The Fraud Heir to The Strongest Clan

The sky darkened as the sun began to set. Looming dusk cast the shadows of the iron fences thinner and longer around the Theocheirós Family's mansion on the green grass smeared with the orange — almost pinkish — glow of the sinking sun.

At this hour, all manual work had been finished. The servants had gone home to their families except for the maids that were assigned to work during the night. The village also turned quiet and the streets empty but not deserted.

As the last sunlight flickered out, drowning beyond the western skyline, the lamplights in the village and inside the yard of the mansion illuminated the manor in the warm glow of the divine flame. Coupled with the bright summer moonlight and the billions of shining stars, the night didn't feel cold and lonely, instead, mystical and dreamsome.

On the center of the Southern Olcour, a mansion, more prominent than any, was stood. Inside it was where some of the strongest humans in the world were having their dinner.

The chandelier hanging overhead cast a white light that illuminated the whole area. And at the center of the dining hall, the long table used for generations had served its purpose for one more night, hosting the strongest family in history.

Zarria sat with them but her mind was absent. She stared at her plate of pasta and the salad on the side, her appetite wasn't ignited one bit.

...

"...and our strength, our health, in flesh and soul. Hear our prayers, Celestials above."

Neral had finished praying, thanking the gods for the blessing that was the food. The ones sitting around the table had began eating, too.

Zarria tried to lift her fork. She wanted to go to her room and be alone.

Earlier today, she discovered that Rose, a girl that had recently become her friend, had eaten the cursed food back in the slums five months ago. The enemies deliberately kept her alive to be used to control Zarria.

Realistically, she could just sacrifice Rose and expose Raymond's betrayal. That would have been the best course of action.

Alas, she knew she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. Not when she had the ability to save her but chose not to.

"By the way, Zarria,"

Her head jerked up when she heard Raymond's voice from across the table.

"Have you told your mother about our conversation?"

She stared at her uncle. The kind smile he wore almost made her want to puke.

"Not yet," she replied.

Neral spoke.

"What is it?"

Turning to her, Raymond began to talk.

"Earlier today, Zarria said she wanted to hand over the new village project and school management to me. She says it's too much work," he said, laughing casually.

He shook his head and added:

"Kids these days."

The first demand Raymond gave Zarria was the passing of authority over the village and the school. Of course, if it meant giving up the lives of the people living there, she wouldn't have agreed. That was why she ensured that no harm would befall the new citizens first.

Raymond's words couldn't be trusted, so he made her trust him in the most effective way.

He shared with her the information she wanted — or needed, and provided the evidence she had been looking for.

That was when Zarria saw the cursed food for the first time. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary biscuit. Round, hard and brittle. It reminded her of the ceremonial bread from their church.

But like normal bread, it couldn't dissolve in water. That was a relief because it would be far too easy to kill the entire human population and turn the world into a living nightmare if this thing was to be dissolved in the empire's water systems. The regulation of food products was also very strict, so something suspicious like this wouldn't even make it to the street markets. Only in a place like the slums would this thing be successfully distributed, especially to desperate starving people.

Zarria also confirmed the properties of the cursed food. The sinister spell used to create it was indeed a demonic technology. It was the real deal.

Raymond said that she could study the curse and attempt to lift it from the ones who had eaten the food.

Because he had eaten it himself.

Furthermore, if she managed successfully understand the workings of the curse, she would be able to tell the people who had eaten it apart. That would help her make sure that Raymond or Julius weren't secretly feeding the people any type of cursed food.

Raymond also allowed her to keep watch at the school and the village if she so didn't trust him. She could also use Raymond's fingerprints on the biscuit as evidence of his involvement to the crimes. But of course, that would be tantamount to killing Rose and all the others who had eaten the cursed food.

He was willing to give her all of that information and access, all to gain authority over the new village project.

So, the best compromise was to play along with Raymond's plans. At least for now.

Hence, the agreement: Raymond would be in charge of the new citizens, Zarria had the power to prove his involvement with the crimes at any moment — provided that she won't do it unless Raymond harmed another civilian or turned Rose into a monster.

The wager was, whoever of them two reaches their goals first, wins.

Therefore, Zarria had to find a way to cure Rose and the others before Raymond could complete his plans, whatever they were.

She didn't know why he was so hell-bent on overseeing the projects himself. It wasn't like he could manipulate or redirect its direction.

It might have been an order from a higher authority that even he was under of. Demons, to be specific.

Whatever the case was, she didn't have a choice if she wanted to save Rose and all the others who were cursed.

That said, she couldn't help but be crushed in pressure. Their lives were basically sitting at the palm of her hands.

After dinner, all the bright lights in the mansion were put out, except for the dim candle lamps to provide a bit of vision in the night.

Zarria was sitting at her desk inside her room, observing the ominous bread inside an experimentation jar.

The glow of her lamp reflected in the left side of the glass jar, and the bright moonlight from the window in the right side.

'This is so stupid...' she thought to herself.

Instead of starting to study the curse, her mind spiralled to how everything ended up like this.

Moments later, she heard a knock on her door. Neral entered her room.

"Mother?"

She closed the door and faced Zarria.

"That's the food?" Neral asked, looking at the suspicious bread inside the jar.

Zarria nodded.

Neral also already knew how rotten Raymond's soul was. She was just waiting for Zarria to gather the evidence they needed.

Going against a son of the former clan head wasn't going to be so easy especially for her, a mere wife of the current clan head. So, before she could officially declare her personal hatred for Raymond, they needed irrefutable evidence first or the tides could be easily reversed on them, risking being overthrown.

Now, they had the evidence, but they couldn't use it. That was why she had to help Zarria with her race against Raymond.

Neral stepped closer to inspect the food, but suddenly, she stopped.

Zarria noticed it too. And when she did, bullets of sweat rolled on her forehead.

She had just sensed something dangerous appeared nearby. In fact, it was extremely close to them.

It was inside the mansion.

Before they could start examining the curse, both Zarria and Neral felt a common dread that made all the hair on their skin rise.

They looked at each other's eyes opening wide in shock. All of a sudden, even the wind blew differently. Their entire system told them something dangerous had just entered the mansion unannounced.

"Did you feel that too?" Neral whispered to her daughter.

She nodded nervously.

Zarria's door sharply creaked open, spreading the light from her room on the dark corridor.

She and Neral walked out to see what had just invaded their home.

Someone, or something that could infiltrate the mansion and bypass their security couldn't be a creature in the level of their comprehension.

Whatever it was, it would take everything both of them had just to survive.

That was why they were both filled with dread.

Sneakily, both of them went downstairs towards the dining hall. Currently, it was dark and they could barely see a thing.

But there it was. A figure of a man standing in the dark corner.

Neral swallowed, her heart pounding rapidly against her chest.

She steeled herself and waved her hand to command the chandelier lights to turn on.

What they saw was indeed something they could have never expected.

A tall, broad-shouldered man, wearing an expensive coat was standing by the drawers. He had a long, flowing dark hair and sharp facial features. His eyes of crimson stared at the two girls as he munched on a cupcake he had just pulled from the kitchen drawers.

With his lips covered in icing and crumbs, he smiled bashfully and said:

"Hi there, hehe."

Neral then yelled in shock.

"RIO?!"

Zarria also yelled.

"FATHER?!"

Axerion Theocheirós stood up straight, put the cupcake down and then opened his arms wide for a hug.

"I'm home, my darlings!!!~"