novelraw Chapter 173 : For the Family
Chapter 173 : For the Family
Chapter 173: For the Family
"Pa——!"
A crisp and loud slapping sound rang out.
"Aches! I dare you to say that again!"
A girl, eyes red with tears, glared at Aches. Her voice carried a stifled sob. With her teeth clenched and expression fierce, she resembled a snarling leopardess, exuding a savage aura.
A clear slap mark formed on one side of Aches’ cheek. He rubbed his left cheek and slowly turned his head to refocus his gaze.
Looking at the girl before him, Aches’ expression remained frivolous, his tone even laced with careless jest. "I said, stop coming to me. Don’t pester me anymore. I’ll never marry you."
"Aches, you liar!"
The girl raised her hand and slapped him again.
With Aches’ current strength, he could have easily dodged, yet he didn’t. He took the girl’s furious slap head-on once more.
"Enough, stop talking," Aches said, pulling out a coin pouch and handing it to the girl. "Take this. Think of it as my compensation."
The girl struck the coin pouch away.
The pouch hit the ground and burst open, scattering coins everywhere.
Under the sunlight, the scattered gold coins gleamed dazzlingly.
That small pouch alone contained at least over two hundred gold coins.
With the current purchasing power in White Mountain Territory, two hundred gold coins could be considered a small fortune. With some effort, one could even start a modest-sized shop and run a decent business.
But the girl didn’t even glance at it.
She stared at Aches with fury, yelling, "What do you take me for?! Do you think I liked you for your money?"
Aches looked at the girl.
A flicker of painful struggle appeared deep in his eyes.
But the girl, completely overtaken by emotion, didn’t notice. Her eyes were filled only with disappointment, pain, and rage from humiliation.
"Just treat it as me trying to avoid trouble," Aches said as he crouched down beside the fallen coin pouch, picking up the scattered coins one by one and stuffing them back in. "There are about three hundred gold coins in here—maybe four hundred. I didn’t count exactly."
Looking at the stunned girl, whose face had gone completely pale, Aches shoved the pouch back into her hands. "It’s over between us."
With that, Aches turned and walked away without looking back.
The girl screamed in fury and hurled the coin pouch at Aches’ back once more.
Aches flinched in pain again.
But this time, he didn’t stop or turn back. He quickly left the alley.
Watching him walk away so resolutely, the girl finally collapsed to the ground and wept aloud.
Yam and Akar stood at the other end of the alley, having overheard the exchange and Aches’ actions. They both shook their heads.
"What a fool," Akar scoffed. "He actually took the blame all on himself. Hah."
"What are you trying to do?" Yam shot Akar a glance. "Don’t do anything unnecessary."
"He’s handled this mess so terribly. Do you really think there won’t be consequences?" Akar shook his head. "I don’t know what that girl’s thinking, but I know exactly what her father will do... Aches has already done what he ought to do. He just didn’t clean things up thoroughly. So shouldn’t we, the elders, take care of the remaining potential danger?"
"He’s still just a child. There’s a lot he still needs to learn and grow from," Yam said with a slight shake of his head. "Besides, this involves his feelings. It’s normal that he couldn’t handle it perfectly. We shouldn’t demand too much from him."
Akar looked at Aches’ departing figure and sighed softly. "In the end, we’ve become the kind of nobles we used to despise, haven’t we? ...The third generation of the Soderbell Family might be the most difficult, the most painful."
Yam said nothing more.
But he understood what Akar meant.
Back in the day, both he and Akar had nothing. So, once they achieved even the slightest success, they felt incredibly fortunate. They despised political marriages and loathed compromise.
But now?
He had not only compromised with Marquis Visen, but also sacrificed the potential happiness of his two nephews—Liam was still alright, since if Monica gave birth to a daughter, both Anna and Akar wouldn’t be disappointed. In fact, they might even feel relieved that Gem Territory remained under the family’s control. But Aches was different. He was the one who truly had to make a sacrifice.
Now Yam could only hope that Angelina would be as beautiful and virtuous as Lily. That way, at least Aches’ marriage wouldn’t be too terrible.
So, as Akar walked over to the girl, Yam ultimately did not stop him.
"I know you’re a good girl, but it’s a pity your father isn’t a good man." Akar spoke abruptly, startling the girl. "I’m Aches’ uncle, Akar Soderbell."
The girl nervously stood up, but she didn’t know what to say—or even what she should say.
"Your father opposed your relationship with Aches at first, and then, after learning who Aches really was, he went around flaunting his connection to the Soderbell Family. You do know that most of that was false, right?" Akar ignored her silence and continued, "We let it slide for Aches’ sake, but your father’s been damaging the Soderbell Family’s reputation, and I’m very displeased about that."
Seeing the girl’s face quickly turn pale, Akar sneered and continued, "Aches is a good kid. He doesn’t know how to handle things like this. He thought ending the relationship would end the trouble. ...But you should realize, your father will only get angrier. He’ll spread lies about Aches and even our Soderbell Family. So honestly, I think we should just kill your father—and make your whole family pay a heavy price."
"I... I..."
