"Seeing you so angry, I realize how foolish I truly was. I will carve your advice into my heart and never forget it, Father."
"...Is that all?"
"Yes. So, you may be happy now."
"What?"
The Grand Duke furrowed his brows at Lucian's sudden remark.
Be happy? All of a sudden?
"I have heard that a father's anger and rebuke toward his child's foolishness stem from love. Until now, I felt a sense of resentment because you never once showed me your rage, but it seems I was mistaken."
"...!"
"So, isn't it time to be happy? I am your son, returned from the brink of death. Since you have expressed your anger, you need not hold back anymore—you could even hold my hand. We are family, after all; what would it matter if you even shed a tear?"
The Grand Duke stared at Lucian with a stunned expression at his audacious words.
Even Head Steward Edwin, who had been standing silently, let his jaw drop.
Lucian's words were polite and indirect, but the underlying meaning was clear.
He was asking if all a father could offer a son who had barely survived after being neglected for so long was a lecture.
At the same time, it was an implication that if a lecture was all he had to give, he wasn't fit to be a father.
Please, let this work.
Lucian maintained a stoic face as he swallowed hard.
He had dared to humiliate the head of the family and a Grand Duke to his face.
If it were any ordinary noble, it wouldn't be strange for them to fly into a rage and lock him away in a monastery.
However, if this was the Sigmund Valdek that Lucian knew, he would react differently.
He was a man who always said a biting wild dog was better than a cowering rat.
"Heh... haha."
After twenty seconds of silence that felt like two hours, what came out of Grand Duke Sigmund's mouth was not a roar, but a dry chuckle.
He seemed dumbfounded, but more than that, he seemed intrigued by this unexpected turn of events.
It worked!
A sigh of relief swept through Lucian's mind at the realization that his gamble had paid off.
The Grand Duke scrutinized Lucian's face before muttering, "I didn't know you had it in you to say such things to me."
"People are bound to change. Moreover, if one does not change even after returning from the threshold of the underworld, one can hardly be called human."
"Does that mean you intend to stop rotting away in your room?"
"I've spent over a year cooped up in there; I'm sick of it. It's about time I quit. More importantly, for now..."
Lucian trailed off and rolled up his sleeve.
His scrawny, emaciated forearm was no different from that of a terminal patient.
"I plan to put on some weight first. In this state, I wouldn't even be able to swing a sword."
"A sword? You?"
"I don't know if I'll ever have to swing one in my life, but what can a man who can't even look after his own body hope to achieve? A man should at least be able to protect himself."
"Ahem."
Grand Duke Sigmund cleared his throat and leaned back.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and his face was scrunched up.
It looked like a frown of disapproval, but Lucian knew better.
That was the expression he made when he was forcing back a smile.
"You certainly have a silver tongue."
"I am merely speaking my mind."
"Whether it's sincerity or bravado will be revealed in time. You may leave."
"Yes, Father."
Lucian bowed deeply and exited the office.
Once he was a few paces away, the sigh of relief he had been holding back finally burst out.
That went well enough.
He had succeeded in changing his pathetic image as a half-abandoned child.
Since he had shown a different side of himself today, the Grand Duke would likely set aside any thoughts of casting him out.
However, that was only a temporary measure.
If there were no results in the long run, he would eventually be dismissed as nothing more than a smooth talker.
Before that happened, he had to show the Grand Duke some tangible achievements.
Well, that shouldn't be too hard.
He had survived as a mercenary in a war-torn era where people killed or were killed.
Showing some results as a noble young master would be child's play.
Lucian headed to his room, a faint smile playing on his lips as he pondered how to make a grand entrance into this new life.
"Well, I'll be."
Grand Duke Sigmund wordlessly stroked his beard.
Even though it had just happened, he could hardly believe it.
To think that the dim-witted boy would act so boldly.
"Did you see that?"
"See what, Your Grace?"
"The way he looked me straight in the eye while he spoke."
"Yes. He didn't waver in the slightest."
Only a year ago, the boy's eyes would dart around as if they were swimming.
He couldn't even meet his father's gaze, and his grumbling complaints were utterly pathetic.
If Sigmund even raised his voice slightly, the boy would whimper like a wounded dog instead of offering a rebuttal.
He was a boy with no courage, plenty of grievances, and an inability to voice his own opinions.
To think such a boy would put his neck on the line and declare his ambitions so confidently.
"I thought the only thing he inherited from his mother was his face."
"Is the Third Young Master not your son as well, Your Grace? That blood doesn't just disappear."
"Don't jump to conclusions. He might have just been talking a big game."
"In the past, he couldn't even do that. It is certain that he has had a change of heart."
A smile that he couldn't hide spread across the Grand Duke's face.
He might be a half-abandoned child, but he was still of Valdek blood.
As a father, how could he not be pleased by his child's growth?
Especially since he was the child of the woman he had once loved most.
"Still, it's too early to trust him completely. There's a chance it really is just talk."
"Do you intend to test him?"
"It's not much of a test, but give him a generous allowance. As much as he used to get before he locked himself away."
After falling out of favor with the Grand Duke, the family's support for Lucian had been almost entirely cut off.
Aside from food and the cost of employing servants, he had virtually no personal spending money.
The Grand Duke was ordering that support to be resumed.
At first glance, it seemed like a reward, but to Edwin, it was the most difficult test of all.
He was essentially telling someone who was just starting to venture outside to use money properly.
