Lorian wakes up early, feeling a soft, warm hand on his forehead.
It was his dear mother.
She was sitting by him, brushing his hair and forehead.
"Good morning, Mother," Lorian wished as he woke up and sat on his bed.
"Are you still sad about last night?" Lady Seraphina patted his head. "You won't understand now, my child, but when you become a father, you will feel your father!"
Lorian did not reply and just kept staring at his bed.
Lady Seraphina ruffled Lorian's hair. "Yesterday you just saw the anger and frustration of the lord and lady of this city, not the pain and fear of a parent.
You are not just our one and only beloved son, but you are also the rightful heir of the great city of Veridia.
Treating you like a normal kid is a luxury we cannot afford.
Your father and I had a lot of expectations from you.
Maybe we had expected more than we should have."
She took a bit of a pause and looked at Lorian with a forced smile to hide her sadness inside.
"But anyway, we will try our best to help you achieve your potential, no matter how harsh we have to be, or how much you get angry at us, or hate us!" She pulled Lorian's ear.
Lorina played along with a fake scream and suddenly hugged his mother tight.
"I want it all, Mom. I want your love, I want your anger, I want you to spoil me, I want you to scold me; I am greedy. I want every ounce of it!
You have no idea how much I have longed for it all my life!"
Suddenly Lorian broke into tears.
"I have longed for all these all my life, and now I want it all! And I am not angry at you two; I am angry at myself for making you worried, for making you sad, for disappointing you!"
Lady Seraphina was taken aback by this sudden, unexpected emotional outburst of her son.
She was going to say something but was stopped by Lorian.
"I want to be the best son, Mom and Dad! I would be better than your expectations!" and he started crying profusely.
At that point Seraphina was a bit surprised.
She was not able to follow whatever Lorian was speaking.
But she could feel Lorian was speaking from the heart.
She hugged her son tight and started consoling him.
"You were always our dearest child. You will always be.
Now, get up, my child!
A new day awaits!
We are all waiting for you at the breakfast table, okay?"
She patted his back and ruffled his hair and got up.
Lorian nodded back with a smile.
The morning was really good.
And he believed it was another rebirth for him.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The breakfast table today had only the three—the parents and the kids.
Apart from them, in the big dining room, only five more people were there.
Linnea Arden, the head of the maids, was attending the table, and Elara Monez was assisting her diligently.
Commander Sir Lorian Lucien was standing at one side, having his back on the door, while Sir Kaelen Strong and Jax Nightclaw were standing on opposite sides of the room, similarly having their backs on the second door—their eyes were locked on each other.
Gravil Fartom was overseeing the whole thing, standing by the table.
It seemed as if the Old Guards and the New Guards were assembled for a smooth transition of power.
Elara and Kaelen, who, for so many yerars, were bullied, neglected, and humiliated, had suddenly found their status and respect skyrocketing as it was getting clear day by day that it was their master, Lorian, and not Cassian, who was getting the throne.
But it was no time to bask in their newfound glory.
Rather, it was time to accept the added responsibility and prove themselves fit to be in the retinue of their young master so that they do not bring any shame to him.
However, the absence of Eldred Alsnow was noticeable.
After exchanging initial pleasantries, Lord Elmsworth asked his son about his next step.
To his surprise, Lorian suddenly said his first task would be to arrange for proper compensation for the victims in that fated night's pirate attack.
Everyone was a bit surprised, but only the lord and lady had the luxury to show the surprise with their facial expressions.
Lord asked him to explain this strange decision. He wanted to make sure it was not out of pure good will that he wanted to splurge his money.
Then it would be a grave concern indeed.
However, Lorian just channeled his inner Adrian to give a pitch to his investors about his upcoming project and why it would matter.
He explained clearly what he wanted to achieve—
To show his people—common men, Thorn Guards, and officials alike—that the Thornes always take care of their own. They don't treat them as expendable, just another statistic, but they matter and mean a lot to them.
It would not only reinforce the city's loyalty to them but also eliminate any grievance any affected family members might have, like the grievance that their beloved died as collateral damage between the Lord and the Pirates.
Rather, now it would make them more loyal to Thrones while making them more resentful of the pirates.
Not only that, it can help Lorian gather more intelligence regarding the pirates, as he had a hunch that many pirate sympathizers must be in the city itself, or this attack could not happen at the heart of Veridia.
When he starts information gathering, more people will be willing to share any kind of information they might have; for now they know Lorian is a generous lord, and he will reward them adequately according to the information.
Basically it was not just the Pirate Menace, but Lorian was going to have a lot of ears and eyes for himself in the city.
Last but not least, Lorian had many upcoming projects in his mind, and he wanted to make sure to get as many loyal and devoted people as he could have in this city as possible.
He was not splurging money out of Goodwill, but he was making a clever investment for the long, long term.