Chapter 114: Him [3]

"Tsk. Tell your fucking husband to stop being a bitch."

"Is that so?"

Castor’s voice was at its lowest, and along with it an invisible pressure had started to descend in the hall.

It wasn’t up to the point of crushing Kael, at least not yet.

"Kael!"

Alia moved towards Kael, grabbing him by his arm.

The commotion had attracted the attention of Kevin and Victoria, who had just entered from the main entrance.

Kevin wanted to buy some things, so Victoria had tagged along with him to the market.

Neither Kevin nor Victoria said anything, as they were stunned by the events unfolding before them.

It had been many days since they had last seen Kael, so the atmosphere in the mansion was one of relative peace.

Though that peace was more of a forced silence.

The family dinners that always used to be filled with joy and laughter were now no more than something that was done every night without any life in it.

Their mother, who had always been the most cheerful person in the house, was now the one who talked the least.

It was suffocating for Alicia, Kevin, and Victoria to see their mother in a constant state of worry.

But there was nothing they could do about the situation, as it had long left the boundaries of control with no hope of de-escalation.

At first the arguments between Kael and their father were limited, but the day Kevin had been nominated as the new Heir to the house was the day any chances of mending the broken relations were dissolved into thin air.

"You will go to your room this instant and stay put. Your dinner will be brought to you, so don’t stay here for a second longer."

"Huh? Do—"

"GO RIGHT NOW!"

Alia shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Cough... Cough..."

"Mother!"

Raising her voice unnaturally had led her to be out of breath for a moment, resulting in slight dizziness.

Diana along with Alicia and the others rushed towards their mother to support her.

"I am... Cough... fine."

Alia tried to complete her sentence only to repeatedly cough, her throat overstrained from the earlier shout.

"Tsk."

Seeing the situation, Kael clicked his tongue while heading towards his room.

"Kael—"

"Don’t say anything to him."

"But mother—"

"Please."

Alia stopped Victoria, who was about to confront Kael for his lack of attention towards their mother.

He didn’t even look back to check whether Alia was fine and kept walking towards his room.

Castor kept observing his son’s retreating back, his eyes getting a little moist, but the tears disappeared miraculously before they could even be formed.

As the Frosts stayed near Alia, Diana took it upon herself to manage the situation.

She glanced at Alicia, who kept looking at Kael.

"You stay here. I will check up on Kael."

"Huh. You don’t have—"

"Are you treating me as a stranger now? Does that mean I am not your family, and here I—"

"Alright! Do as you please."

Alicia interrupted Diana before she could begin her dramatic monologue.

Still, she managed to give a faint smile as Diana moved towards the stairs.

"There was no need for you to get tensed over such things."

Castor spoke while placing his hand on Alia’s shoulder.

Alia in return looked at him, her eyes teary from the earlier events.

"Look who’s talking? You know he doesn’t listen to us anymore, so why do you always try to provoke him. Can’t—"

"That was not provoking him, Alia. The kid needs to understand his place in society. He—"

"He is no longer the heir, Castor. So is there any real reason for you to argue with him?"

Alia interjected before Castor could express his views.

At her words, Castor went silent.

He wanted to clarify his stance, but looking into Alia’s eyes, he knew no amount of words would get through to her.

A mother, no matter what happened, would always try to defend her son irrespective of how illogical her arguments were.

Or was he being illogical here?

Honestly, nowadays Castor didn’t know what to do.

Every decision that he took considering the welfare of the house was turned into something that felt like the most terrible choice that he could have ever made.

Every day and night, Castor kept thinking to himself about where he had gone wrong.

What sins had he committed for his family to come to such a state?

There wasn’t a moment of peace in this house... Not for him nor for anyone else.

"Well I am getting hungry here! Mother, you surely wouldn’t starve this son of yours?"

Kevin joked while helping his mother stand up.

Alia just smiled at his attempts to diffuse the tense atmosphere as everyone made their way towards the dining hall—

Crash!

Another loud noise made them stop in their tracks.

The smile that Alia had somehow managed to display was once again dimmed by the disturbance.

Kael paced back and forth across his room, violently throwing whatever he could grab against the wall in a fit of rage.

"Damn those bastards! What the hell do they know about me?!"

Bam!

Crack!

A cracking sound echoed as Kael hit his fist against the wall.

Click!

As the pain shot through his hands, Kael raised his head to look at the door that had just been locked from the inside.

Diana stood with her hands folded, looking at the mess in the room.

Adjusting her hair, she began to arrange everything in its original place.

Kael just kept observing her without saying a word.

Diana too didn’t speak to him and continued to do her work.

After around ten minutes of silence, Diana had nearly cleaned up the entire room. Her speed was quite fast for someone who was used to living in the palace with servants following her every command.

"What are you doing?"

After everything was done, Kael looked at Diana, his voice hoarse.

Diana just stared back at him.

Thinking for a second, she moved in his direction, and after a moment’s hesitation sat next to him, her back against the wall.

Silence.