The Young Master in the Shadows

Theodore put down his fork and looked at Victor who also had just finished his meal.

“I Didn’t want to tell you before you finished your meal, but it is now time for you to know the truth. It’s about your fiancée Linda.” Said Theodore as he looked at his son with worried eyes.

“If you wanted to tell me that she is the one behind all the rumors, I already knew about that a long time ago.” Said Victor with a frown.

“Ah, well. I did intend to tell you about that, but there is something else.” Said Theodore with some hesitation, “When George went to arrest Titus, he found her there. She was cheating on you.” Theodore added as he took out Linda’s ID and threw it on the table in front of Victor.

“What! That b*tch ! I already knew she was a slut, but I didn't expect her to cheat on me. We have to tell grandmother.”

“I already told her,” Theodore replied.

“She would annul the engagement now, right?” asked Victor, faking his expression.

“Canceling the engagement is impossible. Mother would never allow it, even if Linda was the sluttiest woman in the world you still need to marry her.” Theodore said with a sigh. “I just want you to use this information to blackmail her to stop the rumors and stop acting like a crazy bitch. Maybe we would be able to change her status from the main wife to a concubine. That would not be easy though.” He said while squinting his eyes.

“You want me to keep that b*tch? I kept silent despite her spending the last four years defaming me. and now you want me to swallow this.” Said Victor as he looked out of the room's window as if he was really upset, he tried his best to play the role.

Victor was upset, but he knew that his family would never allow him to get rid of Linda. Family interest comes first, no matter what.

After a couple of minutes, Victor took a deep breath then looked at his father again as if he was willing to compromise.

“The b*tch would deny any accusations.” He said.

“It doesn’t matter, she only needs to know that we know, we already have Titus in our hands. Your grandmother wants you to marry her ASAP.”

Victor frowned and began to ponder as if he was considering it.

“I need some time.” He said. As he was thinking that it would be troublesome if his grandmother forced him to marry Linda. This development was beyond his expectations. It seems his grandma wants to finalize this marriage before Linda creates any more scandals.

It seems he has to upgrade and awaken his bloodline fast. If he were to be forced to consummate the marriage before that, he might lose the chance to a higher leveled bloodline.

“It’s OK, she is enrolled at the Elite Academy too. So you might get to like her. And remember, try to get as many benefits as you can. Your grandmother has given you six months to finalize this.” Theodore said.

He said, before looking at his father with hatred in his eyes. “But I need to ask about That Titus. How dare he touch my woman? I played along in the station, but what is his rank in the family, and why does he want to kill me? Would grandmother really punish him?” Victor asked.

“Titus is the grandson of your grandmother's cousin. As for why he wants to kill you, I have a vague idea. He may have acquired the Ceremony’s results and wanted to get rid of you before they are announced. He may have feared that he would lose Linda to you, as your rank far outmatches his. And don’t worry. He disobeyed my mother and although he would keep his life, It will not be a happy one.” Theodore said. ”Oh, and the ceremony’s results will be announced Three days later, I am sure your slutty fiancée will regret her little adventures when she hears that you have been granted an elite heir position. So make sure you use that to your advantage when you talk to her.” He added as he laughed loudly.

“I will talk to her at school then and try to blackmail her,” Victor said.

“Don’t try to do anything funny to annul the engagement.” Theodore looked at his son. “And never disobey your grandmother. She has instructed me to educate you on some manners. It is to make you understand the importance of this marriage contract.” Theodore added. Before clearing his throat “Do you know about the Overseers council?” he asked.

“Isn’t it the ruling council that sets and enforces the rules that govern players' behaviors? Our family holds a seat there, as far as I know,” Victor answered.

“Yes, The council has ten seats. Five for the families, Three for each of the Major Sects, One for the Minor Sects which they fight over every 10 years. And one seat for the free-players Union.” Theodore said. “The council ensured an era of peace between the powers after its creation 500 years ago.” He said then took a deep breath, “Twenty years ago, there was a power shuffle. The top two families, who were keeping the balance, lost their position at the same time and two minor families rose up to take the empty seats.” Theodore said as he looked to the ceiling thinking back to that time.

