Chase sat on the edge of his enormous bed, the white cotton drapes around it swaying gently with the breeze from the open window. The room was lavish—paintings lined the walls, and golden ornaments sparkled in the shifting sunlight. Outside, a small pond glimmered at the center of a flower-lined courtyard. It looked like the dwelling of a beloved heir.
But the peaceful view was a lie. Guards were stationed at every entrance and hidden corner, armed and alert, their orders clear—keep Chase Cloud confined at all costs.
He looked up at the sky, his dark eyes thoughtful. "It's been nearly an hour since the family meeting started... I wonder how it's going," he murmured. There was no fear in his tone, just confidence. He truly believed that the truth would speak for itself. After all, he hadn't done anything to Clara. He couldn't even remember what happened that night.
His thoughts were interrupted by the creak of the door opening.
Four guards entered, their expressions unreadable. Chase stood slowly. "What's going on?"
The lead guard sneered. "By order of the patriarch and the council of elders, you are to be brought to the gathering hall to receive your punishment."
"What?!" The words hit him like a hammer. His mind reeled. "I… I want to see my father!"
The guard chuckled cruelly. "Your father can't help you now, genius boy. All the evidence points to you drugging Miss Clara with the intent to rape her."
The other guards moved in.
"Don't just stand there. Escort our precious prodigy to his judgment," the lead one said mockingly.
Chase wanted to resist—but he was only a Rank 2 fire elementalist. These guards were clearly Rank 4s, far stronger than any ordinary patrolmen. He didn't stand a chance.
As he was dragged through the compound, more and more family members peeked from windows and corridors. Whispered voices followed him like ghosts.
"That's Chase, right?"
"What the hell did he do?"
"No way... was it something serious?"
"Let's go see."
By the time they reached the massive gathering hall, a small sea of people trailed behind them.
The hall could seat ten thousand, and though only a fraction of the Cloud family was present, it felt full to the brim. Chase's eyes scanned the room from his place in the center. He saw his father, Lim, sitting at the patriarch's seat, flanked by the family elders. To Lim's left sat a strikingly beautiful woman in her mid-thirties. Black hair framed her elegant face. She leaned back in her seat with quiet composure.
Landa. His mother.
Beside her, a child played absently with a wooden doll. Chase recognized his ten-year-old brother, Stephen, who looked like a miniature version of himself. Stephen alone seemed unaware of the suffocating tension filling the air.
But what truly shook Chase was the look in his mother's eyes. Not love. Not outrage. Just quiet sorrow.
His stomach twisted.
A tall, muscular elder stepped forward to the center of the hall. His long white beard gave him an air of dignity, but the fire in his eyes marked him as a warrior. He was the disciplinary elder—famous for his fairness and terrifying strength as a Rank 7 fire elementalist.
The murmurs stopped at once.
He looked down at Chase, then turned to address the audience.
"Chase Cloud," he said, voice calm and steady. "Was caught attempting to rape Elder Richard's daughter, Clara. He used a drug to incapacitate her. This is not speculation—it is fact."
The hall erupted in gasps and whispers.
"I didn't hear that correctly, right?"
"He seemed so cool..."
"I kinda wish it was me—"
"Shut up, Mira, no one wants your crusty self!"
"But he's only twelve. This sounds... off."
Chase's heart raced. "No! That's not true!" he shouted. "Dad! Mom! I didn't do anything! You have to investigate again!"
But neither of his parents met his gaze. Lim's face was stone. Landa's eyes were downcast, her lips pressed in a thin line.
Chase turned desperately to the elder. "Where's the proof?! I was in my room the whole time!"
The elder hesitated—a brief flicker of guilt in his expression. But it was gone as quickly as it came.
"You were caught in the act, Chase. The punishment has already been decided."
The words struck him like thunder.
"Your eyes shall be blinded, your cultivation crippled. You will be imprisoned for three months."
Chase couldn't breathe. "No… NO! WAIT—!"
The guards held him down. The elder drew a small black pill from a vial hidden in his robes and forced it into Chase's mouth. He struggled, but it was too late.
Agony exploded through his body. Fire ripped through his veins as his meridians shattered and the light began to fade from his world. His screams were raw and pitiful before he finally collapsed, unconscious.
The crowd was silent in shock.
The once-revered prodigy, the youngest genius in a generation, now lay motionless. Crippled. Blinded. Condemned.
And his father hadn't moved an inch.
The guards lifted Chase's limp body and carried him out of the hall toward the prison—a small thatched structure with a reputation worse than death. Few who entered ever came back.
Landa rose slowly, her face unreadable. She gave Lim a long, wounded glance before walking out without a word. Lim remained still, his hands clenched tightly.
The hall emptied. Only the elders remained.
"So we sacrificed a once-in-a-millennium genius just like that," one muttered bitterly.
"If not him, then the entire clan," the disciplinary elder replied, exhausted.
Another elder chimed in, "After two months, let's throw him into the Dark Forest. We'll claim he died in prison. His body won't be found, and no one will question it."
"At least he'll have a chance. Maybe he'll survive... and come back stronger," Richard said with shame. "He's my nephew. I owe him that much."
Lim stood at last. "Fine. Let him live... if he can. When the time comes, and he returns for revenge, I will offer him my head without resistance."
He turned toward the exit, his heart heavy with guilt.
"Chase... live. That's all I ask. Live."