Theo stepped inside quickly as the doors shut behind him.

A faint pressure filled the room, though not enough to make him feel restless.

It made him wonder whether he had grown used to it, or if the baron simply wasn’t exerting much.

"Good morning... father?" Theo tried, offering an awkward smile, only for the baron to respond with a "Hmph!"

"I just received a letter saying we got five royal contribution points!" the baron snapped.

Theo immediately understood where the conversation was going.

"Father, I can explain—"

"What will explanations do? Do you even understand what will happen now?" the baron cut him off again.

"We... might ascend in ranks?" Theo spoke with that same tone.

The baron’s expression turned even more grumpy. "Not just that!" he barked.

"I had an agreement with the emperor, so long as I could avoid earning points through my own achievements, none would be counted toward the family," he spoke, but he wasn’t done.

"But there was a catch! That snake bastard—" the baron ground his teeth.

Theo grew more curious since the emperor came into the conversation.

"He added a contingency. If I were to get any points in my name in the future, I would be forced to accept ALL of them. Do you understand what that means???" the baron demanded, rising from his desk and striding toward Theo.

Theo already had a good idea, but he stayed silent, letting the baron vent out whatever he had in mind.

"And now!" the baron continued, "I got a letter from that snake bastard that I should get ready to accept my new title."

The baron ran a hand through his hair.

"AND GUESS WHAT?"

"WE ARE A ’COUNT’ ACCORDING TO THAT SNAKE BASTARD!" the baron shouted.

He pressed a hand to the back of his head, clearly overwhelmed.

"The workload, the mandatory castle renovations, the endless compulsory formal gatherings... No, I refuse to do all of that," the baron muttered in frustration.

By the time the baron finished, everything Theo had wanted to say had completely slipped his mind.

"A-Are you serious? We are Count now?" Theo asked, a rare flicker of surprise in his eyes, something he had felt very few times in his life.

"That guy tricked me," the baron muttered, scratching his forehead in frustration.

"I had no idea you would make such a huge contribution that they would award you royal contribution points, Theo. And look at the guts of that guy, we wrote nothing but this!" he spoke and went to grab a royal letter from the table and opened it in front of Theo.

--

Dear old friend,

Your beloved children were able to earn some contribution points under your name. So as per our deal, you must come and accept your title as a Count.

I await your arrival.

From,

Your very good friend,

Rael

--

Theo stared at the absurdly informal letter with so little information, then back at the baron, who was visibly fuming.

Yet beneath that anger, Theo could sense a deeper curiosity about what had actually happened that it had led to this.

"I am sorry about this, father, but can I explain to you what happened in detail first?" Theo asked.

"Start with what led you both to getting such a big honour, Theo," the baron replied. "Because I only sent you to gain experience, yet you clearly did something inside the gate. What is it?"

Theo only needed a moment to know right away what would work best. "I delivered samples of a core beast’s blood to the emperor. He awarded me for that."

The baron stared at Theo in silence for a full minute before finally opening his mouth to speak.

"A core beast, you say...? Did I hear that correctly?" he asked again, making Theo nod.

Leaning back, the baron let out a deep breath.

"Theo, Theo, Theo... what am I to do with you, my son? Why do you always have to push things to the extreme?" he said, sounding more exhausted than angry.

Theo scratched his forehead with a finger.

But he saw the right moment again. "But father, I didn’t add points to the family name knowing well that you wouldn’t like that. Elder brother Lucien used his instead."

Why should Theo take all the blame when the actual culprit hadn’t even been scolded?

The baron looked at Theo again, then curiously frowned. "Then how many points did you receive?"

"Five points for each group member, father. Everyone used theirs for their family names... except brother Lucien and one other annoying guy."

The baron’s eyes narrowed for a moment. "Then what did you do with your points? Don’t tell me you discarded them?"

And that was when Theo realized just how badly he had messed up.

"...I didn’t know rejecting them was an option. With the lack of information and knowing that you wouldn’t like it, I... used them on myself instead."

The moment the baron heard that, even though he had already come to this conclusion, a heavy sigh escaped his lips.

Theo looked at the man and knew what he had done had hurt him.

"So with five more points, you will become a baron under a new family name, huh...? Have you at least thought of one?" he asked with a heavy heart.

"Father, I have not thought about starting a new family. I only accepted them under my name because I didn’t know we could refuse. From now on, I will not accept it under my name—or yours," Theo said firmly to show just how committed he was.

The baron studied him for a moment before replying, "I don’t mind you starting your own family. I will make sure your castle or starter territory is right beside ours so that we can visit freely. I am proud of you for taking such a big step, son."

Theo felt great hearing those words, but he could already sense the ’but’ coming.

"But... I always believed you would be the one to inherit the position of the family head. Have I not been clear enough? Do you want me to make a public statement?"