Of all things, the hardest to resolve was family matters.
That was an ancient saying that Claude finally understood.
He couldn't blame his mother because she didn't do it on purpose. She was just old and soft-hearted. She listened to the noblewomen and wanted to find Bloweyk a wife of equal status so that he wouldn't lose face as the head of House Ferd.
Actually, Claude believed that his mother doted on Bloweyk the most. That had always been the case since he was young.
If it wasn't for the fact that Bloweyk's childhood was one of the most difficult periods in the family and Angelina's strict upbringing, he wouldn't have gone down the wrong path.
Otherwise, who knew how much Bloweyk would have been spoiled by his mother.
Fortunately, despite his mischievous youth, Bloweyk was still sensible. After he grew up, he went through a lot of training in the military and became a publicly acknowledged pillar of the family.
Bloweyk was no exception. People grew up and had their own opinions.
But to his mother, that was where she felt the most dejected.
Her beloved son was becoming more and more disobedient and it became a thorn in her side.
Just like how Bloweyk wanted to advance in the military, his mother hoped for him to retire early and stay at home as the head of the house, developing House Ferd into a more influential family. That was his mother's wish. She felt that having Claude as a soldier was enough for the family.
But Bloweyk refused to listen to her arrangements and didn't want to walk the path his mother had laid out for him. Instead, he left the family matters to his sister-in-law, Kefnie.
That disappointed his mother greatly. She had no choice but to use her last resort to find Bloweyk a suitable wife. Perhaps someone might be able to make him change his mind.
However, his mother's plan didn't work out. Bloweyk had no interest in the so-called noble ladies that his mother introduced him to. Instead, he promised to marry the daughter of a veteran, a shepherdess from Anna's ranch, and they got married.
When the news reached his mother's ears, it unsurprisingly caused a huge uproar in the family.
His mother was adamantly against it. She felt that it was a disgrace to the family. Marrying a lowly shepherdess would be a disgrace to House Ferd.
Claude had never cared about anything at home. The affairs of the autonomous region were enough of a headache for him and he didn't have the time to care about the trivial matters at home.
In truth, he felt that his mother had been living a good life for too long and was starting to get arrogant. Nobody knew what kind of a family they were. Had it not been for Claude risking his life on the battlefield, they wouldn't be where they were now.
However, she had been fawned over by the noblewomen of the families that served Claude so much that she unconsciously treated House Ferd as one of the nobles. She felt that House Ferd was superior to everyone else and slowly got used to it. As she grew older, she started to act like a child and became more and more stubborn. She refused to listen to her children's advice.
When Bloweyk purposely refused to return to Ferde Manor and stayed with his girlfriend at Anna's Ranch to avoid a fight with her, his mother pretended to be sick and tried to force Bloweyk to return home, but she failed.
So his mother blamed Anna, thinking that she had married Myjack, who had nothing at the time, and thus set a bad example for Bloweyk.
Anna was also pregnant at the time and was about to give birth. She was furious at her mother as well.
Fortunately, Anna was used to being bullied since she was young and developed a tough personality. She was fine and Claude only had to comfort her for a bit.
His mother, on the other hand, was getting more and more stubborn with age. Both Anna and Bloweyk avoided her, so she went to complain to Kefnie.
In the end, his mother revealed that Kefnie wasn't worthy of Claude and that their family was poor at the time, so Kefnie got lucky and married into House Ferd. Kefnie, who was pregnant at the time, almost got into a fight with her mother on the spot. Had it not been for her third pregnancy, she might have died from anger.
Claude had no choice but to order his servants to strictly forbid his mother from interacting with Anna and Kefnie in case anything happened.
But that way, his mother felt that her children were disobedient and not a single one of them was filial. When she talked to the noblewomen who came to visit her, she felt that while their families were harmonious and happy, her own family was the only one that wasn't doing well. None of her children or daughters-in-law were obedient, making House Ferd a joke in the eyes of others.
The more she thought about it, the more conflicted she became. In the end, she blamed everything on the lowly shepherdess who seduced her son and couldn't help but write a letter to scold her.
Honestly speaking, her mother could never have imagined that her letter would cause such a huge tragedy. This was a human life!
For her mother, she just wanted to vent her anger and scold Adele. Perhaps it would ease her depressed mind a little.
At the same time, she wanted to tell Adele that even if she gave birth to Bloweyk's children, she wouldn't agree to let Bloweyk marry her.
But she didn't think that Adele was about to give birth and was pregnant with twins. She had been a homeless child since she was young. She looked strong on the outside but was actually weak on the inside. She had an inferiority complex and was very sensitive.
Bloweyk didn't bring her home when she was pregnant and instead gave birth at the ranch. Now that he received his mother's letter, he realized that his suspicions were true.
She immediately gave birth prematurely and lost a lot of blood during the process. Even though the ranch had prepared everything, Adele, who had no desire to live, could not be saved.
