"This is your sester break, right? You can hang out with Percival," Joy said with a warm smile.
Both boys looked at each other, tilting their heads slightly. anwhile, Valentina had a bright smile.
"Godfrey doesn’t have a close friend, but I’m sure he’ll be close with Percy. Do you rember when Percy saw Godfrey, the one-year-old and one-day-old duo?"
Godfrey raised an eyebrow, not just by what his mother said, but he was genuinely amazed to see her sparkle like this, with so much happiness.
Both won eventually left. Godfrey saw Percival open the door to his apartnt, and his eyes locked on the young blue-haired woman in the dining room.
His pupils narrowed. Wasn’t that one of the faces he’d seen on the Pagoda Guild’s billboard, one of the rising stars in the entertainnt departnt of the guild?
Of course, she looked incredibly good. People like this had summons that enhanced their looks, or at least paid for sessions with people that did.
Soone like Snow could simply sit behind a table and rake in millions because of his summon’s unique ability.
The young woman looked back at the last minute before the door shut. ’Strangely, their mum is the only one that looks ordinary,’ Godfrey thought as he walked up to his own apartnt.
Upon stepping into the spacious living room, which led to the dining room, all brightly lit up, Victoria stood at the dining table, an apron worn over her usual executive outfit.
"I’ve prepared your al," she said without even looking at him as she arranged the dishes on the table.
anwhile, at Percival’s house, his elder sister averted her eyes from her tablet when he showed up in the sitting room in a casual dress.
"Who was that?" Priscilla asked.
"Who?" Percival lifted an eyebrow.
"There was a boy behind you. He wore Manhattan High’s jacket."
"Oh? He’s Godfrey, the one Mum talks about."
"The one whose father fought an army of orcs!" Priscilla’s eyes widened with shock.
So minutes later, the doorbell at Godfrey’s apartnt rang, and Victoria opened the door. Percival’s eyes slowly narrowed as he stared at the tall, fit woman looking at them with a raised eyebrow.
His sister, Priscilla, lifted the small cake in her hands. "Hi, we live over there and..."
"Co in." Victoria opened the door. She was well aware of who they were after the several conversations her boss, Valentina, had with their mother, both in this house and their own.
It was quite a common thing. Only the boys were clueless about it.
"Hi, Godfrey, I’m Priscilla, your neighbour." Priscilla introduced herself to Godfrey, who was on the couch. "I just couldn’t hold myself when I found out you’re our neighbour. You’re Roland’s son!"
She covered her mouth to stifle her voice while sitting. Percival, who wore a black nose mask hiding his burn mark, sat nonchalantly, looking elsewhere like none of this concerned him.
He was actually bearing a grudge against his sister for not changing his appearance.
On the other hand, Godfrey was stunned, as this was the first ti soone genuinely made him feel that his father wasn’t just dead and forgotten.
"My mom, I, and brother were all at Amazon General Hospital when it happened. We ca to visit her workplace, then we lived in Amazon City. Not just us, there were hundreds of people in that hospital. C-can I speak about this?"
Priscilla paused, concerned it might strike a wrong chord.
"I want to hear it," Godfrey replied.
"Apparently, a red gate opened up right before your mum rushed in, but your father couldn’t go. And it was nowhere close to the hospital but midway. My mum said right when your head was out, another gate opened up, a red gate, and it was an instant dungeon break."
Priscilla pursed her lips. "It was red for a second and suddenly beca black. I have never felt fear as much as that day in my entire life, the sa for hope. Hundreds of people prayed as your father fought outside; the explosions shook the hospital and other buildings around. I could rember thinking, ’Was he dead?’ ’Please don’t die,’ several tis."
Priscilla’s expression beca bittersweet. "Had your father not killed and closed the portal, we wouldn’t have been alive. Hundreds of families would have been lost, and seeing you, it’s just... just..."
Godfrey was speechless, maybe even beyond that. His mind was strangely peaceful. Not one thought. Nobody had ever spoken to him about his father like this.
He just realized there was a stark difference between those who experienced it, who watched his father defend not just his unborn child and wife but them all, and those who sat in the comfort of their hos listening to it.
So appreciated his efforts, but those who were good weren’t as loud as the negative ones who expected him to fill his father’s shoes.
Was that why Percival had always helped him? Even if he was too young to comprehend what happened back then, he still showed gratitude.
Seeing Priscilla’s worried expression at Godfrey’s reaction, Victoria smiled.
"He’s dumbfounded since nobody has spoken to him about his father. He’ll process it," she said.
Priscilla replied with a smile of her own before turning to Percival. "Has my brother been hard on you in school?"
At that mont, Godfrey knew it. One word, and he’d destroy Percival’s life, and it made him chuckle softly.
The cool third-year student was already glaring at him to speak the truth.
"He wasn’t."
For the first ti, Victoria saw Godfrey flash a pleasant smile at soone who wasn’t his mother or her.
***
At a different place in Manhattan, Cecil sat in her father’s office, facing the man whose expression was as hard as stone.
"I asked your teacher so questions before calling you. Do you know what he told ?"
Cecil tilted her head. "What?"
"That a certain brat surnad Daniels beat you in combat skills!" Cecil’s father erupted, causing her to flinch.
"You let the son of that bastard, who did nothing but selfishly protect his family while everything around him was crushed, beat you in what you’re best at?" Her father glared hard at her.
"Haven’t I told you repeatedly of your uncle’s death? His workplace was close to that hospital, but that man, whose job was to protect the people, allowed it to be ravaged! Tell , what did you do to him? You must have been exhausted after dealing with the others. Did you teach him a lesson afterwards?!"
"H-He apologized," Cecil stuttered.
Her father rose to his feet. "He beat you up and apologized, and you co here to say that to ?"
Cecil scampered out of the office under her father’s suffocating glare.
"Hero’s son," her father muttered. "If a man is hailed as a hero for simply protecting his family, I should be a saviour for paying people’s salary."
....
A/N: We’re top 1 today!!!
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