"Eh?!"
Emily let out a cry of surprise. The hatred on her face quickly faded away, replaced entirely by pure shock.
And right after that shock came embarrassment.
She didn't think anyone would dare to come here pretending to be Link's grandfather. Doing so would be easily exposed, meaningless, and the consequences would be unbearable for anyone.
So that means, she had almost just hit Link's grandfather?
Realizing this, Emily hurriedly hid her wand behind her back and gave the handsome old man blocking their way an awkward smile, looking rather at a loss.
The old man across from her clearly noticed her embarrassment.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth and gradually spread wider.
"What an excellent young lady. Link is truly lucky to be with you. Come now, don't be shy, this is my gift for our first meeting."
As he spoke, the handsome old man took out a brooch set within a crystal case and handed it to Emily.
The brooch's design was simple and old-fashioned, shaped like a shield. A half-upright manticore was engraved on it, surrounded by a border of purple thistle motifs.
There was no doubt about it, this was an ancient noble's medal of honor.
Emily was still dazed and subconsciously reached out to take it, but Link suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
That made Emily even more confused. She turned her head and saw that Link's face had already darkened, an ebony wand somehow already drawn in his hand, flickering with a dangerous gray glow.
As for this "cheap grandfather" of his, although Mrs. Flamel had never been willing to talk much about him, Link had still managed to dig up some information out of curiosity.
The man's name was Ludwig von Beckmann, a notorious and powerful schemer.
The Beckmann family he led had once been one of the most powerful families in all of Germany, indeed, all of Europe, monopolizing the entire continent's black-market potion smuggling trade.
Even though they had now declined, and only Beckmann himself remained of the direct bloodline, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.
The Beckmann family still ranked among the top five of Germany's pure-blood wizarding families, their power and heritage rivaling, even surpassing, that of the now-thriving Flamel family.
Even so, Link's impression of this grandfather was far from good.
That dislike came from Mrs. Flamel herself.
Although Link didn't know exactly what had happened between Mrs. Flamel and Beckmann back then, judging from the outcome, their relationship was extremely poor.
Under Mrs. Flamel's influence, Link didn't consider the Beckmanns his enemies, but neither were they family, at best, they were distant strangers who could cooperate if necessary.
And that was only because those German wizards had risked their lives to help him last time.
"Mmm~ Looks like you've recognized me already," Beckmann said with a smile, tilting his head slightly.
He didn't seem at all surprised by Link's hostile reaction, and then, as if suddenly remembering something, added cheerfully, "But Link, are you jealous? Don't worry, I've also prepared a gift for you this time. A gift so grand that you'll definitely be satisfied."
"Mr. Beckmann, I'm already very honored that you came to attend Emily's and my engagement ceremony. I wouldn't dare ask for any gift."
"However, the banquet is still in full swing, I think, Mr. Beckmann, perhaps you'd better return to the hall and continue enjoying yourself, what do you say?"
Link shook his head as he spoke.
His words were polite, but there wasn't a hint of a smile on his face. His gaze was ice-cold.
Seeing this, Emily finally understood the situation. Her eyes toward Beckmann were no longer respectful as before, and she even took her wand, just hidden behind her back, back into her hand.
Beckmann noticed all this, but the smile on his face didn't fade at all. He spread his arms slightly as if about to speak, when hurried footsteps suddenly came from nearby.
Mrs. Flamel and Krell were striding toward them. Mrs. Flamel's face showed little emotion, but Krell's was twisted with rage. He half-ran as he shouted, "You damned old bastard, why are you here?!"
At those words, Beckmann's smile quickly disappeared. He said calmly, "Today is Link's engagement day. As his grandfather, naturally I must come and witness it in person."
"Bullshit!"
Krell was furious. His anger wasn't only aimed at Beckmann, it even extended toward Mrs. Flamel.
He hurried to stand at Link's side, his single bloodshot eye glaring back and forth between Mrs. Flamel and Beckmann. "I knew it! I knew it would turn out like this. Heh! Don't think I don't know what scheme you're both up to, I won't let you succeed!"
"Still so hot-tempered, just like old Flamel," Beckmann said smoothly, still maintaining his elegance.
"It was exactly because of your family's bad temper that I didn't want to marry Leonie over back then. But I didn't expect…"
He didn't continue, only spread his hands helplessly and shook his head.
That nearly drove Krell mad. More curses and foul language burst from his mouth, while Beckmann shot back with mocking sarcasm.
For a while, the two were completely deadlocked.
Link didn't bother with the quarreling old men. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Mrs. Flamel.
She was the one who had truly arranged this engagement ceremony. It wasn't large, in fact, quite private, known only within a small circle.
So for Beckmann to show up all the way from Germany could only mean Mrs. Flamel had something to do with it.
Besides, judging from how she had been able to recruit those German wizards as reinforcements last time, it was obvious that Mrs. Flamel had already re-established contact with the Beckmann family.
Noticing Link's probing look, Mrs. Flamel's expression grew complicated.
She sighed deeply, stepped forward, and with a gesture separated the two old men who were about to start a fistfight. Raising her voice, she said, "Enough of this embarrassing scene! If you need to talk, go next door!"
The ballroom's dance was still going on, this was no place for a family quarrel. The commotion they'd caused had already drawn quite a few curious looks.
Beckmann and Krell both realized this too. They snorted coldly at almost the same time and, as if racing each other, marched into a nearby small meeting room.
Naturally, the three of them, Link, Emily, and Mrs. Flamel, followed.
But just before stepping into the room, Link finally couldn't help but frown and ask, "Mom, what on earth is going on here?"
Mrs. Flamel's expression turned a little gloomy, but upon hearing him, she still patted both Link's and Emily's heads and forced a small smile.
"Mom would never hurt you."