If Lucian lost his mind and spent it recklessly or wasted it on useless things, even the last shred of expectation would vanish.
"Understood. However, there is a slight problem."
"A problem?"
"A portion of the funds intended for the Third Young Master is being diverted elsewhere."
Grand Duke Sigmund's eyebrows twitched.
This was not something he had ordered.
In other words, someone was privately embezzling the family's money.
"Who dares?"
"It appears the Second Young Master has had a hand in it."
"What? The second one?"
"The amount is a pittance to him, so he is likely just trying to keep the Third Young Master in check."
"Check? More like spite. Honestly, that boy and his inferiority complex."
The Grand Duke clicked his tongue as he thought of his second son.
His abilities weren't bad, but his narrow-mindedness had always been his flaw.
Sigmund knew his second son had ill feelings toward the third because of issues with his maternal family, but he hadn't expected him to be this persistent.
"Shall I take action?"
"Leave it be."
Grand Duke Sigmund shook his head as if there was nothing to think about.
"The third son should be able to handle a small matter like this on his own. If he can't even do that, then he's a man of shallow depth."
"Won't it be difficult? He has no faction, let alone a single loyal subordinate."
"That's his own doing, so who can he blame? It's the price for being out of his mind all this time."
If he had managed his surroundings properly, such petty tricks wouldn't have even worked.
Since everything was the result of him neglecting his duties for a year, he should handle the consequences himself.
"This actually works out well. Let's see how the third son resolves this."
If he couldn't even handle this and came back whining, Sigmund planned to give up on him entirely.
But if he handled it cleanly, exceeding the Grand Duke's expectations...
There's no reason I couldn't let him rejoin the succession competition.
Having finished his thoughts, Grand Duke Sigmund reached for the documents he had pushed aside.
He had far too much work to do to keep worrying about his third son's affairs.
After his spirited return, Lucian had to stay in bed for a full day.
It was the result of his physical strength being depleted from moving for the first time in a long while, combined with the strain of enduring the Grand Duke's overwhelming presence.
This body is disgustingly weak.
What could he hope to achieve with such pathetic stamina?
He had intended to do so anyway, but improving his physical condition was now an urgent priority.
Fortunately, the reward he needed for his preparations arrived the very next day.
"Y-Young Master... what did you do yesterday? Did you cast a spell or something?"
"What are you talking about? If I could use magic, would I be groaning like this?"
"I'm saying this because His Grace resumed the support he cut off a year ago in just one day."
Lucian wondered what the fuss was about, but it turned out the Grand Duke had started giving him an allowance again.
He scoffed, thinking it was no big deal for a noble young master to get his allowance back, but he took the documents to check the amount.
The smile vanished from his face as soon as he saw the numbers written there.
"This is for the Third Young Master—I mean, my allowance?"
"Yes."
"Is this a year's worth all at once?"
"Of course not. That's just for one month."
"Did I always get this much?"
"Much? The other young masters likely receive far more."
"This is insane!"
He was so stunned he was speechless.
He knew the House of Valdek was wealthy, given that the Grand Duke was the Emperor's right-hand man.
But to give this much as an allowance for a mere third son, not even as part of the territory's budget?
This was enough money to hire a decent-sized mercenary group for half a month and still have change left over.
There's nothing wrong with having a lot of money, but it makes me feel a bit pathetic.
So this was what it meant to be a true high noble.
While Lucian felt a hint of bitterness, he was also deeply satisfied with the massive sum.
Wait, with this amount, I can do more than just improve my stamina—I can overhaul my entire constitution, can't I?
His eyes suddenly snapped wide open.
It was fundamentally impossible to change one's innate constitution.
That was why truly talented individuals were said to be born with their physical gifts.
It was a saying from a thousand years ago, but constitution was considered such a vital factor for a martial artist that it was still regarded as an absolute truth.
However, this theory would be completely overturned six years from now.
Because the Alchemist Guild will develop Nectar.
Nectar, the drink of the gods.
Because of its grandiose name, it initially faced numerous protests for being an arrogant choice of words.
However, once its effects became known, all protests and criticisms vanished.
The efficacy of Nectar was as incredible as its name suggested.
An elixir that could turn even the most talentless hack into someone with a modicum of potential.
If such a medicine wasn't called Nectar, what would be?
With the invention of Nectar, the declining Alchemist Guild instantly rose to the center of the Empire.
Even the Emperor had to walk on eggshells around the guild, using the Nectar reservation list as leverage.
It was truly absolute power.
Though it was a short spring that only lasted three years.
Not long after, the Alchemist Guild paid the price for its arrogance when the age of chaos began.
In a world ruled by the logic of strength, the guild was destroyed, the alchemists were slaughtered, and much of the Nectar manufacturing process was lost.
All that remained were a few fragmented recipes with crucial details missing.
Most people discarded the incomplete Nectar recipes as trash.
The moment a medicine is incorrectly combined, it turns into poison.
Trying to make medicine based on an incomplete recipe was a fool's errand.
But as always, there were those who actually did the foolish thing and died, and there were the lucky few who managed to recreate Nectar, however imperfectly.
And the Lucian of his past life had belonged to the latter group.
"Hans, get ready to go out."
"You haven't even fully recovered yet, where are you going?"
"To a herbal shop."
"Pardon? A herbal shop?!"
Hans looked at Lucian with a horrified expression.
Why on earth would a noble young master be going to a herbal shop?
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