“Back then, the strongest of the families, The Von Krone, had many internal disputes erupt after their old patriarch died. It led to them to exhaust most of their resources in a pointless power struggle. So they announced that they were going into hiding until the prophesied time of reckoning comes. It was a cover, as the truth was that they were afraid that their enemies would use the opportunity to destroy them. So all their bases and properties were abandoned one day and no one knew where they went.” Theodore said.

“That must have created an imbalance in the council.” Said Victor, trying to appear wise.

“Exactly. The second most powerful family, The Von Richter, decided that it had enough of the council’s meddling in their affairs. Unlike other families, those guys were Players from birth. So they considered all other families below them. As for the common people, they decided that those are just slaves for them to slaughter. Without the power of the Von Krone curbing them, they announced that they will use all their powers to rule the world by force as that was their blood right. They launched war intending to take direct control of the states that surrounded their base. Two countries fell in one week and all the minor powers living in there were given two choices, become our slaves or die. As for the normal people, many of them were sacrificed to complete some kind of blood weapon. The council members were afraid they would come next and decided to intervene with all of their power. They won and quickly used all their power to fabricate a tale of some brutal civil war to fool the public. That family no longer exists, and to this day, there is a hefty bounty on the heads of its members, if any still exists.” Theodore said.

“And what would that have to do with my marriage?” Victor asked stubbornly.

“The new order of the five families changed. We are ranked second now. And the most powerful family, the Von Zwei, just happen to be our mortal enemy, and they have been getting strong lately as a new young patriarch was elected, and he has a huge ambition. So the family has decided to have a union with one of the two weaker families. And those families were looking for a strong ally too, but were too afraid of being swallowed.” Theodore said, “Linda’s family, The von Rosen, By chance, presented themselves as a suitable ally when Linda’s mother made a deal with us. Do you understand now? this engagement is related to the family's survival.” He asked while staring straight at his son’s sad eyes.

“Ah, I see, Can’t we just transfer the contract to one of my brothers then? Big brother Mike won’t mind her at all. Half of his concubines are former prostitutes.” Victor asked in annoyance.

“No, If we proposed a groom change at this stage, they would argue that they have the right to choose, and they are already walking too close to the white faction lately.” Theodore shacked his head as he refused.

“White faction?” Victor asked. The information about the factions was not complete in the family’s archive, it was as if someone tried to erase them on purpose.

“Ah, you don’t know. But considering your current rank in the family you should.” Theodore said as he leaned on the table as if he was going to speak about some secret. The room was soundproof though.

“Our family has three main factions, The white, the gray, and the black. We use those code names to differentiate between them. The patriarch, your grandmother and their descendants including you by default belong to the gray faction. We are a moderate faction that wants to maintain the current status quo and only intervene in the secular world as a side power. We keep to our business and they keep to theirs. The white faction, that Titus and his father belong to, are expansionists. They want to use the family power to expand the family’s influence by force. They are already creating criminal organizations all over the world. They are a light version of the Von Richter family.” Theodore spat with annoyance.

“What about the last faction?” Victor asked. He knew nothing about those.

“They are called the blacks because they want the family to hide like the Von Krone. They want us to bid our time until the “Reckoning” comes. That is just a legend, who would believe that the world would one day get destroyed and engulfed in a mega-dungeon just like that. That ancient oracle who prophesied this was a lunatic, who would believe him.” Theodore said.

Victor knew nothing about that last faction, If his predictions were correct, they may have separated from the family before the reckoning, and avoided the massacre. There may have been some hidden survivors from his family back then.

“Father, I wanted to ask you to hand over Hilda to me. She is now my house manager, and it is not appropriate to keep her as your servant” Victor suddenly asked as Theodore stood up and was probably getting ready to go meet Luna.

“Ah, yes give me your Family Token,” Theodore asked as he reached for Victor's token and touched it with his before returning it.

“She is all yours now. Tell George to drive you home. I have some business to attend to.” Theodore said as he left the room.

Victor smiled as he shook his head, the look of his father acting like a little lover boy was very amusing.

Now, He needs to get home and have a look at his spoils.