Adele left just like that, leaving behind Bloweyk who was on the verge of going crazy. He went crazy after reading the letter and beat up the servant who delivered the letter on the spot.
If it wasn't for the fact that he still retained a trace of consciousness and knew that the servant who delivered the letter had no choice but to do so and didn't know what his mother had said in the letter, perhaps the servant would have been torn to pieces by him.
"Where's the letter?" Claude asked.
Anna smiled bitterly, "Bloweyk swallowed it …"
"What?"
"It's true. After reading the letter, Bloweyk's face turned red with anger. He tore the letter into pieces and stuffed them into his mouth and swallowed them.
We were all terrified and thought he'd gone crazy.
In the end, after he swallowed the letter, he charged at the servant and broke all of his bones. He'll be bedridden for at least half a year.
After we pulled Bloweyk away, he knelt in front of Adele's bed and cried silently … "
"Where is he now?" Claude asked with a frown.
"He should be in the small wooden hut at the back. That used to be Adele's residence …" Anna replied helplessly, "He's been drinking all this time. He's been the drunkest these past few days and doesn't care about anyone who tries to stop him.
I'm scared that he'll repeat Grandpa's mistakes … "
The first head of the Ferd family, known as Lucky Hasby and Claude's grandfather in this life, had also died in a ditch less than half a meter deep. He couldn't take the blow of his wife's death and drank himself to death.
"I'll go look for him …" Claude turned to leave, but was stopped by his sister, Angelina.
"There's one more thing I need to tell you," Anna said aggrievedly.
"A few days ago, Bloweyk went out to Lanu City's administrative office. He canceled his surname, so he's a nameless person now …" Anna said, feeling wronged.
"What did you say?" Claude was shocked. "He canceled his surname?"
Anna nodded.
"Nonsense!" Claude raged, "What does he mean by that?
Does he not want to be our family anymore?
That bastard, if he becomes a nameless person, what about the two newborn children … "
Everyone in this world was proud of their family. Even for commoners, it was better to have a family to rely on than not.
A family's surname represented the bloodline of a family.
Otherwise, the war theatre wouldn't have set up the policy of distributing land to the soldiers to attract their families to the colonies.
A successful person often represented the glory of a family.
Only those who had committed a huge crime and were banished from the family, or those who were born as slaves or released criminals would not have a surname.
There were even those who hid their surnames out of fear that their crimes would implicate their family.
Even though the kingdom had enacted the Four Citizens Rights Act during Stellin IX's reign, commoners with or without surnames had the same status.
However, those without surnames were still discriminated against by commoners with surnames. It was a tradition among the people.
Bloweyk had exiled himself. He canceled his surname at the administrative office, which meant that he had given up on his bloodline with Ferd and was no longer the head of the family.
This was his revenge on his mother. He couldn't physically hurt his mother who gave birth to him, but he couldn't restrain his resentment for the tragedy his mother had caused. He could only use this kind of mutually destructive method to win a spiritual victory for himself …
Claude turned around and saw a fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth glaring at him hatefully from a corner not far away.
Stunned, Claude turned to Anna and asked, "Who is he?"
Anna sighed. "He's Adele's younger brother, Cremiso …"
"Old Softer's son?"
Claude immediately thought of the son and daughter of Old Softer whom Bloweyk had brought back. Adele had passed away, but her brother was still alive. Judging from the look in his eyes, it was obvious that he viewed House Ferd as the enemies who forced his sister to her death.
Claude felt a headache coming on. What was his mother doing? She was clearly looking for enemies for House Ferd.
Moreover, he could not touch this child. Not to mention anything else, Old Soft had died on the battlefield to save Bloweyk. Now that Adele had given birth to a pair of twins for Bloweyk, she was angered to death by her mother. If he touched this Cremiso, it would be repaying kindness with enmity.
But the hatred in this child's eyes was clear. He even hated himself. What kind of melodramatic love and hatred was this?!
Claude could only hope that time would wear off the child's hatred. It might not work, but it would at least buy him some time.
Claude walked to Cremiso and squatted down to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry, Cremiso. We didn't want to see a tragedy like this happen.
Actually, I don't object to your sister becoming a part of House Ferd. It's just that fate made you lose your dearest sister. That's not what we wanted.
On behalf of myself and my mother, I can only express our condolences to you.
I know you hate us. I don't blame you for that. If it were me, I would hate the people who made you lose your sister as well.
I don't think you want to stay on our farm anymore. What I want to tell you is that your father, Old Softer, left you a farm in Cromwell. Do you want to bury your sister here or on your own land? "
Cremiso continued to stare at Claude with hatred. After a long while, he said, "I want to take my sister away …"
Claude got up and patted him on the shoulder. "Very well. After your sister's cremation, you can take her ashes with you. I'll get someone to take over the estate in Cromwell. I used to hire people to take care of it. All the accounts and profits for the past two years will be clearly transferred to you.
As for the two children your sister gave birth to, I will adopt them. After all, you're still young and can't take care of them and let them grow up safely.
