Chapter 73 Quarrel

The carriage stopped in front of the Brody family mansion, a gloomy, old building with moss covering the corners and stone pillars. The fountain was flowing sparsely. The wild flowers and weeds had been pulled out, leaving behind a few dusk roses and white-leaved crabapples that had wilted in the sun, like the temples of an old man, with a smell of decay and decay.

The driver bit into his pipe, and the horse snorted nervously. The passenger's identity seemed beyond his imagination, but he paid the fare generously and readily. As soon as the black-haired young man picked up his luggage and stepped out of the carriage, he quickly put aside his curiosity and disappeared down the road. An elderly woman in maid's attire slowly opened the door and peeked out. Upon seeing the newcomer, she let out a cry of surprise.

"Oh, madam! Madam!" The old maid's dim eyes reflected the figure of a tall and thin young man: "It's Master Nova, Master Nova is back!"

"How many times have I told you, Maggie, not to get so startled?" a sharp, harsh, and slightly neurotic female voice rang out. "If you keep doing this, I'll dock your monthly salary and send you to the bullpen!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry... Madam..." the old maid muttered, moving her clumsy body to make way, revealing the mistress behind her.

A tall and thin lady sat upright on the gorgeous sofa next to the fireplace in the front hall. She was wearing a dark green dress, her black hair was neatly tied in a bun, and her pale face still vaguely showed the beauty of her youth.

"Good morning, mother." Another person stood at the door, looked directly into her eyes and called softly.

Mrs. Brody's lips trembled, but she said nothing. She just looked at her only son, whom she had not seen for nearly a year, with a critical look. Her eyes focused on the indecent wrinkles on the corners of his clothes and collar caused by the fatigue of traveling, and she immediately revealed a look of dissatisfaction.

"You still remember to come back." She sneered coldly, "I thought you were going to watch that father and son drive your mother out of the house."

But her son didn't respond at all.

"...You said you were very ill," Nova frowned at her, "sick to death."

——The other person now looks even healthier than himself who was tortured by the carriage.

Nova thought he was just repeating the original words in the letter, but it made Mrs. Brody so angry that her chest heaved violently and her voice became sharper: "How dare you bring this up! Do you know how shocked I was when those people came to my door?! You——"

She suppressed her anger, stood up, and wanted to drag her son into the empty study to scold him so that he would not be laughed at by the servants. However, she unexpectedly saw another figure blocked by her son behind her, and was stunned by the astonishing appearance.

...Wait, was there anyone there just now?

"Who is this gentleman...?" Her voice was still filled with anger that had not yet subsided, making it seem particularly stiff.

"Azuka, my teaching assistant, has some things that need his help." Nova introduced him briefly, and the other man also smiled and leaned forward slightly, his etiquette was elegant and impeccable.

After realizing that the other person was not the nobleman or priest she had imagined, but a lowly commoner, Mrs. Brody quickly came to her senses. When she once again glanced at the man's delicate and soft features, she couldn't help but frown in disgust. "It's better to be just an assistant teacher, rather than another disgusting quirk."

At least they were beautiful humans, not weird insects or bloody animal corpses - Mrs. Brody didn't know whether she should be relieved about this.

"-Aunt? Is my cousin back?" The crisp voice of a strange girl came from far away. A girl of about fourteen or fifteen rushed to Mrs. Brody, looking around curiously, with light freckles on her rosy cheeks. When she saw him, she pursed her lips and smiled shyly, but when she met someone's blue eyes, she quickly fell into a daze, stammering and blushing.

Mrs. Brody knew nothing about this. Her tense face relaxed a little, and she even smiled. She patted the girl's hand, which was holding her arm. "Come meet your Aunt Grace's daughter, Miss Amelia Carleton, and your future fiancée."

The one favored by God narrowed his eyes slightly.

"...How come I didn't know when I got a fiancée?" Nova said coldly, completely ignoring the tacit custom of euphemisms among the nobles, and not giving anyone any face at all - the girl named Emilia's expression became stiff under the gaze of those cold and sharp gray eyes, and she subconsciously hid behind Mrs. Brody.

Mrs. Brody ignored her son and continued to speak on her own: "You will hold the engagement ceremony soon. I have arranged everything. It's just that the time may be a little tight, which may be unfair to Emilia. But the wedding will be more grand and more-"

"Nothing will happen." Nova interrupted her rudely this time: "There will be no engagement ceremony, and there will be no wedding in the future."

Mrs. Brody stared at him in disbelief: "-How dare you talk to your mother like that?!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Carleton, I'm not aware of any of this." The black-haired young man ignored her and leaned slightly toward the young noble girl. "If this has caused any damage to your reputation, I will do my best to compensate you."

