Chapter 44: The Father’s Shadow
As Ian pushed open the heavy wooden doors and stepped out of the Family Hall, he paused. The fiery rage burning inside his chest suddenly vanished.
There, curled up in the corner of the bottom stone steps, was Tracy. She had fallen fast asleep while waiting for him.
’I explicitly told her she had free time to explore the estate and do whatever she wanted. Why is she still sitting out here?’ Ian thought, looking down at the sleeping girl with a soft sigh. ’What a stubborn girl. Did my mother’s stubbornness rub off on her already?’
His tense shoulders relaxed. He quietly walked down the steps and gently picked her up. Thanks to his Cultivation, her weight felt like absolutely nothing. Adjusting her comfortably onto his back, Ian began the quiet walk back to his guest room.
Inside the Family Hall
Just as the heavy doors slammed shut behind Ian, the Elders were left completely speechless, staring at the exit in pure shock.
"Did you all see the absolute disrespect that boy just showed us?" the Third Elder sputtered, finally breaking the silence. "And you want to make him the next Family Head with that volatile character of his? We—Ouch!"
The Third Elder paused suddenly, flinching as the Fourth Elder aggressively pinched his arm under the table. The Fourth Elder furiously signaled with his eyes toward the end of the table.
Martha was glaring absolute daggers at the Third Elder, her golden eyes practically glowing with hostility.
"I dare you to say one more word about him," Martha warned in a dangerously low voice. "At least that boy has more common sense and tactical awareness than all of you combine—"
"That is enough," Jacob interrupted, raising a hand before Martha could finish her threat. He rubbed his tired eyes, giving the Elders a deeply serious look. "You two bickering is all you ever do. And maybe Ian is right. We could have taken a much better, aggressive approach against the Eden Guild when my brother was murdered. If we can’t even realize a basic mercenary proxy tactic like the one a seventeen-year-old boy just proposed... I am starting to think these meetings are entirely meaningless."
"But Family Head! Your father wouldn’t want something like this!" the Third Elder protested.
"The Third Elder is right. We have been by your late father’s side, assisting in many family decisions and securing business opportunities since before he even bought our noble title," the Fourth Elder argued defensively.
The Fourth and Third Elders continued to complain, desperately trying to justify their positions. Even the Second Elder opened his mouth to add his own complaints, but the First Elder quickly grabbed his arm, shaking his head to silently warn him not to get involved.
"I think that should be enough of you justifying your own cowardice, don’t you think?" Martha snapped, glaring at the two complaining Elders. "Can’t you guys be at least quiet and let my brother speak."
Jacob slowly turned his gaze toward the First Elder and ever elder in the hall.
"Sigh, all of you are dismissed for today. You may leave," Jacob said while sighing, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"But, Family Head—" the Fourth Elder started.
Jacob’s golden eyes instantly locked onto the Fourth Elder. A heavy, suffocating pressure filled the room.
"Do you not even have the basic understanding of the words: you are all dismissed? I’m starting to think you guys are the family head not me." Jacob said coldly.
"W-We understand," the Second Elder quickly stood up, bowing nervously to try and de-escalate the tension. "It is just that what your nephew said earlier may be affecting your rational decision-making today. Please get some rest, Family Head."
"Leave, now.. " Jacob rumbled. His voice was so deep and commanding that nobody dared to say another word.
The Elders nervously looked at each other before hastily packing up their documents and scurrying out of the hall one by one. Soon, only Martha and Jacob were left sitting at the massive table.
Martha let out a long, exhausted sigh, a fond smile creeping onto her face.
"I always thought Ian was more like you, Jacob. He used to be always so serious and such a quiet bookworm," Martha said softly. "But the absolute fury and arrogance he showed us today made me think differently. Sigh... he is exactly like his father. Always so quick to anger when surrounded by incompetence."
"You always spoiled him when he was little. That is probably why he had that temper to begin with," Jacob replied, the heavy pressure vanishing from his shoulders as he leaned back.
"Do you remember what Aron once said about those old men?" Martha asked, her eyes distant as she envisioned Ian’s father back in the old days. "He told us that those Elders were nothing more than our father’s helpers from his merchant days. Because of that, our father named them ’Elders’ to repay them for their loyal services. But Aron warned us that they would eventually be the downfall of our house because of their merchant mentality."
Martha chuckled bitterly. "Aron said they had zero talent for political strategy and only possessed a talent for seeking their own personal profits. He warned us that with them in charge, we would never develop into true Nobles... we would only remain as greedy Merchants at heart, even if we wore noble titles."
"I remember," Jacob nodded quietly. "If I recall correctly, Aron also proposed a massive reform. He said that since we had become Nobles, there was no need to be greedy with our businesses since we could collect our territory taxes now. He wanted to distribute shares and profits from our remote companies directly to the local Nobles in those regions. He wanted to use our wealth to buy political favor and improve our relationships with the surrounding Lords."
"Yeah... and everyone at this table violently disagreed with him," Martha said, her smile fading. "They called it a massive waste of money. The Elders were the ones who resisted the hardest. And that was the very last time Aron ever attended these stupid meetings."
Martha looked down at the table. "And guess what? Aron was completely right. What if we had actually used his approach back then? We would have dozens of powerful allies in the noble circles right now, and we wouldn’t be sitting here terrified of the upcoming succession war. I am finally starting to realize the sheer stupidity of relying on those old hags. We should have phased them out and found talented, capable people to push our family forward instead of remaining stagnant like this."
Jacob listened quietly, his eyes fixed on the empty chairs where the Elders had just been sitting.
"Well, I should get going now. I still need to give my angry nephew a good talking-to about the little lie he tried to spin earlier," Martha said, her mischievous smirk returning. She stood up, her heels clicking against the stone floor as she left Jacob sitting alone in the silent hall.
’Sigh... what am I supposed to do now?’ Jacob thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. ’It is always problem after problem, and crisis after crisis. Being the Family Head really is the shittiest job in the world.’ With a heavy heart, Jacob closed his eyes and tried to find a moment of peace.