"But Aches is my nephew, and I don’t want him to resent his uncle. So take the money he gave you. I’ll arrange for a knight to escort your family to Gem Territory. Start over there." Akar shook his head. "Without your father, your life might actually be happier... Oh, one last piece of advice—if I were you, I’d hide half of that money instead of bringing it all home."
With Akar’s instructions, guards soon arrived to escort the girl away.
Yam came back to Akar’s side and frowned as he watched the girl being led away like a criminal. "Why did you say that last thing to her?"
"Which thing?" Akar blinked. "The advice?"
"You’re trying to sow discord between her and her father," Yam said sternly. "What are you trying to do?"
"I’m not sowing anything. That’s what I truly believe." Akar shrugged. "With a greedy father like hers, even if she ends up with someone other than Aches, it’s only a matter of time before trouble arises. So she might as well wake up to reality now... If she really has the guts to cut ties with her father, then it shows she truly wants to break free and live a better life. And in that case, why shouldn’t we give her that chance?"
"By the way, what was that girl’s name again?"
"Helen." Yam sighed softly, then slowly spoke. "I know what you're thinking, but I advise you to put those thoughts away... The trouble you and Anna stirred up can’t even be made public to this day. Do you want Aches to live his whole life burdened with guilt and sorrow? What you’re doing isn’t helping Aches—it’s harming him. You’re stripping away the chance he might have had to live happily with Angelina."
Akar curled his lips but did not argue with Yam again. "Fine. If Aches truly can live a happy life with Angelina Kasein, then I’ll make sure that girl never appears in front of Aches again."
"You’d better not do something so foolish that Aches would hate you for the rest of his life."
...
A young girl in a white dress stood obediently beside a carriage.
She was only ten years old, but already very beautiful—not with the cuteness of a child, but with a mature allure more fitting for an adult. If not for the lingering innocence and youth on her face, it would have been hard to guess her age from her height and appearance alone.
Monica Kasein had once said that she looked very mature for her age, having developed early.
This girl was Angelina Kasein.
Had she not possessed such a unique charm, Marquis Visen would never have considered her as a candidate for a marriage alliance with Aches.
After all, Marquis Visen intended to win over a highly promising ally for the Kasein Family—not to breed discontent with a potential enemy.
He even lamented why Yam's child had not been a boy, but a girl instead.
Of course, at the start, he had hesitated for a long time about whether to marry Angelina to Liam. But in the end, considering Angelina was already ten and would reach adulthood in six years—then only five years younger than Aches—he thought they would still be a good match. If he waited for Liam to come of age and then a few more years for the wedding, Angelina might already be over twenty-five by then.
With so much time, who knew what might happen? So naturally, it made more sense to choose Aches and first tie the Soderbell Family firmly to his own.
Thus came the scene of Angelina about to be sent to White Mountain Territory.
"Don't be nervous." Monica smiled and gently patted Angelina on the back. "You are a child of the Kasein Family. No one dares to make things difficult for you, so be more confident. Just act like your usual self. I believe you’ll make Aches Soderbell fall for you. After all, in this world, what boy doesn’t like a pretty girl?"
"In this regard, our little angel has already won."
"Mm." Angelina nodded timidly. "But I heard that Aches has a very close female friend. What should I do?"
"The Soderbell Family wouldn’t do anything foolish," Monica shook her head slightly. "So before you arrive in White Mountain Territory, treat everything you hear as if you didn’t hear it. Aches has no female friends. But if once you’re there, Aches still remains entangled with this so-called 'friend', then write and tell me, understood?"
"Then, can I write letters home normally too?"
"Of course you can." Monica smiled and reached out to gently tap Angelina’s nose. "But I fear once you’ve been in White Mountain Territory a while, you won’t feel like writing home anymore."
"I won’t!" Angelina quickly shook her head, her lovely long hair swinging along with the motion.
"Once you’re in White Mountain Territory, even if you find Aches not to your liking, it doesn’t matter. Just remember to get along well with Cindy Soderbell, understand?"
"Mm, I understand, Aunt Monica."
"Alright, time’s about up. Off you go."
Monica lifted Angelina into the carriage, adjusted her clothing for her, then kissed her forehead before watching the grand convoy begin to slowly depart.
But looking at this magnificent procession that demonstrated the grandeur and strength of the Kasein Family, Monica felt a surge of sorrow inside.
She had never imagined that the Kasein Family would one day fall so low as to need to marry off its direct daughter to buy survival space and maintain the family's power.
What upset her even more was that she had to marry a useless man herself—forcing herself to do things she didn’t want every night, just to give birth to a daughter.
Monica’s eyes dimmed as she watched the convoy fade into the distance.
Yet when she turned back, she had already resumed her air of commanding presence as the Marquess of Red Eagle Territory.
Yes.
Monica had now officially become the Marquess of Red Eagle Territory. Her grandfather, Marquis Visen, had formally passed on the noble title to Monica, along with the rule of Red Eagle Territory.
After completing the handover, Marquis Visen completely fell ill.
In just under half a month, he had aged like a man in his eighties or nineties, losing all the vigor and spirit he once had.
So, in order to stabilize Red Eagle Territory as quickly as possible, Monica had no choice but to send two hundred thousand gold coins and Angelina ahead to White Mountain Territory.
She knew well that today’s action symbolized that the Kasein Family had begun its decline.