Two years had passed since Daz and Madison had started going to elementary school, and it was currently the middle of summer vacation.

Daz's mother had arranged a simple apartment for him to live in on the orders of her husband and a very small amount of money was transferred to his bank account every month. Rent was paid for, so this paltry sum of currency was intended to be used for food and basic living supplies.

The eight-year-old Daz opened his eyes and looked at the beautiful young face that lay before him. The six-year-old Madison was cuddled up to him in her cute bear-print pyjamas. Under Madison's own suggestion, she had moved in with Daz and the two were living together.

Such an arrangement was only possible thanks to the influence of their families and for obvious reasons, Madison's family was more than okay with such a change in her life, and Daz's family couldn't seem to care less.

Naturally, the two did nothing more than simply sleep together. After all, they were only children. At first, Daz thought nothing of it. Madison was trying to seduce him and he had allowed it, so proposing to live with him didn't bother the young Hamilio master in the slightest.

However, the usually impassive and uncaring boy had recently felt a change. Sometimes when he looked at the smiling face of Madison, his chest would feel full and warm. Other times, when he saw her cry or in pain, his chest would cramp up and he would struggle to breathe. Daz didn't like these feelings. They were unfamiliar to him and frightening.

"Mmm... Daz. Awake?" Madison rustled about in Daz's arms and lightly kissed him on the cheek.

"Yeah..." Daz pulled himself out of his strange thoughts and said, "Let's get up and have breakfast."

"... Okay..." Madison wasn't very good at waking up. Ever since she was given the freedom to sleep for more than three hours a day, she had grown to love sleep, and even if she had been tasked to seduce Daz by her family, she was still a young girl at heart and she would be lying if she said that it wasn't enjoyable to have a boy hold her and protect her while she slept.

The two got up and changed into regular clothing before entering one of the two other rooms this apartment held, the living room and kitchen.

Daz went to one of the kitchen's cupboards and took out some store brand wheat biscuits before placing them in a bowl and filling it with water from the tap. He got two spoons and then sat on the only chair that was in the living portion of the room while Madison sat in between his legs.

She pressed her back against his chest while he was meticulously stirring the wheat biscuits to moisten them with the tap water. Unfortunately, this was all Daz could afford for the two of them to have for breakfast every morning.

Ever since Madison's mother had found out that she was living with Daz, she immediately cut off all money and help that her family was giving her.

As far as Mrs McArthur was concerned, Madison living with Daz meant that she had already succeeded so she just had to wait until she was old enough to get pregnant before leaving with the young Hamilio Master's seed.

"What are you going to do today, Maddy?" Daz asked his lap's occupant while he shovelled a spoonful of the soggy wheat biscuits into her mouth.

Madison chewed the food and enjoyed the taste despite how dull it was. After all, Daz had made it for her. "Picture book. Read. You?" she mumbled after having swallowed her food.

"I'm gonna go out and see if I can pickpocket anyone. I'm getting sick of eating bland food again. Stay here until I'm back, okay?" Daz said.

Madison nodded her head and replied, "Mmm. Safe. No fight."

"I'll try, but chances are, my father would have prepared something for me. You do remember last summer vacation, don't you?" Daz's voice was full of hopelessness and defeat.

Last summer, no one had caused any trouble with Daz for the first two weeks which got his hopes up that perhaps his father had decided not to send goons after him anymore like he did at school. Unfortunately, this was nothing more than a pipe dream. On the third week, he was dragged into a back alley by several men and mercilessly beaten within an inch of his life.

Daz didn't know why his father was so cruel to him. Before he went to school, he had assumed it was normal and he didn't complain nor care. He felt no emotions. However, after meeting Madison, something had changed. It was as if a floodgate had been opened within Daz and the only thing he felt when he thought of his father was hatred. A pitch-black and evil hatred.

"Well, I'm going. It's already ten o'clock, so it's prime time for morning shoppers. Wish me luck," Daz said as he lightly and carefully slipped Madison off of him.

The small girl crawled over to a pile of children's book, mostly colouring or picture ones, and she took one from the pile. Daz had stolen these books from the local library purely for Madison because she seemed to adore them for a reason unknown to him.

"Mmm. Good luck. Love you."

"Love you too."

The two kids didn't know the true meaning behinds those words, but they said them regardless since it was what Madison had seen in some of the storybooks she'd read involving couples and Daz would be lying if he said he wasn't curious about love and its true meaning, however, he didn't have the peace of mind to worry about and explore such a thing.

Daz made his way to the marketplace at the docks of Waterford. He sat on a shipping crate and watched the street below to find a good target. Daz was no expert pickpocket nor a good swindler. After all, the boy wasn't even a decade old yet.

He couldn't see this becoming his profession in the future since he was so bad at it, but every now and then, he could succeed. Due to his very sceptical nature though, there would be days where Daz wouldn't even try to steal from a single person and would rather return home empty-handed instead of risking getting caught.

This was the main reason why more often than not, the two children had to make do with the tiny amount of money that Daz got from his mother each month.

Today was another day that Daz returned with nothing, but on the bright side, he hadn't been jumped and beaten black and blue. Though this fact only scared Daz. He would rather he got beaten every day instead of having to live in fear of the eventual attack never knowing if he'd be fine the next day.

"He's started to steal, you say? Excellent. Resourcefulness is a useful trait to have. He needs to know that we are above the law, but we are not above using any and all dirty tactics at our disposal in order to succeed." Daz's father clipped the end of his cigar before a smile surfaced on his handsome face.

"Have some men visit him tomorrow. Make sure to not involve that McArthur girl. He's definitely my son. Already engaged to young Aila but he's got another bloodline ready to become his." With that, Daz's father hung up the phone and closed his eyes.

When they opened, the man's usually brown eyes had turned a bright shade of gold. "I can sense it. My instincts are howling with excitement! Our bloodline will become the best! A storm is coming, and you my boy, you are at its centre!"

Daz's father maniacally laughed to himself and after a few minutes, his eyes had returned to the usually auburn colour that they originally held. "Hmm, it might be best to have a backup plan. If I recall, the young mistress of the Seldino family has just turned sixteen? I should make her my mistress and have a second child. After all, despite his immense talent, Darenzo could still turn out to be a failure."

"Yes... The Seldino bloodline mixed with the Hamilio bloodline... I wonder, what sort of child would be born from such a mix? Ha... Ha... Hahahahaha!" An almost deranged laughter echoed out in the Hamilio estate, frightening the servants, however, once they recognised that it was the master, they resumed their work. Such behaviour was normal for the leader of one of the most powerful families in the world.