joanna didn't think that the Suilett family helped with the burden of childcare as much as she thought they did. She knew now after taking care of Luke with William.

'I wish he could speak already,' Joanna miserably thought.

Once Luke was able to speak in full sentences, she was going to hire as much tutors as possible to get him ready for school.

This was normal for families that were elites in the first district. Once their children have reached the age of two, it was time for them to educate their children harshly to get good grades in school.

This was how the elites were able to keep all of their wealth. They created the point system where they were able to ensure that their families would always be at the top.

Thankfully, Luke was able to speak in full sentences before he reached the age of two.

"Thank you mother," Luke received a slice of cake from the servant.

'I finally don't have to look after him that much anymore!' Joanna almost cried from happiness.

Joanna fiercely read many picture books to Luke to get him speaking as early as possible.

"From now on, you're going to read to Luke everytime you take care of him," Joanna ordered William when he came back from the inspection.

"Shouldn't we get him some toys?" William disagreed.

"Do you really think toys will help with his education?" Joanna tried to act like she was thinking what was the best for Luke.

"What about all the other children? We don't want Luke to be behind," Joanna made a sound argument.

"Sure," William found no reason to disagree anymore.

Both Joanna and William now only had to look after him during meal times and social events.