Chapter 53: Hellish Creature
A few hours later, Roderic stepped out of his bedroom.
He’d finally managed to take a bath and change into a fresh set of clothes.
’Much better,’ he thought, stretching his arms above his head.
If there was one thing he couldn’t get enough of, then it was his nice warm bath.
And there wasn’t a better place to browse through his system’s Archive either.
’But now I really wish that I hadn’t checked it,’ he thought, his face growing bitter just thinking about it. ’For fuck’s sake.’
As he started walking through the manor’s corridor, he couldn’t help but shake his head.
There wasn’t much about this year’s Young Noble Gathering in there.
But the one thing Roderic did read was enough to make him incredibly annoyed, knowing just how much of a pain in the ass it was going to be.
And all of it had to do with one woman.
’Why are all my problems related to women?!’ he cursed internally. ’First Margaret and now my ex-fiancée!’
According to the Archive, Catherina Ironhart would be arriving at the gathering with another man.
And not just any random noble either.
’The Second Prince of Valdoria, Alexandre Valdoria...’
Roderic frantically rubbed his temples just thinking about it.
The two weren’t officially engaged or anything like that.
At least, not yet.
But arriving at the Young Noble Gathering together was already enough to send a very clear message.
’Her family is going to love this,’ Roderic thought with a sigh.
Breaking off their engagement should’ve been a humiliation for them.
Yet barely a few months later, their daughter would suddenly appear beside a prince of the kingdom.
Any humiliation from the broken engagement would disappear almost instantly, and naturally, her entire family would benefit from it.
Now, normally, Roderic wouldn’t have cared in the slightest.
Hell, he would’ve happily congratulated her if it meant she’d stay out of his life!
There were only two problems with that, though.
’Why the fuck do I have to be there when it happens?’
Roderic could already imagine the looks he’d get as her ex-fiancée.
But he knew damn well it wouldn’t end just there.
Catherina walking in with the prince while he was present in the same room would simply be a piece of gossip far too entertaining to pass up on.
’And then there’s problem two,’ he thought, clenching his jaw. ’The long-term problem.’
The Ironhart family ended up supporting Baron Deres in the territorial war.
An increase in their reputation now meant they’d only grow stronger and gain more connections.
But that wasn’t even Roderic’s biggest concern.
In the original future, he hadn’t attended the Young Noble Gathering.
He’d still been the useless third son of the Whitemane family who barely ever left the estate.
Because of that, whatever relationship Catherina developed with Alexandre had absolutely nothing to do with him.
And when the territorial war eventually broke out, there had been no reason for Alexandre or anyone connected to him to interfere.
’But that future has already changed,’ Roderic thought, his expression growing serious.
He was going to the gathering this time.
Not only that, his reputation was completely different.
He’d broken off the engagement himself, awakened his aura, and spent the last month traveling around the territory solving problems.
People actually knew his name now.
’If I start some stupid conflict with anyone present... they’ll probably all turn on me like hungry wolves.’
Roderic clicked his tongue, even more irritated than before.
’How the hell am I going to stop myself from creating conflicts, though?!’
Letting out a long sigh, he shook his head as he continued walking through the corridor.
Roderic truly didn’t want to think about it for even a moment longer.
And luckily for him, something else quickly came to distract him from the topic.
’’ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC!’’
A loud, familiar voice rang out from a closed door just a bit ahead.
Roderic’s footsteps immediately started to slow.
’Hm?’ he thought. ’Margaret is having another outburst?’
’’DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HUMILIATING THAT WAS?!’’ Margaret continued angrily.
For a moment, Roderic couldn’t help but stare at the door.
He hadn’t even done anything to her since returning... yet, she was already going bat-shit crazy.
And only a moment later, Roderic realized who she was yelling at.
’’I’m sorry, Mother...’’ a quiet voice just barely entered his ears.
’Dennis?’
Roderic’s expression couldn’t help but turn strange.
For a moment, he simply stood there, staring at the closed door.
’What the hell did that little shit do?’ he thought. ’Also, weren’t these two supposed to be really, really close with each other?’
’’Sorry?’’ Margaret continued angrily. ’’Is that all you have to say for yourself?’’
Roderic’s confusion only grew stronger.
’’There were DOZENS of people watching you! Knights, servants, trainees! And you allowed that boy to beat you into the dirt in front of every single one of them!’’
Roderic’s mouth slowly opened out of complete shock and disbelief.
’She’s seriously angry about that?’ he thought. ’But how does that make any sense?’
The boy had been three years older and a head taller.
What the hell was Dennis supposed to do according to her?
Roderic truly couldn’t comprehend where this extremely unreasonable anger came from.
’’I’m sorry, Mother...’’ Dennis muttered again.
’’Stop apologizing!’’ Margaret snapped. ’’I don’t want your apologies. I want you to stop embarrassing yourself!’’
’’But I tried...’’
SMACK!
A loud slap echoed through the wall.
Even Roderic winced at the sound before looking at the door in terror.
’’Clearly not hard enough!’’ Margaret continued. ’’Do you want to become a damn failure?!’’
For several seconds, Roderic remained standing at the door.
’’No... Mother...’’ Dennis sniffled out on the other side.
’Jesus Christ...’
Roderic shook his head and quickly continued walking.
He’d always known Margaret was a horrible person, but hearing her treat her own son like this was something else entirely.
’I grew up without a mother,’ he thought as he walked away. ’But fuck... I’d rather have a dead mother than a hellish creature like that.’