Family Conflict

Chapter Seven: Family Conflict

The main hall of Linton Manor was bright and spotless. On empty nights, moonlight silently laid a layer of silver sand across the expensive carpets.

But such opportunities were rare, because its mistress preferred to cover the walls with costly magical night pearls until dawn.

Today was no exception.

Hailan had once again invited her friends to gather at the luxurious manor.

Some gathered in small groups around the long table to enjoy the food, while others danced gracefully to pleasant waltzes on the dance floor, their close physical contact exuding an air of extravagance and decadence.

Under normal circumstances, such gatherings would continue until the east turned pale with dawn, but something had clearly gone wrong today.

The magical night pearls still cast their gentle glow, and elegant music continued to flow into every guest's ears, but none of them paid attention to those sounds they could not understand.

"Guests, today's gathering is over."

They stared at Hom in shock, unable to believe those words had come from him.

Everyone knew what kind of person Hom was.

Cowardly, incompetent, with a hat on his head taller than Linton Manor's attic. He had obtained his noble title solely through his father's death.

Other than that, he had nothing.

Yet Hom's expression was solemn now, and his entire body radiated an unshakable resolve.

"Hom! What are you talking about?"

Hailan's voice was shrill, fury written across every wrinkle hidden beneath her cosmetics.

She flung away the hand of the man she had been dancing with, then clicked toward Hom in her high heels.

"You're throwing out my friends?!"

"Hailan. That isn't what I mean." Hom's momentum instantly weakened, and he instinctively wanted to take a few steps back. But recalling something, he forcibly straightened his back. A gentle light appeared in his eyes. "Hailan, I told you already. Tonight, I'm receiving a guest, a very important guest. They can guide our future. They can bring Iris a bright future!"

"Oh? Should I apologize, then?" Hailan stood before Hom. Though she was much shorter than him, she seemed to be the one looking down on him.

"N-No."

"Is it the Emperor?"

"No."

"Is it the commander of the Knights Order?"

"No, Hailan. How could someone like that come to our home?"

"Of course I know that!"

Hailan rudely cut off Hom's timid explanation. "I'm telling you, even if the Emperor came, he wouldn't be allowed to drive my friends out of my home!"

Someone in the crowd laughed. The scattered laughter made Hom feel the gazes piercing him grow increasingly painful.

He shouted, "This is my home too! I have the right to receive my guests too!"

"Oh?" Hailan's expression suddenly calmed, and then her lips curled. "Your home? Tell me, is there even one thing in this house that you bought? Or is this house, this land beneath our feet, your property?"

Hom was about to speak, but suddenly could not think of anything to say in reply.

The furnishings here, the servants, even the land beneath his feet, were all Hailan's dowry.

Theoretically, they did all belong to her.

Indeed, he was the only outsider.

Hom looked at the people around him, and the fire in his heart suddenly went out.

"Move out tomorrow." Hailan's voice was no longer hysterical, but her tone was incomparably forceful. "Build a house in the mountains, return to your fields, whatever you want. In any case, this is not your home. This is not a place where you belong."

"Don't be like that, Hailan." The man who had danced with Hailan earlier suddenly appeared behind her, patted her shoulder, and said softly, "Mr. Lizer may have spoken impulsively, but that guest must be extremely important if they concern Iris. At a time like this, as his wife, you should support your husband and daughter."

He turned around and clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. "Everyone, tonight's banquet ends here. My deepest apologies. Next time, I will host an even more perfect banquet, I swear it in the name of the Covai Family!"

"Naville." Hailan interrupted him.

That had been her surname before marriage.

"Fine, fine, Covai and Naville." Mr. Covai smiled and continued shouting, "Now, everyone can go home, soak in a hot bath, forget the day's troubles, and have sweet dreams in velvet beds!"

The onlookers responded with laughter and followed his suggestion, leaving Linton Manor under the servants' guidance.

"I'm sorry to trouble you." Hailan clasped Covai's hands in both of hers and gazed at his fairly handsome features. "If it weren't for you, they would have laughed me to death."

