Chapter 1: A Bastard Son, And His Two Wives.
The sun had started to set; golden rays stretched across the land. Some of its rays reflected over a house in a neighborhood that didn’t seem well off.
In front of the house stood a man dressed in an all-black suit, wearing sunglasses even though the sun had already set. His posture spoke of ’discipline.’ In his hands rested a sleek black suitcase, allowing the warm golden glow of countless coins to spill through the gap.
"This suitcase contains a hundred gold coins; the Duke Pendragon had given his order to hand this over to you."
The man’s gaze shifted towards the bungalow for just a sliver of a second before he continued. "And this bungalow is yours to live in from now on." He said, with no kind of remorse in his tone.
His hand slid inside the pants pocket as he pulled out a sheet of folded paper. After unfolding it, he read something. "My bastard son, Ethan, I don’t want to see your presence near my duchy anymore because you’re nothing more than a disappointment to me. So if you choose to return, I’m afraid I’ll have no choice but to throw you behind bars. Think carefully before making your decision, and spend the rest of your life with your newly wedded wives."
The note came to an end; he gently folded it again and slid it back inside the pocket. Without wasting any time, the man stepped forward and came to a halt just a few feet away from Ethan. "I’ll be taking my leave now, young master." The man said while he put the suitcase on the ground.
It didn’t take him long enough to finally disappear from Ethan’s sight, but Ethan remained standing there in utter disbelief because he didn’t expect his father to disown him, but alongside two women who were now his wives?
He gulped once before looking towards his right; two women were there. One of them was seated in a wheelchair; her blue hair shone brightly under the faint glow of moonlight, and her ocean-blue eyes looked magnificent, but her body remained completely motionless.
And the other one stood next to her, but a metallic stick remained intact in her firm grip; her beautiful black hair was separated like waves.
Her eyes were still the same deep color as her hair, yet the extraordinary charm that human eyes possessed had long since faded, leaving behind only a hollow emptiness.
None of them carried an enthusiastic expression; their faces seemed calm, but Ethan knew what was going on inside their minds.
His wives, they weren’t any ordinary women. Both of them were sisters, coming from the duchy of Kingdom Valtheria.
And something that felt truly unsettling was that both of these women used to be among the top prodigies of that kingdom.
One who sat in the wheelchair had stood at the pinnacle of the fire tower as its tower master.
The other had led Valtheria’s First Army Unit as its captain, a peerless swordmaster who had attained the Seventh Star of Aura, a feat few could achieve in a lifetime.
Ethan, who had stood there calmly, had finally started to lose his composure. He turned his head away, unable to meet their gaze as an expression of grief settled across his face.
’Ugh... why do I have to be here? And why am I stuck inside the body of this idiotic Ethan Pendragon?" He shouted inwardly.
Strangely enough, he didn’t belong to this world. His last memory was of lying on a hospital bed, counting down the final days of his life. When he finally accepted that death had come for him, he closed his eyes... only to awaken in an entirely unfamiliar world.
The first thing he saw was a strange man standing before him. Confusion filled his mind, and nothing around him made sense. But the moment the name "Pendragon" was spoken, realization struck him.
He knew exactly where he was. It wasn’t just ’another world’ because it was the very novel he had read shortly before dying in his previous life.
A sigh escaped Ethan’s mouth, and his hands traveled down to his waist. ’I’m definitely sure that these women don’t want to be here by their own choice.’
He grabbed the bridge of his nose and pinched it lightly before putting on a fake smile. He spread his arms wide and walked toward her with unhurried steps.
"Isn’t the day beautiful? I mean, it’s almost night now, but still today’s beautiful, right?" He tried his best to control the situation, but no answer resonated through their mouths.
But still, he didn’t give up; he walked towards them, grabbed the handles of the wheelchair from behind, and started pushing it in the direction of the bungalow’s main entry. "The night air carries a chill now. The seasons are shifting, and it would be unwise to stay outside for much longer."
Before walking past the other woman, he grabbed her hand and pulled her alongside him. She didn’t try to struggle and let him do what he wanted because she also knew that now their fate had become tied with one another.
When they entered inside, Ethan noticed that the bungalow wasn’t a rip-off; it looked marvelous and definitely a place that was built after spending a fortune.
He didn’t expect the Pendragons to give this expensive asset to him after disowning him from their bloodline.
