Chapter 17 - 16 - Our Sons

Chapter 17: Chapter 16 - Our Sons

Anna Belmont was creating another art piece while smiling and humming.

Although her concentration seemed to be focused solely on the painting, her mind was somewhere else entirely.

She was thinking about her two sons who seemed to be getting closer day by day.

She had been so worried for such a long time that the current situation regarding both Flynn and Aiden still seemed and felt very much like a dream.

'It's like they were when they were kids' she thought to herself.

Flynn and Aiden had been so close while growing up.

Aiden had always been the model big brother, pushing his younger brother to be even better in both intellect and character.

Flynn as a result was a very confident boy and smart kid who knew when to and when not to involve himself in any manner of issues that could tarnish their family's image.

The two of them were so bright, so much that they always overshadowed most kids their age especially at social events.

Anna became the envy of all mothers as they wondered how she raised her children to be so well mannered and humble.

That was why when the time came for both of them to awaken, everyone was looking forward to seeing if the Belmont's were finally going to rise back to power.

This of course was a turning point in both Aiden and Flynn's life, with Aiden being so talented but Flynn being among the lower ranks.

The reality that most people only stayed around for their own benefits or envy was too much for Flynn to handle as almost everyone his age that he knew immediately began to distance themselves away from him and stared at him with contempt and disappointment.

A frown replaced the smile on Anna's face as she stopped humming but still continued painting.

Even though she had assured Flynn back then that it was not something he should take to heart as so many more things make up the type of person you chose to be and that talent was not the be all see all, it all ended in futility.

Initially, Flynn tried to stay confident even after his brother was now the only one people flocked too.

He wasn't particularly affected by that as he very much believed that his family still had his back, which they very much did, but as time went on, people began to pick on him, mock him, openly embarrass him and humiliate him.

His ridiculously good looks did not help his situation either as most of the boys who originally envied him began to bully him.

Although Aiden stepped up almost every time to defend his brother, there were times he just couldn't.

Some more prestigious family would probably retaliate if he did anything remotely harsh and he had to maintain and not ruin the image of their already declining family even more.

He slowly also began to stay away from the crowds and the spotlight and just put is all into getting stronger, believing that when he got strong enough and made a name for himself and his family, people wouldn't dare mock or ridicule them.

Flynn on the other hand continuously lost confidence and became a shell of his old self.

He got tired of the constant bullying, whispering behind his back, embarrassment and most of all, his own weakness which required him to need saving all the time.

He began to feel like he was a burden to his family.

As a result, he completely stayed away from all and every social event that he possibly could except for the compulsory ones.

These social events were made compulsory so as to foster connections between both the adults and youths alike of many families as many small and mid-sized families hoped to be able to gain connections to those in the bigger families, especially the three big families.

Aiden and Flynn completely missed out on almost every opportunity to make friends and even if they did attend, almost everyone stayed away from them, mostly Aiden because asides from now having a very cold demeanor, the two brothers were practically strangers to most noble kids their age.

'You'd think they would stop bullying my son after he tried so hard to stay away from them but those damn spoiled brats are just absolutely relentless' Anna inwardly said to herself, her frown deepening as she did so.

As she continued her thoughts, she heard a shout which startled her out of her thoughts.

"Goddamn it Aiden! I almost freaking hit you in the face! I just needed to land that darn punch! Haaaaaaa!"

"Bwaaahaahaaaa! You wish Flynn. You wish! You my dear brother will absolutely not touch this devilishly handsome face of mine!"

Anna burst into laughter as she heard her two sons bickering over their recent spar.

She wiped the tears from her eyes as her smile returned and she began to hum again.

She might have botched the art piece that she was painting due to a wrong stroke of her brush when she got startled by her two sons but it was absolutely worth it in her opinion.

They both had started adding the use of magic to their spars more frequently recently and if there's one thing she had to say, it's that both of her sons are really talented, especially Flynn.

'I hope this camaraderie of theirs continues forever' Anna thought, her smile becoming brighter with each passing moment as she fully resumed and refocused her attention on the canvas before her.

***

Leopold got out of the Tower's headquarters and decided to immediately head home.

It was already a few minutes past 6pm and the sun was getting ready to set, it's color changing from a dim yellow to a deep shade of orange.

He got into his car and began the drive back home.

Some people greeted him and payed their respects and he responded to them with a slight nod of his head as he began to drive out of the large gates.

'What another hectic day of document work...' he inwardly thought to himself as he kept driving.

Just a year ago, Obelisk was rampaging through several areas of Arcadia and every ranker was dispatched to each area to protect the civilians and put a stop to the members of Obelisk.

So many rankers lost their lives and the same could be said for many members of Obelisk as their deaths were even much more than those from the Tower.

The major power houses of both sides stayed very much alive though, resulting in Obelisk losing more than the Tower itself, and maybe that's why, but they've been exceptionally silent this year, with little to no movements at all from them.

'We could have saved more rankers if the Tower had already given out those higher-tier potions then' Leopold thought but then also immediately discarded those thoughts as soon as it came.

The reason for this was because he knew that instead of wanting to help their rankers, the Tower, well to be exact, most of those greedy executives at the top were more concerned with filling their pockets than actually finding a way to help them.

"But at least with the potions Aiden and Flynn found..." Leopold said as he trailed off.

It's still so surreal though that they found people who could actually brew potions like that, and what was even more surprising was that they were teenagers their age.

Leopold had asked his son's to have them introduce both Ivelia and Ivar to him and they'd responded that they would whenever he had a bit of free time to spare. n-(0vElBIn

He'd also given them the contract they'd asked for and they had gone immediately the next day to have the two young alchemists sign them.

He was sure that his two sons knew just how much this would elevate their family's name again and that they might even once again claim their previous seat among the three big families.

More than all that though, he was really happy that his sons were finally getting along again, making it seem like all the tribulations they'd faced was a thing of the distant past.

As if that wasn't enough, Flynn who he had originally thought, who they had all originally thought had completely lost himself and became a shell of who he previously was shining bright again just like he did as a kid.

Leopold had originally thought Aiden was very talented but after watching both of his son's spars and seeing the way they both kept improving each and every day at a rapid speed, one thing had become very evident.

Flynn was just as talented, if not even more talented than his older brother.

The pace at which their ranks were evolving to the next stage came as even more of a shock to both him, Anna and Butler Frank.

Leopold was sure, that if they kept at this rate, they would far outstrip their peers in almost every way possible.

He was also thankful that both of his sons had a good head on their shoulders, something he very much credited to the way his wife brought up their kids.

To be well mannered and humble.

Most brothers their age would be vying for who wanted to lead their family next and become the next Duke, Count or Baron but his sons didn't even seem to care.

As he finally reached the gates of the mansion, he let out a small happy sigh, to which his face then proceeded to transform into a proud fatherly smile.