Then she abruptly turned back and loudly scolded Hom, "Why aren't you apologizing to Mr. Covai?! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me?!"

Hom's lips trembled as his furious eyes glared straight at his affectionate wife and the outsider.

If he could, he wanted to smash that man's face with a punch. But he knew he could not do it—or rather, he did not believe he could.

"Calm down, Hailan." Covai still wore that gentle smile. "Don't let such trivial matters anger you into ruining your face."

"Ah!" Hailan hurriedly touched her face. The wrinkled texture beneath her fingertips was painfully obvious.

She was no longer young. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes had become increasingly distinct, and only makeup requiring hours of preparation could hide them.

"How could I show such an ugly side of myself before you?" There was unexpectedly a hint of sobbing in Hailan's voice.

This was a vulnerability Hom had never seen from her.

"It's all right. Go back to your room and touch up your makeup first." Covai smiled meaningfully. "We have plenty of time."

"Mhm." Hailan lowered her head and murmured in agreement. If her foundation had not been so thick, a frightening blush would likely have been visible on her face.

Then she turned and walked up the stairs toward her room on the second floor, never once looking at Hom.

It was as if he did not exist at all.

"All right, Mr. Lizer, don't look at me like that." Covai found himself a seat, casually picked up a cup of black tea, and gestured for Hom to sit across from him. "Sit down and rest for a while."

Hom gave him a cold look but did not move.

Covai did not particularly care and merely chuckled. "This is the first time I've seen Mr. Lizer like this. No longer hiding in his study, but choosing to resist. It seems this guest connected to Iris truly is important."

When he said Iris's name, Covai put slightly more emphasis on it.

"Of course!" Hom was indeed stirred. His voice carried a trace of excitement. "With their guidance, Iris will certainly accomplish great deeds in the Flower Knights. Her life will be smooth sailing from then on!"

Covai was surprised by Hom's fervor, but also found it somewhat amusing.

He stood and slowly bowed to Hom. "Then I'll thank you on Iris's behalf."

"Iris doesn't need to thank me, and besides—" For the first time in his life, Hom flew into a rage. "What right do you have to thank me on behalf of my daughter?!"

"Your daughter?" Covai burst into laughter. "Sorry, but she won't be soon."

"Hailan had already planned to divorce you and end this awful relationship. She will take all the property, including custody of Iris. After all, Iris is the future star of the Knights Order. How could she be tainted by her family background? What you did just now will probably speed up Hailan's decision. Let me calculate... How many days can you remain Iris's father?"

Covai suddenly acted as if he had just realized something and snapped his fingers. "One day!"

"Bastard!!"

Hom's fury was finally ignited, and his reason burned fiercely as fuel.

He grabbed an expensive candlestick beside him and charged at Covai like a knight storming a battlefield, trying to send the beast destroying his family to the hell where he belonged.

But unfortunately, though Covai's family held only the title of viscount as well, it had been passed down for generations. They were genuine nobles.

And elite noble education generally included swordsmanship and other physical training.

Though Covai's combat skills were not exceptional, he was young and strong. Teaching a lesson to a middle-aged man who had not exercised for more than a decade was more than easy for him.

He casually evaded Hom's reckless charge, elegantly seized his wrist, and extended a foot to knock him to the floor like a cat playing with a mouse.

The entire process was effortless. Even the black tea in his hand did not ripple.

"How ugly, Mr. Lizer." Covai crouched down, looking at Hom's face twisted in pain, and said softly, "Accept reality. I'll take good care of Iris and help her climb, step by step, the ladder toward the stars in the Knights Order. Isn't that exactly what you wanted to do but couldn't?"

Hom painfully opened his eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

"Of course, for myself!" Covai said as if it were obvious. "If Iris weren't the future star of the Knights Order, why would I approach that woman whose youth and beauty had long faded?"

