455 Chapter 455: Rumors and Fabrications

I had just returned home after sending Melina back to her place when Dad called out to me. He was seated in the couch, lounging around and watching an anime where a blond girl with twin tails was falling from the balcony, only to be caught by her private tutor.

Seeing the main heroine, I was suddenly reminded of my own disciple. Melina had bade me farewell at the gates of her home, her servants arriving to receive her. Her long, blond hair, golden like the rays of the sun, seemed to shimmer under the bright lights of the Franklin residence, and her red and white dress contrasted starkly against the black, frilly dresses of the Franklin family's maids. I had noticed that the maids kept some distance from their lady, their expressions cool and detached rather than welcoming. Melina herself seemed a little somber, almost as if she was unhappy about returning home. I was worried, but she forced a smile and reassured me that she was fine.

Since there was nothing I could do, I could only stand outside and watch as she walked with her maids through the main courtyard and toward the front doors of the gigantic manor. I only departed a few seconds after she disappeared into the house, my chest still feeling somewhat unsettled.

That sad, almost lonely expression…what sort of predicament was Melina in at the moment?

"Richie? Hello? Are you paying attention?"

"Oh, sorry." I turned away from the silent audience and returned to staring at Dad. He shrugged and offered a genial smile.

"As you already know, you've been asked to teach Melida Angel…ahem, I mean Melina Franklin."

"Yeah." At least Dad was able to catch his error and get the name right after that deliberate slip. I wasn't the only one who was watching too much anime. "And I did that. You could have helped, but you didn't."

The whole night, I had been teaching Melina before I sent her home, but Dad did nothing but slack in the dojo. I was pretty sure he was keeping a watchful eye on our training session, but he didn't intervene at all. Probably because he knew better than to undermine my authority by embarrassing me in front of my own student. It wouldn't look good if he pointed out my mistakes in front of Melina, and he might as well teach her himself.

Honestly, I preferred that. Then I could palm this onerous duty off to Dad and do whatever I needed. I still had a lot of ice magic to practice.

However, Dad seemed pleased with how the session went, which was a surprise to me. Perhaps he saw no need to intervene, and was satisfied with my teaching methods. Weird. And here I was, worried that I was teaching Melina the wrong things.

"Anyway, just a reminder, you know about Melina's circumstaces, right?"

"Circumstances?" I echoed. Dad gave me a look, and then he raised his hand and conjured a blue holographic screen, displaying Melina's personal profile. I could see the details listing her class as unknown. Frowning, I shook my head. "What's with the whole class thing in the first place? Most academies couldn't be bothered with classes."

"Saint Teresa Academy isn't most academies," Dad replied coolly. "And unlike your Jing Tian Academy, they place a huge emphasis on class. Most students are sorted according to their elemental affinity and combat roles."

That felt unnecessarily restrictive to me. While I could see the wisdom behind specializing in a specific combat role, most mages were flexible enough to switch between roles. Elemental mages could switch between vanguard roles – where they fought at the frontlines – and support roles, such as fighting at range. My friend Dong Fang Yue Chu and team captain Harrison Reed were excellent examples of this.

"You also probably already heard from your friends, but the children of the Franklin family almost exclusively enrolls in Saint Teresa Academy."

I actually didn't hear about that, but it was easy for me to arrive at that particular conclusion based off my encounters with them, so I nodded. And then I sighed as I rubbed my forehead, feeling troubled.

"And if the Franklin family is one of the ten great families of the Global Federation too. They have a reputation to maintain."

"Correct. And as you probably already heard, a lot of these nobles believe that power is hereditary. That their strength and magic will be passed down to their future generations. They place strong importance on the so-called purity of their bloodline. This genetic inheritance is usually considered a dominant gene, so even if they aren't somehow able to preserve the purity of their bloodline…in other words, if a so-called upper class noble has a child with a lower ranking noble or even a commoner, then their children will still receive the traits of their mana…of their elemental affitnity or specific magic types. Such as Paladins."

"Speaking of magic, isn't Melina known for being excellent in magic?" I scratched my head, puzzled. "If she would just focus on learning magic instead of trying to master swordsmanship, wouldn't that be playing to her strengths?"

"Ah…therein lies the problem, Richie." Dad turned unusually serious. "You are aware of her current situation, aren't you? That the Franklin family refuses to teach her the Franklin sword style?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "That's the whole reason why Melina asked me to teach her swordsmanship in the first place. That's why her father made this request of me."

"Now…think about it." Dad pointed at me in an almost dramatic manner. "Why wouldn't Duke Franklin teach his own daughter? If the rest of the family refuses to teach her the Franklin sword style, then the solution should be simple, right? As her father, he could teach her himself. But why doesn't he?"

"He says he's too busy…" I began, and then trailed away when I realized how stupid my statement sounded.

"Exactly. That's just an excuse. It's not that Duke Franklin is too busy to teach her, but he can't teach her." Dad turned away and sighed heavily. "As much as he wants to teach his own daughter, he is forbidden from doing so by…clan politics."

Are you serious? Clan politics? That was utter bullshit. I really detested all these nonsensical politicking. Don't people have better things to do than to backstab and sabotage other people just for their own personal gains and selfish ambitions?

