Chapter 6: Siblings
She pointed at Jaxar. He straightened up, his grin widening.
"So," Isolde continued, "You will duel Jaxar. I want to see the state of your skills."
Is this woman serious? She already knows I am weak, yet she tests me like this?
My palms started sweating as I tried to find the words to object.
"Mother... I haven't reached their level yet. I..."
My words faltered.
But Isolde's sharp gaze nailed me to the spot.
"No excuses," she said firmly. "You are a Crossfield. You will fight."
A Crossfield, I thought bitterly.
Funny how that title only matters when it suits them.
"Come on, little rascal," Jaxar sneered, twirling the wooden sword in his hand. "Don't keep me waiting. I wanted to knock some sense into that white haired head of yours. I hope you didn't start thinking you're someone special just because you did a good job in front of your fiancé's family yesterday."
The weight of the inevitable beating crushed me.
I took a step forward, fists clenched tight at my sides.
"Then it began," Eleana observed.
I gripped my wooden training sword tightly, but it felt heavier than usual.
My knuckles turned white as I took a defensive stance.
Opposite me stood Jaxar, relaxed, his smile never changing.
It didn't take long for the result to become clear.
CLACK CLACK
After only ten or twelve exchanges, I fell to the ground, taking deep breaths.
My ribs ached, my legs were like jelly, and my vision blurred from fatigue.
"I yield," I wheezed. I could barely speak. This body is truly pathetic.
But Jaxar didn't stop.
"What are you saying?" Jaxar asked mockingly, leaning towards me.
"We just started."
BAM.
Jaxar's wooden sword slammed into my stomach, emptying the air from my lungs.
"Ugh!" I coughed and spat blood onto the floor.
"Enough," my mother said sharply, her voice echoing in the room.
Jaxar froze mid strike, his gaze shifting to his mother.
He muttered something under his breath, stepped back, and tossed the wooden sword aside.
I lay on the floor, nearly unconscious, every spot on my body screaming in pain.
My fingers twitched, my mind screaming for help, but I didn't dare speak.
Isolde turned and started walking out of the training hall.
Is she leaving? I thought, panic rising in my chest.
What happens to me now?
I wanted to scream 'Don't go' but my lips didn't move. I could only watch her figure getting smaller.
Behind her, Jaxar took a step towards me again with a cruel glint in his eyes.
And then it started again.
"Argh!" I screamed as Jaxar's kick crashed into my stomach.
Another kick. Another blow. Again and again.
I wanted to beg Jaxar to stop, but I wouldn't do it. That is what he wants. To hear my suffering and begging.
"Mother, aren't you being too cruel?"
The voice came from behind Isolde. It stopped her just as she was about to leave the training hall.
When she turned around, she saw her eldest daughter, Eirlys, standing there with her arms crossed, her expression colder than ice.
"What do you mean?" Isolde asked, narrowing her eyes.
Charlotte stepped forward, her gaze shifting to the scene behind her mother; Jaxar was still looming over Felix.
"You are completely neglecting him," Eirlys said in a harsh voice. "Do you want him to die?"
Isolde's lips tightened.
"How dare you? He is my son. I am showing him his dignity," Isolde said. "You see how weak he is too! If he continues living like this, he will bring only shame to our family name for his entire life! What I am doing is just teaching him a lesson."
"You already know he is weak, Mother," Charlotte snapped.
"And you know why. Unlike us, he never received the same training. We started at five. Did Felix ever receive training?" Charlotte asked.
"..." Eleana said nothing, her expression unreadable.
He didn't get training because he didn't have the potential to receive it! He was always weak, as if the gods cursed him with weakness.
"You don't know, do you?" Charlotte continued, her voice becoming increasingly accusatory. "He has been reading in the library for days."
"So what?" Eleana interrupted, her voice shrill.
"Forbidden books," Eirlys said, her voice dropping. "I saw him in that dusty old section reading about forbidden affinities. When I looked into it, I peeked into his room secretly and guess what I found. Magic circles written on paper that I couldn't make sense of."
"What?" Eleana froze, her eyes widening slightly.
"Yes, Mother," Charlotte continued, approaching. "Felix is trying to do something, and it doesn't look like it will end well. How can you call yourself his mother while neglecting him this much and driving him to extremes? He became weak because of you, and now he is falling into despair. Desperate enough to dive into curses."
The words hung in the air like a storm cloud.
Isolde's fists were clenched at her sides, but she said nothing.
Her face was pale, her lips a thin line.
"You must do better," Charlotte said, finally turning away. "Before it is too late."
Isolde stood frozen in place, her mind churning.
For the first time, doubt began to seep into her cold and calculated demeanor.
Just at that moment, a scream of "My balls!" was heard in the training area.
But this scream did not belong to Felix.
Isolde turned around involuntarily and was shocked.
Felix had barely stood up. While blood leaked from his face, he was smiling madly. There was an expression in his red eyes more serious than ever before.
His wooden sword had stopped right between Jaxar's legs, right on his balls.
Yes, he had made a low attack, but this was unimportant to Felix.
Honor? He knew that the thing called honor would not save his life.
While Jaxar doubled over, Felix did not stop.
He threw a punch with all his might right in the middle of Jaxar's face.
The moment his fist connected with Jaxar's face, Jaxar's nose broke and blood spurred out.
The delicate skin of Felix's hand tore with the punch he threw, but he didn't care.
He straddled Jaxar, who had collapsed to the ground, and didn't stop.
He continued to punch him in the face.
His red eyes did not leave Jaxar for even a moment; he intended to enjoy this moment to the very end.
The smile on his face never faded.
With every punch Felix threw, his hands became more bloodied. Jaxar's face was covered in blood.
Rinna watched Felix with eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe her eyes.
Was this really the Felix she knew?
Her brother had never attempted to fight back in his life.
He was always a weak coward. Because Rinna hated the weak and cowards, she always stayed away from Felix and humiliated him.
But the Felix she saw right now...
Isolde froze as she watched Felix with her mouth open. What Charlotte had just told her and the Felix she saw right now...
It awoke an indescribable fear in her heart.
Yes, she didn't like Felix. She saw him as a disgrace to her family and punished him senselessly at every opportunity she found.
But still, Felix was her son. No matter what, this fact wouldn't change.
For a mother to see her child turn into a monster... this was too much even for Isolde.
She rushed forward, grabbed Felix, and pulled him off Jaxar. But Felix didn't want to stop. As he was torn away from Jaxar, he didn't neglect to throw one last kick.
Isolde was forced to strike Felix's neck and knocked him out.
Felix collapsed unconsciously into Isolde's arms. His red eyes closed. The skin of his hands was peeled because of the punches he threw.
Isolde hugged the unconscious Felix with trembling lips.
For the first time in her life, she felt regret for what she had done to Felix, but she couldn't voice it.