Raiju could almost envision it in his head, a happy future with Zushi by his side. But that happy image vanishes when he felt a familiar pain spread across his right eye and arm. He immediately pushed the girl out of the room.

"Go."

"Huh- but-"

"Go." Raiju snarled as he placed his hand across his eye.

The girl seemed to hesitate, but their eyes made contact, and she hurries away. Raiju quickly locked the door as he slumped to the ground.

There are many rumors about him in society, other than the common rumors regarding anybody from the Ageha family. The ones that stand out are the direct heir to the Ageha family is a genius.

Raiju knew how easily twisted words could get, but by the time he realized what was going on. That label was firmly attached to him. He is no genius; of course, he understood that better than anybody. He just happened to one day stumble on a book summoning a guardian deity. The book looked peculiar and very beautiful as a kid, so he tried it out just for interest.

He didn't expect to summon a sacred creature.

It turned out that scared creature was waiting for a host this entire time.

Back then, he didn't have a familiar, and nobody knew his aptitude for magic yet. It wasn't exactly safe to make a contract since he didn't know whether he had mana at all. But he would recall his mother's last words and her last moments. It is all or nothing.

Raiju doesn't exactly remember the process, but he does recall the desperation he felt. The desperation for him to obtain an ability and call it his own. He needs to quickly find his place in this family; otherwise, he is better off dead.

The moment he was sure Zushi had vanished, he let out a bit of his mana and took out something from his draw. It was a small needle; he inserted it on his right arm without thinking. A painful shot, but as the liquid did its work, he felt himself gradually calm down.

During times where he is alone, he ends up recalling the faces of all the people he has killed. He pressed his hand to his forehead; it was a constant battle for him every night—a constant battle to fight the war raging in his mind.

His gaze fell towards the large pile of papers on his bedside table. He extended his hand out towards the pile and took the top sheet. He did not focus on the contents but the date on the paper right-hand corner. His investigation and his plans to take over the Ageha family were proceeding well. Both sir Aaron and him have found enough evidence to bring that man down.

But they need to wait at least two more years before they could execute this—one of the reasons being his age and the other reason. Sir Aaron will officially become the head of the Zestra family. It is better to execute this plan when he becomes one of the leaders of the seven royal families.

The one who wrote this document belonged to the woman his father was collaborating with. Raiju would never have guessed that his father would allow somebody else to control him and that there was a darker force dealing with everything.

He ought to read the contents, but a part of him felt afraid if he reads it and ends up agreeing with everything. No matter how righteous he makes, his actions sound like he is still a member of the Ageha family. He is still a member of the most corrupted family in the Empire.

But what difference does it make whether he reads the documents by a monster? He is a monster too, a monster in human skin. He is the same as his father, the same as that woman he is collaborating with- and the same as all those people he killed.

No matter how many times he repeated this in his head, however, it was still painful. Why did he have to be born into the Ageha family? Moreover, as the eldest son. Why did he have to get attached to his sister? Why couldn't he have a black heart like his father?

Now that he has something precious to lose, he doubts whether he should participate in this plan or not. When Raiju shared his thoughts with Aaron before, the older man told her that he understood, but they must press on.

...…..

Raiju didn't know how he managed to sleep after that, but he managed. When he woke up to go to the dining hall, somebody stopped him, saying he had a visitor. A visitor? Raiju found it odd that anybody would visit him, considering the nature of his family. The people here have adjusted to him, but there were many who were still cautious.

It explains why if there are any urgent messages for him, they usually lead him outside.

Raiju followed the messenger, and soon they entered the lounge. His eyes widened when he saw the man calmly sipping tea while looking out of the window.

"Hey, young Rai."

His eyes twitched, annoyed. "Aaron, I thought we discussed this before. We cant meet in the open privately like this."

Raiju knew how many spies his father had around the monastery too. Even if they cannot get inside it, it won't stop them from spying. Moreover, recently he has not been able to obtain very good intel for them, so it is normal for his father to take other measures.

Aaron sighed. "Unfortunately, something urgent has happened." He pointed to the table, and Raiju walked over.

His eyes widened, horrified when he saw the several images on the table. He felt his entire body tremble. "This--"

"It seems your father is making do with what your sister can do for now. He is probably thinking that by making her do this, then her real powers will come forward."

The images on the table contained his sister Lillian getting tortured and hunted by what looked like bandits. However, Aaron could tell from a brief glance away. These people are his father's men.

"When?"

"It was after she split off from you."

At those words, he slammed his fist onto the table, causing the photos to scatter on the ground.

"You were the one who found her?"

"One of my friends from the imperial guard found her. They were scouting the area when they found a child. My friend recalled me mentioning our friendship, so he immediately contacted me."

"Where is she now?"

"I took her to the safe house. Now there is a search warrant for her since she has been missing for twenty-four hours. My friend from the imperial guard didn't speak a word about it; if he did, then there wouldn't be a search warrant."

"That man wouldn't do that." Raiju knew his old man very well. There is no way he would search for Lillian or any of his other children, even if they go missing for days.