Chapter 323: THAT'S ALL HE COULD DO

THE handsome man walking down the stairs had the same silver hair and sapphire blue eyes as the father-son duo standing below. He had white strands in his hair, showing his slightly older age. But aside from that, there were no other features that showed his age. Anyone who saw him would think that he and Thomas were brothers instead of father and son.

This person was Anthony Grimaldi – the head of the Grimaldi family and one of the most powerful noble in the Empire.

He stood straight, as if his spine was made of steel. There was a natural air of nobility around him, as if he was born to be above everyone else. His eyes simply had that stern glint, making him look overly serious. The kind who wouldn’t laugh even at the funniest joke. His presence alone was screaming, ‘I am someone of higher status, you shall all bow down before me!’.

But the moment his gaze landed on his grandson, his eyes softened and it completely dispelled the strict and noble aura around him. He walked down the steps and took Nicol from Thomas, carrying the boy in his arms. The way he did so was so natural that it felt like he had done it so many times.

“So, who is this ‘Brother Aster’ that my grandson had been mentioning, hmm?” he asked Nicol, but his eyes were looking at his son, clearly asking the other the question.

Thomas received that loud and clear. “He’s one of the kids who saved Nicol in that incident.”

At the mention of that, Anthony was once again reminded of that hostage taking incident that happened almost two months ago. All the people involved in what happened had already been punished. But that still didn’t lessen his anger over the matter. 

“Ah, yes. I heard you had dinner with them. Does our Nikki like them very much?” Anthony asked his grandson.

“Yes! But only Brother Aster. The other big brother isn’t really that friendly,” Nicol said, grumbling at that last part.

“I see. But isn’t this big brother the one who saved you?”

Anthony had seen the footage when the two teenagers tried to save his grandson. The black-haired one used his good looks to take the attention away from the hostage taker and then, the blue-haired one rushed to attack, even using his ability to do so. 

They were very brave kids. They might be young but they’re not afraid to stand up for what’s right. 

If this had happened 20 years ago, he would probably be suspicious and ordered a thorough background check of the two. But those days were long gone now. After he heard from Thomas that Cassius did a basic check already, that was already more than enough for him.

He was ready to give them whatever they might demand, no matter how big or expensive it was. That was their rightful due for saving his grandson. But there was no demand. Even after knowing which family Nicol belonged to, they didn’t try to get close. Using that incident to integrate themselves to the Grimaldi family and use their influence.

Being an aspiring actor and an aspiring soldier, the influence of their family could be a great help to their careers. But nothing like that happened. There wasn’t even a communication with Nicol. This just showed that the two were not interested in the Grimaldi family.

In Anthony’s book, that’s already a huge plus. That’s why his impression of the two was quite good. 

Nicol pouted after hearing what his grandpa said. “It’s not like I hate him. I just like Brother Aster more.”

Anthony chuckled at that. “Well, if you really want to meet with your Brother Aster, we can always invite him here.”

Nicol’s face brightened. His smile as bright as sunshine. “Really? Thank you, Grandpa! You’re the best!”

The duke smiled as well. “Then, let’s go and eat your favorite snack.”

“Okay!”

Thomas watched as the two walked away. Seeing as how his father treated his son so gently, he couldn’t help but feel the irony. 

After what happened 20 years ago, his father became even more withdrawn. It was in a way that he no longer bothered with anything except for work. Not even his family. So, without him noticing, one of his remaining sons drifted away. When he did finally notice, it was already too late.

Casey already blamed them, especially their father, for what happened to Emmy. When their father didn’t make an effort to patch up their broken relationship, it’s natural for it to shatter completely.

That’s probably a wake-up call for the other. But just as he said, it was already too late at that point. 

Their family was already falling apart after the death of his mother. But what happened 20 years ago was what thoroughly broke it. And Thomas enabled that to happen. So, he was as much to blame as his father.

He could have stopped the madness before it escalated to that point. But he didn’t. And this was the result. Things got only slightly better when Nicol was born. Casey started to talk to him again. Although he’s not actively trying to connect with their father, he was at least civil to him. 

Yes, things were slowly changing for the better. And yet, it felt that it hadn’t.

Because even until now, they still had to pretend that Emmy was dead. They couldn’t bring themselves to find her whereabouts. Even when Casey found out the truth, he also didn’t do anything. Or rather, he couldn’t. 

Because just like them, he knew that this was what Emmy wanted. To have the freedom to be happy. To be able to be herself. To attain her dreams. To freely love who she wanted. All of these she couldn’t do if she returned as ‘Emmaline Grimaldi’.

After all that she’d been through, letting her be was the least thing they could do. 

But most often than not, Thomas wondered how his sister was doing now. Was she doing okay? Did she have his own family now? Was she happy?

But at the end of the day, that’s all he could do.

Wonder.