Chapter 612 - Noble Tamer

เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 มี.ค. 2569 07:44

Chapter 612: Chapter 612 - Noble Tamer Ren stood before his new house’s door, feeling both familiarity and disconnection at the same time. The 300 square-meter structure on a 1000 square-meter lot was modest by the area’s standards, but compared to the small "agricultural slave" house on the outskirts where he had grown up, it was a palace. Before he could continue ruminating, the door opened revealing a familiar face that made a genuine smile from him. "Ren!" Li’s mother and former neighbor from his old house greeted him with the warmth of someone who had watched him grow up. She now worked here, handling various domestic tasks that his parents had reluctantly agreed to delegate. "Mrs. Chen," Ren responded, allowing himself to relax for the first time in weeks. "How are you?" "Good, good. Though still waiting for your friend Li who hasn’t gotten home yet," she said with exasperated but affectionate tone. "He’s surely doing silly things with Tao, looking for girls at some dance hall or another instead of coming and greeting his mom." Ren laughed. "Some never change. Could you let me know when they arrive? I’d like to say hello." "Of course. Your parents are in their upstairs room, preparing for whatever you’re going to take them to do." There was a touch of amusement in her voice. "They’ve been nervous all morning." Ren climbed the stairs with steps that became slower with each one. It wasn’t nervousness exactly, but the weight of everything he would have to explain. The nobility. The territories. The responsibilities he had been procrastinating mentioning because he knew exactly how his parents would react. For him, all this was simply ’more homework’. More obligations he hadn’t asked for but had accepted because the path toward his goals passed through these kinds of concessions. The sessions with Arturo that Zhao helped him attend had been particularly tedious. Territorial management, resource policies, navigating noble hierarchies... an endless mountain of problems that seemed specifically designed to make any benefit feel insignificant in comparison. And the prospect of beginning to manage a larger area, surrounded by so many detractors who measured his every move, was frankly unpleasant. At least he had powerful allies, and even so... But his parents. They had enough dealing with the politics of not feeling out of place in this ’new zone’. The transition from border workers to residents of a prosperous area had been difficult, filled with awkward moments where class differences had generated initially painful transformations. How was he supposed to tell them he was going to become something much more complex and grand? That he would have his own territory? That the political complications they were barely beginning to navigate would multiply exponentially? He reached the main room’s door and found it ajar. Inside, he could hear his parents speaking in low voices. "I can’t make this thing adjust correctly," his father muttered with evident frustration. "Let me help you," his mother responded. "Though I don’t have the slightest idea how this is supposed to look either." Ren pushed the door gently, and the scene he witnessed squeezed his heart. His parents stood before a large mirror, struggling with clearly expensive clothing they didn’t know how to use appropriately. His father had managed to put on a formal tunic that probably cost more than all the clothes they had owned in their previous life, but had fastened it in the wrong order. His mother tried to help him while also attempting to decipher how the decorative brooches on her own dress worked. Both looked uncomfortable, out of place, like children playing dress-up in adult clothes. "Need help?" Ren asked softly. Both turned immediately, and the expression on their faces when they saw him made all the stress of recent months worthwhile. "Ren!" His mother crossed the room in seconds, enveloping him in a hug that smelled of the familiar spices from her kitchen... And some new ones. "You’ve grown so much." At fourteen years old, Ren was now considerably taller, and the build he had developed through years of training was noticeably different from the thin child he had been. But she had seen him six months ago and he really hadn’t grown that much... 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢 His father approached more slowly, his eyes evaluating Ren with the gaze of someone seeking to confirm his son was really alright. "You look... different." "A bit older," Ren joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "More serious and... tired," his father corrected with concern. "Are you sleeping enough?" Ren couldn’t help but smile at such a typically parental question. Here he was, having fought abominations the size of buildings, and his father was worried about his sleep habits. "Enough," he responded, deciding it was better not to mention the nights where his crystallization studies extended until dawn. His mother finally released him, studying his face with maternal attention. "There’s something you want to tell us. I can see it in your eyes." Of course she could. His parents always knew. Ren breathed deeply. "Yes. There’s something important I need to explain to you. Something I’ve been... postponing." His parents exchanged glances, then sat on the bed’s edge, giving him their complete attention. Their full attention here would have been maybe unnerving. But with an image that still looked fun with wrongly worn clothes... Ren relaxed a lot. "Life here has improved a lot for you," he began, gesturing toward the window that overlooked the patio where their improvised restaurant occupied 500 square meters. "The ’outdoor restaurant’ is going well, right?" "Better than we ever imagined," his father admitted. "The quality of ingredients we can get now, the variety... we’ve adapted our recipes and customers keep coming." "We’ve become quite popular in the area," his mother added with shy pride. "Though it still surprises me when nobles come to eat our food... even if they’re low-rank nobles." Ren smiled. "Your cooking has always been exceptional. You just needed the right opportunities." "Thanks to you," his father said firmly. "All of this is thanks to you, Ren. The connections you’ve made, the people you know..." "About that," Ren interrupted, knowing he had to say it before losing courage. "There’s something bigger approaching. Something that’s going to... complicate things even more." The concern on his parents’ faces intensified. They leaned forward slightly, their bodies tensing as if preparing for bad news. "As you know... I’m going to become a true noble," Ren blurted out, the words coming more abruptly than he had planned. "Officially, our surname... will have a territory and everything that implies. It’s not just any nobility. Grandmother Selphira won’t stop until she makes us high nobility." The silence that followed was absolute. His parents stared at him as if he had just spoken in a completely unknown language. His mother’s hand found his father’s, gripping it tightly. His father’s mouth opened slightly, then closed, then opened again without words forming. "Territory?" his mother finally managed, her voice barely a whisper. "High nobility? Ren, we... How can we possibly...?" "You don’t have to do anything big," Ren said quickly, seeing the panic beginning to form in their eyes. "I’ll handle all of it. You can keep being you, keep living your lives. I just... I needed you to know what’s coming. We are moving again... further in this time." But even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t that simple. Nothing ever was.

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