"Hey, it's been more than a day already," pointed out one of the soldiers standing on the walls of Gryphon City. "That monster hasn't moved an inch since then."
The soldiers looked at the seven-headed monster sitting several hundred meters outside the walls. Its wings were folded and all of its eyes were closed.
"I heard that it's waiting for the second young master," said another soldier.
The soldiers looked at each other, doubt and uneasiness evident on their faces. As though they were afraid the seven-headed monster would hear them, they huddled and lowered their voices to almost a whisper.
"But is it really the second young master?"
"That's what I've been asking myself too! I once escorted the second young master to the brothels before, and I'm telling you… the one who showed up a day ago is an entirely different person!"
The huddled soldiers nodded at the last statement. They, too, found it hard to believe that it was the second young master.
"Forget the sword," a soldier said in a mocking voice, "he can't even cast a proper spell despite being taught by various magic instructors."
The soldiers snickered. Most of them had been tormented by the second young master before.
A young soldier, who'd just climbed on the battlements, ran toward them and said, "I heard some news!"
The young soldier was a known gossip. It must have been incredibly interesting news, to make the young soldier this excited.
"Lower your voice. What is it?"
"I heard from the captain himself!" the young soldier said animatedly.
"That creature outside the walls! That seven-headed monster!" There was a small pause as the young soldier gasped for air. "It's the same creature who almost wiped out the royal knights of the capital!"
For several seconds, the soldiers stared at the seven-headed creature.
Slowly, their faces drained of all color.
They'd heard that the royal knights had been almost annihilated by a monster. But never had they expected that it was the same creature sitting over there, just outside the walls.
"Y-You stupid greenhorn! Are you sure about this?!"
"There's no doubt! I heard it from the captain himself!"
The soldiers' knees wobbled. They realized they'd been stationed near a monster that had once killed dozens of people. If that monster suddenly decided to attack the city, even the Silver War God would probably be helpless to stop it.
They were truly fortunate that it had been obediently sitting there the entire time.
"H-Hey! It's moving!"
The soldiers shrieked in terror seeing the seven-headed creature had started moving. It slowly unfolded its bat-like wings. Its seven heads slowly rose as it gazed in a western direction.
Soon, they realized why the seven-headed creature had finally decided to move.
A human, who bore the characteristic traits of someone from the Marcus family, flew through the sky and quickly closed the distance. He hovered right above the seven-headed creature.
The seven-headed creature excitedly wagged its tail. In a deep voice that gave the soldiers shivers, it said, "Welcome back, God Evander."
The human chatted with the seven-headed creature for a moment, patted all of its seven heads, then flew off and landed right on top of the walls.
Some of the soldiers instinctively took several steps back. There was no doubt about it. The young man was Lark Marcus, the second young master of the Marcus family. The black sheep of the Marcus Duchy.
The soldiers, who'd been gossiping about the second young master just a while ago, froze.
The second young master seemed like an entirely different person.
"I need to speak with the duke," said Lark. "Take me there."
There was an indescribable air of authority emanating from the second young master. Out of reflex, the soldiers made a snappy salute.
"As you command!"
*** The news of the second young master's return immediately reached the duke and His Majesty. To Lark's surprise, both the duke and King Alvis greeted him at the entrance of the duke's palace. Standing behind them were Lady Ropianna, the retired General Carlos, Elias Farsight, and Lui Marcus.
"Welcome back, Lord Lark." King Alvis lightly lowered his head in greeting.
"Welcome back, my son," the duke also greeted him.
It was surreal that the duke, who was known to have disinherited the original owner of his body, was now acting so amicably with him. The way he was looking at Lark, it seemed as though he was genuinely happy he was finally back.
Lui Marcus, on the other hand, was glaring at Lark. If looks could cut, Lark would have been bisected several times by now.
"You must be tired, my son," said the duke, emphasizing the last two words of his statement. "We've prepared a hefty meal in preparation for your arrival. Come. Come."
Lark felt uncomfortable with the way the duke was treating him. He met the eyes of the king. King Alvis slowly nodded his head, wordlessly saying that he'd told his family everything.
With the duke at the lead and Lui Marcus silently following behind, they soon arrived at the grand hall. Luxurious dishes were already served on the long table. Almost a dozen servants were lined up next to the walls.
"All of them have undergone the Oath of Silence, after they were freed of their collars," the duke said after they passed the servants. "There's no need to fear any information leaking out."
"They're slaves?" said Lark.
"Former slaves," corrected the duke. "They're working here of their own volition. Please do not be mistaken."
Although the duke was treating him as though he was his son, he was definitely being more polite than usual. He even went as far as explaining such mundane things to Lark.
Lark remembered the guards who'd accompanied him all the way to Blackstone Town. Although they knew they would probably not be coming back to the Duchy, they still heeded the duke's orders to accompany his exiled son, regardless.
