Chapter 237 - Louis’s Past

Episode 230- Louis's past

The corner of Louis's lips pursed for a moment. His mouth opened and the next words that came out of Louis's mouth shocked Eugene so much. She was shocked because she would never have thought of this past as a past that belonged to Louis. However, when she thought back to the Louis from today and his personality, she now realized why his personality was much more mature, and why his personality was different from hers, Euria, Ramon, and Aernest. It was because his past had crafted him into who he is today. 

Louis's flashback 

From the moment he was born, he was taken from his mother's arms and placed in the care of his paternal grandparents. This was a tradition that was upheld by the Veria family for hundreds and hundreds of years. A tradition that even if his Mother disliked, she was unable to do anything about it. It wasn't because he was born as the first child of Moniqua and Levis, but because he was born with light grey hair and grey eyes that he was put in the care of his paternal grandparents. 

And through these features, he was announced as the next heir even though he had just been born. 

As the next heir to the Veria house, he was instilled with the tasks and the burdens of becoming the next Duke. He was raised strictly, strict enough to be able to walk at 8 months old. Strict enough to be able to speak his first word at 8 months old. He was instilled with speech and was able to understand and hold small talks with people at the age of 1 and half years old. Of course, he was unable to hold intellectual conversations, however, he was able to express his wants and needs, his necessities. 

His parents were only able to visit him once a week. This was the case even when his father was already the Duke of the Veria family. This was also a tradition that no one was able to refute due to the strict control the former Duke and the former Duchess still had on the family. 

And because of this, Louis did not have a parent-child relationship with them. He did not have a relationship that was nurtured through physical, emotional, and social development. A unique bond his future siblings would have. 

Through the weeks that Moniqua and Levis visited him, he would come to understand that these two people were his parents. That was also when he understood what 'parents' truly meant. 

He had one resting day per week, which was the day his parents would visit him. And for the next six days, he would be oppressed. He would be oppressed by the training to become the heir of the Veria family Fortunately he had not gone mad, and that was because his paternal grandfather would come by his lessons once in a while to take him out to play. Of course, if they were ever caught by his paternal grandmother, he would be punished which meant having to double his lessons or double his workload. 

"I love you and I think of you every day." These were the words his Mother would tell him every week, every time she visited. What the love she mentioned meant, he was unable to understand back then, but what he did understand was her thinking of him, because he would think of her from time to time as well. Maybe not every day, but still. 

He never minded studying. Studying wasn't a grueling task as he was able to suck in knowledge, and information very quickly. The things he was supposed to do, and the things he wasn't supposed to do, he understood those perfectly. And in his humble opinion, the one day break per week with his parents was more than enough to satisfy him. 

Some time passed by, and his mother introduced him to a young girl. This young girl was Aedelak who was the same age as him and someone who was going to be his playmate. 

Aedelak came in with an innocent and naive personality, but because of the strict training enforced by his paternal grandmother, she matured fast just like him. Because Aedelak was his playmate… well, someone who stayed beside him because he couldn't play with her due to the many lessons he had, his life did indeed become better and easier. Though they initially had difficulty understanding each other due to their different upbringings, this was quickly overcome due to their similar ages, and they grew up to understand each other well. She was someone who was always beside him, so it was a given that they understood each other very well. 

He lived in this routine until he was four years old. It was when he just turned four that he accidentally overheard a conversation his paternal grandmother had with her hidden guard. It was a nauseating and cruel conversation that he never thought was possible. He had already known that his paternal grandmother never liked his mother and that his grandmother would go out of her way to avoid his mother, or purposely drive her away, but he did not think that her dislike was actually detest. A hatred that made her unwilling to live in the same world as his Mother. 

It was through this conversation that he found out that his paternal grandmother hated his Mother so much, to the point that she had almost killed her once. He never knew that his mother was injured before that day. And he also never knew that the cause of his mother's injury was because his grandmother poisoned her. 

His grandmother hated the fact that his mother was of a foreign ethnicity, and that she was the love of his father's life.

If he had been cold-hearted he would've pretended not to hear his grandmother's conversation. However, he wasn't and did not want his mother to die by poisoning. His ability to discern between right and wrong was the deciding factor in his decision. He knew that his mother was the person who gave birth to him. Someone who was the kindest to him, and someone who 'loved' him. 

There was an heir test, which was conducted yearly for the heir of the Veria family. This test involved gaining 1 possession and letting go of 1 possession. For gaining a possession he asked for his paternal grandmother's hidden guard. 

As for the possession chose to give up, he gave up his familial relationship with his paternal grandmother. Everyone in the Veria household, including his parents, was taken aback when he announced that. The moment he announced that he would give up familial relation to his paternal grandmother, he stabbed her fatally with a sword by using the Veria swordsmanship. And this was the loophole in the heir test that he noticed and exploited.

"W, why?" His grandmother clutched her stomach as she looked at him in tears. No one had been able to react because it had already been too late when he stabbed her. At this moment, everyone was rushing to him and his grandmother who were standing on a podium. 

"Traditions must be upheld." His voice froze everyone who was running to him and they stopped in shock. 

"W, what?" His grandmother's eyes trembled.

He stabbed her in the neck, killing her instantly and rendering her unable to return.

When he was interrogated, he did not respond. He did not respond because he did not want to hurt his Mother. He was already at the age where he understood that words had the ability to hurt people. He kept his silence until his Mother fell ill. Thinking that he was the cause of her stress, he confessed what his grandmother's plan was. 

That his grandmother found out that his mother was pregnant and that she was going to poison her to abort the child and kill his mother. The truth shocked everyone because even they did not know that Moniqua was pregnant. But it was soon when they found out that what he said was indeed the truth. 

Through his grandmother's former hidden bodyguard, they were able to find evidence as well as get the truth. 

After this incident was resolved and over with, his grandfather ceased all his duties officially and went out traveling. Though his father never told him why his grandfather was traveling all of a sudden, he knew that he was traveling the world to search for a cure for his mother who was poisoned by his wife. 

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As Louis ended the story about his past,  he noticed Eugene falling in and out of sleep. There was speechlessness in his eyes and he couldn't help but chuckle, "Go to sleep." He tucked her deeper into the blanket as it was getting chilly but right when he stood up to fill the wood in the fireplace, Eugene grabbed hold of his hand. 

"You've done well… if not… mother wou-" Eugene didn't get to finish her sentence as she fell unconscious. Her grip however did not loosen and she held onto Louis's hands for an hour before her hand fell naturally. 

Louis observed her for a while longer before he reached for her hand, and tucked her arm back into the blanket.