“I see.”
Hearing Lanier's words, Tyr didn't have much of an emotional reaction; he simply nodded calmly.
“You're not surprised?”
Lanier was surprised by Tyr's reaction. He had imagined what Tyr's reaction would be upon learning about his background.
Shock, joy, excitement, or some other emotion—but he had never expected Tyr to just nod calmly and say, “I see.”
What was that supposed to mean?
“Actually, I guessed it a long time ago. Our family doesn't look like a normal commoner family at all.”
For one thing, the cultivation method for Magic Circles wasn't something ordinary commoners could get their hands on. Then there were all the books in the house, the etiquette his father and mother had taught him since childhood, and the naturally noble and elegant aura his parents exuded.
“I see. Then it seems that even if you knew we belonged to House Callis, you wouldn't be too surprised.”
Looking at his son, Lanier let out a sigh. Although he had always known his son's intelligence far surpassed those of his age, he couldn't help but marvel at it every time this happened.
“Huh? What? House Callis?!”
This time, Tyr's expression finally changed, his eyes filled with shock.
Although he had thought his family might be nobility, he never expected that they actually belonged to House Callis, one of the empire's four grand ducal families.
“Oh my, I thought you'd just calmly say 'I see' even if you knew our family was House Callis.”
Seeing the change in Tyr's expression, Lanier's lips curled up. Trying to act all mature at such a young age.
“How could that be possible?”
Tyr said, completely speechless at his father's teasing look.
The Kester Empire was ruled by six great families.
They were: the imperial family in the center of the empire, House Christie.
The Holy Family near the southwest of the imperial center, House Aglaia.
The Sword Family ruling the east of the empire, the Grand Ducal House of Callis.
The Spirit Master family ruling the west of the empire, the Grand Ducal House of Heronia.
The Mage family ruling the south of the empire, the Grand Ducal House of Kairos.
The Warrior family ruling the north of the empire, the Grand Ducal House of Orlando.
He had thought he was just an ordinary second-generation noble, but now he was being told he belonged to a top-tier grand noble house?
“Being born into House Callis is indeed a blessing, but the competition within House Callis far exceeds that of other families.”
Mentioning this name again brought back long-forgotten memories to Lanier's mind.
Lanier then went on to explain the affairs of House Callis to Tyr.
The Sword Family, House Callis, was a family with incredibly powerful talent in swordsmanship. They were the strongest swordsmen on the continent.
However, unlike other families, the method of inheriting the position of family head in House Callis was far more brutal.
The heir of House Callis was not chosen from among the Grand Duke's own children, but from all children of the same generation who possessed Callis blood.
Once a family member turned eight, they would be sent to a fortress called the Sword Prison.
There, they would receive all of House Callis's teachings regarding the sword, undergo training, carry out missions, and step by step, become candidates for the title of Grand Duke.
When the deadline arrived, the battle for the position of family head would begin. The final victor would become the heir of the Grand Ducal House of Callis.
And the struggle for the head of the family was always accompanied by slaughter and bloodshed. This was true even for ordinary great nobles, but the Grand Duke of Callis would have far more of his siblings' blood on his hands.
Lanier was once one of the strongest contenders for the title of Grand Duke in the previous generation. However, he grew weary of the slaughter among his siblings, so he left House Callis and voluntarily withdrew from the struggle for succession.
Additionally, Tyr learned from Lanier that his mother was the third young lady of the Holy Family, House Aglaia.
After finding out his father was from House Callis, Tyr wasn't surprised that his mother came from House Aglaia.
His father was a young master of the Grand Ducal House of Callis, so why wouldn't it be possible for his mother to be a young lady of House Aglaia?
“So next, I'll be taken to House Callis's Sword Prison?”
Tyr now understood what was happening. Just a few days ago, he had celebrated his eighth birthday.
Speaking of which, he had only just turned eight a few days ago, yet the people from House Callis had already tracked them down. Could it be that their family had been living under the watchful eyes of House Callis all this time?
“Don't worry, Dad. If anything really happens, worst-case scenario, I'll just run away like you did.”
Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is the best. He knew this one very well.
Lanier shook his head helplessly upon hearing Tyr's words. Things were not that simple.
In that position, how could it be so easy to leave whenever you wanted?
Even if you wanted to back out, would others just stand by and watch you leave?
If you said you had no designs on the position, would they believe you?
To make one's own choice under such circumstances, what was ultimately needed was one's own sufficiently powerful strength, and the sword in one's hand.
There were two reasons why Lanier had been able to leave and live so freely outside for so long.
On one hand, Lanier's strength was great enough. He and the current Grand Duke were evenly matched. If the two of them were to fight by force, there was a very high probability of mutual destruction.
This was not a good thing for House Callis, so Lanier's withdrawal back then was tacitly permitted by the family.
Otherwise, after consuming so many resources from House Callis, if you wanted to leave at a critical moment, how could the family ever agree?
House Callis's knights and enforcement squads were not to be trifled with.
On the other hand, the current Grand Duke of Callis was an extremely proud man.
He firmly believed that the sword in his hand could shatter all obstacles, and any conspiracies or schemes were nothing but clay and straw before his blade.
Therefore, after Lanier gave up the succession struggle and voluntarily left House Callis, he did not send anyone to trouble Lanier.
Honestly, a large part of why Lanier chose to directly leave House Callis back then was because he understood the current Grand Duke's personality.
If the current Grand Duke had been an insidious and cunning man who could only rest easy by eliminating everything, then no matter how much Lanier disliked House Callis's succession struggle, he would have fought to the very end.
But there was no use talking about it now. Because just as Sir Adel had said, if he used forceful means to keep Tyr, then the next one to come would very likely be the Grand Duke of Callis himself.
“Go on out and play for now. This is probably one of the few times you'll have to relax for a long time to come.”
Lanier patted Tyr's shoulder, letting him enjoy his last moments of ease and comfort before heading to House Callis.
At the same time, he was also letting Tyr say goodbye to his friends here.
Once they parted this time, whether they would ever meet again remained unknown.
Rate on N.U.
