After Vesper left, Valeric looked at Rhaedor and said with a light frown on his face, "Although he broke a rule, it didn't harm the family. So, you shouldn't be too harsh on him. Reconsider your—"
"My decision is final, Father. There will be no further discussion about it." Rhaedor interrupted him.
Valeric's frown deepened, "What will people think about our family when they hear that we abandoned our own? Wouldn't it harm our credibility?"
This time, before Rhaedor could respond, Viona scoffed, "Why would we bother thinking about what others will think? Besides, which noble family hasn't exiled their useless people to prevent them from staining their family name? We are doing the same. Besides…"
She smiled enigmatically when she reached the end and looked at Rhaedor with twinkling eyes. Rhaedor also smiled.
Everyone present in the hall looked between the two in confusion and curiosity.
After waiting for a few moments, Myra finally broke the silence and asked in a sweet voice, "What is it, Lord Husband? Let us know too~"
Rhaedor nodded, and after sweeping his gaze across them, he said, "I have two good pieces of news to share with you all."
He paused for a moment, letting their curiosity build up. Then, he announced, "I have finally broken through and reached the peak of the 2-Star realm."
There was silence for a few seconds as they processed the information before a loud, surprised, and excited exclamation shattered it.
"Really, Father?"
Rhaedor glanced at Ryder, who had jumped up from his seat in excitement. Normally, he would have scolded himself for this, but now he smiled and nodded.
"That's great. Now our family can truly be considered a tier-2 family. I'll see how those bastards strut around me any longer."
Ryder muttered, recalling the memories of the gatherings he went to and was taken lightly just because his family didn't have a peak 2-Star mage. Imagining how their faces would become when they saw him next, he couldn't help but wish someone organized another gathering immediately.
Ember glanced at Viona, who was looking at them with a light, proud smile on her face, and said.
"Congratulations, Lord Husband, for the breakthrough!"
Rhaedor nodded.
Myra, Luceille, Valeric, and others also congratulated him.
Every magic realm was divided into four stages, namely, Early-Stage, Middle-Stage, High-Stage, and Peak.
Usually, while it was difficult to break through to a higher realm, progressing within a realm wasn't too difficult, but the mage didn't have to accumulate their mana too much, nor would he face any bottleneck.
Sometimes, however, some people get stuck at a stage and aren't able to progress further. It mostly happens because they didn't create a proper foundation at the novice stage—early-stage, 1-Star—or something happened that made their magic foundation shaky.
Rhaedor had suffered an injury a few years earlier when he was fighting against a notorious bandit group's leader. For years, it stopped him from making any progress.
He tried to find something to heal the injuries, but because it was a foundational injury, the things that could heal it were too expensive and too out of reach for him.
So, he chose the way that cost nothing but time—he decided to heal it himself. Finally, a few months ago, he finished healing his injury, and his mana cultivation started producing results, which led him to break through to the peak of 2-Star just a few hours earlier.
After a while, when everyone calmed down, Rhaedor continued, "As for the second news… Gene has caught the eye of Viscount Robert's youngest son. I received a letter from the Viscount, asking for her hand in marriage. After discussing it with Viona, I decided to agree. Their marriage will be in half a year when Gene returns from Browns Magic Academy."
This time, everyone got even happier.
How could they not be? They were going to form a relationship with a tier-3 power, which would increase their status and power significantly.
…
While everyone was celebrating in the hall, Vesper returned to his mansion under the darkening sky, his mood mirroring it.
When he stepped inside the house, however, his gloomy expression turned into a calm and relaxed one.
Alric came rushing when he heard the sound of doors opening. He looked him up and down before staring at his face, as if to understand what he had faced in the hall, but sighed in defeat when he could glean anything.
Then, he asked, "What happened, Big Brother? Why did Father suddenly summon you?"
Vesper thought whether he should make up a lie but, in the end, decided to tell him the truth, as he knew Alric could handle it… probably.
"I killed Adam earlier and broke a family rule. So, he called me over to punish me."
"..."
Alric stared at him in a daze for several seconds. Then his eyes widened in shock, and he asked, his voice breaking, "W-What did you say, Big Brother? Y-You k-killed Adam?"
Vesper smiled, "How could I let him go after he dared to hit you?"
Then, not wanting to give him time to think too much about it, he patted his head and changed the topic, "So, did Selene have any abnormal reaction?"
"Huh? Y-Yes. She had seizures like before, but she soon went back to normal." Alric answered in a daze.
Vesper sighed at his failed attempt to divert his attention and squatted down in front of him, looking into his eyes.
"What is it, Alric? Do you think I shouldn't have killed him? Was I too cruel?"
Alric hurriedly shook his head. "No, I don't think that. I'm just… shocked."
"Good then," Vesper said, and stood up.
"Let's eat something and go to sleep. We need to wake up early tomorrow." He said and went over to Selene's room to check her condition. Seeing she was a little less pale, he sighed in relief.
After tucking her in properly, he walked out to make something when Alric asked, "What punishment did Father give you, Big Brother? Did he ask us to leave?"