Chapter Sixteen: “He’s Not Worthy of Being My Father!”
The Hysterm family’s private residence in the capital was located in a quiet corner, tucked away down a small alley off a bustling street. The two-story house, with an added half-story attic, had been unoccupied for years, its once exquisite facade now appearing somewhat aged.
Yet, on this serene morning, three days after the incident, the house erupted with a clamor loud enough to shake its foundations.
“If he truly loved me, he’d come find me himself!!!”
Inside the second-floor bedroom, Iaar stood as if frozen, her voice barely a whisper as she watched Will shout hoarsely towards the door.
Outside the door, the silver-haired butler, clad in a black butler uniform, tapped on the wood with a gloved hand. He spoke with patience.
“Young Master, the Master is busy with work. You’re not a child anymore, you should understand. These things were prepared by him when he managed to carve out some time for you… I hope you recover quickly…”
“Recover? Is this how he is as a father… like this… when his son is suffering such great injustice, he just dismisses it with money?”
Will’s voice trembled, a sob catching in his throat at the end of his words.
Iaar, watching from the side, felt her heart clench.
“Young Master, please listen. The Master has his own difficulties…”
“Difficulties? What difficulties could a wealthy merchant possibly have?! How many times have I even seen him since I was born?”
Will practically roared the question, his uninjured left hand clenching into a fist, suppressing his rage.
Iaar, influenced by his emotion, secretly clenched her own fist.
“There have been recent changes in the Royal Family, and he is occupied with those matters. Please, wait a little longer. It will be for your own good…”
“Heh, for my own good… Does he think that a father’s duty to his child is fulfilled just by providing enough money… that… that’s all it takes?”
Will’s voice shifted from a tearful tremor to a calm, cold tone, as if he had resigned himself to the harsh reality.
Iaar, by his side, could feel the chill in Will’s heart.
“This… Well, Young Master, actually, the Master… he prepared something else too.”
Will stood up, instinctively reaching out with his injured right hand, but as it was wrapped in bandages, he used his left hand to open the door.
“He… prepared something else for me?”
The butler produced a staff, heavily wrapped in packaging, from behind him.
Will took it and closed the door.
“This piece of junk?”
He accepted the staff as if it were a treasure, then turned and picked up a small stool nearby, throwing it.
“Tell Carver Hysterm that he… he’s not worthy of being my father!”
As the stool crashed against the door, silence descended both inside and outside.
The butler outside seemed to realize that the Young Master’s ailment was beyond cure. After a long pause, he spoke.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
As the sound of the butler’s leather shoes on the stairs faded, and silence enveloped the outside, within the room, only the two of them remained in quiet.
“Wuwuwu, Young Master, you’re so pitiful. How could a father not even come to see you when you’re so injured, and instead, urge you to quickly come to the capital to study? Wuwuwu, he’s so heartless…”
Iaar felt a surge of empathy, tears welling up. She impulsively rushed forward, wanting to embrace the miserable Will.
But Will…
“Heh heh heh, this is great. I finally managed to trick this thing out. Tsk tsk tsk, Iaar, look at this staff. Brand new, top-of-the-line, magnificent.”
He held up the staff, unwrapping the thick layers of paper. Embedded in its center was a gleaming, semi-transparent crystal ball, half black and half white. The two colors seemed entirely incompatible within the crystal, starkly separated.
“Heh heh heh, truly excellent.”
Will hefted it, noting that the supporting wooden shaft was made of premium red hardwood, giving it a significant weight.
This completely baffled Iaar. The tears that had been on the verge of falling completely stopped.
Was this the same person as the pitiful little boy who had just been hysterically cursing his father?
“And money, so much money. Here, buy some fruit tonight, it’ll be enough for a luxurious few days.”
Will handed Iaar three or four gold coins while jotting something down in a ledger.
—In fact, while he was opening the box and railing against his father, he had already been counting the money and making a record.
“So… so, Young Master, what you’re saying is… what you’re saying is that just now… that was all… an act, Young Master?!”
“Ah ha ha ha, what do you think? Oh, but my hand does still hurt.”
As a transmigrator whose psychological age was likely older than his own father’s, Will harbored no emotional need for the father who rarely showed his face.
However, in the original work, the rather simple-minded Young Master Will had indeed flown into a rage at the exclusive butler sent by his father, marking the beginning of a complete breakdown in their relationship.
But!
This time, the Young Master Will, who had been explosive with anger, venting his frustration on the butler, had unexpectedly obtained the staff his father used to placate children. And this was no ordinary staff; the semi-transparent black crystal ball was the final reward from a cleared S Rank Dungeon, “The Hour of Ultimate Darkness.” Its most potent ability was the reversal of the natures of black and white magic.
—Ah, it was only after “Young Master Will” died that this detail about the staff’s true power emerged when it fell into other hands.
What kind of situation was this, where the squeaky wheel gets the grease?
To obtain that staff, Will had no choice but to put on a performance.
Therefore…
To outsiders, the Young Master, on the verge of tears as he berated his father’s indifferent subordinate, not even visiting him when he was injured;
His face was actually beaming with laughter!
He was gleefully hugging the box of gold coins his father had sent!
He was ecstatically anticipating the appearance of that incredibly powerful staff!
He was laughing wildly while counting the generous extra allowance!
When he threw things, he was cautiously careful not to damage the precious staff—forgive me, little stool!
“Young Master! You can’t do this. You… you could at least tell Iaar! Do you know how worried Iaar was about you?”
Iaar’s anger flared, her tail twitching.
She really shouldn’t have taken it seriously.
She had known for a long time that this Young Master never seemed to care about the unfair treatment he suffered…
She, she just felt a little heartbroken.
“S-sorry…” Will scratched his head. “Let’s change your dressing this morning. I might have put a little too much effort into acting just now, and it seems to be bleeding a little from last night’s change…”
“Eh? Is that so? Let me, let me see!”
Iaar rushed to Will’s side.
Her small hands gently took hold of Will’s palm, slowly unwrapping the bandages piece by piece. When the bandages were removed, red marks remained on Will’s hand.
Will’s palm injury wasn’t actually severe, but it healed very slowly, and his usual healing magic was ineffective. It was likely due to the witch’s magic causing the flame to have some peculiar effect on wound healing.
However, as it seemed to be a combination of a burn and abrasion, the wound looked somewhat gruesome after the bandages were removed.
“Mm, it does seem to be bleeding a bit from straining it. Iaar, please take care of it!”
“Yes, it’s all up to Iaar.”
Will naturally sat down on the floor, placing his hand on Iaar’s lap.
“It’s going to hurt. Please bear with it for a moment.”
“Mm, it’s alright.”
Iaar dipped a cotton swab in antiseptic and gently applied it to Will’s wound.
“Hiss…”
As Will inhaled sharply, Iaar subtly glanced upwards.
—She never expected that the Young Master, who had seemed so unfazed by his father not even sending a subordinate to check on him, would show such a vulnerable expression of pain, and entrust complete control to her. Heh heh, he was so kissable.
—Honestly, it was indeed this kind of Young Master who was the most, the most adorable.
—Wait, how could she possibly think that?!
As Iaar blushed at her inappropriate thoughts, she seemingly applied the medicine with a sudden jerk right in the middle of Will’s wound.
“It hurts—Iaar, be gentler—Hiss—”
“R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-right! I’m so sorry!”
