The slightly delayed lunch left Karon eating with clear restraint.

He had made all kinds of assumptions in advance about what the Allen family was like, about the kind of treatment he might receive after arriving, but what he had just witnessed had not been part of any scenario he had imagined.

When Karon set his fork down and lifted his napkin to wipe the corner of his mouth, Master Anderson immediately told Eunice, “Take Young Master Karon to rest in his bedroom. Of course, if Young Master Karon is interested, you can first show him to his study.”

“Yes, Grandfather.” Eunice stood and walked to Karon’s side. He stood, nodded to everyone at the table, and then followed Eunice out of the dining room and up the stairs.

At the entrance to the third floor, Eunice pointed to the door ahead. “Karon, this is your study.”

“My study?” The door was large, and the decorations on both sides were antique and restrained. The moment Eunice opened the door, Karon realized this was not a study that had been casually cleaned up for him. It must have belonged to someone.

The difference was tangible. A room left unused for years did not have the same feel to it as one that had been lived in.

Many paintings hung on the walls, and three of them immediately caught Karon’s attention. The first was of a middle-aged man in island garb wearing an eyepatch. In his arms he held a richly dressed woman wearing a crown.

Following Karon’s gaze, Eunice offered an introduction. “That is our ancestor, Earl Rekar. He is the pride of our family’s history. He was once the leader of the Longlute Sea pirate armada.”

“And the woman in his arms is...”

“His lover, Queen Gloria the Third of the Veynic royal family.”

Veyn had originally been an island nation. Through maritime hegemony, it gradually became the empire it was today. In early days, under pressure from outside, the royal family and the government had issued documents encouraging pirate organizations to serve the empire.

And the greatest privateer of that era had made the queen of Veyn his lover.

It was no wonder the Allen family maintained good relations with the Veyn royal house. The women of the family even went to the palace from time to time to enjoy afternoon tea with the queen’s relatives; There was a history between their ancestors.

One could not help but wonder if their bloodlines were also somewhat mixed.

Karon looked at another painting. It was of a gigantic sea monster with an Allen clan banner planted in its forehead. Behind it, a fleet of pirate warships followed in formation.

“This one you’ve seen before: Aseros. Though this shouldn’t be the same Aseros that escorted us back.”

Karon nodded. Then let his gaze fall on the last painting. It was of a black cat.

The black cat wore a pink top hat, a string of pearls around its neck, and was sitting on a golden chair. It had a solemn and authoritative expression on its face.

The corner of Karon’s mouth twitched. Is that... Pu’er?

It was hard to match the Pu’er in the painting to the black cat back he knew from home, the one who always liked to sprawl on the third-floor windowsill and bask in the sun.

Even though they were both cats, it was like trying to connect a king to a beggar, even if they were both human.

“This is the most famous genius in our family’s history. She raised our family’s faith system to a new stage. I don’t know much about her specific deeds, because the family’s attitude has always been that there is no hurry for me to step onto our family’s path, and I myself am not particularly enthusiastic about it. Still, I remember asking my grandfather when I was little, why the portraits of our ancestors in this study were all so heroic, only for this ancestor to be a cat.

“Grandfather told me that this was the temperament of a genius. Many years ago, when the family invited a court painter to paint her portrait, she deliberately turned herself into a cat.

“She said there were too many portraits in the family. She did not want to be buried among them. She wanted future descendants, whenever they looked at these portraits, to always see her first and notice her first. That was the fun of it.”

Karon nodded. Yes. Very fun indeed, but you probably didn’t know you would end up as a cat for over a hundred years.

“This ancestor is very important to our family’s history, no less than Earl Rekar. It’s just that her achievements were on another level. Karon, you should understand that.”

“Yes, I know. What happened after that?”

“After that, I can’t really say. This ancestor seems to have had some kind of problem with the family. In the end, the family records have no entries about her after that. It’s as if she vanished.

“But our family does not allow cats as pets, and that started because of her.”

Karon remembered Pu’er saying that the Allen family had once obtained a mysterious item. She had believed it would bring a great disaster upon her family, so she took it out of the family herself, and from then on, had separated from them.

That would indicate that the Allen family’s ban on cats was not about avoiding the name Poelle, but that the patriarch of that generation had hated Poelle to the bone.

Even so, Poelle remained one of the family’s brightest stars, and in that era, her name alone had been able to intimidate their enemies. That had prevented the conflict from being made public, and the resentment had instead been redirected toward “cats.”

