Edited by: ASaltedFish
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On a popular resort planet where the Vales and Velenet family had their headquarters, Leonard Vales was sitting in the living room of his ancestral home, listening to his mother pleading, once again, for him to forgive Darian Velenet.
Madam Vales felt like she was talking to a wall, but if she talked enough, maybe he would understand her good intentions. "Even if you don't like him anymore, isn't it better to go with him? Not only is his compatibility with you decent, but he is also a guide who is willing to guide you!"
After hearing his mother, father, and even Darian's parents say the same thing to him over and over again, Leonard felt like he had enough!
"Every single one of you just needs to shut up about Darian. Darian this, Darian that. If I didn't know better, I would have thought he was your actual child, and I was just adopted on a whim! Maybe you found me in the trash can."
Leonard's resentment toward his family and the Velenet family grew so much in the past couple of years that he was very close to murdering them all and fleeing the country.
"Leonard!" His father yelled, pointing his finger at him. "You'd better apologize to your mother right now! If you had just listened to us from the start, none of this would have happened."
"Heh, it's because I listened to you that an SSS-rank guide ran away from me! Ellery should have been mine. He even thought about giving our relationship a try, but time and time again, my so-called parents and Darian ruined my plans over and over again. I could have been with the most powerful guide in the galaxy, and now I'm being forced to someone so mediocre. Truly, what a fucking blessing you all have given me."
Leonard's last sentence was riddled with sarcasm and resentment.
"You wouldn't have been able to be with him even if you wanted to!" His mother had enough of his delusions. "You are nothing in the face of Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito. You are still wet behind your ears, still needing your parents to take care of you. Not only that, you are immature, and you only think about yourself. Even if you got together with him, he would realize that you don't love him and that you only love yourself. After that, he will divorce you!"
"Lies! You know that you're lying! Not only do I have SS-ranked potential, but I also have money-"
"Our money," His father cut him off, "You have our resources, but without us, you are nothing."
Leonard couldn't believe that his parents thought this way about him. Didn't they say he was their pride and joy? Now he was considered nothing without them?
"Fine."
Leonard stood up and walked back to his room. Since he was nothing to them, he would show them what nothing looked like.
After Leonard left, his parents sat in the living room trying to process the interaction. His mother didn't know what came over her, but hearing him complain about the Aster family had her wanting to scream and shout. What was so good about a bunch of orphans? So what if Ellery and Juniper were SSS-ranked guides? They were merely two people who needed to serve the empire for the rest of their lives. They didn't even have the freedom to leave the country as they pleased.
If he could just marry a normal guide and not worry about having the best guide in the galaxy, it would be easier for all of them. Marrying Ellery and Juniper was not possible anymore, so why worry about them?
His mother huffed. "I don't understand what is going on in his head. Maybe we spoiled him too much."
"Yes, we did spoil him too much." Leonard's father knew they were at fault. He could only regret because the past was in the past. "Now we can only hope whatever trouble he gets himself into is something that we can manage."
Little did they know that they would not have the chance to clean up after him in the future.
*****
At the Vale's family home, Darian, who was home alone, was sulking in the living room. He was watching videos of Ellery's marriage that were plastered all over social media. Many highlight videos were posted, showing the happy occasion, but he didn't feel happy. Actually, he felt bitter. If only Ellery had died that day, then he would have been the one who was happily married..
He didn't understand why Leonard was so obsessed with Ellery. So what if he was a better guide? If Ellery were dead, then it wouldn't matter if he was SSS-ranked or not.
Why couldn't he stop watching those highlight videos? Even though he was jealous and angry, he couldn't stop himself.
"What's so good about Ellery anyway? And Adjutant Ito isn't all that amazing either." Darian grumbled while the butler went to open the door for Leonard.
"Young Master, Lord Leonard is here to see you." The butler, who had been trying to get his attention for the past 5 minutes, said while lightly tapping him on the shoulder. He had been serving the Vales family for decades, so he was a bit more casual with the family.
"Tell him to come sit with me." He didn't want to get up, especially not to the man who didn't want to marry him!
"I'm here." Leonard sat down near Darian and stared at him without saying anything else.
Darian didn't care and continued to watch the videos. He even saw Juniper and Edros together in a few videos and gritted his teeth. He shouldn't have set his sights on the good-for-nothing Leonard and tried to go with Marshal Caecius. At least he was a loyal lover.
Leonard listened to Darian complain for over 10 minutes before finally sighing.
"There's something I would like to discuss with you, Darian."
"Really? What is it?"
"I'm leaving the country soon."
Leonard used to have some feelings of affection for Darian, but that was because they grew up together. As they got older, his tolerance for Darian decreased tremendously. Now, he wanted nothing to do with his childhood friend. He couldn't wait to leave him and everything else behind.
"You are? Why?"
"That's none of your business."
"Then why did you come over here and tell me that you are leaving? You know, you think you are all that just because you have SS-ranked potential, but even the sentinels who have that kind of potential won't even make it to that rank in their lifetime. What? Did you think you were another Marshal Caecius?"
Darian was fed up with Leonard and his higher-than-holy attitude. So he kept talking, ranting about how he really felt about Leonard.
As for Leonard, he just sat there, half-listening to everything that Darian said. As Darian talked, he felt like his voice was getting smaller and muffled, like he was underwater.
Why did he have to hear about how worthless he was from Darian, too?
Leonard stared at Darian's mouth moving, but he couldn't hear anything. Darian kept talking and talking, getting increasingly frustrated that Leonard was not reacting to him.
"Leonard, Leo! Are you even listening to me?"
Before Darian could say another word, something in Leonard snapped. He grabbed Darian by the neck, something he had been wanting to do for so long. He ignored Darian's struggles and gripped tighter and tighter.
The B-ranked butler heard the commotion and rushed over, trying to save Darian, but was met with a crushing blow from Leonard's quantum beast. His lion quantum beast roared while stepping on the butler's back, piercing its claws through the man's torso. The butler's life ended quickly.
Once Darian stopped moving and breathing, Leonard let go and called his quantum beast back into his spiritual sea. He didn't even look at Darian and walked out of the mansion.
To be honest, he came to see Darian to find the last of his affection for him. He thought that if he saw Darian, his urge to kill him would disappear, and he could just leave the country without any regrets.
Unfortunately, Darian went on a rant about his worthlessness, even comparing him to Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito.
It took a day for Darian's parents to find Darian dead in the living room along with their trusted butler. The last person who saw them, Leonard, was nowhere to be found.
The news of Leonard's disappearance and Darian's death did not shock Ellery or Juniper. They did not feel bad, but only felt a bit of pity. Just like Ellery in his previous life, Darian's life ended at the hands of Leonard.
Leonard had always been that way. He only loved himself and didn't care about anyone else.
Ellery and Juniper felt a small weight lift from their shoulders and continued to enjoy their happy life.
As for what happened to Leonard after he left the country, no one but Leonard knew.