Arcane Heir: History's Strongest Mage

A long silence settled over the gazebo after the declaration, giving Michael time to process the situation. Of course even if he were given hours, he might not be able to understand the actions of the man in front of him.

"I don't understand…" he said, slowly raising his head to stare at the man across from him.

At this, the lord gave a pained smile, "I am simply trying to make amends for my actions. From this point onward, you are a friend of our Winterborne household—no longer a servant."

The statement sounded genuine, but it was also confusing. Since he wasn't a servant anymore, did that mean he was essentially homeless? Would the Winterborne family still be paying his tuition towards Arcadia?

"Michael my dear, this is good news." Mary said, flashing him a brilliant smile that threatened to take his breath away. "Melody has already told us in detail how close you are—I trust you will look after her even without the contract in place."

Michael nodded, such a thing was a given. The only two friends he had were here beside him, there was no way he wouldn't do everything in his power to protect them when needed.

But this wasn't what he was concerned about right now.

Just as he was about to speak, Melody stood up in that moment and addressed her parents. "Do you think this makes up for what you did to him?" she asked, her shining sapphire eyes drilling into her father.

"Michael almost died because of this. If it wasn't for the headmaster…" The blue haired girl clenched her fists, her voice trailing off.

"Melody…" Mary said, gazing at her daughter with complicated emotions.

"She's right." Rudy interjected, his tone serious. His carefree mask had disappeared, replaced by a calm yet imposing expression as he stared at Brian with barely disguised anger.

"It's all well and good to annul the contract, but it doesn't just magically make things better. Don't you think you owe him a little more than that?" he asked shamelessly.

Michael was taken aback at both of his friend's words, yet a warm feeling rose from within. Was this the unconditional friendship that he heard about? The so-called ride-or-die brothers and sisters?

But he thought it was a bit much in the end. While Brian had indeed used him, Michael was also using the guy—though it was far less than he perhaps should have.

"Guys, I appreciate the sentiment, but the lord had his reasons. The man has also provided me a place to stay and granted me entry into Arcadia academy. Without him, I would never have met you two." Michael said, placing a hand upon Rudy's shoulder with a warm smile.

It seemed Rudy was about to argue his words, but nothing came out of his mouth. He took a few moments before letting out a sigh, appearing to drop the subject.

However, Melody did not.

"Are you forgetting that you worked as a servant for all that time?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "Also, the only reason father sent you to Arcadia was so that he could use you as a scapegoat—if you hadn't have passed the exam, he would have discarded you like trash on the side of the road."

Her words were cutting, causing Brian's expression to flash with pain for a brief moment. The others might not have noticed, but Michael certainly did.

"Alright that's enough!" Mary shot to her feet, her brows knitted, clearly upset. "What kind of person do you think your father is Melody? How can you speak about him in such a way?"

Seeing the outburst of the usually reserved poised woman, Michael knew that things had gone a little far. Unfortunately, things had escalated to a family matter—which meant he no longer had a way of diffusing the situation.

"Honey, it's fine." Brian said, placing a hand upon her arm as if to calm her.

However, the woman didn't back down.

"No, I will not sit here and let your daughter slander you." She said, pulling back her hand and turning to Melody. "Your father may be a flawed man, yes—but he is not the monster that you make him out to be. Do you truly think that he is capable of such things? To treat a young boy as a mere pawn?"

Her words hung over the table, bringing with it silence.

Melody did not reply, though she still seemed unconvinced. Perhaps she indeed thought that he was such a man.

Apparently her mother and father treated her silence as admittance.

This caused Melody's expression to darken further, a look of sadness adorning her features. She slowly sat down on her chair, her eyes seeming lost as she stared at her daughter in defeat.

The silence that followed was one of the most tense and awkward that Michael had ever experienced. He was afraid of making a single noise and drawing attention to himself.

All-in-all, he was rather surprised that things had blown up just after arriving at the manor. It had only been just over four months since they'd left, and the comparison between the send off and this moment was striking.

She went too far… Michael concluded in his heart.

While he appreciated that she was doing this for him, Michael hadn't expected to see the flash of sadness on Brian's expression. It made him think that there was more to the story—something that hadn't been touched on.

Did the man truly use him as a pawn? Or did he have other intentions?

"The tea and snacks are here, my lord." Vaughn appeared, cleaving through the atmosphere with practiced ease.

Without waiting for an invitation, Vaughn took the trays from the other servants and began to place them on the table unhurriedly. As always, the dishes looked immaculate, however Michael was not in the mood to eat right now.

However, a loud grumble soon graced his ears from beside him. He turned only to see Rudy cradling his stomach, wearing a panicked expression.

In any other circumstance it might be funny, but not right now.

"Well, I guess I have some explaining to do." Brian stated, scratching the back of his head after a brief sigh.

All three of the teens perked up their ears.

Were they finally going to hear the full story?