“That painting there is the founder of the Allen family, Allen.” Eunice pointed to the painting behind the desk.

In it, a bare-chested man walked through ice and snow, flames burning across his body.

His name had been adopted as the family’s surname.

Karon observed the painting. This was the beginning of the Allen family’s faith system, and the man clearly seemed to have bound both water and fire attributes to himself.

It was no wonder Mike had been willing to risk blowing off his legs just to cultivate this power. The founder’s portrait had always hung in the home, like a constant lesson to descendants: I did it, it works.

One could also consider it an instigation, a temptation.

Without the painting of the family founder, generations of the Allen family would likely have lost far fewer legs or arms.

“Whose study is this?” Karon asked.

“It used to be Father’s study. Grandfather said it will be your study from now on,” Eunice said.

“My study?” Karon smiled. “Isn’t that a joke?”

Eunice shook her head. “When Second Uncle Mike heard this arrangement, he also said, ‘Isn’t that a joke?’ And then, on his face...”

Karon had noticed it. When Mike wheeled himself in, there had been a red cane mark on his face.

“No, Eunice. How can I arrive and immediately take over your father’s study? This is the patriarch’s study.”

“But that’s what Grandfather meant. Also, the room across from this one used to be Father and Mother’s master bedroom, but it’s also already been cleaned out and stocked with new things. From now on, that will be your bedroom.”

“What is Grandfather Anderson trying to do?” Karon asked, looking at Eunice.

Eunice blinked at him. “You still can’t see?”

“It doesn’t feel real.”

“But it’s Grandfather’s arrangement. My mother didn’t expect it either, but Father must have discussed it with Grandfather long ago.

“Earlier, when you rang the summoning bell and the dining room cabinet opened, Grandfather stood in the front row and said, ‘All of you, perk up and answer the new patriarch’s summons.’”

“Grandfather Anderson wants me to be the new family head?”

“That’s what Grandfather said.”

Karon subconsciously covered his head. “Does your family always do things like this?”

What he wanted to ask was, “Do you always do things so casually?”

Handing the position of patriarch over to an outsider who was visiting for the first time? Giving the position to a son-in-law would already be outrageous enough, let alone the fact that he and Eunice were not even married yet. Infact, the engagement ceremony had not even been conducted in Veyn.

At this moment, a maid came over. “Miss, the old master asked me to call you downstairs.”

“All right, I understand.” Eunice turned to Karon. “Sit in your study for a while. I’ll go down. Grandfather probably has some instructions for me.”

She went downstairs, and two more maids entered the study, arranging tea, pastries, cigars, and cigarettes on the desk and sideboard.

After they left, Karon walked to the desk, overcome with a sense of helplessness. Looking at the neat row of exquisite quills and fountain pens, he suddenly wanted to laugh.

“Young Master?” At that moment, Alfred walked in.

“Alfred.” Karon gestured at his surroundings.

Alfred immediately understood, and his eyes shimmered blood-colored as his gaze swept the room. “Young Master, there are many wards and arrays outside, but this study is clear. Generally speaking, a place like a study is usually clear of such things.”

“Mm.” Karon leaned back against the desk and offered Alfred, “A cigarette.”

Alfred immediately took one out and held it to the Young Master’s lips. Taking out a lighter, he spun it with a flourish before using it to like the cigarette.

It was a sequence of movements that Alfred had practiced many times in private. He called it his Quickdraw Cigarette Art and the Flame-Point Art.

Only, his young master seemed to be intentionally trying to quit smoking, which left Alfred’s practiced “Arts” with fewer and fewer opportunities to be demonstrated.

Alfred’s observations were also accurate. Aside from the period right after he had awakened, Karon only needed tobacco to steady feelings of restless unease. When his life had settled, he had tried his best not to touch the unhealthy habit.

But that was exact the point, he needed to calm down right now. That gave him two options: slap himself twice, hard, or light a cigarette. Since the effect would be the same, he chose the latter.

“They intend to give me the patriarch’s study and bedroom.”

“Young Master, I can see it. They want you to take over and manage this family.”

“Don’t you think that’s rather ridiculous?”

“This subordinate finds it ridiculous in the extreme.”

“Right, you also think...”

“A family as lowly as a loach in the mud dares to dream of clinging to you, Young Master. It is sheer delusion.”

“...”

