"Anna, why were you crying yesterday?
Who slapped you? Tell me … "Claude was in a hurry to go home after school and stopped his sister the moment she returned.
The little Lolita did not answer, but her big bright eyes were immediately covered with a layer of mist.
Claude had an idea. "It's Arbeit again, isn't it?
Why did he hit you? "
The little girl pouted and started crying. "He … he wanted me to give him that hairpin, but I didn't want to. He … he hit me and … he even took the hairpin away …"
Claude clenched his fists so tightly that the veins on his knuckles bulged. It seemed that he had to be taught a harsh lesson. How dare he snatch the pure silver hairpin I bought for my sister? Needless to say, he must have given it to his mistress, Miss Christina.
I heard that Miss Christina was pestering him to buy some jewelry for her. Since he didn't have the money, he decided to target his sister. How promising … Of course, if the hairpin wasn't pure silver, he probably wouldn't have taken a liking to it. Very well, just you wait. You'll be in for a good time tonight …
After finally pacifying his sister, Claude rubbed his palms together and prepared to wait for Arbeit to come home that night.
However, to his surprise, he did not see Sir Fux until dinner time. He asked his father, and Mr. Morssen said that Sir Fux had just returned from the county capital and had a lot of work to do. Hence, Sir Fux would be busy for the next two days and might not return home.
At the same time, he was gratified that Claude took the initiative to show concern for his eldest son's whereabouts. He believed that he had taught his children a good lesson.
That fellow was lucky, but it would only delay him for a few days at most.
The next day, Claude brought his sister to the grocery store in town after school and bought her another three beautiful hairpins.
This time, however, the hairpins didn't cost much, only two or three sunars each. They were all made of copper and plated with silver. Although they didn't cost as much as the pure silver hairpin, it didn't matter as long as the little loli liked it.
Finally, on the night of the third day, Claude waited for the man to return home.
After school, Claude was dragged by his friends to the Altronis' secret base at their private jetty and spent an hour fishing by the lake.
Originally, the companions wanted to have another barbecue, but the harvest was very little. The four of them only caught two small fish, so everyone lost interest. They threw the two small fish to Uncle Pegg, who was guarding the dock, and went home.
As soon as he entered, he saw that fellow sitting at the dining table, bragging about how hard he had worked for the past two days, how much he had done, and how much Sir Fux valued him … Mr. Morssen smiled as he listened to the fellow's boasting, nodding his head in satisfaction from time to time.
When Claude entered, the man gave him a sidelong glance and pretended to ignore him.
At the same time, he pointed at the empty cup in front of him and shouted for Angelina to pour him some black tea.
"Let me." Claude took the teapot from his sister and walked to the dining table.
He placed the teapot on the table and grabbed the man's collar, lifting him off the chair.
"Wh-What are you doing?!" he cried in a panic.
Morssen froze for a moment before he roared, "Claude, what are you doing?!"
Claude ignored him. Even the Emperor of Heaven wouldn't be able to quell the anger he had been suppressing for the past three days.
The idiot used both hands to try and pull his clothes away. Even when Claude let go of his right hand, the idiot couldn't move his left hand at all.
He aimed and exerted force. With a loud smack, Claude gave him a huge slap across the face.
"Pfft …" A mouthful of blood sprayed onto Claude's uniform.
The man woke up from the slap and hurriedly covered his face with his hands, afraid that he would be slapped again.
Knee lift …
"Blargh …" The man vomited. Unfortunately, he hadn't eaten dinner yet and there wasn't much to vomit except for some white foam.
Nobody would be able to straighten their back after taking a knee to the abdomen. The man's back was bent like a prawn.
Knee lift …
"Argh …" This time, it was a cry of agony. The man's nose was struck and his face was covered in blood. He fell to the ground while clutching his face.
It had only been a few short moments since Claude made his move. Before Morssen could finish his words, he saw his beloved son wailing on the ground with his face covered in blood.
"You … You're rebelling!
Claude!
How dare you!
How dare you hit your elder brother!
Stop! "Morssen was so angry that he was trembling and pointed at Claude.
"Shut up!"
Claude turned to look at his father. His bloodshot eyes gave Morssen quite a fright. "Stand there and be quiet. You'll soon know why I hit him!"
Claude pulled out a chair and stepped on the man's face with his right foot. "Tell me, where did you put that pure silver hairpin?"
The man on the ground trembled and refused to speak, allowing Claude's foot to trample on his hand. He could only act pitiful and beg for his parents' protection.
Claude stomped down hard. "You don't want to talk, do you? Actually, even if you don't tell me, I know why you stole Anna's hairpin.
Arbeit, I told you I didn't want to get involved in your scandal, nor did I want to embarrass my parents.
But you're really something. In order to please your lover, you stole your sister's hairpin and beat her when she refused … "
"Wait, Claude, what did you just say?" Morssen was a little taken aback. He wasn't prepared to hear such explosive news.
"It's simple, Father. Your eldest son, who you've always been proud of, has hooked up with the beautiful 28-year-old Miss Christina who lives in the attic next door. They've been lovers for at least half a year now.
Now, you should know where your eldest son spends his monthly salary, right?
Last month, your eldest son bought two dresses and a skirt for his lover. I think he also promised Miss Christina to move her to a suite with a bathroom, a bathtub, and a kitchen. If there are no vacancies in the house, he will rent it outside, and he will pay the rent …
Miss Christina even asked your eldest son to buy her some jewelry. It seems that your eldest son has run out of money, so he set his sights on the pure silver hairpin I bought for Anna. He took it from Anna and gave it to his Miss Christina. Anna refused, so he slapped her.
