2 weeks later, Miliana and Wendi were cleaning and preparing Axel for bed when an attendant knocks and informs them that Odeus returned from his trip to the dungeon. Miliana finished up and left Wendi to watch over Axel as she went to speak with her husband. An hour later she returned with Odeus at her side. He wanted to see his son since he hadn’t done so in some time. Wendi excused herself in order to give them privacy. The couple spent the evening playing with Axel until he fell asleep. Now that he was asleep they began talking.

“I got a letter from your cousin again”, said Miliana.

“That annoying bastard… he said the usual I suppose”, replied Odeus.

“Yeah… They are getting more frequent now, he doesn’t know how to quit”, exclaimed Miliana.

“That’s it, I’ll inform all the attendants to not give any more of the letters from that bastard to you”. said Odeus.

“You won’t even speak his name, can't say that I disagree. Bastard is a fitting name for him” Miliana noted.

Odeus sighed, “Let's forget about him. I won’t give him the power to ruin my mood”.

Miliana agreed and they went to bed for the night.

…

Elias was a ghost in every sense of the word he did not need rest nor sustenance. Nighttime was especially boring for him. At this time he would perform mental exercises and meditation but the event of the day was still at the back of his mind. He was curious about who this bastard was that they kept referring to and what was written in the letter. It was never mentioned again and every once in a while letters were immediately burnt upon arrival at the mansion.

Time was speeding by and now Axel was turning 7 years old. Elias was officially a 7-year-old ghost. Being a ghost for so long was hard and it effects could be seen as clear as day. He stopped moving on his own and would let the invisible string pull him to wherever Axel was. He also lost interest in whatever was going on in the mansion not that anything interesting was happening. He just hunched over and started looking like an actual undead. That's when it appeared. The mysterious text box along with that voice in his head.

{Mental deterioration detected}

{Searching for adequate solution}

{Please Standby}

Elias looked up to see the text box and realized that it was not disappearing this time. At the same time in the Blackstone mansion, attendants were frantically running around. Something out of the norm had happened for the first time in a while. Yohan, the youngest of the attendants, a teenage boy who was assigned to Axel, went in search of his master. He found him in the garden staring at the clouds.

“Lord Axelleus, His Grace, Odeus Blackstone has called for you”, said Yohan as he gave his salute and greeted Axel.

“Very well. Take me to him”, Axel replied.

In the year past, Odeus had assumed the title of Duke from his father who had officially retired. Axel had grown and was a spitting image of his father. His eyes, however, had remnants of his mother’s lineage. Since the founding of the Blackstone family, any who carried their blood was blessed with bright golden eyes. In the past, any child who was conceived out of wedlock was quickly dispatched by the emperor's orders because of how important those eyes were. His mother’s family had a similar history; their eyes were crimson red. Those golden and crimson eyes were something many nobles coveted and sought marriage into their families just to receive it. Axelleus Blackstone was a product of both families, his eyes were a brilliant shade of amber that darkened when his mood soured. Sometimes they even glowed red in the dark, something he had in common with his mother.

While Elias waited for the text box’s next message, Axel appeared before his father in his office.

“Good morning father, you wanted to see me?”, said Axel to his father.

“Yes but let’s wait until your mother arrives before we talk”, said Odeus with a worried expression.

An hour later Miliana arrives in the office and nodded at Odeus. He held his face in disbelief and stubbled to his chair. Now Axel was starting to get nervous and Elias was slightly interested in what was going on.

“I’m pregnant” she said as tears began welling up in her eyes.

Elias was disappointed in himself for expecting something interesting and returned to a blank state of being.

“I- Is something wrong with that… I don’t understand”, stated Axel.

“Haven’t you noticed that everyone here only has 1 child”, said Odeus with his face in his palms.

“Yes, other than the elders, I did notice that but… I thought that was a choice”, Axel replied. 

Odeus raised his head and looked at Axel, “Well it isn’t. There are some things about us, the Blackstone branch family that you don’t know and that’s why we called you here”.

“Branch family?”, said Axel.

“A long time ago when I was just a child the Blackstone family was still united, there was no main or branch family. Until my grandfather, your great grandfather died. My father was the eldest of his siblings and was to be the head of the family, his younger sister Amara supported him as such because that’s how it was supposed to be. However, the youngest of the siblings, Thomas thought otherwise”.

 Odeus got up from his chair and went to look through the window behind his desk.

“Do you mean Thomas Blackstone, your uncle that you don’t like talking about”, Axel asked.

“Yes, dear. Your father’s uncle”, replied Miliana.

Odeus continued, “He was a cunning man and still is. He did dirty deeds for nobles and got them on his side. Because our founder was among the heroes who slew one of the calamity class dragons, our family was always in favor with the previous emperors.  An audience with them was easy to obtain for anyone from our family. Thomas fabricated lies about my father wanting the previous emperor's position and the nobles who he bought were in agreement with it. Aunt Amara had gone missing in a dungeon during the same time, so there was no one to side with my father. The previous emperor must have had his doubts about this because he had known my father for a long time but he cast his punishment anyway”.

Odeus' expression soured as he told Axel of his father’s misfortune but it was something that he needed to know. This dark history was something that affected everyone in that household even to this day and it was destined to be an obstacle for this generation as well.