***

Kevin had wanted to follow upstairs, but Pu’er pressed both paws to the sides of the dog’s ears. If it moved, Pu’er would tear the dog’s ears right off.

The golden retriever chose to protect its ears and stayed in the doorway. Pu’er was still seated on its back, her ears pricked, listening carefully to the Allen family’s conversation at the dining table.

Bang! Old Master Anderson had lifted his cane and smashed it down onto the table with enough force that even the tea table trembled. Everyone present straightened at once.

“Rudd is an idiot.”

Pu’er nodded. Yes. Correct.

“An idiot who only knows how to swagger and fight, an idiot who only cares about island style. Not once has it entered his thick skull that the Allen family today is no longer the privateer family that once ruled the seas. We have been on land for more than two hundred years. The environment we face and the trajectory of the family’s development have completely severed from the era of the sea.

“That’s why I exiled Rudd to Kerona Island, because I know that if I let him become patriarch, he would burn through what little foundation we have left in violent feuds.”

Bang! Old Master Anderson raised his cane again and slammed it to the table. The tea table bounced once more, and everyone straightened again.

“Mike is also an idiot.”

Pu’er nodded. Yes. Correct.

The idiot Mike, called by name, did not dare make a sound.

“He originally had excellent talent, and I hoped he would be able to go further along our family’s faith system, so that in the future, handing the family to him would allow me to rest easier. After all, the foundation of a family like ours is still strength. But, but, but...

“He attempted fusion in secret and destroyed both of his legs, severing his own path forward! Now he is nothing more than a useless burden, inferior even to the gardeners and servants in the yard.”

Mike lowered his head.

Bang! Old Master Anderson struck the table again. The tea table bounced, and everyone pretended to straighten once more.

“Bede.”

Bede immediately raised his hand and said, “I am an idiot.”

Bang! The man’s willingness to confess earned him no leniency. The old man swept his cane sideways and struck Bede right in his ribs.

“Hiss...” Bede sucked in a breath from the pain, but managed to prevent himself from crying out. His face contorted as he held it in.

“You are an idiot through and through.”

Pu’er nodded. Yes. Correct.

“I told you to keep that appointment with the Immers family, but you went to Mulberry Port for an art exhibition instead! You actually sent your wife and daughter in your place, giving the excuse that Jenny is from Roja, so she could use the convenient excuse of visiting relatives.

“You are a patriarch, not an artist, you imbecile.”

Hearing this explanation, Pu’er’s eyes instantly bulged. Hit him again! That still isn’t enough.

“Do you know who established our relationship with the Immers family? It was your great-great-great-aunt. And this is how you slight the Immers family? You’re the patriarch, the patriarch!”

Old Master Anderson raised his cane again, only to stiffen as pain flared in his waist. Bede immediately rose to support his father.

The old man began panting heavily. After a moment, he pointed at his own face. “As for me, I am an even bigger idiot, because I gave birth to three idiotic sons.”

Pu’er nodded. Yes. Yes. You’re the biggest idiot.

“It was under me that the Raphael family rose up, step by step, and eventually began preying on our industries. That was my incompetence. I failed to reverse our family’s decline, and I failed to train successors for the future.

“Me, your eldest brother, you, and you. He, our whole family is made up of idiots.”

Everyone ducked their heads in silence.

“The Raphael family’s patriarch died suddenly. Fortunately, their family lacks deep foundations. The sudden death of their patriarch is enough to throw them into panic and create internal strife. Our greatest enemy has, for now, collapsed.

“But is the Raphael family our only enemy? I truly do not want our family’s decline to continue. Jenny and Lisa still have to go to the palace from time to time to chat with the queen and her circle.

“Heheheh. You should know that back then, the queen of the Veyn royal family was a lover our ancestor could summon at will and dismiss at will. In the days before our ancestor came ashore, the queen had to wait at the pier on the coast for our ancestor to arrive, so that she could serve him in bed.

“And now? Now we are reduced to currying favor with the royal house just to maintain appearances. It’s shameful.

“But what may be even more shameful is that in the next generation...” The old man pointed at Eunice’s cousins. “Weakness is the original sin of families like ours, but if we continue to weaken, then by your generation, other families will tacitly unite to suppress and carve you apart.

“You, you, and you, you will all become breeding tools for other families, becoming nothing but a link to enriching their faith systems. We are not an ordinary family. The glory of our ancestors is destined to be the shackles we wear today, or even a curse, because you don’t even have a way out. You can’t go work on a factory floor, you can’t go haul cargo at the docks, you can’t even go beg. You can only become pigs waiting to be bred in someone else’s pen.”

