My Family in the Novel?

Chapter 221: Father and Son 3

As the tip of my sword hovered perilously close to his neck, the air crackled with tension. A few centimeters more, and I would have severed his head from his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, my voice trembling with a mixture of anger and uncertainty.

Despite the imminent threat to his life, he remained eerily calm, his eyes closed in a serene acceptance. It was baffling; as a master swordsman, he could have easily redirected my attack with a mere flick of his wrist.

Yet, he chose not to, resigning himself to his fate.

"Adrian!" Aria's voice pierced through the silence, her shock palpable as she stood beside me, witnessing the rapid escalation of events.

A sizzling sound filled the air, and I watched in astonishment as wisps of smoke began to rise from his neck.

The radiant heat emanating from the holy sword had ignited a reaction, scorching his skin with its divine power. Just a fraction more pressure, and I could have ended his treachery then and there.

The realization of how close I had come to delivering some weird sense of pride and justice sent a shiver down my spine.

Yet, even in the face of imminent danger, he remained composed, a testament to his unwavering resolve.

But as I stood there, sword poised to strike, I couldn't help but wonder—was vengeance truly the answer?

Would it bring me the closure I so desperately sought, or would it only deepen the wounds of the past?

'I don't even know what exactly happened to the two if them in the first place… as far as I knew my mother was just a stranger… yet why am I so mad?'

"Do you hate me, Adrian?" His voice cut through the charged atmosphere, his eyes slowly opening to regard me with a sense of detachment that chilled me to the bone. It was as though the chaos unfolding around us was merely a trivial inconvenience, insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Why did he bother asking such a question?

In that moment, I felt torn. Did I hate him? The knee-jerk reaction screamed 'yes,' but upon closer inspection, I realized the truth was far more complicated.

After all, was I truly Adrian? A part of me was beginning to merge with his essence, but I was still distinct, still separate.

The feelings I harbored towards him were a maelstrom of emotions—anger, resentment, confusion—tinged with a glimmer of something else.

As I hesitated, unsure of how to respond, I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me.

The weight of the holy sword in my hand suddenly felt burdensome, a physical manifestation of the turmoil within me.

With a resigned sigh, I sheathed the sword—or rather, watched as it dissipated into thin air, leaving me empty-handed.

"No... no, I don't," I finally answered, my voice barely above a whisper. Turning away from him, I made my way back to my seat, sinking down with a heavy heart.

I couldn't bring myself to meet his gaze, the conflict raging within me still too raw, too overwhelming to confront head-on.

In that moment, I was acutely aware of the tangled web of emotions swirling within me—both familiar and foreign, comforting and unsettling all at once.

As I grappled with the turmoil in my mind, I couldn't help but feel a sense of profound confusion creeping in, the boundaries between Adrian's past and my present blurring with each passing moment.

This was getting dangerous.

[Warning...!]

[Warning...!]

The warnings flashed relentlessly, urging me to regain control of my fraying emotions. Each notification felt like a jab, a reminder of the precarious situation I found myself in.

Fuck this assimilation…

'When are you going to let me completely devour you, Adrian'

I thought that he's soul was gone back at the academy but now it's resurfacing back…

The merging of our identities had become a relentless tug-of-war, a battle for dominance that threatened to consume us both.

I couldn't help but scoff at the irony of it all. Being emotional had never been my forte, yet here I was, drowning in a sea of conflicting feelings that I couldn't begin to untangle.

[Warning...!]

[Users persona is shaking]

[Warning...!]

'Yeah, yeah…' I muttered under my breath, swatting away the incessant warnings like pesky insects.

The blue screens that kept popping up only served to exacerbate my growing irritation.

For now, I knew I needed to calm down, to regain some semblance of control before things spiraled even further out of hand.

"Adrian, are you alright?" Aria's voice cut through the haze of my thoughts, her concern evident as she approached me cautiously. But seeing the troubled expression on my face, she halted in her tracks, choosing instead to take her seat.

