Jared and the others were stunned into silence. Johan, however, was an exception.
He nodded as if he understood.
“As I thought, Father-in-law. So you came to kill me then.”
“You’re mistaken, Johan. I won’t kill you.”
“Wait a minute! You… you know Wahash?”
His father nodded at his son’s question.
“I did. Not just me, but Father and Mother knew too.”
Jared trembled with a surprise he had lost count of how many times today.
He never imagined that his father would know about his mother’s origins—that she was the daughter of Wahash, the leader of Waalthe.
“Why? Why didn’t you tell me anything—”
“What good would it have done if I had? Should I have said your mother was the daughter of the head of an assassination organization?”
“But—”
“Liz was a Court Mage. It was better for her to remember her as a capable mother, a Court Mage, than to know that the head of an assassination organization was her grandfather.”
Johan lowered his eyes.
‘Stop it. That makes it sound like Father knew about me all along.’ Jared felt a pang in his chest, a urge to scream.
“Father-in-law, why would you hate Jared so much if you thought of him so highly…”
“Johan Daum does not hate Jared Murphy. On the contrary, he loves him with all his heart.”
“—What?!”
It was Wahash who answered Olivier’s question. His words stunned not only Jared but also Olivier, Karina, and Roik.
“Lies! How could that be!”
Unable to accept that his father had loved him, Jared finally roared. Then, kicking off the floor, he lunged at Johan and grabbed him.
“Stop it, Jared!”
Olivier cried out in a rush at her fiancé’s actions, but he didn’t hear her.
“Deny it. Now.”
In a low, cold voice, Jared spoke to his father.
“Don’t just stand there silently! You sent me to that facility, didn’t you! Did you know what kind of place that was?”
Grabbing Johan by the collar, Jared slammed him against the wall, spewing words with pure force.
“That was an illegal facility for raising assassins!”
“—Wh-what nonsense.”
“Don’t screw with me!”
His fist connected with his father’s cheek.
Karina and Roik let out short screams.
“Do you know what it was like for me to live there?! I only thought about killing you. If Luzer hadn’t saved me, if Almeida hadn’t rescued me, I would have died a year ago!”
“What are you saying? That’s impossible.”
“And now, you expect me to believe you when you talk about love, and all that?!”
He punched his father’s face one more time before finally releasing his collar.
But his eyes still burned with crimson rage. Punching Johan had not lessened his anger; it had only intensified it.
Johan, who had collapsed to the floor, looked up at Jared with bewildered eyes.
“It can’t be. It shouldn’t be… I…”
“It’s strange for me to say this when I’m so angry, but I’ve stopped hating you. I have no intention of taking revenge, nor do I want you to acknowledge me. I don’t care about you anymore.”
Once he started speaking, he couldn’t stop. When he still lived in this mansion, a part of Jared had always hoped for his father’s approval someday.
But now, it was truly gone, as he said.
Family is complicated. A father is a father, and a son is a son. Even if you try to sever ties, the blood connection doesn’t truly disappear. That’s why he stopped hating. To move forward, Jared had cut himself off from the idea of a father.
“But tell me just one thing—if I was in your way, you should have killed me. By sending me to an illegal facility, what did you intend to do with me?”
“I didn’t know.”
“What?”
“I didn’t know you were sent to a facility like that. I just found out now. Ah—so that’s why Father and Mother were so angry with me…”
“I won’t let you say you didn’t know now. I’ve told our grandparents.”
Not everything, but he had told them that he was attacked by someone and ended up in a facility. He told them about being rescued by Luzer and escaping with his cooperation.
His grandparents’ rage was immense. It was understandable. Their own son had forcibly sent their grandson to an illegal facility. It was utterly inhumamane.
Jared had calmed his grandparents, telling them it was alright, and asked them to help him find Luzer’s mother, rather than focusing on his father. His grandparents had kept their promise. However, they likely still harbored anger towards their son. But Johan hadn’t understood the reason for that anger.
“I see. Then your anger is justifiable. But, Jared—”
For the first time today, his father called his son’s name.
“While I may have tried to distance you, I never once considered sending you to an illegal facility.”
Jared heard something snap within him at his father’s words, which sounded like mere excuses.
“—Hah, don’t mess with meeeee!”
Enraged, Jared clenched his fist and lunged at Johan.
“No, Jared!”
Olivier reached out to stop her fiancé, but it was too late.
Johan made no move to resist, not even attempting to move.
Karina and Roik also wanted to stop Jared but had no means to do so.
Seeing that no one could stop Jared, they all tensed, imagining his fury directed at his father.
“It’s enough. Hitting this man any further won’t relieve your feelings, you must know that.”
However, Wahash’s hand stopped Jared’s movement.
Wahash, moving at an unperceivable speed once again, halted Jared’s body. But he couldn’t stop his anger. In fact, Wahash standing between Johan and Jared seemed to pour fuel on the flames of his rage.
“You’re not the one to stop me!”
His head felt like it would boil over.
Giving in to his rage, Jared struggled to break free from Wahash, but he couldn’t budge an inch.
Watching Jared’s struggle, Olivier thought.
She had only ever seen his reliable side, but he was still a sixteen-year-old boy. Even if one has overcome the past and decided to move forward, the heart doesn’t simply sort itself out that easily.
The cause of his mother’s death had been revealed, and he had learned of his father’s hidden love. Anyone would become unstable.
But her fiancé’s voice was not reaching Olivier. It was so heartbreaking.