If you have time in the future, you can visit them anytime. When they grow up, you can take them to your farm to play. They also have your sister's blood in them. "
Perhaps this would lessen the child's enmity and hatred towards House Ferd. Claude could only do so much.
Perhaps it was his promise that Cremyso could visit the children at any time, and that Cremyso could take them to play at the Grange when they were grown up that had moved him. He nodded silently and turned to leave.
"You might not be able to adopt these two children …" Angelina said from behind.
"Why not?" Claude turned around with a dark expression.
Angelina sighed. "I asked Kefnie if she wanted to adopt these two poor motherless children, but she refused.
She said she has three children to take care of and doesn't have time to take care of two babies. "
Claude was on the verge of exploding. "Why doesn't she have time?!
She doesn't have to do anything! The maids will help her! All she has to do is talk! "
Angelina shook her head. "Brother, don't forget that Bloweyk just got rid of his surname a few days ago. The position of head of House Ferd is still empty.
If Kefnie adopts these two children, she might anger Mother or give Tesoray a rival for the position of patriarch in the future … "
None of them are easy to deal with!
Claude understood immediately. With Bloweyk no longer the head of the house, the only candidate left was Claude.
If House Ferd was still the same as it was in Whitestag, it wouldn't matter who the head was.
But now, House Ferd was huge. They had a 1,500-acre farm in Cromwell and Ferd Manor in Lanu. They also had the family tobacco factory that was raking in money every day.
Not to mention, most of Blackstone's shares were still in Claude's hands. There was also the iron ore company he had a partnership with Weyblon, the shares in Minsheng Bank and the railway company, the military industry that the five generals held, the Wild Bull Company's half of the shares, and many other companies and workshops. Those were the foundations of a family that had been passed down for a hundred years and represented huge profits.
If Claude became the head of House Ferd, his eldest son, Tesoray, would become the first heir and his second son, Bargasi, would become the second.
But if Kefnie were to adopt the twins left behind by Bloweyk and Adele, the boy would definitely become the third heir.
Perhaps Claude would think of his younger brother as he grew older and pay more attention to him. He might even raise him to be the next head of the house.
So, Kefnie had to nip the problem in the bud and refuse to adopt the twins.
Claude's face was ashen. The family business had grown and people's hearts had changed. The pure and innocent girl from before had now become the mother of three children and had begun to plan for her children's future.
Yet, Claude couldn't do anything about her. As his wife, she had been by his side for more than a decade and had given birth to his children. Even if she didn't do much for them, she still worked hard for him. He really couldn't speak ill of her.
Perhaps it was because of her mother's actions and the noble ladies who came to visit, Kev had a certain influence on her. She had become a little selfish ….
"You don't have to worry about raising the two children. I told Bloweyk that I would adopt them and become their mother," Angelina said slowly.
"I'll talk to Mother and Kefnie about it," Claude decided.
"I'll go find Bloweyk first and see how he's doing."
Bloweyk was almost unrecognizable by now. His beard was unkempt and his clothes were ragged. His eyes were bloodshot as he lay on the floor of the wooden hut, staring at the ceiling listlessly. Empty wine bottles were all around him and there was no place for him to stand.
He didn't seem to care about Claude's entrance at all, as if he couldn't see him at all.
"Pull a few people out!"
Claude ordered, "Pull him out and throw him into the pool. Let him sober up!"
Plop! Bloweyk was thrown into the pool by a few guards. He stayed in the water for a while and choked a few mouthfuls of water before he crawled back up.
Claude grabbed him by the collar of his wet shirt and pulled him in front of him. "Are you awake yet? If you're not, go in and soak yourself again.
Don't forget that you're still a major of the region. You have to act like a soldier. I'll give you ten minutes to clean yourself up before coming to see me! "
Bloweyk was in such a state that no one could communicate with him or talk to him properly. He was heartbroken and in great pain.
Claude could only hope that the habits of a soldier developed from his long career in the army would allow Bloweyk to subconsciously obey his orders and walk out of his current predicament.
Bloweyk's eyes were no longer dazed and he became clear-headed.
He looked at Claude and suddenly slumped down. He hugged Claude's thigh and started bawling loudly.
Claude merely stroked his brother's hair and stood there without moving, but Bloweyk cried loudly. Ten minutes later, when Bloweyk's voice started to grow hoarse and he couldn't even breathe properly, Claude dragged him up from the ground with both hands.
"Are you done crying?
If you're done, then shut up. Take a bath and get some sleep.
Adele would be cremated tomorrow, and then her brother would take her ashes to the grange that old Softer had left to them in Cromwell, where Adele would be buried!
Go with them. After Adele is buried, I'll give you three days to report back to the Wolf Fang Brigade!
Gemi, from now on, you'll take care of him. Let him take a bath, eat something, and sleep. Come back when he returns to the Wolf Fang Brigade.
Remember, from this moment on, don't let him touch any alcohol, not even a drop. Do you understand? "
"Yes, General," Gemi replied.