"That brat Jake really lucked out. My little Tina gave him such an exceptional child."
Despite Harold's imposing stature, his alcohol tolerance was surprisingly low—after less than three shots, his face was already flushed.
"Julian, you have no idea how shameless your father was back then to marry my little girl. He literally blocked the door and beat all three of your uncles into submission," Harold slurred slightly.
Julian listened intently—after all, this was gossip about his own parents.
He never knew his father had such a fierce record—beating up all three of his brother-in-laws without holding back.
No wonder his uncles sometimes seemed to grit their teeth whenever his father was mentioned.
So this was the root of it.
"Dad, you've had too much to drink, stop talking nonsense. We were going easy on Jake—as older brothers, we couldn't bear to make our little sister sad."
Logan quickly interjected, noticing his nephew trying to hold back a laugh. He swiftly moved the wine glass away from his father, worried he might reveal even more explosive details.
"Bullshit! 'Going easy'? You just couldn't beat him!" Harold sneered. "If it weren't for the fact that I had raised such a wonderful daughter, that old man Walker would've had the upper hand over me for life."
"But Julian also has our Turner family's blood. No matter how much that old Walker gloats, he can't change that."
Since Julian became Champion, John had been boasting nonstop—calling everyone in his contact list, whether they knew about it or not, just to tell them: "My grandson has became a Champion at 22. Pretty impressive, huh? Bet you don't have a grandson like that. If not, you'd better praise me for raising him so well."
Of course, John didn't forget about his in-laws—he'd called the Turners not long ago, likely intending to show off.
But Harold knew John's personality all too well and understood exactly why he was calling.
"Julian's mother is my daughter. He carries half of our Turner family's blood. The Walker family's blood is just so-so—it's our Turner family's genes that are exceptional."
The two old men, with a combined age of over 150, had directly gotten into a shouting match over whose bloodline was superior.
"Master, Second Miss is here," a butler walked in at this moment and whispered in Harold's ear.
"Took her long enough. Let her in."
The butler hesitated before adding, "That man is with her."
Thud!
Under Julian's surprised gaze, Harold slammed the chopsticks in his hand down onto the table, his face full of barely contained anger.
"Grandpa, I'm back."
At the same time, Julian's second cousin, Paige, walked in, accompanied by a young man around her age.
He was about the same height as Julian and quite handsome—the type many girls would be drawn to.
Julian noticed that the moment his second cousin entered, the atmosphere at the dinner table shifted dramatically. To be more precise, his grandfather and the others seemed to harbor strong hostility toward the man she had brought.
"If you didn't want to come back, you shouldn't have. Take your… wild man and get out of my house," Harold said calmly, though everyone could sense the suppressed fury in his words.
He even directly referred to the man as a "wild man." (Uncivilized person)
Julian glanced at the man and roughly understood the situation—it was likely some melodramatic family drama.
Instead of taking offense at Harold's words, the man turned to Paige and gently said, "I'll head back first. We can talk about us another time. You should enjoy this meal with your family."
His tone was incredibly gentle, and so considerate that it made one feel sorry for him.
Julian then looked at his second cousin. Sure enough, she was deeply moved. She held the man's hand and said, "I brought you here today because I wanted you to meet someone."
Then, she led the man over to Julian.
"This is my cousin, Julian. I'm sure you know who he is, right?"
The man looked stunned when he saw Julian and nodded. "Champion Walker—of course I know him. I just never expected he'd be your cousin."
"Cousin, this is my boyfriend, Oscar Hall."
After saying this, Paige looked at Julian nervously.
There was a reason she was late to today's rare family gathering—it was because of Julian's visit.
By bringing Oscar to meet Julian, she hoped to gain his support. If Julian backed her, perhaps her grandfather and father would stop opposing their relationship.
Now that Julian had become a champion, his influence had grown immensely. If he supported her, the resistance would lessen—maybe even disappear entirely.
"Hall… Cousin, he wouldn't happen to be from the local Hall family, would he?" Julian's eyes widened slightly as a thought occurred to him.
Before Paige could respond, Harold snapped irritably, "If not that Hall family, then which one?"
The Turner family was one of the largest clans in Luminara City, while the Hall family was just a minor one. The two were simply incomparable.
But fifty years ago, the Hall family had been on par with the Turner family.
The reason for their decline wasn't just the lack of strong Trainers in their lineage—the main cause was that the Turner family, along with two other clans, had orchestrated their downfall.
The Turner family could be considered the primary reason the Hall family had been reduced to its current state.
Even now, the Hall family remained constrained by the Turner family, never able to regain its former standing.
If it weren't for the fact that the Hall family had produced a peak Pseudo-Champion Trainer a century ago—whose Pokémon still remained there and guarded the Hall family—the Turner family would have completely crushed them long ago.
Between clans, weakness was a sin. If you were weak, you inevitably became prey for other families seeking to strengthen themselves.
So, when the Hall family was at its weakest, the Turner family struck without mercy—and from their perspective, there was nothing wrong with that.
Among noble families, there were only interests, never friendship.
And now, the Turner family's second young lady had actually fallen for a member of the Hall family.
It really was f***ing dramatic.
Julian more or less understood the relationship between the two families.
In fact, he had even considered helping his grandfather resolve the "Hall family issue" during this visit.
But now, his own second cousin had gone and done something like this.
And this Oscar guy—what a piece of work. Of all the people he could have fallen for, he just had to choose the enemy's daughter.
"Cousin, you'll support me and Oscar, right?"
Seeing that Julian still hadn't spoken, Paige grew anxious and instinctively reached for his hand, but he pulled away.
He looked at his second cousin as if he were looking at a stranger and said in an extremely calm tone: "Cousin, have all the men in the world died out?"
Hearing that, Paige's face instantly turned pale.
Julian was her only hope, and now it was clear he had rejected her.
"And you," Julian turned to Oscar, his voice sharp and disdainful, "do you really think you've hidden your intentions well? The filthy thoughts in your mind are utterly disgusting. Isn't that right, Oliver Hall?"
*****
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