Edward glanced at Al once more.
"As for your allowance, you'll receive the same amount as the others. One hundred million rupiah per month."
Before Al could respond, Aurielle interrupted—her voice calm, but sharp.
"Sorry, Dad, if I may…" she said. "I don't have many objections regarding the room, but the allowance is a different matter."
"Al hasn't been publicly acknowledged as part of the family yet. Giving him the full allowance could create… a misleading perception—especially since he hasn't proven himself within our family system."
Sarah quickly chimed in.
"We don't even know if he can uphold the family's image," she scoffed.
"Giving him one hundred million like the rest of us seems… unwise. Who knows? He might just spend it on perverted things outside."
Edward looked irritated—but their arguments weren't entirely wrong.
This time, Al actually agreed with their argument—but in a very different way.
"I also think giving me one hundred million isn't appropriate, Father."
Aurielle and Sarah both nodded, believing Al was finally being self-aware—that he understood he wasn't qualified yet.
Then Al's next words left them stunned.
"Because I should be getting more," Al said casually.
The room fell into a brief, stunned silence.
"…Excuse me?" Aurielle was the first to react. Her brows furrowed slightly, eyes sharpening as she looked at Al. "More? On what basis?"
Sarah's expression twisted immediately.
"Are you insane?" she snapped. "You're asking for more than us?"
She grabbed her own cheek, disbelief written all over her face.
"Wow… looks like my guess was right. You really came here just to chase a luxurious life."
She scoffed, crossing her arms tightly.
"See? This is exactly what I was talking about. Greedy, shameless, and completely delusional."
The corner of Al's lips lifted slightly.
"Even if your guess is right, what's wrong with chasing luxury in this family?" he replied casually. "Isn't that normal?"
"What's wrong, you say?" Sarah shot back coldly—though even she seemed unsure of the answer.
Al nodded. "Yeah. What is wrong?" he said.
"All that luxury is part of my rights in this family, isn't it? It'd be strange if I came back to a rich family and didn't expect to live well."
He shook his head in disbelief.
"Or do you think I'm supposed to stay humble and live simply?"
"Hmph. If that's the case, then why did I even come here?" he continued. "I've lived a simple life out there for over a decade. Am I supposed to keep living like that after coming back to a wealthy family?"
Once again, his argument left them speechless.
"That's not it, Al," Aurielle replied, stepping a little closer. "It's not about your rights—it's about whether you can be trusted with that much money."
She lowered her voice.
"To put it simply, it's about what you'd do with it. We're just worried you might be ruined by luxury before you're ready for it."
"That's fine, Eldest Sis. Even if I end up ruined, then so be it," Al replied lazily. "To me, that's still better than letting someone hold back what's rightfully mine."
"Besides…" he continued,
"...do you really think I'd recklessly burn through all that money? You've obviously prepared layers of supervision and safeguards already. So why are you so afraid the money will ruin me?"
Aurielle could only mutter softly at his indifferent response.
"Still… it's risky. But whatever. You're impossible to talk to," she said. "So what exactly do you mean by asking for more?"
"As for that…" Al replied, "I'm simply asking for the rights I never received."
"For the past seventeen years, I've gotten nothing from this family other than being born into it. I don't mind not being compensated for that…"
"…but the fact that you gave so much to the swapped child means it would only be fair for me to claim those seventeen years now."
He looked straight at Edward and Sandra.
"So what I want is for you to settle those rights. Either give me everything now—or if you're worried I might mess up handling that much money at this stage, at least give it to me gradually,"
He paused briefly, letting his words sink in.
"For example, double my allowance from now on, and hand over the rest when you think I'm ready for that kind of wealth. Simple, right?"
The room fell into a heavy silence.
Edward didn't speak right away.
His gaze lowered, fingers slowly tightening against the armrest. For a brief moment, his eyes drifted—landing on David.
Not accusing. Not hostile. Just… complicated.
Sandra's breath hitched. Her hands clenched together in her lap as she looked at Al, guilt quietly surfacing in her eyes.
Seventeen years. The weight of that number pressed down on her chest.
She had no words.
Edward finally exhaled slowly.
"…You're right," he said.
The words were calm, but heavy.
"For seventeen years, this family gave you nothing. And yet, we gave everything to another child."
His eyes returned to Al.
"That debt exists. Whether we acknowledge it or not."
Sandra nodded faintly, her voice soft but steady when she spoke.
"If we call ourselves your parents, then that responsibility doesn't disappear just because time has passed."
Edward straightened, decision settling in his tone.
"Alright," he said. "We'll do as you suggested."
"I think the best approach is this—starting from now, your allowance will be doubled for the next few years. That feels like the most appropriate solution. Settling all your rights at once would simply be giving you too much too soon."
Sarah's eyes widened.
"Wait—so he's really getting more because of that?!" she blurted out.
But Edward raised a hand.
"That's enough, Sarah. This decision stands."
Sarah could only fall silent in the face of his firmness.
No one spoke after that.
The matter was settled.
Al nodded in agreement. For the next several years, his allowance would be doubled—until the day he was deemed capable of managing large sums of money.
When that time came, all of his past and future rights would be fully returned to him.
Edward let out a breath and nodded as well.
"Fine. That's enough for tonight," he said. "For anything else you need, report to Harun. You may head to your room now."
He turned to Harun.
"Take him to the building. Prepare it."
"Yes, sir," Harun replied with a bow, then glanced at Al.
Al nodded in return and slowly stood up.
Ugh… finally. Even with a few obstacles, at least I've secured my position here, he thought.
Before leaving with Harun, he glanced around the room—sweeping his gaze over every face.
His deep black eyes reflected the glow of the crystal chandelier above. But he saw more than faces—he saw magical auras.
Edward's aura was dim gold—dominant, yet disturbed.
Sandra's was warm gold, but shaky.
Aurielle and Sarah gave off dull yellow light.
Each family member had red threads connecting them to Al—signs of blood ties—but the threads were weak, as if being drained by something.
Then his eyes fell on David.
David's face was calm, clean, and charismatic as always. But the aura around him was… different.
Dark. A pulsating blackish-purple mist, like poisonous fog.
It wasn't just dark—it was feeding off the others, drawing in their light like a slow vortex.
He's… draining them? Al frowned slightly.
But he said nothing.
Because he wasn't quite sure whether they would believe him—or even understand anything related to the supernatural.
Even though there were plenty of spiritual activities here, I wasn't sure any of them actually understood magic.
Maybe my father did—but who knew? Better not bring it up for now. After all, I needed some rest, he thought.
He simply sighed and followed Harun out of the room.
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