"Yeah, I'm fine… sorry for scaring you," I replied, though the words felt hollow even to my own ears.

Aria's skepticism was palpable, but she nodded slowly, opting to respect my space. I couldn't help but feel a pang of gratitude towards her for her understanding, even amidst the chaos that threatened to consume me.

The turmoil within me refused to abate, a relentless storm churning in the depths of my mind.

Each emotion—anger, confusion, fear—clawed at the walls of my consciousness, refusing to be ignored.

It was sickening, nauseating, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was on the brink of something far more dangerous than I could ever have imagined.

And so, a heavy silence enveloped us, thick with tension and unspoken words.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The air seemed to constrict around us, suffocating in its stillness. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, feeling the weight of the awkwardness settle over us like a suffocating blanket. Family drama was the worst, always leaving me feeling like I was walking on eggshells, unsure of how to navigate the minefield of emotions that lay before me.

I glanced at Aria, her expression a mix of surprise and discomfort mirroring my own. She was at a loss for words, just as I was, and the Duke... well, he remained stoic and unreadable as ever.

Why did family relationships have to be so complicated?

I couldn't help but wonder as I listened to the rhythmic ticking of the wall clock beside us, each second stretching into an eternity of discomfort.

'it's even getting more complicated than the relationship I have with my true family…

God, I despised this family, or more accurately, I despised the Duke.

Couldn't he make an effort to mend the rift between us? Couldn't he see how his actions had torn us apart?

Just as I was about to resign myself to the suffocating silence, a voice cut through the tension like a knife.

"Adrian..."

I turned to face him, my jaw clenched in frustration. Of course, he would break the silence with that stern demeanor of his, as if nothing had happened. But the burn mark on his neck served as a stark reminder of the turmoil simmering just beneath the surface.

I met his gaze with a steely resolve, refusing to back down. I had no intention of engaging in idle small talk, not after everything that had transpired.

'I mean it's kind of embarrassing to face him…. Haah fuck me'

He seemed to sense my reluctance, but pressed on nonetheless, his words hanging heavy in the air like a dark cloud on the horizon.

"I won't say I'm sorry... that is a fact that I want you to live with," his words hung heavy in the air, laden with a sense of finality. It was a bitter pill to swallow, the acknowledgment that an apology would never come. The past was etched in stone, unchangeable and immutable. Yet, despite his refusal to repent, there was a glimmer of hope in his next words, a promise of redemption.

"What happened in the past has already happened. I can't change it, but I will try to be better," he continued, his voice tinged with a hint of sincerity. It was a small consolation, but it was something.

As he reached into his pocket, my muscles tensed instinctively, bracing for whatever revelation awaited.

"I will refrain from mentioning your mother from now on," he declared, and just the mention of the word "mother" sent a surge of anger coursing through my veins.

My fists clenched involuntarily, betraying the turmoil raging within me. He paused, allowing me a moment to collect myself, to quell the storm threatening to consume me.

"Adrian Vulter Tellus, do you remember this?" he asked, and as he produced a ring from his pocket, a wave of disorientation washed over me.

The ring bore a unique wolf-like design, reminiscent of the family insignia, and as I gazed upon it, pain and memories long buried began to surface.

My head was ringing…!

It was a memory I had chosen to forget, a time of pain and isolation.

A time when I felt like a stranger in my own home, alienated from my siblings and disconnected from the warmth of familial love.

The ring in his hand, its familiar weight and intricate design, stirred memories long buried beneath the sands of time.

It wasn't just any ring; it was Siena's—a symbol of the bond we shared, forged in the fires of childhood innocence and unconditional love.

He had gifted it to me years ago, a gesture of affection that I had since forgotten amidst the tumult of our fractured relationship.

"That is Siena's…" I whispered, the words heavy with a mixture of sorrow and longing.

That's right I remember now….

