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[FLASHBACK]
LOCATION: MARQUIS CHEVALIER HOUSEHOLD
HEADMASTER'S OFFICE
KNOCK!
KNOCK!
KNOCK!
The sound echoed sharply within the quiet room.
'Hm? Who would seek an audience at this hour?'
Augustus furrowed his brow slightly as his gaze shifted toward the door. It was already deep into the night—a time when interruptions were rare.
Clearing his throat, he straightened his posture.
"Come in."
The door creaked open, and what greeted him was something he had not expected.
Standing at the threshold was his youngest child—the son born from his unofficial second wife.
In the past, whenever this child appeared before him, the boy would fidget nervously, his hands trembling as though he could not steady himself under Augustus's presence. Fear would always linger in those cyan-colored eyes.
Simply looking at the boy often reminded Augustus of the child's mother.
The resemblance was uncanny.
Aside from the eyes—those that mirrored Augustus himself—the young boy was almost the exact replica of that woman.
And because of that… Augustus had distanced himself.
It was not entirely intentional, nor was it something he openly acknowledged. Yet every time he saw the child, the memories he had tried so hard to bury resurfaced.
'Perhaps… avoiding him was nothing more than cowardice on my part.'
His thoughts were interrupted.
"This one greets the Stellarus Empire's Guardian Household… Marquis Chevalier."
The formal address caused Augustus to blink in mild surprise.
He studied his youngest son carefully.
There was something different.
The boy had not addressed him as "Father." Instead, he had spoken with the decorum reserved for subordinates addressing their superior.
That alone was enough to signal a shift.
Augustus's gaze sharpened as he looked directly into the boy's eyes—and for a brief moment, he nearly lost composure.
What he saw… was not what he expected.
Before, those cyan eyes were filled with fear—hesitant, fragile, and uncertain. They would waver under pressure, trembling just as the boy himself did.
But now—
There was no trace of that fear left.
Instead, those same eyes appeared firm… and eerily still.
They carried a dullness that Augustus had only ever seen in seasoned war veterans—soldiers who had endured countless battles, their emotions worn thin by bloodshed and survival.
It was a gaze far too heavy… far too experienced… for a mere fifteen-year-old boy.
'What is this…? What exactly am I seeing?'
He found himself momentarily taken aback.
"I have a proposal for you, Marquis," the boy spoke again.
His voice was steady—cold even.
There was not a single stutter. Not a hint of hesitation.
It was as if the child standing before him was someone else entirely.
"Would you care to hear it?"
Augustus narrowed his eyes slightly.
Since the boy had chosen to address him formally, then he would respond in kind—not as a father, but as the head of the Chevalier household.
"Oh?" Augustus replied, leaning back slightly in his seat. "And what proposal would that be?"
For a fleeting moment, he saw his youngest son smile.
Yet something about that smile unsettled him.
It did not reach the boy's eyes.
Instead, there was a sharpness hidden beneath it—a calculating edge that made Augustus instinctively wary.
Then, as the seconds stretched, the boy's gaze sharpened even further.
And when he finally spoke, his words struck like a blade.
"Would you like to completely remove the current Marchioness from her position…?"
A pause followed.
"…Since she has been acting as a spy within this household for quite some time now."
The room seemed to freeze.
For the first time in a long while, Augustus found himself… speechless.
[END OF FLASHBACK]
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.........…
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The memory lingered vividly in Augustus's mind even now.
Those words had never left him.
'How… did he know?'
The question had resurfaced countless times since that night.
The identity of the current Marchioness—and her hidden role—was not something easily uncovered. It was a matter buried deep beneath layers of secrecy, known only to a select few.
And yet…
'Could it be…?'
Augustus's eyes darkened slightly as a possibility formed.
'Does that child still maintain connections to his maternal family… the Asterrix household?'
The thought alone complicated matters further.
Lost in his contemplation, Augustus remained silent.
Meanwhile, across the room, the three siblings exchanged glances.
The implications of their father's words—of that memory—had not gone unnoticed.
Their expressions shifted subtly, eyes widening ever so slightly as they processed the gravity of what had just been implied.
Yet none of them spoke.
The room descended into silence once more.
A silence that was no longer merely tense—
But weighed down by unspoken truths and quiet realizations.
However, after a minute had passed, the heavy silence that lingered in the room was finally broken by none other than Altron.
"B–but Father…!" he began, his voice tightening as he stepped forward. "You are aware that Little Three harbors a deep grudge against Mother because of the incident involving Lady Aryna! Are you intending to provoke him even further?!"
Despite the urgency in his tone, there was a restraint in his words.
Altron was not a saint—far from it. To speak honestly, he held no genuine concern for what had happened to his younger half-brother in the past. The boy's existence had never once mattered to him.
After all, in his eyes, that child was nothing more than an illegitimate son—a stain upon the Chevalier lineage.
And yet…
Even with such thoughts, Altron could not completely dismiss him.
No matter how insignificant that boy seemed, he still carried their father's blood. That fact alone made it impossible to ignore him entirely. Abandoning him outright was not an option—not within a family such as theirs, where bloodlines defined both weight and consequence.
Their youngest sibling was considered a half-blooded noble, his status forever tainted by his biological mother's origins as a commoner. Perhaps that was also why he was the only one among them who did not possess the proud and distinguished BLOODLINE of the Marquis Chevalier household.
"You need not concern yourself with that, Altron," Augustus replied calmly, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Your mother is more than capable of handling this matter. All we need to do is wait and observe what unfolds next."
At those words, the other two siblings were snapped out of their thoughts. Though their expressions momentarily shifted with unease, they did not voice their objections.
They knew better.
No matter how questionable the decision may seem, their father's word was absolute.
And so, despite their reservations, they could only accept it in silence.
However, among the three, there was one who reacted differently.
A faint, almost imperceptible smirk crept across his lips as he leaned back casually, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
'Now this… looks like it will turn into something interesting,' he thought lazily. 'I'll be looking forward to it.'
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