As the most dazzling eldest son of the Narcissus Family, Siebold's sudden return naturally drew a great deal of attention.
The moment Siebold confirmed over the phone that he would come home, Dale began organizing a thorough cleaning of the estate with the maids.
This full-scale mobilization stood in stark contrast to what happened when Joseph returned home.
Even though Siebold was only making a short visit, and Joseph had returned for the first time in years.
Family affection… was both the most valuable and the most worthless thing in the Narcissus Family.
Of course, after Joseph had consecutively defeated several of his siblings, his treatment had instantly improved by several levels.
Even his private backyard was expanded by Dale's orders; its area tripled on the spot.
Although the original backyard was already more than enough for Florges and the others to live in, Joseph still calmly accepted everything with a smile.
---
"Joseph, here's this month's resource allocation for you and your siblings. Let me know what you want, and I'll arrange it in advance."
This was Mars's fourth wife, Ms. Mandy, just a little over forty years old.
On the second day after Joseph called Siebold, Mandy personally came to Joseph's room with a smile, handing him a supply list.
Every month, the Narcissus Family distributed resources to the six children. After all, besides money, there were many precious items that couldn't simply be bought on the market.
Due to their rarity, the family couldn't always prepare six equal shares, which left a lot of room for discretion.
And as Mars's official wife, Mandy held the authority over resource distribution. This gave her enough authority to maintain the dignity of a household matron, even though not one of the six children was her biological child.
But Joseph's rise had been too sudden. Mandy, who hadn't granted Joseph even a sliver of resources in the past two months, was now panicking.
The power to allocate resources had been granted to her by Mars to protect her, but that didn't mean she had the right to violate the rules by cutting off a child's path to growth.
Even if, on the day she married into the Narcissus Family, Joseph had cursed her out loud at the wedding.
Now, Mandy could only smile and hand over a supply list several times more generous than before, just to shut Joseph up.
"Thanks for the trouble, Aunt Mandy~"
Joseph received the list with a light smile and began browsing it carefully. That calm and courteous demeanor made the new maids blush on the spot…
'The Sixth Young Master was so powerful, and yet so well-mannered! He was simply too charming!'
"Aunt Mandy, it looks like the family's been doing pretty well these past few years. There are three Attribute Crystals in this month's allocation, and two batches of Energy Stones.
Even Micle Berries, Miracle Seeds, Focus Sashes… there's no shortage of these items. And you even ordered this many High-grade Pokéblocks!"
Joseph sounded slightly surprised.
Hearing that, Mandy beamed even more brightly. She pretended to sound apologetic as she explained, "It's all my fault for being too busy. I didn't make sure the servants delivered your supplies.
When I checked yesterday, I was furious to find they had forgotten your share entirely. I scolded them harshly… Now that I had some time, I thought I'd deliver it to you personally, and also see if there's anything else you need. I'll try to make up for it as much as I can."
With that one explanation, she pushed all the blame onto others. Joseph chuckled inwardly but immediately played dumb.
"Which servants were so careless, huh? How could they not even follow your orders properly, Aunt Mandy? Should I talk to Dale and help you switch out your staff?"
"…Ha?" Mandy was caught off guard, but immediately waved it off, "No, no, that won't be necessary. I already gave them a good punishment. They definitely won't dare do it again."
"Oh…" Joseph nodded innocently, then asked again, "So… how exactly did you punish them? Teach me, will you? That way I won't have to keep switching people out batch by batch."
"Ahem!" Mandy choked again, but looking at Joseph's utterly innocent expression, she suddenly became unsure.
Surely… he wasn't mocking her on purpose?
"Well, Joseph… if your servants aren't working out, just change them. No need to learn these trivial things from me. What matters is choosing the resources that are useful to you and focusing on improving your strength."
"Alright then." Joseph decided to leave it at that. Then, he quickly marked off every valuable item on the list.
"That'll be all for now. After all, making up for several years of missed resources all at once would be a bit difficult, wouldn't it, Aunt Mandy~?"
Mandy's eyes bulged as she stared at Joseph's smiling face, thinking… 'When… WHEN DID I EVER AGREE TO MAKE UP FOR YEARS' WORTH OF RESOURCES?'
She was just about to refute him when Joseph's "gentle" smile suddenly vanished… and a terrifying pressure crashed down on her.
"Is that not okay, Aunt… Mandy~?"
"Y-y-yes… yes, of course it is…"
Whoosh~
The pressure vanished in an instant. When Mandy looked at Joseph again, his face had already returned to that same warm, harmless smile.
Frantic, Mandy glanced around, only to see the nearby maids standing there as if nothing had happened.
But that feeling just now… it had been absolutely real!
"Then I'll be counting on you… Auntie."
Joseph's voice rang out again. Mandy turned back in fright, nodded in panic, and fled the room in a hurry.
Bang!
The moment the door closed, Joseph's fake smile faded just slightly.
He glanced at the six newly assigned maids standing by and spoke softly, "I don't expect you to gather intel on the rest of the family, but don't let me catch you making any suspicious moves either.
Otherwise…"
Joseph didn't finish the sentence. He stood up and walked toward the backyard. Compared to dealing with people, he still preferred spending time with Pokémon.
The six maids stood frozen in place, trembling. Joseph hadn't raised his voice, and yet his words filled them with inexplicable fear.
And the day before Siebold's return, Mandy very cooperatively delivered the first batch of compensation items to Joseph.
Joseph accepted them without the slightest hesitation and used everything he could; his Pokémon's strength increased just a bit more as well.
And the day of Joseph's full-team battle against Siebold… gradually approached.
---
Once again, it was the family's training grounds, but this time the number of onlookers had greatly increased.
The Narcissus Family had a long and storied lineage, with many branch families and subordinate houses.
And a full battle between the main line's First Young Master and Sixth Young Master naturally attracted considerable attention.
Whom to support as future family head -and whom to rely on for survival- these were decisions the branch and subordinate family leaders had to consider carefully.
Joseph had long anticipated this scene, but he already had a plan in mind, one that would surely dash many people's expectations.
What Joseph didn't know… was that the man standing across from him -his brother Siebold- wasn't exactly a model of restraint either.
Between becoming the family head or an Elite Four member, what Siebold really wanted most…
Was to be a chef!