The walls were made out of polished quartz; faint traces of gold were done at the outline of them. Tall windows stretched across the walls; curtains, which looked nothing less than an antique, were covering the windows entirely.
On the ceiling, designs that he had never imagined existed were imprinted, alongside fans that didn’t seem normal either.
This chamber contained a vast table at the center of it; three chairs were kept at the sides of it nicely, as if the people who furnished this place knew who’d be using it from now on.
Ethan’s jaw slightly dropped in sheer distress, but he quickly composed himself and forced a smile on his face. "Wow, we definitely have a nice place to live in, right?" He asked, his tone filled with enthusiasm.
But still, there wasn’t any kind of reply from any of them, not even a single gesture. Still, he didn’t let his morale go down because he knew if he didn’t increase his trust in their eyes.
He wouldn’t be able to survive the harsh reality of this world. The world is full of nobles who are even willing to drive their children away from their family just to keep their reputation intact.
Ethan looked at them once before asking. "At least tell me your name, or how will I try and converse with any of you?" He questioned.
Silence fell over the chamber; no one said anything for a while. But Ethan still waited for some sort of answer. After waiting for a while, both of them finally gave in.
The one sitting in the wheelchair muttered first; her voice was smooth yet seemed tired. "I’m Athena Sterling."
The next one to reply was the woman standing right beside Athena. "I’m Isolde Sterling."
A warm smile appeared on Ethan’s face; he leaned towards them and said. "I’m Ethan Pendragon. I hope we three live nicely from now on... and your names are really beautiful." He said.
But little did they know, Ethan had already known their names from before. Although in their eyes he was Ethan from ’this world,’ in reality, he was nothing more than a transmigrator.
He leaned toward Athena and spoke softly. "Please pardon my behaviour."
Without waiting for a response, he carefully slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back before gently lifting her into his arms.
Carrying her with utmost care, he walked over to the chair and slowly lowered her onto it, making sure she was seated comfortably.
Then he gently grabbed Isolde’s hand, walked her towards the chair, which was placed on the opposite side of the table, and made sure that she was seated there comfortably because he knew that her ability to see things around her had gone long before.
He made his way toward the kitchen, where a glass jug filled with fresh juice rested on the counter. Picking it up along with three glasses, he poured the juice into each of them before returning to the living room.
Just as he was about to hand them their drinks, a sudden tremor shook the entire house. The walls shivered, furniture trembled, and the unexpected quake caught Ethan completely off guard.
Startled, his grip loosened, and the glass jug slipped from his hands, shattering into countless pieces across the floor.
Before he could even process what had happened, a brilliant blue light flashed before his eyes. Multiple characters were stretched across it, placed systematically into the screen that hovered directly in front of them.
[All the conditions have been met.]
[Awakening initiated...]
Silence devoured him whole; his mind became foggy, and he wasn’t able to think about anything currently. But then something tragic happened; his entire body started to ache with an immense amount of pain.
Something inside of him had started to change; it was his entire neurological system. It felt as if his body were being torn apart and rebuilt from scratch. His back ached, fists clenched in pain to the extent that his skin started to turn white, eyes filled with blood.
His knees finally gave in as he dropped to the ground, trying his best to breathe, but even his windpipe had begun to betray him.
Athena, who was still sitting on the chair, saw Ethan’s condition; a strange feeling of horror spread across her face, but she couldn’t bear to say something out loud, nor could she offer a hand of help because her entire body below the neck was paralyzed.
And on the other hand, Isolde didn’t even know that something tragic was occurring inside the very chamber in which she was sitting.
"Ugh..." Finally, a pained groan escaped his mouth, but inside his mind a whole other lot of thoughts were ringing. ’What... what’s happening to me...’
His chest started to ignite; a source of mana appeared in the center of his chest where nothing had existed moments before.
Everyone in this world carried a mana core, at least those who belonged to a great bloodline, but Ethan?
He didn’t, and because of that, his family put pressure on him that was way too sickening for him to confront.
Just because of that, he had fallen into the habit of doing drugs, drinking alcohol, and spending time with multiple women at brothels.
But now? A mana core had finally materialized inside his chest, still blazing rapidly; pain still lingered all over his body. Then, as suddenly as it began, it stopped.
Ethan was left gasping for breath; his entire body was drenched in sweat. His heartbeat increased rapidly; it was loud enough that he could hear it.
[Awakening complete.]
[You have awakened: Investment and Extraction Authority!]