As if this day can't get any worse…
Sieg's home was surrounded by unknown faces; the thugs kept pointing fingers at him for something he didn't even do.
The blonde boy surveyed the interior, and with disdain in his eyes, he found the place both obnoxious and suffocating.
"Are you the son of Trisha Ravel?" the blonde boy asked — his gaze piercing straight into Sieg's soul.
"Y-yes… that would be me." Sieg replied.
But he found himself searching for an escape — yet to his dismay, every single window was barricaded by himself…
This isn't good at all!
"I see. I am Eisen Albrecht, youngest son of Sir Albrecht, and I assume you don't have the mental capacity to understand the trouble you're in, being impoverished and all."
"What?" Sieg took offense at the remark, but he knew better than to speak back, not yet at least.
After an awkward silence, Sieg asked, "Can I know why you are here?" He tried to sound as polite as possible, even if his words weren't quite matching his intent.
"Your mother broke her contract," Eisen said, his voice sharp and unkind.
"She disobeyed my father and neglected her duties. As stipulated in the contract, any breach requires that all assets, including every salary or payment she received, be returned in full."
"With the amount of money she managed to obtain, I'm sure you, her bright son, must've used it wisely — through investments, education, or something of the sort, right?"
Disobeyed? Neglected her duties? Contract? Wasn't my mother just doing maid duty in someone's mansion? And why as someone as young as him was the one trying to collect it?, shouldn't it be an adult?
Sieg's eyes widened in disbelief, it was all too much. How could someone like him, alone and poor, even begin to deal with this?
But there was one more thing he didn't quite understand: the medical bills, it wasn't something he had ever seen once in his life.
"Hey — before I tell you the truth… these medical bills, who are they for?" In hindsight, it was a dumb question coming from him, but perhaps he was trying to delude himself from knowing the real answer, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.
Eisen gave him an annoyed look. "What? Isn't there a name written on them? Can't you read it yourself, you slum rat?"
"Did the mold and that putrid stench affect your development?!"
This guy is something else… a good-looking face but an asshole — some people are just like that huh.
Sieg once again ignored Eisen's disrespectful words and began rereading the medical bills a second time.
Then he saw it: "Patient name: Trisha Ravel."
Sieg's mind went blank, he couldn't believe it, his ears started to ring, yet Eisen wasn't showing any form of understanding, despite knowing the full picture.
"I remember what happened to your mother — she fell down the stairs and is now in a coma. Partly deserved, for going against my father's wishes."
"…Huh?" Sieg interpreted Eisen's words as his mother being pushed off a staircase.
"You still have debt owed to us. How do you intend to pay back my father's generosity?" Eisen's cold words continued to spill, but he didn't realize that the boy he was speaking to was losing his sanity.
Stop talking—
"I don't have the money. They took it." Sieg murmured, pointing at the thugs.
But the thugs kept denying it.
"What? No!" Grizz said. "Sir Eisen, you see, Sieg has a habit of lying. We've pointed it out to him multiple times, and he never changed."
"Yeah! I can vouch for them, Boss—" Ralts shrugged; however, Knuck merely stayed silent behind them, not even meeting Sieg eye to eye.
"I didn't—" Before Sieg could defend himself, Eisen cut him off.
"Not surprised — like failure mother, like failure son. It's pitiful, really, both rotten and ill-mannered." Eisen's words had crossed a line.
What is your problem?!
I will genuinely kill you, talking about my mother like that…
Everyone has their limits, and Sieg has reached his. Without a care for the consequences, he pulled out a rusty knife from under his pillow and, lunged at Eisen.
But two guards immediately grabbed Sieg and roughly pulled him down to the floor.
The thugs, particularly Ralts and Grizz instigated in the background:
"Boss! How dare that brat try to hurt you?!"
"You should punish him! We don't allow that kind of behavior here!"
"His always been problematic!"
But Sieg was spiraling down in irrationality.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MOTHER? WHY IS SHE IN A COMA?!" Sieg screamed at the top of his lungs, despite the heavy force pressing against him.
"TALK TO ME YOU BASTARD!"
Eisen stood motionless was it fear he felt? No, it was something else— Irritation.
"The audacity, take him outside to the shore." Eisen commanded.
Sieg was dragged out of his private domicile by the two taller guards. Then Ralts and Grizz hurled more insults in his direction, yet once again, Sieg's mind filtered out their words.
"You should beg for forgiveness!"
"Everyone this guy just tried stabbing someone!"
An audience of slum dwellers gathered at the commotion. Some were surprised to see a noble-looking man like Eisen here, but others quickly decided they didn't want to get involved.
As Eisen's family — the Albrechts, who legally owned the land and wielded unquestioned authority over the settlement.
Sieg looked into their eyes, pleading for help.
"HELP ME!"
But no one was willing to intervene for a nameless slum boy.
"Ah, this place — a fitting grave for you," remarked Eisen, his eyes fixed on the horizon of the Blackwater shoreline.
"WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO TO ME?!"
Sieg was held in place, pressed just beside the rising tide of rubbish and soiled water.
"Let's be honest — there's no way you can repay us, is there?" Eisen muttered with an intense glare.
The thugs stepped back, beginning to feel the same fear of Eisen and his grim intentions.
Knuck was conflicted…
"Hey, man, I think we took it too far. Sir Eisen is really gonna gut him—" Grizz muttered, a hint of worry in his tone.
Ralts' eyes showed the same hesitation. "Yeah, man… should we stop Sir Eisen? We don't actually want Sieg to be killed," he murmured.
But Knuck had a different opinion, "We can't. If we tell Eisen we have the money, we'll be the ones paying it back. And I can't let the two of you be gutted like that boy, Sieg." His tone came out like that of a concerned older brother speaking to Ralts and Grizz. "Just don't say anything, and don't bring it up. It's already too late."
"There's nothing we can do. Sieg just doesn't get it — there are way more corrupted people than us, and we're just thugs. And Eisen… we can't touch him. Nobody would dare, not with him being part of the family of the strongest ascendants."
Hearing Knuck's words, Grizz and Ralts simply nodded, a scent of guilt weighing on their hearts.
Sometimes — some things are taken a little too far.
Chapter End.