Siena—my aunt, my protector, my confidante—her presence loomed large in my memories, a beacon of light in the darkness that had often enveloped my world.

But why was she involved in all of this? The question hung in the air, unanswered and unsettling for a moment.

It didn't take long before I got my answers though as a couple of memories with her resurfaced.

"Adrian, stop that," her voice echoed in my mind, a gentle reprimand for my childish antics.

"Hey, I told you not to run," her words were laced with affection, a playful scolding for my mischievous behavior.

"Catch me if you can," my laughter echoed through the market square as I darted between stalls, Siena close on my heels.

"Seriously, what should I do with you?" her exasperation was tempered by the warmth in her eyes, a testament to the love that bound us together.

"Hehehe, Aunt, you look like poop," my innocent teasing earned me a playful swat on the head, a testament to our closeness.

And then, the memory shifted, darkening like storm clouds on the horizon.

"I'm sorry," her voice trembled with emotion, tears glistening in her ashen gray eyes that mirrored my own.

"Please don't leave, Aunt Siena...!" I pleaded, my heart aching with the fear of abandonment as she slowly turned away, disappearing into the shadows of my past.

The pain of that moment was still raw, a wound that refused to heal despite the passage of time.

Memories regarding Siena seemed to resurface as heart clenched with every scene in my mind.

Tears involuntarily escaped my eyes… hahaa I really am becoming Adrian now.

"This was the last thing Siena, your aunt, left me with before she left you with me," the Duke's voice echoed with a solemnity that sent shivers down my spine.

His words hung heavy in the air, each syllable laden with a weight I couldn't fully comprehend.

As he spoke, I could feel the tendrils of destiny tightening around me, binding me to a fate I had never asked for.

"It is proof, a token that you belong to my house," he continued, his tone measured and deliberate.

"Right now, your very blood is being bound tight into this ring, binding you to the family of Tellus. I gave it to you when you were young, knowing full well you wouldn't know its meaning. And I was right, as you just chose to neglect it."

Suddenly, his hands clenched into fists, and a crackling surge of electricity danced across his palms.

My heart skipped a beat as I watched in horror, convinced that he had destroyed the ring in a fit of rage.

But to my astonishment, as he opened his hands, the ring remained unscathed, gleaming defiantly in the dim light of the room.

With a swift motion, he tossed the ring to me, and I caught it reflexively, my fingers closing around its familiar weight.

"Adrian Vulter Tellus, from this moment forth, you are no longer a Tellus," his words reverberated in the silence, final and irrevocable. "I hereby excommunicate you from the family... You are free now."

"…."

"…."

'HUH?'

Even Aria was making the same confused face as me.

As he rose from his seat, a sense of finality settled over the room like a shroud.

Then after that.

He, spoke of his plans to stay for a few more days, to discuss matters beyond the boundaries of the holy kingdom and to address my newfound role as the hero, a delegate of the empire.

As the door clicked shut behind him, leaving me alone in the suffocating silence of the room, a whirlwind of questions churned in my mind, each more bewildering than the last.

Why the hell did he just do that?

Excommunicate me?

What the actual hell?

Why the fuck would he suddenly do that?

Is he even allowed to do that?

Doesn't such a drastic action require some sort of official decree or validation?

Even if he's the duke… but still!

And what about the emperor's orders to sway me?

Wasn't I supposed to be his pawn in some grand political game?

But then, why did he wear such a satisfied expression in the end? Sure, he may have tried to hide it behind his usual stoic facade, but I could see right through him.

There was a sense of triumph in his demeanor, a smugness that irked me to no end.

Am I supposed to feel relieved?

Happy, even?

Damn it, I'm more confused now than ever before.

And why the hell is he just leaving like that? Walking out as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened, as if he didn't just sever ties with his own blood? It's infuriating!

I slammed my fist against the nearest surface, frustration boiling over in a surge of anger and confusion.