Actually, I don't care about the hairpin. As long as he talks things out with Anna, nothing will happen. Out of all the things he shouldn't have done, he actually hit Anna. That damned brat, is he even a little bit like an elder brother?
Anna is his biological sister, yet he's the one helping her!
Since that's the case, don't blame me for being rude. If you don't treat us as siblings, then I won't treat you as an elder brother! "
The more Claude spoke, the angrier he got. Angelina was so obedient and sensible. She knew how to help their mother with the housework at the age of 12.
Other things aside, when their mother had to take care of Pudding, Angelina took the initiative to wash the dishes at night. That made Claude feel a little embarrassed.
However, Claude wasn't willing to wash the dishes. It was the custom of this world that women did the kitchen work.
If a man did the cleaning work when there were women in the house, that man would be called a good-for-nothing and a sissy.
He withdrew his foot from the fellow's face. Since you're covering your face, I'll kick your waist. Claude kicked the fellow's ribs.
"Ouch!" The fellow was rather quick-witted. He rolled on the ground after taking two kicks. Claude almost missed his kick and did a split.
"How dare you dodge!" Claude chased after him.
"Wait, Claude, stop!" Morssen finally recovered from his shock.
"I didn't hit you!"
Claude kicked the fellow a few more times, but the fellow had already retreated to the corner of the wall. He hugged his head and let Claude kick him again and again.
"You! Stop right there!"
Morssen was about to go mad with anger. He had never imagined that his eldest son would do such a disgraceful thing behind his back, and his second son had always been disobedient and violent. He even dared to beat up his elder brother, even though it was for his sister's sake. Morssen felt a terrible headache, and his mind was in a mess.
Because Morssen was in front of him, Claude had no choice but to stop.
"Get over there," Morssen said as he pushed Claude away. No matter what, he had to separate the two bastards first.
He would give his father some face and see how he would deal with the fellow. If he wasn't satisfied with the outcome, Claude wouldn't mind beating him up every time he saw him. He would definitely learn a lesson.
He walked to his sister's side and stroked her hair. "Don't be afraid. That fellow won't dare to hit you again. If he dares to hit you once, I'll beat him up ten times. Let's see who dares to bully my cute sister."
The little girl smiled and leaned her head into Claude's chest.
Claude's beating of his brother did scare her at first, but she quickly realized that he was doing it for her. She didn't feel afraid anymore. Instead, she felt happy and safe.
"Arbelle, get up first."
Morssen stared at his eldest son sternly. He believed that Claude was telling the truth. Otherwise, given his understanding of his son, Arbelle would've immediately tried to refute him.
The fact that Arbelle didn't say a word and took the beating meant that Claude was telling the truth.
Morssen's heart sank. Now wasn't the time to blame Claude for beating up his brother. Instead, it was whether Arbelle was really in cahoots with that Christina.
God of War, if word of this gets out, Morssen wouldn't know how he'd face the nobles of the town.
This … this would become a huge scandal. He'd become a laughingstock. How would the townsfolk view him, the chief executive, if a female tenant turned out to be in cahoots with his eldest son?
The reputation he'd built up over the years would be completely ruined.
"Is what Claude said true?
You really have that kind of relationship with that Miss Christina? "Morssen was still hoping that Arbelle would stand up and scold Claude for spreading rumors.
However, he was soon disappointed. His eldest son simply hugged his head in the corner and didn't make a sound. He looked as pitiful as if he'd just been gang-raped.
Claude couldn't help but give the kid a thumbs up. He knew that his father wouldn't believe him no matter what he said. He might as well keep his mouth shut and act like he was beaten up to gain his parents' sympathy.
Morssen seemed to have lost his spirit. He staggered and sat down on a chair. He'd suffered too much tonight and couldn't take it anymore.
Letting out a long sigh, he turned to Claude and asked, "When did you find out?"
Claude shrugged. "Just a few days ago, the day you treated us to a meal at home.
When I came back at night, you were still in the study.
I couldn't sleep and left the window open. Then, I heard him arguing with a woman.
I thought it was downstairs, but when I realized it was coming from next door, I climbed up to the roof and found him in Christina's attic, arguing loudly.
Christina complained that the suite he promised her hadn't materialized yet. There was no bathroom, tub or kitchen in the attic. He promised to rent a nice room for her in town.
Christina even said she didn't have any jewelry for him to buy. He said he'd bought her a dress and dress last month and he'd buy jewelry for her next time.
After that, he slept at Christina's place. The two of them were arguing loudly. I understood their relationship then.
I didn't want to meddle in his affairs, but he shouldn't have bullied Anna and snatched her hair clip. "
"I got it. Don't say anymore," said Morssen as he waved his hand helplessly. Claude shut his mouth.
"Oh, Abel!
Abel, what happened to you? "His mother came down from upstairs with the little fat boy in her arms. When she saw the guy's face covered in blood in the corner, she immediately screamed.
'He is all right, but fell, 'said Mr. Morssen.
Claude and Angelina looked at him in amazement.
"You two, bring some food upstairs to eat. Don't eat dinner here. Bring Booker up as well."
Morssen sighed. "Barney, go wash Abel's face. Take a look at his injuries."