Chapter 396 Chapter 396 I Promise
"It's not about proving, master. I want to be your partner. I want to face all the challenges together with you. I want to contribute, not just be someone you take care of because of your relationship with me."
"Fine then, I won't try to stop you. But you have to promise me that you will take care of yourself. And there is no need to force yourself. If you find yourself unable to convince your family, rush back to me immediately. We can think of some other solution together, okay?" Zach had no other choice but to relent to her stubbornness and let her go.
"I promise, master...and when I come back, we'll face everything together and I won't have to be away from you ever again."
Luna gave him one final smile before walking away from him slowly. She used the servant exit to venture into the outside world as Zach was left behind to watch her receding back with remorse in his eyes.
With a brief goodbye hanging in the air, Luna had embarked on a journey that was as uncertain as it could be, her steps echoing the unspoken emotions of departure, decimating Zach's heart.
The atmosphere was charged with a bittersweet blend of determination and anticipation as she left behind the comfort of familiarity to go back to her roots.
Watching her gradually escape the range of his vision, Zach tried to grapple with the recurring theme of parting with his loved ones, a feeling compounded by the departure of yet another significant woman. The emotional tone in his heart was heavy, laden with the weight of connections severed or altered by circumstances beyond his control.
After Christina, he had been hoping to never experience such a feeling again.
Little did Zach anticipate that the wave of emotions associated with parting would crash upon him sooner than expected.
The feeling took him by surprise, a twist of fate that defied the joy he had envisioned upon Luna's awakening.
Instead of reveling in the celebration of her return, he found himself forced by circumstances to bid her farewell.
At this moment, the only person he hated more than the royal family was himself. Despite having the system at his disposal, he had been unable to secure a safe haven for himself and his people.
His expressions resonated with the depths of remorse and frustration as he grappled with the consequences of his perceived inadequacy.
Even the system, once a source of empowerment, now stood as a stark reminder of his inability to make use of it properly to shield those he cared for.
He had not only jeopardized the lives of all those he loved but had also allowed the royal family to target him through his women even though he was practically sitting on a treasure trove of futuristic weaponry.
Both Christina and Luna had been targeted by the royal family in different ways, but the result had been the same in both scenarios. He had ended up separating from both of them with no knowledge of their well-being and a heart-rending longing that clawed at his chest from the inside.
Zach had previously envisioned himself as the protagonist of a fantasy novel. He had been dreaming of effortlessly building a vast harem and reveling in a life of perpetual enjoyment for the rest of his days.
But the dreamy expectations that once fueled his imagination now stood in stark contrast to the complex and challenging reality, a slap in the face that awakened him from his foolish fantasies.
The disparity between fantasy and actuality weighed heavily on Zach's shoulders. The romanticized notion of an idyllic life clashed with the intricacies of his struggles, evoking a sense of yearning for a simpler life that he could enjoy without being disturbed on and off by any external factors.
The harsh reality persistently reminded Zach that human nature remained immutable, and greed was one of the best motivators for human activity.
No matter what he did, there would always be some elements who would get in the way of his ideal lifestyle. There would always be someone who would covet what he had.
Therefore, there was no escape for him as long as he stayed within human society. He had to get strong enough to evoke subservience in all those around him. Only then would he be able to live his life as he wanted to.
…
Zach had not stopped writing the textbook despite all that had transpired in the past few days. Although he had been grieving Luna's departure in his heart, that didn't keep him from working tirelessly to improve the overall strength of the Smith family. After all, they were the assets he was relying on to help him stand against the Royal family in the future.
The textbook he was writing was supposed to be used for their education. Clara and Diana had been using excerpts from his textbook to do the job at the moment but Zach wanted to give all the knowledge he wanted to impart a shape of a textbook so that it would be readily available to all the members of the Smith family.
In time, there would be no one in his family who could be considered illiterate. They would all be several times ahead of their counterparts no matter where they went.
As such, Zach was taking this job very seriously and had finished writing most of it. He was busily reviewing his work for the day when there was a knock on the office door.
The door was pushed open before he could say anything to invite the person in.
The only person in the house other than his women who had the guts to open his office door like this was Bruce.
Therefore, Zach didn't even bother lifting his face from the textbook to acknowledge his presence and continued running his pen across the sheet of paper lying in front of him.
In the midst of Zach's focused endeavor of handwriting a textbook, Bruce's hurried steps and palpable excitement sliced through the tranquil atmosphere, but Zach seemed to be ignoring him.
Bruce didn't stand on ceremony either and pulled up a chair to sit opposite Zach as if it was the norm between the two.
The air crackled with Bruce's anticipation; his energy contagious as he approached Zach.
Eager to share the news that had clearly stirred him, Bruce couldn't contain his enthusiasm.
"Zach, you won't believe what we've just discovered!" Bruce exclaimed; his words punctuated by the rapid rhythm of his heartbeat.
Zach, sensing the urgency and excitement in Bruce's voice, set aside his quill, his own curiosity piqued as Bruce wasn't someone who liked to make a fuss without any reason.
"What did you find that has you so excited?"
Leaning in, Bruce hastily spilled the revelation. "One of our servants stumbled upon something incredible in the former Hunter family's basements. Two women, Zach! They were imprisoned there."
"I didn't think you were one of those who think with their little brother. It's just two women. Is it worth being so happy over two women?"
"I reacted the same way when I was told the news as well. But what I found out later on, almost blew my mind. The two women, when I found them for the first time, just the temperament of the girl and the elegance with which she carried herself was quite visible. Even the most trained women couldn't be as well-spoken as her. So, I couldn't help but want to figure out their secret. Guess what I found?"
...
It had been some of the soldiers responsible for scouring out the dregs of the Hunter family who were still lingering in the city. These were the ones who had been abandoned by the old butler of the Hunter family before taking all his family members away.
Thanks to their thorough search, Bruce was able to chance upon the two women who had previously been locked up in a cellar.
Instead of wasting time listening to their stories and figuring out what was truth and what was false, he called for the polygraph test from the very start. However, he didn't tell the two women anything about the capability of the polygraph.
He called the two of them in and interrogated them about their identities. Of course, from the initial introduction the two made, he had already inferred that one of them was supposed to be the princess of the destroyed Ascar Dynasty which used to be one of the major players in the world in terms of war potential.
However, he needed to confirm the same through the help of the polygraph.
"Who are you two? Why were you being held captive here?" asked Bruce with a solemn expression but there was not a trace of sympathy on his face. He wasn't obligated to care about every single person in the world. The fact that he was able to somehow cater to his own people was more than enough for him to earn blessings for a lifetime.
"We used to be a princess of a fallen empire and her weak maid. But now you could call us the playthings of the Hunter family." The bony woman seemed to be quite timid while the plump and sexy figure seemed to be quite outgoing as she answered all his questions.
"Both of you?" Bruce stared at the bony figure as he asked the question as if wondering why would anyone bother being with the skeleton like figure when there was the plump princess beside her.
Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience