Stubborn Father and Son X Stubborn Brothers

"Heh heh heh, the chick has grown wings and thinks he's tough..."

In the dim, small bedroom, Maha rocked in his rocking chair, listening to the cartoon with a faint smile. For a fleeting moment, his ears seemed to enlarge significantly before instantly snapping back to their original size—a truly astonishing sight.

On the television, Stubborn Father and His Stubborn Son was playing...

The father and son were locked in a heated argument over a toy, and seeing that he couldn't win the verbal spar, the father reached for the belt at his waist...

"Creeeak~" The door opened, and Zeno, with his signature shock of white hair, pushed in a small dining cart.

"Grandfather seems to be in a good mood today."

The cart stopped and the lids were lifted. Aside from the Beef Bourguignon and vegetable soup with soaked bread that the old man usually enjoyed, there was an extra plate of Minced Meat Eggplant.

"The kitchen tried a new recipe today, said it was invented by that kid Roy... Since you like it, Grandfather, I brought a plate over."

Zeno had just tasted it in the kitchen; the flavor was indeed excellent, something he had never experienced before.

"Heh heh... This old man has really made it today, having a busy man like you serving me meals. Incredible... simply incredible..."

Maha feigned a light nap, his eyes fixed on neither the food nor the person, humming as he rocked back and forth...

To the side, Zeno wasn't annoyed. He ladled out a bowl of vegetable soup, tore the bread into strips to soak in it, and acted as if he hadn't heard the sarcasm dripping from the old man's words. He moved behind Maha and began to knead his shoulders.

"Kikyo was poisoned. It was done by the new butler."

"Silva had it investigated. The culprit had a clean background, a simple and honest person with no deep-seated grudges against our family. It was purely a coincidence..."

"You know, Grandfather, a family like ours isn't afraid of being targeted; what we fear are these kinds of coincidences."

Zeno offered a rare explanation, his long, slender hands working from Maha's neck down to his shoulder blades. Maha let out another comfortable hum...

"So, after all that, you're just worried about the 'curse' coming to pass?"

Maha straightened his back to let Zeno reach his spine, squinting his eyes as he said hollowly, "If it's a disaster, you can't hide from it. Worrying is useless..."

"Grandfather is right."

"I'm not teaching you anything. I just find you annoying."

"Do you find Roy annoying?"

"That's my darling grandson. Can you compare?"

"I am too..."

"You?" The old man lifted his chin and pointed toward the door: "Get out."

And just like that, Zeno was shooed out, looking rather crestfallen.

Grandfather was still the same grandfather... and for Zeno, knowing that was enough.

He didn't show a hint of anger; instead, a faint smile played 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 corridor, which was thick with the scent of time, and found himself walking toward Roy's bedroom.

Roy had just finished giving instructions to Gotoh and had picked up Snow Walk when he rounded the corner and noticed him.

He bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Grandfather."

The boy's black hair hung down, thick and lustrous under the morning glow... He looked just like Zeno had in his youth, giving him a fleeting illusion that he had returned to those green, vibrant years.

The very years he missed infinitely every time he woke from a dream...

"Hmm." Zeno looked Roy up and down, his gaze lingering on Snow Walk for a moment before he let out a noncommittal grunt and walked past him.

"The blade in your hand is good, but it's a pity it followed a lousy master. He offered me a hundred million to kill his master, but I didn't think it was worth the price, so I killed him instead. I hope it won't follow the wrong person this time..."

Flash... Flash... Zeno walked away with his back to Roy, his steps so swift they felt like teleportation, and he soon vanished from sight.

Roy had heard Gotoh mention the history of Snow Walk. He stroked the blade, standing in place for a while until the red morning sun hit his neck... The boy then moved, turning away from the direction Zeno had left, and headed toward the training hall.

The morning routine remained the same, and Luke, the butler in charge of the electric shocks, was already in position.

Seeing Roy push the door open and enter, he swapped the 500,000-volt baton at his side for a million-volt one.

"The Master said that starting today, the young master's training volume will be doubled." Luke bowed to Roy as usual.

Roy looked at him calmly and said, "Wasn't the morning training canceled?"

Gotoh had just said they would be testing their Nen categories this morning; he didn't believe Luke was unaware of this.

"Only Illumi-sama is exempt from training. You, however..." Luke was concise.

Roy gave him a long, deep look, then suddenly sensed someone watching him. He whipped his head toward the window...

Silva stood silently by the window, watching him in silence. His tall, imposing frame seemed to cast a shadow that blotted out the rising sun.

In that instant, he realized—

The man had already heard his conversation with Gotoh before Gotoh even had the chance.

"So, is this the corresponding 'punishment'?"

Roy met Silva's gaze without flinching.

It felt as if electric currents were colliding in the air...

The young butler, Luke, remained caught between father and son, maintaining his bow, not daring to even breathe loudly... It was a long time before Silva finally spoke.

"What did you call me?"

"Father."

"That is not what you said at dawn."

"You are well aware that was dawn," Roy took a deep breath, letting the sunlight leap over Silva's head to spill across his face, and added, "It is morning now."

Silva remained silent, and after a moment, said, "Give me the electricity."

Luke received the order, straightened his back, and grabbed the electric baton. He offered a "my apologies" to Roy before thrusting the baton into Roy's chest.

"Zzzzt~" Electric arcs flickered...

A million volts of electricity poured down. Roy's mouth could be seen twitching, and his body began to convulse.

Yet he remained standing straight, stubbornly forcing himself not to collapse, his gaze fixed defiantly on Silva.

Until—

He fainted.

Nine o'clock in the morning.

Roy slowly drifted back to consciousness...

It turned out that once knocked unconscious by electricity, there was no way to switch into "deep sleep" mode.

When he realized he was not in the ancestral hall, but still lying on the floor of the training room... Roy rasped at Luke, who was feeding him water, "How long was I out?"

"Reporting to Young Master, thirty-three minutes."

Has it been that long...

Roy tilted his head to look out the window. The sunlight was steaming the earth, casting down a wave of heat, but... Silva's shadow was nowhere to be seen.

He struggled to crawl up from the floor, staggered back a few steps, and plopped back down, his body clearly unable to keep up with his recovering consciousness.

"Careful, Young Master, don't crush Young Master Illumi." After Luke finished feeding Roy, he hurriedly reminded him.

Only then did Roy notice something soft beneath him, so he looked down...

Illumi was lying on the ground, his long, straight black hair now a frizzy afro.

"Why is he here?"

"Young Master Illumi came to the training room after finishing his Nen type test. Hearing that you had switched to an electric baton, he insisted on doing the same. I had no choice but to agree, and so... as you can see..."