"Oh ho ho, the child has grown up and their wings are strong..."
In the dimly lit small bedroom, Maha rocked in the rocking chair, smiling as he listened to a cartoon. At a certain moment, it seemed as if his ear suddenly enlarged for a moment and then instantly returned to normal, which was quite surprising.
At this moment, the TV was showing "The Stubborn Father and His Stubborn Son"...
The father and son were arguing fiercely over a toy, and seeing that he couldn't win the argument, the father was about to pull out the belt from his waist...
"Creak~" The door sounded as Zeno, with flaunting white hair, pushed a small dining cart into the room.
"Grandfather seems to be in a good mood today."
The dining cart stopped, and the lid was lifted, revealing Maha's usual favorite—red wine braised beef with vegetable soup soaked bread, along with an additional plate of minced eggplant.
"The kitchen came up with a new dish today; it was invented by that rascal Roy... Since Grandfather likes it, I brought up a plate."
Zeno had just tried it in the kitchen; the taste was indeed good, a flavor he had never experienced before.
"Ho ho... This old man, I'm really something today, for you, such a busy person, to serve me a meal, incredible... incredible..."
Maha pretended to doze, ignoring both the dishes and the person, humming as he rocked in the chair...
Beside him, Zeno wasn't annoyed at all. He served a bowl of vegetable soup, tore the bread into strips to soak in the soup, pretending not to notice the sarcasm in Maha's words, while moving behind Maha to give him a shoulder massage.
"Killua was poisoned; it was done by the new housekeeper."
"Silva had it investigated. The culprit has a spotless background, a sincere person, and there's no deep-seated hatred with our family. It's purely coincidental..."
"Grandfather, you know well, families like ours are not afraid of being targeted, but of such coincidences."
In a rare occurrence, Zeno explained a few things, his slender hands massaging from Maha's neck to his shoulder blades, making Maha hum comfortably again...
"In the end, isn't it about the worry that the 'curse' will come true?"
Maha straightened his back so Zeno could reach his back, and squinting, he said softly, "If it's a calamity, it can't be avoided; worrying is useless..."
"Grandfather's teaching is right."
"I wasn't teaching you, I'm just annoyed at the sight of you."
"Annoyed at the sight of Roy?"
"He's my good grandson; can you compare?"
"So am I..."
"You?" The old man lifted his chin, pointing to the door, "Get out."
Next, Zeno was escorted out, crestfallen.
Grandfather is still the same... For Zeno, that's all he needed to know.
He didn't seem angry at all; instead, there was a faint smile on his lips as he stood outside the old man's door for a moment...
Then, with his hands behind his back, he strolled through the time-worn corridors, unconsciously heading in the direction of Roy's bedroom.
Roy, having finished instructing Wutong, picked up Yubashiri and noticed him as he rounded the corner.
He slightly bowed and respectfully said, "Grandfather."
The boy's black hair streamed down, and when illuminated by the morning glow, it looked as thick and bright as Zeno's in his youth, creating an illusion that he had returned to those vibrant years.
Times that he yearned for with infinite nostalgia whenever he awoke from dreams...
"Hmm." Zeno looked up and down at Roy, his gaze lingering on Yubashiri for a moment. Then he indifferently hummed and walked past him.
"The knife in your hand is nice, but unfortunately it followed a lousy owner. He offered a hundred million for me to kill his master. I didn't think it was worth it, so I killed him instead. I hope this time it won't follow the wrong person again..."
In a flash... in a flash... Zeno walked away from Roy, creating the illusion of teleportation within a few steps, quickly disappearing from his sight.
Roy recalled hearing Wutong talk about Yubashiri's history, gently stroked the blade, and stood still for a while, until the crimson glow of dawn shone upon his neck... Then the young man moved his feet, turned away from the direction Zeno departed, and headed to the training room.
The morning routine was still training, and the housekeeper Luke, responsible for the electric shocks, was already in position.
Seeing Roy push open the door and come in, he switched the five-hundred-thousand-volt electric stick for a million-volt one by his side.
"The master said, from today, young master's training volume is doubled." Luke, as usual, bowed to Roy.
Roy looked at him calmly and said, "Wasn't the morning training canceled?"
Wutong had just mentioned that morning would be used to test their Nenryoku system; he didn't believe that Luke was unaware of this.
"Only Illumi doesn't need to train, but you do..." Luke stated succinctly.
Roy gave him a deep look, suddenly noticing someone was spying on him. He abruptly turned to look outside the window...
He saw Silva standing silently by the window, his tall frame seemingly casting a shadow over the newly risen sun.
At that moment, he suddenly understood—
The other party had overheard his conversation with Wutong before Wutong could even tell him.
'So, is this the corresponding 'punishment'?' Roy didn't mince words, making unflinching eye contact with Silva.
The air seemed to crackle with electricity...
Young housekeeper Luke, caught between father and son, maintained his bowing posture, not daring to make a sound... It was a long while before Silva spoke.
"What did you call me?"
"Father."
"That's not what you called me at dawn."
"You also know it was dawn." Roy took a deep breath, letting the sunlight cascade over Silva's head onto his face, and added, "It's morning now."
Silva remained silent for a moment, then, "Electrocute me."
Luke received the command, straightened up, picked up the electric stick, and said a quick "Sorry" to Roy before jabbing the stick into Roy's chest.
"Zzzap~" Electrical arcs flickered...
A million volts poured down, visibly causing Roy's lips to twitch, setting him trembling.
But he stood unwavering, stubbornly refusing to fall, defiantly staring at Silva.
Until—
He fainted.
....
At nine in the morning.
Roy slowly awoke...
It turned out that after being stunned, there was no way to switch to "Deep Sleep" mode.
When he realized he was not in the ancestral hall but still lying on the floor of the training room... Roy, with a dry throat, asked Luke, who was feeding him water, "How long was I asleep?"
"Half an hour and three minutes, young master."
Such a long time...
Roy turned his head to look out the window, sunlight steaming the earth, casting down heat, yet... there was no sign of Silva.
He struggled to get up from the floor, stumbled backward a few steps, and plopped back down onto the ground, obviously his body hadn't fully recovered.
"Be careful not to crush Illumi, young master." Luke, having just fed Roy water, quickly reminded him.
Roy then noticed the soft lump he was sitting on and looked down...
Illumi lay on the ground, his long, straight black hair turned into an afro.
"Why is he here?"
"Illumi tested his system and then came to the training room. Upon hearing that you switched to a different electric stick, he insisted on switching too. I had no choice but to agree, so... as you see now..."