Dad saw my expression and sighed again.

"It's a lot more complicated than you think. Yes, I agree that this whole clan politics thing is stupid, but their concerns are…hard to dismiss. Especially with a rumor like this." He stopped, almost dramatically. "You haven't heard the rumor, I assume?"

"What rumor?" I asked, irritated. I had no time for these guessing games and dramatic pauses. "If you know something, please tell me, Dad."

"Well…" Dad hesitated for a moment. "There's a rumor floating around, saying that Melina is not the real daughter of the Franklin clan."

"What kind of stupid rumor is that?!" I exploded.

"Like I said, it's all clan politics. Likely to discredit Duke Franklin's only daughter from succeeding him and all that nonsense. Even so, the rumor has taken root…and with her academic display, it only served to prove the doubters correct. The possibility that she is not her father's biological child is currently being suspected."

"That's bullshit! How can they prove it? Just do a DNA test or something!"

"They did, and the relatives claimed that the tests were falsified. Then they produced their own DNA test results proving their claim…but those were shown to be falsified. In the end, the labs got so fed up with the Franklin family abusing their facilities to fabricate claims and whatever that they put a halt to the tests. In any event…the relatives are claiming that the babies were switched at birth…or worse."

"What could be worse than this sort of nonsense?!" I demanded.

"…that Melina isn't the real child of the Franklin household's head, Fergus Franklin. That there is a distinct possibility that she is the child of her mother, Melody Franklin…and someone the late Lady Melody Franklin had an affair with."

"You've got to be kidding me! Slandering a person who has passed away?! Putting such pressure on a young girl?! Just how low can they sink?!"

"Don't be naïve, Richie." Dad gave me a strict look. "You know how the world works. Although there certainly are many kind and nice people out there, the truth is that there is also plenty of selfish and ambitious people who have no compunctions against trampling upon other people to achieve their personal goals. They would even resort to slandering a gentle, kindhearted lady who has passed away over five years ago just to materialize their lofty dreams of ruling over the Franklin family."

He sighed and shook his head.

"But with her death, the truth will never be known…or at least that's what the Franklin family claimed. With Melina's birthright and real biological parent in doubt, they use this as a pretext to prevent her from learning the Franklin sword style, claiming that it would be a calamity if the clan's sacred sword techniques were to fall into the hands of an outsider."

"That's utter bullshit!"

"Yeah, it is. But it doesn't stop those relatives from searching around for signs of adultery that Lady Melody might have committed, and spreading these repulsive rumors. Obviously they wish to take advantage of this situation to further their own statsuses."

I fell silent, unable to accept all this. Now I was determined more than ever to help the poor girl, who was being ostracized by her own family…a poor girl who was seen and treated as nothing more than expendable pawn, her mother framed for adultery and her birth brought into question just so those bastards could fulfil their own selfish desires and ambitions to take control of the Franklin family.

I wondered how much Kureha was involved in this. I didn't know Kureha well enough, but I didn't think she was the sort of girl who would willingly sacrifice others for her own goals. She struck me as a forthright person. That said, the position of head of the Franklin family was undoubtedly an attractive one, and more importantly I recalled the way Kureha looked at Melina…

An expression full of condescending revulsion. As if Melina didn't belong to the Franklin family, and was a filthy outsider who freeloaded off Duke Franklin…

"Richie, I understand your feelings. I know you would feel strongly about this. That's why…" Dad smiled as he straightened and looked me directly in the eye. "I'm giving you a mission."

"Huh? Mission?" I repeated dumbly. Dad nodded, his grin growing wider.

"Your job is to make Lady Melina Franklin a girl who is neither talentless nor incompetent." He jabbed his finger at me. "You are the private tutor of this so-called talentless girl called Melina Franklin. You will awaken her potential as a swordswoman, guide her…and raise her to someone befitting of an heiress to the Franklin household, one of the ten great families of the Federation! You'll help her develop into the next head of the Franklin family!"

"You're kidding me, right?" I tried not to roll my eyes at Dad's cheesy speech. And then something hit me. Realization dawned upon me as my jaw dropped and I glared at Dad. "You…you were the one who arranged all this in the first place! Don't tell me…you're the one who went to Duke Franklin and suggested this!"

That made a lot more sense. I had always wondered why Fergus Franklin would single me out, an obscure summoner who was pretty low profile and indescript, from so many other people, such as Charles Lacroix. Hell, wouldn't Charles make for a superior teacher if you were trying to teach Melina swordsmanship? If it was summoning magic, I could understand, but why would Duke Franklin approach me to ask me to teach his daughter swordsmanship? There were so many more suitable teachers out there, so why me? I was quite the random choice, if I were to be honest. And swordsmanship wasn't even my forte. So why me, really?

Dad must have made the offer to him. From there, the request took root, and I was dragged into this whole political mess. Damn him.

However, Dad neither confirmed nor deny my accusation, which was in itself damning evidence. He merely smiled and turned away to continue watching his anime, where the private tutor was now introducing himself to his new blond student in front of awestruck maids.

Exhaling in exasperation, I returned to my room. For now, I'd just focus on mastering my ice magic instead of whining about this…it sucked to admit it, but I had very little time left for myself.