“Shea ……”
“‘I’m sorry, father. I got a little carried away in front of my fiancé.”
My brother Georg kneel towards my father, Bolganov.
What did he mean by my fiancé ……?
When I asked with a suspicious expression, Georg with a grinning face looked back at me.
‘You look like you don’t know what’s going on, Ragnus. Actually….”
“Stop, George. I’ll explain it to him.”
When my brother started to talk in a happy tone of voice, my father stopped him with a slightly stern tone.
Georg gave a short reply, then stood up and stepped back behind my father.
“Your betrothal to Notos’ daughter here was broken off a short time ago.”
“What….. do you mean?”
“It means you’re not up to par with this kid. Did your decreasing level also cause your intelligence to decrease?”
“George!”
My father restrained my brother with an even harsher tone than before.
My brother clicked his tongue and pulled back lazily.
“Notos and I have been best friends for a long time. I can’t let such a good friend’s precious daughter be married off to my son who is a failure. That is why I proposed this to him. Notos has gladly agreed to it. Of course, Felicia who is here as well.”
“No way…. Shea.”
I try to run under Shea with my wobbly legs.
But perhaps the damage from earlier is too great, and I can’t move as I would like.
I stumbled to the ground and hit my face with a flashy.
“What kind of joke is this? Is this the so-called Son of God?”
The tone of my brother’s voice as he cursed me happily still made my guts boil over.
My father also realized that it was useless to stop him, so he let out one sigh and said nothing.
“Why don’t you tell her, Felicia? Tell him you’re really glad you’re not married to a piece of shit like him.”
Hearing those words, Felicia walks down to me with a blank expression on her face.
Felicia then crouched in front of me as I fell and put her hands on me.
“Healing Aid.”
As she chanted this, I could feel the pain in my body slowly recede.
Early recovery techniques, healing aid. It’s a simple one that even I, who am not very good at magic, can cast. This was before my level went down, though.
“Thanks Shea. So you really ……”
“Don’t touch me.”
The moment I try to reach out to her, she throws me a voice full of thorns that I’ve never heard from her before.
“You’re look so pathetic, so I just made sure you could move at least. Don’t get me wrong.”
For a moment, I didn’t understand what was said.
“Shea?”
No – I guess I just didn’t want to understand.
“I came to say goodbye.”
She told me, and I looked into her cold eyes and I’m convinced.
Yeah, I thought you were, too.
Shea was saying something from there, but I couldn’t hear it. Maybe a faint survival instinct kept those words away from my brain.
I knew that my older brother did not like me because I had always been known as child of God. I had also knew that my father now turns to hate me.
But what about Shea? She’s always been with me, at least for a long time, and I don’t know why she’s changed so much.
The answer pierced my ears as I snapped back to reality.
“You disgust me.”
I disgust you…. Do you really hate me that much?
The days I’ve spent with Shea so far run through my mind like a running clock.
When I think back, I only have memories of fun. All I know is Shea’s smiling face.
“Shea, I–I like you.”
No intention. It just popped out of my mouth unexpectedly as I fished through my memories.
The feelings I’ve been hiding in my normal everyday life just popped out.
“Forget about me. Goodbye, Ragnus.”
She didn’t even reply to my confession, which was made with the last of my energy.
As if she didn’t hear my words, she just said an unpretentious goodbye and turned away.
In that moment, I knew something was crumbling inside of me.
My father, who was so accepting of me, so strict but loving.
My mother was always worried about me, and if I got hurt even a little, she would have a sick.
And a kind and cute first love who I always laughed with and grew up with
Nobody’s on my side.
“What’s the matter, Ragnus? Are you so shocked you can’t even speak?”
My brother sneered at me.
You can say whatever you want. I don’t feel anything anymore no matter what you say to me now.
“Hmm. I didn’t expect that with his level dropping his spirit would decrease as well. Is there no more value to this guy?”
Then my father snapped his fingers. Instantly, my father’s butler appears from somewhere.
“Sir. You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Hmm. From now on, I will treat Ragnus as if he were a slave. His meals will be minimal and his sleeping quarters will be sufficient in the stable. Notify everyone in the house of this.”
“As you wish.”
The butler bowed reverently and then disappeared with a swoosh.
“Slavery is quite a hobby of yours, father.”
“Hmm. You’re lucky I didn’t kick you out of the mansion. Normally, I would throw you and make you food for stray dogs, but you’re still a Zweig, after all.”
“Father is kind. How could you show such kindness to my foolish brother? As a brother, I would like to express my gratitude on behalf of my brother who does not know how to speak.”
“Very well. Besides, I wouldn’t want people to start rumors that Zweig is feeding wild dogs.”
“Hahaha. Father is good at jokes too!”
Saying that, my father and brother went back towards the mansion while laughing. And Shea solemnly followed after them.
Soon, perhaps ordered by the butler, several servants from the mansion came to pick me up.
“Come, my boy. I’ve got plenty of work for you to do!”
This is my servant, Belvedo. He was like a grandfather to me, who used to take care of me.
I decided to shut up and follow Belvedo.
I don’t expect anything from him. I don’t care about anything anymore.
And two years pass.