I followed a guard to my room, still wearing my ripped suit as Father began apologizing to the gathered guests. The man stood outside my door when I entered and I could tell that Hugo had ordered him to do so.

I entered the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My face and body were covered in soil and dirt. While my trousers were still mostly intact, the blazer I wore was in ruins, and barely hung onto my body. I was bruised on my face and shoulder where Danmon had struck me, and they hurt whenever I touched them.

I pulled off the ragged black suit and my destroyed shirt. My white vest was the first layer of clothing I wore, and it too was in pieces. When I tried pulling it off, it seemed stuck and instead felt like I just picked at a scab, as I felt the skin on my back raise with it. Did it fuse to my back due to the heat from the explosion?

I prepared myself for pain, grabbed the torn cloth behind my back, and pulled hard, as I ripped it off my back. But the pain never came, and instead, a faint rustling from my back as I pulled the garment. Wait, so it wasn't fused to my back? Was it anchored to something? Why didn't it come off easily when I first tried?

I readied my eyes for a possibly gruesome sight and tilted my neck to take a glimpse of my back's reflection in the mirror. There was the same dirt from the garden, a few bruises from the scuffle earlier, and from just below the area between my shoulder blades, a pair of small feathery black wings.

The Wings of Karr were something me and Gamon had inherited from our father, Lord Vulcan. Although the ones on my back were much smaller than what I used to have, they definitely had the same energy. Why is it here? Did it appear because of the awakening? It's not something that comes with cultivating mana, but something that Gamon and I were born with. Could this body be a descendant of another dragon?

They were barely any larger than my palms and were very unreactive to my attempts to move them. I used to be able to change between forms with great ease, but these wings weren't disappearing no matter how hard I tried.

After almost an hour of trying, I surrendered and went into the shower to take a wash.

***

It was around eleven o'clock at night when Mother and Father came into my room. I was lying in my bed, annoyed at the uncomfortable wings poking at my back. If this bed wasn't so soft, I'd have to sleep on my side, but then a servant might notice. I guess I'm lucky the duke's rich.

I sat up as they approached. Father leaned against the wall, while Mother sat at the foot of the bed.

The guests had all left, amused at the events of the evening, and my sisters were sleeping in their rooms. I could sense Hugo's presence outside the door, and a few inquisitive maids in the hallway beyond. Apart from that, the house was silent. I really caused quite the racket, but it was worth it. I had accomplished one of my three missions.

"Son, I'm not going to scold you about getting into a fight. You were trying to help someone after all." Mother started.

"But if it were the son of any other noble we'd have another enemy to be wary of. You're lucky that pig Count Icarun is one of my supporters. He's not going to hold it over me, but I'll have to pay more attention to his requests for a few months now." Duke Arman joined her.

"I'm sorry. I- I just wanted to help Daniel. M- My friends, from back in the orphanage. He reminded me of them." I tried to feign innocence. Yeah, I'm trash. I did exploit that kid's suffering for my personal gain. Not only was it an opportunity to awaken, but It was also a warning to others to not mess with me. It's not like I could have wasted it.

"I'd be proud of you for being so noble, but I know you don't mean one word of that. The headmistress of the orphanage said that you couldn't even fight off the younger children who would bully you. Why did you start a fight? And how did you, who's never received any formal training, manage to tackle a brown-core swordsman before you even awakened?" Father questioned.

Damn it, I didn't know that. Was the original owner of this body a weakling? His words caught me off guard.

"Don't pressure him, dear." Mother spoke up, seeing my reaction. "Mesge-no, Josepy. You are well past ten years old. Awakening now would have been greatly below the average. We were trying not to burden you with expectations, so we didn't mind that you weren't able to keep up with your peers - after all, you weren't raised as easily as them. But, you have to understand our curiosity. What happened earlier was not a coincidence was it?"

I decided not to give in to their suggestions and continued my facade of being ignorant.

"N-No, I don't understand what happened. I just wanted to stop him from hurting his brother. You're right F-Father. It wasn't that Daniel reminded me of my friends. He reminded me of m-myself. I was just, so angry, and before I knew it, we were fighting and I awakened." I kept up my act of an innocent child.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

Mother and Father glanced at each other before sighing.

"You can trust us, son. We are your family now." Mother placed her hand on mine.

"If you are adamant that you are uncertain about what happened earlier, then we will believe you." Father walked over and patted my head, before leaving.

Mother hugged tightly, and then stood up before following Father.

"Good night." She said as she closed the door.

I fell asleep in a confused state, reminiscing about my past.