Watching Mira leading her precious twins toward him, Leon kept smiling on the outside while cursing internally.
Just his luck...
The three of them had been chatting and laughing, but the moment they saw Leon walking toward them, they all simultaneously put on sour faces.
The atmosphere instantly went cold.
"Good day, young master, young miss, madam." Leon took the initiative to greet them with a smile.
When it came to keeping up appearances, he never gave people a chance to criticize him.
Technically he should be calling her "Mother" and them "brother and sister," but Mira and her kids refused to let Leon address them that way.
The reason was simple. They thought this bastard son wasn't worthy, and they were even ashamed of it.
What they didn't know was that Leon thought the exact same thing.
He wanted nothing to do with this family either.
On this particular point, both sides mutually despised each other. It went both ways.
The only difference was that Leon hid it inside, while Mira and her kids brazenly showed it on their faces.
"What are you doing here?" Mira frowned with her hands on her hips, looking like she was interrogating a criminal.
She had absolutely zero affection for this bastard son. Sometimes he was even like a thorn in her heart.
"Madam, I came here to bid Lord Amos farewell."
Farewell?
Mira looked puzzled.
"I'm planning to study in another city." Leon provided the explanation at just the right moment.
Hearing this, Mira's cold, harsh expression instantly melted like spring had arrived, and her face lit up with joy.
This little punk was finally getting lost!
Given Mira's status and temperament, she felt sick just seeing this illegitimate spawn of her husband's wild days. Now that he was choosing to leave, she couldn't be happier.
Even though she was technically the one who came later in the relationship timeline, this spoiled rich girl had zero self-awareness about that.
That overjoyed look on her face made Leon sneer inside.
This woman who was supposedly his mother was spoiled, temperamental, had a terrible attitude, no real skills, but plenty of petty tricks.
She and his father were actually pretty well-matched. Like a cow and a sheep pairing up.
"Going to another city? Well, you've got some sense at least. With your triple-zero level, there's really no point in you staying in the family anyway."
The silver-haired Arthur sneered mockingly, the sarcasm in his words crystal clear.
"Exactly! How could I ever compare to you, young master? You passed the warrior test at such a young age. You're truly a role model for the younger generation~"
Yeah, sure, whatever you say.
Sweet talk didn't cost anything. If Arthur wanted it, Leon didn't mind laying it on thicker.
He especially emphasized the word "warrior."
Arthur, who couldn't tell compliments from insults, was actually pretty pleased with this flattery.
Influenced by his mother, he was extremely disgusted by this half-brother who shared his father.
But every time he was in a bad mood and wanted to pick a fight, this black-haired guy who was two years older would throw some compliments his way, and by the time Arthur was feeling good about himself, the urge to start something would just fizzle out.
"Hey! Are you blind? You stepped on my dress!"
They'd already passed each other when a disgusted voice rang out again.
Seeing the blonde Rose's dark, contemptuous smile, Leon's heart went cold, but on the surface he still smiled apologetically:
"Sorry, miss. Let me clean that for you."
He was about to bend down when Rose quickly lifted her skirt with a look of revulsion:
"Don't touch me with your filthy hands! Just get lost!"
The young miss even went up two steps to put more distance between them.
Faced with these utterly insulting words, Leon showed no sign of displeasure and quickly left looking "terrified."
"Alright, kids, let's go. The four of us have an important banquet to attend at noon."
Mira hummed a tune as she led the way forward. Her mood couldn't be better.
Arthur didn't really care. Though he and his bastard half-brother lived in the same castle, going a whole year without seeing each other was completely normal.
Their upbringings from childhood had been completely different. They were in totally different worlds with absolutely no common ground.
But Rose's expression was serious, like she was thinking about something.
Arthur noticed his sister's strange mood and said:
"It's just a dress that got stepped on. I don't even see any dirt. Worst case, we'll have a servant clean it. You don't need to get worked up over a guy like that. Besides, he's getting out of here soon anyway."
"Idiot."
Shooting Arthur a sideways glance, Rose turned and went into her room, shutting the door behind her.
"You..."
Arthur's face turned red. His sister wasn't just spoiled and temperamental. Her tongue was especially vicious.
Only in front of their grandmother would she tone it down.
In her room, Rose's expression remained dark and uncertain.
Just now, that black-haired guy hadn't stepped on her dress at all.
She'd been making trouble for no reason.
If he'd argued with her and said he hadn't stepped on it, she had plenty of ways to make things difficult for him and humiliate him.
But she didn't expect this guy to immediately admit fault and take the blame for something he hadn't even done without a moment's hesitation.
"Does that Leon really have no backbone at all?"
Thinking back to his usual submissive, fawning demeanor, Rose's mind inexplicably fell into thought.
Was it cowardice and weakness, or was it...
"Hmph, haha! What am I even thinking?!"
Slapping her own head, Rose shook off those random thoughts.
That guy was a triple-zero waste when it came to primal spirit, a pathetic nobody with zero resources in the family, meek and insignificant. How else could he be besides humble and obedient?
The gap in their abilities on paper was huge as a canyon. Her brain must be malfunctioning to be randomly speculating about what that kind of guy was thinking.
Rose laughed mockingly.
She really was going crazy.
...
"Young but already so nasty."
In the hallway, thinking back to what just happened, Leon smiled with disdain.
Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and looked up. Ahead of him, a tall woman in armor with a sword at her side was walking straight toward him.
Marcia, forty-six years old, five-star warrior, Laura's loyal head bodyguard, and one of the Remington family's private guard instructors.
Mages and warriors had power rankings from one to seven stars, low to high.
As a warrior, this guard captain's strength was already pretty impressive. Arthur's martial arts training was personally overseen by her.
"Come with me. The family head has summoned you."
When she reached him, Marcia stated her business simply, then turned to lead the way. Leon followed without a word.
Leon wasn't too surprised by Marcia's arrival.
The old man had mentioned yesterday that he planned to tell Laura about Leon's departure in advance, and Leon had agreed to that.
But Leon hadn't expected his grandmother to actually send her trusted aide to personally invite him over.
Laura Remington. That grandmother of his was the only person in this family Leon was actually somewhat wary of.
Capable, calculating, and ruthless enough.
Back when Laura married down to his grandfather Jonas, it wasn't because of love. Her play was about splitting off from the family and consolidating assets.
Laura had two older brothers. When she got married, she took some assets as her dowry, and with those assets, she gradually revived and absorbed the dying Drake family.
Meanwhile, her two brothers spent nearly ten years fighting over the Remington family inheritance, going at each other tooth and nail.
But what nobody expected was that when the two of them had worn each other down to exhaustion from their death match, Laura made her move.
She'd revived the Drake family, quietly built up strength for years, then when the two tigers were tired from fighting, she swept in with overwhelming force and swallowed everything.
Strike when least expected, and make it count.