A few seconds after they gathered, Ashton opened his eyes and swept his gaze across everyone before stopping on butler George, Gene, and old granny.
"You three can leave. I need to talk to my family."
"Hmm?" Gene raised her brows, not liking his commanding tone but found herself turning around before she knew it. The sa happened with butler George. Only the old granny was unaffected, but one could see the shock in her eyes.
Then, without saying anything, she left with Gene. Butler George had already walked out after giving Ashton a bow.
Outside, Gene looked at her grandma and asked in shock and confusion, "What happened to , Grandma? Did Uncle Ashton cast so spell on ?"
"No. He did not." She shook her head before saying, "Rember family head? Whenever he ordered us to do sothing, we would find ourselves agreeing to it even if we didn't want to. The sa happened just now."
Gene scoffed, "How can he be compared to the family lord?"
Old Granny didn't say anything in response, but her elderly eyes were flickering in thought.
Unlike them, Butler George didn't focus on it as he would've obeyed him anyways. Instead, he was worried about him.
'I hope he quickly returns to his normal self.'
…
After the trio left, Ashton glanced at Esther, Mina, Alia, and Anna and started speaking.
"I know you are used to acting all gentle and caring, so my changed attitude must be bothering you, but there is nothing you or I can do about it because I'll continue to be the sa as it's for the better."
"I'm telling you all this so you don't entertain the notion I'll return to my previous pathetic self. Now that I have gained the ans to do the things that were impossible before, I'm going to pursue them, and you guys should be happy about it because our Garfield family will rise."
Saying this, he didn't wait for the ladies to respond and turned his gaze to Mark and Noah, who imdiately broke out in cold sweat and fell to their knees.
He then addressed Mark. "You are my eldest son. If you had the ability, after , you would've inherited my useless Viscount title and family head's position, but you, due to your greed, decided to betray and collude with Wiley. That's an unforgivable cri."
While Mark's face turned pale in horror and Esther's eyes narrowed, Ashton's gaze turned to Noah, "Instead of correcting him or reporting to , you chose to join him to betray and the family. That, too, is an unforgivable cri."
Noah had already started trembling due to fear when he heard him say Mark had betrayed him. So, when he heard this, his heart skipped a beat.
Alia's vacant gaze focused on her son. When she looked at Ashton looking at them with a cold gaze, her heart shuddered.
However, just as she was about to open her mouth, Ashton's aura froze her and Esther.
"Do you accept your cris?" He asked, his tone glacial.
"Please forgive , Father. My greed had blinded . I would— Mark started pleading but froze mid sentence as Ashton's eyes narrowed at him.
'He… he killed Mark.' He didn't know why, but he could tell Mark hadn't simply frozen but had died.
Fear of death overwhelming his mind, he hurriedly banged his forehead on the ground and said, "Lord Father, I did not want that, but Mark coerced . He knew a secret of mine and threatened to tell you if I didn't do as he ordered. Please forgive , lord father."
Ashton frowned at his words before asking, "And what secret was that?"
"I… I had killed rchant Willmart's daughter and wife because they… refused to give in to my—" "Enough!" Ashton uttered before he could finish speaking, not wanting to hear him anymore.
Noah shuddered, thinking he was going to die too.
He knew how much trouble rchant Willmart had caused Ashton after his wife and daughter died. When Ashton couldn't find the culprit, he went and complained to Count Wiley, who took the opportunity to punish him by cutting his inco for several months.
However, to his surprise and relief, the death didn't co. Instead he heard Ashton say, "I shall not kill you, but you still committed the cri of treason. For that, I'll cripple you for life."
Puff!
Before Noah could react, his mana veins exploded, and all the mana in his dantian was ignited, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood before he lost consciousness.
Alia's heart pained when she saw the state of her son.
Her eyes reddening, she shouted, "He was your son. How can you be so cruel as to cripple him for sothing he did years ago? You could've found so other way to punish—
Esther, still unaware of Mark's death, nodded in agreent along with Mina and Anna, who tried to rush over to Noah but couldn't under the pressure of his aura.
Although she didn't like him, he was still her blood brother, so she felt pain seeing him beco a cripple. At the sa ti, she was astonished to see how powerful his aura had beco even though he was still a peak Three Star mage.
Ashton glanced at Alia and emotionlessly said, "Perhaps you didn't hear clearly. I didn't punish him for his cri against that rchant as it had happened long ago, but for his betrayal. Moreover, I have already shown enough rcy by not killing him."
After a pause, he added, "Now, unless it's an ergency, don't disturb again. Just focus on your cultivation. You all are too weak."
Saying this, he stood up and walked toward the exit, but Esther, who upon realizing what he ant by already shown enough rcy by not killing him, rushed toward him, stopping him in his tracks.
"You have sothing to say?" Ashton asked,
"You… killed Mark?" She asked, her fists clenched tight and her tone ice cold, devoid of any emotion.
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