The old man sat down. Jenny offered him tea.

He took a sip and continued, “So that is why I made this arrangement.

“I once vaguely sensed that Tiz is no ordinary man. The Immers family is not as ordinary as they appear to be. Even after the Immers family started to slowly decline, losing the glory of having three Inquisitors, I still believed that Tiz and his family were not simple. Otherwise, our ancestor would not have deliberately established a relationship between us and the Immers family.

“The facts have proven it, Tiz is truly extraordinary.

“When Jenny called to tell me that Tiz had given her a purple bookmark, I wanted to cane Bede to death the moment I hung up.”

Bede sat there obediently.

“You should be grateful. We should all be grateful. Grateful that Eunice went to Roja City with her mother. Otherwise, if Tiz truly took offense, it would have been simple for him to come over, claiming that slight as justification to flatten our home, all depending on his mood.

“Luckily, Eunice went to Roja City.

“Saying it so bluntly is somewhat shameful, but compared to our entire family becoming breeding pigs for others in the next generation or the one after, Eunice’s marriage alliance is the best choice for the family. Of course...”

Anderson looked at Eunice, who had just returned to her seat. “The men of the Immers family are all very handsome, eh?”

Eunice lowered her head. She truly did not know how to respond to that.

“I even suspect that when our ancestor went to the Immers family to establish relations, she also took a fancy to how handsome the Immers men were.”

The golden retriever bared its teeth and smiled, its tail wagging excitedly.

Pu’er rolled her eyes. “...”

“Yes, Tiz is now asleep, but he was dispirited for decades in the past as well. I even personally sat in the Immers study on Mink Street in Roja City and persuaded Tiz to pull himself together. He told me that he felt there was no meaning in it anymore, and I believed him.

“Fine, so this is what he meant by no meaning. If the Immers family thinks there is no meaning, then we Allen family might as well start building the pigpen now, so that our living conditions will be better when we are bred later.

“He said he had withdrawn, but did he truly withdraw? He said he would sleep, but did he truly go to sleep? Can he no longer awaken?

“The Immers family offended the Church of Order, an absolute monster of an organization. Tiz broke from the Church of Order. Has the Immers family been wiped out? Aren’t they still living just fine in Roja City? Isn’t Tiz still sleeping comfortably in his own bed at home?

“Even the Church of Order has swallowed their anger. What right does our Allen family have to trample them?

“The blood sacrifice ritual turned the Immers family, from this generation onward, for many generations, into ordinary people, unable to enter the church again.

“Heh. Heheh. Hahahaha...” The old man suddenly burst into laughter. “Then send Karon to us?”

The entire room fell silent. This time, their silence was genuine.

“If Karon were willing to be an ordinary man and live out his life in peace, why wouldn’t Tiz keep him at home? It’s precisely because Tiz believes that his grandson cannot be ordinary, is not suited to be ordinary, and cannot possibly be ordinary, that he arranged to send him out.

“For this grandson, he even gave us a purple bookmark. That is something only elders of the Temple of Order have the right to issue.

“Sure, the Allen family wrote the Raphael family’s name on it, but that was like using a pirate ship’s cannon to kill a mosquito. But think about it, Tiz was still willing and he fulfilled that request. What does that prove?

“It proves that Tiz has immense expectations for this grandson, expectations without limit. It proves that Tiz regards Karon as the hope of the Immers family’s resurgence.

“So, tell me, tell this old man, this caravan from Roja City, should our Allen family board it or not? And more importantly, if we are going to board it, we must not cling to any sense of shame. To board while still posturing, while still trying to preserve our face, that is the height of unimaginable stupidity.

“Our Allen family will bet. If we keep going as we are, we’re destined for the pigpen anyway, so we bet that Karon can lead the Immers family, and by extension our Allen family, to rise together.”

At the end, the old man pointed around the dining room at the ancestral portraits and smiled. “I have been incompetent and foolish my whole life, but I have a feeling that because of today’s decision, my portrait may one day prove worthy to hang at the very center here.”

In the corner, Pu’er nodded. Believe me. You will.

“At the very least, I can squeeze that black cat’s portrait off the wall. Having a cat included among our ancestral portraits is something I’ve found to be an eyesore for a long time.”

“...”