That, Link had no doubt about, for over the years, Mrs. Flamel had already proven it countless times.
And since this wasn't something bad… then it had to be something good.
Link gazed at her, a faint smile spreading on his face, then lifted his head proudly and led the two into the meeting room.
The room Beckmann and Krell had chosen wasn't large. Apart from a clearly prominent central seat, there were only two leather sofas on each side.
The two old men weren't arguing anymore.
As the guest, Beckmann had naturally taken one sofa for himself. Krell, however, waited for Mrs. Flamel and Emily to sit on the opposite sofa, then stood behind Link, who sat in the main seat, glowering fiercely at Beckmann.
Seeing this, Beckmann's eyes gleamed brighter, and even a hint of approval flashed there.
Just from the seating arrangement, he could already tell that the true head of the Flamel family now wasn't Mrs. Flamel, but this young grandson of his, who hadn't even graduated from wizarding school yet.
"Ahem. Link, this is your grandfather, my father, Ludwig von Beckmann, current head of the Beckmann family," Mrs. Flamel introduced.
"He came here himself after hearing about your engagement."
Although Link already knew roughly who he was, he still listened patiently, then turned to Beckmann and said flatly, "Mr. Beckmann, you and I both know your visit isn't as simple as you say. There's no need to waste time, just tell me directly what you're here for."
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Beckmann applauded at those words, not at all angered by Link's blunt tone. Looking at Link as though he were admiring a masterpiece, he said with praise, "Link, you're truly exceptional."
"When Leonie came to me asking for people to support you, I'd already learned how remarkable you were."
"Later, when I saw in the International Wizarding Times that you'd won the Triwizard Tournament and even fought off the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself, my expectations for you grew even higher."
"But now that I've seen you in person, I realize I still underestimated you. I dare say, you're the most outstanding person our Beckmann family has produced in centuries..."
"My young master's surname is Flamel," Krell interrupted slowly, full of disdain.
Beckmann's smile vanished again.
Seeing that another argument was about to start, Link flicked his wand, and with a sharp crack in the air, he said coldly, "I said, stop beating around the bush! Mr. Beckmann, whatever your purpose is, just say it, I don't have time for polite nonsense!"
Beckmann clearly didn't understand what "polite nonsense" meant, but he still smoothed his expression and said with a faint smile, "I want you to inherit the Beckmann family."
'As expected,' Link thought.
It was just as he had guessed.
From what Mrs. Flamel had told him, all of her brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts had already died during the First Wizarding War and the Ministry's later purges.
That meant that of the once-great Beckmann family, only Ludwig von Beckmann remained of the main line. So it was only natural for him to seek an heir.
Even so, Link didn't feel any particular joy.
He had never believed in pies falling from the sky.
He also didn't believe anyone would be so generous as to willingly hand over their entire inheritance to someone of another name, even a grandson.
In his view, Beckmann's plan was likely to have him change his name to Link von Beckmann, and while inheriting the Beckmann family, also convert all the Flamel estates into von Beckmann holdings, thus achieving the purpose of usurpation, restoring the Beckmanns to glory.
Unfortunately for him, Link was perfectly happy with his current family and name, and had no intention of changing it.
Since that was the case, the inheritance had nothing to do with him.
Link glanced at Krell, who was already visibly tense, then slouched comfortably in his chair and repeated Kriel's own words from earlier, "My name is Link Flamel."
At those words, the little room fell completely silent.
After a long pause, Krell let out a joyous cackle, clutching Link's chair as he shouted at Beckmann, "You hear that? You hear that?!"
Beckmann irritably rubbed his ear, then smiled at Link and said, "I never intended for you to change your surname. Even as Link Flamel, you can still inherit the Beckmann family. After all, I have no other descendants left."
Krell froze, his laughter cut off like a strangled duck.
Mrs. Flamel, meanwhile, nodded toward Link.
Just as she had said before, she would never harm her own son.
Though Beckmann was her father, if he hadn't offered such a tempting proposal, she would never have allowed him into Flamel Castle in the first place.
Link looked thoughtful at that. At this point, Krell finally reacted, hurriedly leaning close to Link's ear and shouting loud enough for everyone to hear, "Master, that old bastard's a Saint! The entire Beckmann family are loyal Saints! Every last one of them!"
"What!?"
Emily, who had been silent all this time, jumped up from the sofa at once.
Link's narrowed eyes flew wide open too.
The word Saint did exist in the wizarding world, and it carried a similar meaning to that in the Muggle world, referring to the disciples and followers of a holy prophet or sage.
For example, Merlin's followers were known as Saints.
But after the First Wizarding War, that word's meaning had changed.
It had come to specifically refer to Grindelwald's followers, his most loyal and fanatical believers.
Link had long known that the Beckmann family had once supported Grindelwald, but he hadn't realized they had been Saints.
That made things much more complicated.
After all, the International Confederation of Wizards was far from as foolish as the Ministry, they had always enforced a strict, ruthless policy toward Saints.
If he really dared to inherit the Beckmann family, all the pressure currently weighing on them would instantly fall upon him.
"Well, it's getting late," Link said, standing up. "Mr. Beckmann, why don't you stay at our home for the night? As for this matter, I think we'd better discuss it later."
With that, Link gave Beckmann no chance to reply. Taking Mrs. Flamel and Emily, he left the room.
Krell was pleased.
He gave Beckmann one last disdainful snort and followed them out, turning off the room's magical lights as he went.
In an instant, the brightly lit room was plunged into darkness, leaving Beckmann alone, sitting silently.
But instead of the bitterness or rage Kriel had expected, his expression showed something else, joy, even relief.
Because he had noticed that when Kriel mentioned the word Saint, there had been no disgust in Link's eyes.
If anything, there had been a spark of excitement.
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