"A viscount's title isn't hereditary, and my family has declined. I can't guarantee that this noble crown will fall onto my head, so I have to find some way. Iris is highly valued in the Knights Order. If I can forge even a slight connection with her, then even a pig from the fields can eat royal feed."

"Do you, as her father, know about Iris's achievements in the Knights Order? It seems you don't." Seeing Hom's widened eyes, Covai smiled again. "What a fine father you are, Mr. Lizer. Then let me tell you."

"There are one hundred and seventy-two knight trainees in total, and Iris ranks first in both her mastery of knight skills and her academic scores. Always first! Not only that, according to the Knights Order's scoring standards, she received perfect scores in every subject! Since the Knights Order established its trainee assessment system, she is the only person to achieve such results."

"So do you understand what kind of genius daughter you have, Mr. Lizer?" As Covai spoke, he suddenly slapped Hom across the face. "Yet she still hasn't been officially admitted to the Knights Order. Do you know why? Because of you two!!"

"What?" Hom's face was full of disbelief.

He had always believed his daughter was outstanding, but he had never heard that she had achieved such results.

Covai continued, "She protects your reputation fiercely. Whenever she hears any bad news about you, she charges in with her knight's sword without hesitation. As a result, she is punished repeatedly and still cannot become an official knight."

"Yet you two don't seem to care about her efforts at all."

"So give Iris to me. I'll make her the most dazzling Iris flower in the Knights Order—bearing the surname of the Covai Family."

"Never!"

Hom, who had silently been gathering strength all this time, suddenly sprang up. Taking advantage of Covai's distraction, he shoved him to the ground, then picked up the candlestick that had fallen nearby and smashed it viciously toward his head.

Covai had not expected the old man to resist. His momentary carelessness left him with a bloodied head.

Now he could not care about elegance. Hostility filled his heart as he grappled with Hom in a dizzy haze.

The two tore at each other, using fists and feet alike, hurling anything they could grab at one another.

Including sharp objects.

"Pfft—"

The scarlet, scalding blood made it difficult for Covai to open his eyes, but no matter how muddled his head was, he could tell what he had done.

Half of a silver table knife had sunk into Hom's left ribs. The fresh blood pumped by his heart no longer flowed through his arteries to his body, but slowly soaked Covai's luxurious sleeve through the knife.

"I killed someone..."

Covai avoided Hom's wide, furious eyes and raised his bloodstained hands tremblingly.

"I need to throw him out before Hailan returns. The servants went to see off the guests. I have time, I have time. As long as no one finds out..."

It was too late.

"Bang—"

The exquisitely crafted wooden door, covered in elaborate patterns, was pushed open. Pale moonlight reflected on the girl's face, and Covai could clearly see the expression on her beautiful features shift from confusion to terror, then into towering rage.

"Father!!"

"I'll kill you!!"

Iris did not know what had happened, but she did not need to know every detail.

The result was right before her eyes.

A table knife was embedded in her father's ribs, while the man beside him had blood all over his hands.

Who the murderer was was obvious at a glance.

Iris grabbed a chair. Her footsteps shifted fluidly, as though flowers bloomed between her steps.

Knight Sword Skill: Variable Slash

Though the weapon in the girl's hand was not a knight's sword, after countless duels in the Knights Order, she had long been able to wield anything she could hold as a weapon. The sword skill she had honed for so long came effortlessly to her.

Covai was merely an ordinary man. Facing slashes that could carve him into eighteen pieces, he had no room to react. He could not even observe Iris's movements.

"Crack—"

Covai's raised left arm instantly fractured as he tried to block. The soul-piercing pain forced a cry from him, but the moment his mouth opened, a black boot slammed directly into his face.

His nose bridge shattered. His lips split like spiderwebs. His eyeballs were bloodshot, seemingly about to burst. Almost none of his facial features remained intact.

Iris did not look at Covai's miserable state. She merely hurriedly tossed aside the chair and, with trembling hands, carefully touched her father's rough face.

Cold. Completely lifeless.

Only his eyes, still filled with anger, seemed to retain a trace of light, refusing to close for a long time.