Chapter 100: The Good Stuff

"..."

"Heh."

The dining room was so silent you could hear a needle sneeze until Leonia let out a quick chuckle.

It was silent for a few more moments until Zach glanced back at Yanael. If it had been anyone else asking, he wouldn't have even bothered entertaining it. But it was his family who was curious about his familiar, not some random schmuck doubting him.

Yanael could tell Zach wouldn't mind if she didn't want to show off her angelic features, but why wouldn't she want to?

Yanael took a step back and unfurled her translucent white wings that spanned beyond the dinner table, and her halo added a subtle golden brilliance to the dining room.

"'Woah…!'"

The Evandiel children let out a gasp of amazement in unison. After revealing her glory for a few moments for the Evandiels to admire, Yanael retracted her wings and halo.

Zach's siblings looked at Yanael for another second or two before turning to Zach.

"So the maid dress is your personal preference, huh?" Leana wasn't satisfied yet and pointedly asked her question with crossed arms.

"Nice." Lexi gave Zach another high five.

"No, she came with it. She's a variant," Zach quickly clarified before the rest could jump in and make more assumptions.

"An angel variant, huh. Neat. So, what rank is she? It's gotta be high, right? I've never heard of a familiar that looks this much like a human." Lilo asked curiously.

"She's S-rank. The third in the Academy's history."

"Impressive." Leonia nodded and gave a compliment.

"That makes me the third S-rank summoner in the Academy's history. I'm pretty great, aren't I?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, kiddo. Your familiar's rank has nothing to do with you, does it? It's not like you're strong just because she's strong."

"That's where you're wrong, Leana. It's my talent that brought Yanael to this world. And her strength is my strength. If you guys don't watch yourselves, it won't take long for me and Yanael to become this generation's strongest."

"Sure thing, buddy."

"Right."

"Keep dreaming."

"You know what they say…"

"...Aim for the stars and reach the trees."

Lexi didn't even say anything, she just patted his shoulder while shaking her hanging head like she truly felt sorry for him.

"Fine, if you guys are going to be like that, I'm not inviting you."

"To what?"

"My inauguration ceremony."

"Inauguration ceremony?"

"Yeah. For when I become king of the world."

"..."

"..."

The dining room was unbearably quiet and tense. Zach had said it like he was dead serious. But it was impossible to take his words seriously.

In the end, Zach's father cleared his throat to break the silence.

"So, why did you come late, Zach? We were starting to wonder where you were when you didn't even send word."

"It's alright to be honest, darling. Leonidas and Leonia already know you stayed up four nights worrying." Calserra interjected before Zach could answer.

"...I did not."

"Of course you didn't. Zach?" After agreeing with her husband, Calserra urged Zach to continue with what he was about to say.

"Sorry about that. I was in a coma."

"...What? Is that a village or town close to the capital? Did you get stuck there due to the bad roads?" Leonidas brought up the bad roads again like he had a grudge.

"No, a coma, as in when you're unconscious after, like, a medical procedure or something."

"I'm not sure I understand, Zach. Why were you in a coma? Did you have to have surgery? If it's related to, you know…I think you've been scammed. We already tried everything when you were younger." Leonidas pressed on.

Zach's eyes widened.

"I'm afraid to ask what the f—fudge that's supposed to mean, so I won't. And I guess you could call it surgery, though I'm not sure what exactly they did. Nora should have a better grasp on the entire thing. Yanael, too. But I went on an excursion the second to last week of the school year, fought a tiger, took a bomb of sorts to the face, and died."

"Mother, call the doctor. I'll hold him still. We gotta get inside his brain as soon as possible and get rid of whatever is inside there." Leonidas stood up and was about to run around and grab Zach since he clearly needed help.

The Duke grabbed his eldest son and pushed him onto his chair again.

"Sit down." The Duke turned to Zach.

"You're speaking the truth?"

Zach nodded.

The Duke turned to Calserra.

Calserra turned to a silver-haired maid standing along the wall.

"Victoria, bring some of the good stuff. Youngest has had his first real near-death experience!" Calserra excitedly spoke to her personal maid.

"Yes, Madam." Victoria bowed.

"Um, it wasn't a near-death experience." But Zach interrupted before she could leave.

Calserra tilted her head.

"What do you mean, youngest? Your words are contradictory."

"Nope. You guys just didn't take them as they were. I said I died. That's what happened. My heart stopped beating and all that jazz. I don't know for how long, obviously.

But my vital signs ceased."

Zach's words brought another wave of silence to the dining table. He met his mother's eyes without a shred of hesitation. Calserra looked at him in silence. S~eaʀᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

After a while, she smiled brightly and turned to Victoria again.

"Bring the even better stuff. Youngest has died for the first time!"

"Yes, Madam." Victoria bowed again and left the dining room.

Zach's family members looked at him with expressions of doubt, surprise, shock, worry, shock, awe, and envy. It didn't take long for them to start prying the details out of Zach, which he happily shared. All his efforts and what he had gone through were badges of honor.

Of course, he was going to boast about them to his family, who still thought he was a kid who couldn't open a bottle of milk without hurting himself and then crying from the pain.

Needless to say, Zach exaggerated his stories a little, but he didn't need to stray far from the truth. The last year had been exciting enough as it was without too much embellishment.

Zach's family listened when he spoke and only asked questions when he was mostly done.