After the emotional reunion, Aether went inside the mansion with his mother and siblings.
Before entering, he told the Left Guardian to take the second carriage to the head physician.
They had borrowed two carriages from Windmere Village. One was for Aether and the Left Guardian, and the other was for the ten-year old girl Aether had saved from the cultists who almost killed her.
After the fight, the mages used healing magic on her, but it didn't help much. So, for better treatment, Aether brought her to the Noctvain family.
As instructed, the Left Guardian took the carriage to the head physician's chamber.
* * *
After using too much power, Aether slept for two whole days. When he finally woke up, he spent time with his family.
He shared meals with them, played with his little sister, and trained with the triplets.
It felt like a peaceful break after everything he had been through. He truly deserved this moment of happiness.
Later, he went to check on the girl he had rescued from the cultist.
* * *
Staff Mansion, Midnight
The staff mansion was where the workers of the Noctvain family lived.
Inside one of the rooms, a middle-aged man sat at a table, writing documents.
Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door.
Knock... knock!
'Who could it be at this hour?' the middle aged man wondered. As It was midnight.
He opened the door and his eyes widened in shock.
Standing there was Young Master, Aether von Noctvain.
The man quickly bowed and invited Aether inside. Aether, with his hands behind his back, walked in and sat on the bed.
"Young Master," the man said politely, "may I ask why you came to this humble servant's room?"
"It was you, wasn't it? You told the cultist where I was."
The man looked confused. "What are you saying, Young Master? Didn't you and the Left Guardian said that none of the cultists knew you were from the Noctvain family?"
"That's true," Aether nodded. "No cultist knew… but I never said the higher-ups didn't."
As soon as he heard those words, the man's expression froze. His polite tone disappeared.
"Young Master… do you take me for a fool?" His eyes were full of bloodlust.
He was just a normal civilian with no training in martial arts or magic. If he had learned, he would've attacked Aether right away.
But he knew Aether was stronger, so he was being cautious.
"You kidnapped me to lure my father out, didn't you?" Aether asked.
"You're crossing the line, Young Master!" the man shouted. "Didn't you run away on your own to explore the world? How could a lowly servant like me know where you were? And now you're accusing me of harming the patriarch?"
Aether stood firm. "Do you think I need proof?"
"Damn you!" the man shouted.
He lost control and threw a punch at Aether.
But before it could land on Aether.
Slash!
His arm was cut off. Blood sprayed everywhere.
"Aaaaaaaaaa!"
His scream echoed through the entire Noctvain staff mansion.
The staff members rushed over to see what had happened, but what they saw was completely unexpected.
They saw Aether standing there, his hand covered in blood.
In his hand was a blade made of pure mana. it was called a Hand Blade.
When someone masters the art of mana control, they can create a blade from mana itself. It's not very durable in the lower realms, but it's still deadly.
And the middle-aged man… was just an ordinary human.
"Young Master!?"
The staff members were shocked. They couldn't believe the young lord had attacked a fellow staff member from the Noctvain family.
The staff members stood frozen in place.
"Aaagh!" the middle-aged man screamed in pain, his arm lying on the floor, blood pouring out.
Then Aether spoke coldly,
"Sorry to disappoint you, but the thousand men your organisation will send....my father will defeat them all alone."
"What!! How... Ekkk...who are you bastard?"
Aether grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head into the ground.
Crack!
Then, still holding his hair, Aether jumped out of the third-floor window of the staff mansion.
He dragged the man across the courtyard, straight toward the main mansion's square.
The man was screaming so loud that everyone woke up.
Everyone gathered in the main square, Aether's mother, his brothers and sister, the Left Guardian, the Vice-Patriarch, family elders, and warriors. Everyone had come to see what was going on.
His mother stepped forward.
"What are you doing, son?" she asked.
Aether pointed to the man he had dragged.
"Mother, this man is the one who helped the cultists. He told the coachman to take me to them instead of my real destination."
"Are you sure, Young Master?" the Vice-Patriarch asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. The higher-up who came to kidnap me was so strong, I couldn't do anything against him."
Aether continued,
"That's not all. Their organization did all this to lure Father out and gang up on him. Right now, he's probably fighting against a thousand men."
Hearing this, his mother's legs gave out and she fell to her knees. Worry filled her eyes.
The Left Guardian, also deeply concerned, asked, "If the Patriarch is in danger, why didn't you tell us earlier?"
Aether replied,
"I just found out while I was questioning this man."
Aether's mother stood up and walked toward the middle-aged man.
She raised her hand. Purple mana began to glow around it.
Then, without hesitation, she thrust her hand into the man's head.
The man screamed in pain as blood blurred his vision.
"Aaaaaaaaekkkk!"
Aether's mother's eyes were filled with bloodlust. Even Aether took a few steps back.
She stared at the man angrily and demanded,
"Where is my husband? How many others have snuck into our household?"
The man was too scared to speak.
He looked at his fellow cultists who had hidden inside.
When they saw each other, the cultists got scared and ran like they might die.
They were afraid because they saw what Aether's mother did to the middle aged man.
Aether's mother shouted,
"Left Guardian, capture them all!"
At her command, the Left Guardian quickly moved and cut the legs of every fleeing cultist, stopping them all at once.
.
.
.
.
To be continued....