"No, I..." The other party waved his hands in panic and wanted to say something, but was stopped by Mrs. Brody.

"Dear Emilia, why don't you go to the garden and take a look at the newly planted evening roses? I swear you will like them - Maggie!" She stared at her son's face and gritted her teeth and said, "You accompany Miss Emilia to the garden to relax. Fresh air is always good for young ladies."

Seeing the old maid leading the anxious young woman out of the front hall, Mrs. Brody immediately dragged her son into the second-floor study, leaving Azuka and her luggage alone. He was silent for a moment, then sneered, ignoring the subtle glances of the surrounding maids. He sat down on the Brody family's ornate yet somewhat worn sofa with a very casual attitude, his legs elegantly crossed, completely belying his supposedly cautious "commoner" status.

The wind carried the faint sounds of an argument into his ears. Mrs. Brody was angrily expounding on how powerful Miss Emilia's family was, how much effort she had put in, and how many concessions she had made. If they had the support of the Carleton family, they might be able to take back what rightfully belonged to them from the thief father and son.

As for his professor, he seemed to be fed up with his mother's stupidity and naivety, and mercilessly exposed the Carleton family's bluff, saying that they were deeply in some illegal debt crisis and urgently needed a transfusion from some scapegoat, otherwise why would they choose such an inappropriate time?

"Besides, I don't like women, I don't like men, and I'm not a pedophile." The man said coldly, and Mrs. Brody sounded irritated by him.

"You just need to leave a descendant for the Brody family. The rest is up to you, even if it's that person outside—"

"What does this have to do with Azuka?" the other person asked, baffled, and added infuriatingly, "If you simply want a child, this is also a ridiculous decision—inbreeding will result in deformed offspring."

There was a loud, sharp, crisp sound, followed by Mrs. Brody's low sobs, and Azuka's brows jumped.

...Before leaving, the professor gestured to him, indicating that the other party was unwilling to let him get involved in this dispute.

"What do you want your mother to do? Haven't I done enough for you?" Mrs. Brody cried, "Back then, I gave up remarriage for you, worried about your safety, and worked hard for your future. I lowered my face and begged for mercy everywhere, and this is how you repay me. You go and become a second-rate theology professor, and now you are involved with heresy——"

"...But I've told you many times, Mom." The young man's voice became calm and even, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice: "We both know what you really want. In short, you want to achieve it by controlling my life."

Mrs. Brody's family would not help a daughter whose husband had died and who was of no use to her for no reason. If a young widow with a child rashly remarries, and if her new husband is cruel and ruthless, it is normal for him to become a "madman" or even die of illness after a year or two.

"I will ensure your quality of life, and I won't let myself die easily." His voice gradually became softer. "But I don't need or want this title. Not only is it troublesome and boring, but more importantly, I don't want to become one of the oppressors, and I don't want to gradually perish in the corruption and depravity of those who devour the flesh and blood of others like parasites, and think it is a great happiness."

Those narrations gradually became like the whispers of a dream. The man was like a bird without legs, all his cries and gasps escaping into the clouds of nothingness: "This is a cowardly choice. I haven't truly put up a fight, and I'm even enjoying the conveniences this identity brings. But this may be the only thing I can insist on doing now. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll forget who I am and where I came from... and that will truly and completely kill me."

"What nonsense are you talking about again?" The other man became increasingly hysterical, with an air of unconscious panic and fear: "Have you been bewitched by the demons of the abyss? Why can't you be more normal?!"

"...You know the answer." His professor was silent for a long time, then replied indifferently and tiredly.

"—because I'm a lunatic with a broken brain."

Then Azuka saw him swing the door open and quickly descend the stairs, lips pursed. He picked up his unopened suitcase and headed out the door. His face was extremely pale, making the slightly reddened handprints even more noticeable. The God's Chosen One frowned slightly, rose without a word, and followed him.

"...Aunt? What happened?" Emilia, who had rushed over after hearing the noise, stood at the entrance of the front hall and watched everything anxiously with the maid.

"Excuse me, Miss Carleton," her cousin, who had only met her once, looked at her expressionlessly, "Please make way."

Under the pressure of those smoky gray eyes, she subconsciously gave way, while Mrs. Brody screamed upstairs without caring about her image: "How dare you leave! If you leave, don't come back!"

The dark-haired young man paused at the doorway, his face slightly tilted. The light completely engulfed his features; he was a symbol of arrogance and loneliness, an island isolated at the end of the world, immersed in an endless sea devoid of life and death.

The eldest son of the Brody family spoke in an unusually gentle and cold voice: "...What do you think I came back for, Mother?"

He nodded slightly to the old maid, who was looking worried and mumbling something, "Good morning. It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Maggie."