Chapter 269: 259: The Brother Who Returned IV
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Julian White sat inside a wide study filled with maps, contracts, and weapons displayed more for status than use. He was the oldest of the White brothers. Unlike Ned, Julian did not lose control easily. He wore calmness like armor, and even his servants feared the silence that appeared before he gave an order.
A servant entered and bowed deeply.
"Young Master Julian, a message from Young Master Ned."
Julian did not look away from the document in his hand. "Read it."
The servant activated the communication stone, and Ned’s recorded voice filled the room.
"John survived. He is inside Heart Magic Academy. He awakened void-like magic. He defeated me. He is close to Rhea Flame. I want him dead."
Julian’s hand stopped moving.
For the first time, his calm expression changed.
Only slightly, but the servant noticed.
Julian placed the document on the desk. "John."
The name had not been spoken inside his room for years.
He remembered the thin child with empty eyes. He remembered the bastard son born from a woman no one discussed. Three years earlier, Julian had sent Loric, one of his trusted servants, to follow John after the boy disappeared from the estate.
Loric traced him toward an abandoned mana stone mine.
Then Loric vanished.
There had been no body, no message, and no return. Julian believed Loric had killed John before dying inside the unstable mine. The mine had collapsed in several places, wild beasts lived inside the lower tunnels, and mana poison filled the deeper areas.
Julian considered the matter finished.
Now Ned’s message proved that he had been wrong.
John had survived.
Loric had not returned because something else happened inside that mine.
Julian tapped one finger against the desk. "He awakened void magic."
"Yes, Young Master."
"And he defeated Ned."
"Yes."
Julian leaned back in his chair and thought carefully. Ned was arrogant, but he was not weak. If John could defeat him after only a short time inside the academy, then his growth was dangerous.
A dead bastard caused no problems.
A living bastard with rare magic caused many.
A living bastard who remembered how his brothers treated him caused even more.
Julian stood and walked toward the window. The towers of the White estate could be seen in the distance.
"I sent Loric to end this three years ago," he said.
The servant remained silent.
"Loric never returned, and I thought John died inside the mana stone mine."
Julian looked at his own reflection in the window.
"I was wrong."
He turned around. His calm expression returned, but it looked colder than before.
"What was left unfinished will be finished."
The servant bowed. "Should I send men into the academy?"
"No. Killing him inside Heart Magic Academy would bring too much attention. Headmaster Snake protects students when it benefits him."
"Then what should we do?"
Julian picked up Ned’s communication stone.
"We watch him. We learn his routine, his allies, and what he values. Then we remove him somewhere no teacher can interfere."
The servant bowed again. "As you command."
Julian looked toward the White family crest hanging on the wall.
John had survived the mine. He had awakened void magic. He had returned from death without asking permission.
Julian did not know how it happened, but he knew one thing.
The White family had failed to bury its mistake.
Now the mistake had returned with teeth, and Julian White intended to make sure there would be a body this time.
Meanwhile...
The gossip did not remain inside the courtyard for long. By the time the morning classes began, students in three different buildings were already talking about the same thing.
John was from the White family.
Some students said he was the hidden sixth son. Others said he was an unwanted bastard who had been thrown away. A few claimed he had died years ago and returned after making a contract with something inside the void. None of them knew the full truth, but that did not stop them from speaking as if they had personally lived inside the White estate.
The students who witnessed the fight became the most important storytellers of the day. They repeated every word they heard. They told others how Ned ordered John to lower his head and called him trash. They repeated John’s answer about Ned only being brave when five brothers stood behind him. They spoke about how Ned suddenly recognized him and how John admitted without admitting that he had once lived in the White estate.
The story changed slightly each time it was told.
By lunchtime, some students claimed John had been tortured by all five White brothers every day. By the afternoon, others said the White family had tried to murder him. A few students even said John awakened void magic after dying and crawling back from the underworld.
Fizz heard that version while floating past the dining hall.
He stopped in the air and looked at John. "That one sounds impressive."
John continued walking. "It is also false."
Fizz followed him. "Only partly false. You did come back from something terrible."
John did not answer. He could feel eyes following him everywhere now. Students who never noticed him before turned their heads when he passed. Some looked curious. Some looked afraid. Others looked at him with the kind of interest people showed toward a dangerous beast behind a strong cage.
The worst part was that the gossip connected several things together. John was not only the strange student who used void-like magic anymore. He was now the lost son of the White family, the boy who defeated Ned White, and the person who had grown close to Rhea Flame.
That story soon reached Fartray.
He was sitting with two students from the Aqua family when one of his servants hurried into the room and whispered the news. Fartray listened without speaking at first, but his expression slowly changed.
"John belongs to the White family?" he asked.
The servant lowered his head. "He was part of the family years ago. It seems he disappeared after being treated badly. Ned White recognized him during their fight."
Fartray leaned back in his chair.
The revenge he wanted suddenly became more interesting.
John was not merely a poor student with an annoying spirit and a growing shop. He was a rejected noble son with rare magic, family enemies, and a connection to Lily Black, and Rhea Flame.
That meant John had more weaknesses than Fartray first believed.
It also meant removing him might bring rewards from powerful people.
Fartray’s lips slowly formed a smile.
"So the stray dog came from the White estate."
The servant remained silent.
Fartray tapped one finger against the arm of his chair. "Find out everything about his disappearance. Find out why the White family wanted him gone, and find out whether his brothers would pay to see him disappear again."
His smile became colder.
"Revenge is better when someone else helps pay for it."
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