For some reason, the men working under the duke were incredibly dedicated and loyal.
"Slaves are efficient as a workforce, but there's a limit on what a shackled human can accomplish," said the duke. "This is why slavery has been long abolished in the Marcus Duchy."
Lark was starting to see the duke in a renewed light. Exiling his own son aside, it seemed he was a good master to his servants. A charismatic leader people unquestionably followed.
After everyone had been ushered to their seats, the feast started. The king sat at the head of the table, with Lark to his right, and the duke to his left. Next to the duke was Lui Marcus, and next to Lark was the retired General Carlos. The seating arrangement made it apparent that Lark was being treated at least on par with the duke.
"Your Majesty," said Lark, his knife slicing through the steak. "How much did you tell them?"
"Everything," the king said.
As expected, his family already knew everything. No wonder Lui Marcus had been glaring at him all this time. The duke, on the other hand, overhauled his demeanor and became amicable with Lark.
"I see," said Lark. He sighed, placed down his utensils, and stood up.
"I know a simple apology won't suffice. I don't know why I'm suddenly in this body, but…" Lark bowed his head low. "For taking over the body of your son, of your little brother—I sincerely apologize."
Heavy silence fell. The king and his retinue wore complicated gazes.
They were clearly uncomfortable seeing Lark lower his head.
The duke, on the other hand, studied Lark for a moment. He nodded.
He did not seem displeased in the slightest. On the contrary, it felt as though he was glad that Evander had taken over his son's body.
The duke said, "We heard from His Majesty. It's out of your control, Lord Evander."
"Father!" growled Lui. He abruptly stood, toppling his chair in the process. He smashed his hands against the table. "What are you saying? Out of his control! That's it?! Are we not going to ask for an explanation? A way? A cure? We should be doing everything we can to find a way to return the real Lark Marcus!"
"The real Lark is probably dead," spat Duke Drakus. "You heard the whole story from His Majesty, didn't you?" The duke raised his voice, "Sit down, Lui."
Lui didn't listen to his father. He glared at the duke, then at Lark. Lui's eyes were bloodshot, his hands curled into fists, his body quivering.
Lui looked as though he wanted to pummel Lark to the ground. He looked as though he wanted to beat him up, until the real Lark came back.
But alas, he couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to hurt one of his family members.
Lui bit his lip, creating a large cut on it. Blood flowed down his chin.
He glared at Lark and the duke one last time, then left the grand hall.
Moments after Lui left, those in the grand hall heard a loud thud sound coming from the hallway. Lui probably struck the wall with his bare fist out of sheer anger.
"Lui can be really stubborn at times," said the duke.
"You're taking this lightly, Duke," said Lark.
The duke wryly smiled. "I probably look like a heartless father to you, Lord Evander. But you've never met the real Lark Marcus. The real owner of that body is a demon spawn. A human scum that should have never been born."
Lark remained silent. He'd heard several times before how evil the original owner of his body was. Even the priest residing in Blackstone Town had been almost beaten to death by the original Lark.
"Honestly, I'm glad that you took over the body of that brat." The duke sipped his wine. "That son of mine killed some of the servants before. He beat up the soldiers he didn't like. And when he started messing even with the temple, I decided to finally exile him to that faraway town."
The duke smirked. "I would have exiled him to the Mullgray Islands had Lui not stopped me."
This was the first Lark had heard of this. He knew the original owner of his body led a hedonistic lifestyle, but he'd never heard that he'd even killed people with his own hands. After all, Gaston never brought the topic up.
"Like mother, like son," mocked the duke.
"The mother…" "Dead," said the duke. "The damn maid died after giving birth."
So many things had been cleared up from this meeting. The duke was surprisingly accepting of everything.
"I have only one thing to ask of you, Lord Evander," said the duke.
"Please consider it as"—he carefully chose his next words—"an exchange?
The only thing I ask is for you to acknowledge that you're my son, that you're a member of our ducal house."
The duke was basically asking him to remain part of the Marcus family, even after knowing his real identity. Lark believed it was a reasonable request considering he had taken over the body of the duke's son.
"Remain a member of the ducal house…" Lark pondered. "Alright."
The duke smiled, clearly pleased with Lark's answer. He said to the king, "Your Majesty, don't you have something you wish to say to him?"
The king furrowed his brows, displeased by the duke's blatant display of greed. Still, he could not find the words to admonish him.
"Lord Lark," said the king. "Or should I also call you Lord Evander?"
"Either is fine," said Lark.
"Then I'll stick with Lord Lark," said the king. He sounded as though he held a deeper attachment to that name. "I'll get straight to the point."
The king looked Lark straight in the eyes.
"Please ascend the throne. Please become the new ruler of this nation."