Grant’s face changed immediately
"Benjamin... Has he always been in contact with you?"
"No, this is the first time he’s sent a letter in such a long time," Claude explained quickly, "This letter is for you but it didn’t manage to reach you, so I have to forward it to you..."
Grant waved his hand instead and interrupted Claude.
"Do you know what he did outside of the country?"
Upon hearing that, Claude watched as Grant became agitated, he then fell silent. After a short while, he answered to Grant by nodding his head.
Grant noticed that he was being inappropriate, he took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, but his voice still bore a sense of resentment, "He hid from all of us, became a mage, and even announced this secret to the public on the stake... Yes, he ran away, but did he think about what would happen to us?"
Claude looked up, "He went up to the stake for you."
"I didn’t ask him to!" Grant became louder as if what was said hit his sore spot, "I'd rather be tied on the stake and be burnt to death, than being like that now, where everyone thinks that I’m the one who owes him all."
Upon hearing that, Claude could not help but hit on the desk, he put aside his formalities toward a pope and returned to being that strict father.
"I’m not saying that you owe him anything, but... he’s your elder brother, after all!"
"So? So I have to do as he mentioned in the letter, abandon the doctrine all these years and tell the people that mages can actually get along well with other people?"
"You..."
Claude slapped on the desk again as he got angry, but he could not say a word.
On the other hand, Grant’s face was as cold as ice.
He felt that since he became the pope, he should not express his true emotions because of these matters, but he could not do it. When he faced Claude, he would become obedient, easily angry, and would go ballistic easily. Agitation and resentment would flow out like an opened mouth of a spring, he could not control it at all.
He just could not understand...
"Why do you have to speak for him all the time?" Grant held in his emotions and said.
"I never did!" Claude let out a humph, and clasped his hands behind, "My attitude toward the both of you has always been the same! You usually perform well, so I gave you more freedom. He didn’t perform as well before, so I’ll be stricter with him. I was never biased against any one of you!"
Grant shook his head and sneered.
"But, for that person who betrayed our family and learned magic, you’ve ruined our home." He locked his eyes and stared at Claude, "Ever since he left, you’ve never spoken to me anymore. You think... You think that everything is my fault."
"I never said that it’s your fault!" Claude almost roared, "This is your mother’s mistake, I neither blamed nor scolded you for it!"
"No... Although you’ve never said it, I can feel it," Grant was holding back his anger as well, his body quivered, "When I was released from being trapped in the cathedral, it wasn’t easy for me to get home, but the look you gave me was... just that."
He could never forget Claude’s look back then.
Being confused, blaming, angry... More than that, he was greatly disappointed, as if at that moment Claude hoped that he did not have a son like him.
Grant had been locked in the cell with no food for four days, when he returned to home all tired and worn out, he could not say a word when he faced that kind of look.
Claude continued saying with much anger, "The reason I looked at you that way was that you used your own brother, you used him to cover up those dirty deeds and sins that you did! I am really disappointed in you!"
"I didn’t do it on purpose!" Grant could not hold it back any longer, "It was Mother who knocked me out and sent me to the cathedral to be locked up! I didn’t even know what happened at all then!"
"If you really didn’t know, why didn’t you show feel sorry at all when you returned?" Claude pointed at his nose and shouted, "Do you feel so wronged for being locked up for four days? If you can’t even bear this little hardship, what happened to all the teachings from me? If your brother hadn’t learned magic secretly, he would’ve been dead in place of you on that stake! What about you? You look all fine, learning your divine arts with a peace of mind, be the pope that you are now... That’s your own brother! Do you even care about your family at all?"
"Since when did I not?" Grant was flustered and angry, he shouted incoherently, "When I... When I came back, I did it all to protect you! With a mage in our family, His Highness the Pope was about to put all of you on the stake and burn you, if...if I didn’t listen to them, if I continued being stubborn, the Lithur family won’t even exist anymore!"
"You..."
"Obviously I’m the one who has been doing the most, why can’t you see it?" Grant cut him off and continued shouting, his eyes were filled with resentment, "Benjamin left so selfishly and left me in such an awful mess. I gave up my dignity and cleaned up the mess, now you think I’m being a hypocrite instead... Those priests were threatening me with your lives, how could I not give in?"
Claude was stunned, the anger in his eyes started to disappear.
"You... Why didn’t you say about this?"
"It’s because you’ve never given anyone else a chance to talk about this, this home has always been running according to your opinions and your ways, no one had a say," Grant shook his head and backed off a few steps, his face showed an insulting smile then said, "Come on, I know what you’re really disappointed about, you don’t have to hide it."
As he said that, subconsciously, his hands started trembling.
Claude’s face changed as well.
"What, what..."
"Why are you pretending? You know what I’m going to say. That issue, if you and I both keep quiet about it, you can just shut your ears and pretend that nothing has happened, but is that really the case?"
"What are you talking about? I..."
Grant cut him off fretfully and shouted as loud as he could, "I slept with a man! I’m a disgusting man guilty of sodomy!"
Instantly, Claude hit the desk angrily, the booming sound shocked Grant completely.
"You shut up!"
"I..."
As if his childhood trauma resurfaced, Grant backed off subconsciously, he remained scared like a child for a few seconds before he took a deep breath and realized that he no longer had to be afraid anymore.
Claude anyhow grabbed a book instead and slapped it against Grant’s face, then scolded him ferociously, "You... How can you even talk about this? Are you even my son? You’re the pope now, for God’s sake! Talking about something like that, do you even feel sorry for the pride and glory that our ancestors from the Imperial Capital claimed for us!"
At that moment, Grant’s face turned dark.
"...What did I say?"
"You said... You said that disgusting word!"
Upon hearing that, Grant chuckled suddenly, his widely-opened eyes turned a little red, the red veins on his eyes could even be seen.
Instantly, he became really aggressive, "What’s wrong? Is it really so terrifying? It’s just a word, it won’t dirty your mouth if you said it. Say it... Say it... Why don’t you say it!"
"I’m not like you, I have some sense of shame at the very least," Claude pointed at his nose instead and scolded, "Take back what you said, don’t say a word about it anymore, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything and I’ll still treat you like a son in the Lithur family, or else...or else..."
Suddenly, Grant took a few steps forward and grabbed Claude by his throat with a great force, he pushed him against the wall of the study room.
"Or else what? You’ll kick me out of the house? Are you going to disown me..."
At that moment, Claude was suffocated and turned red, his dignified look disappeared into thin air. He was being choked at his throat as Grant pushed him against the wall, he abruptly got himself into a situation where he could not catch his breath anymore.
"Let, let go... I...can’t... can’t breathe..."
He struggled with all his might, his legs were kicking everywhere as he attempted to pull apart Grant’s hands on his neck. But... But he was already so old, his young son who he remembered as someone who used to look up to him had already become much taller than him in a blink of an eye.
He was stunned because of that.
As he suffered the pain that came from his throat, in just a split second, Claude’s vision became blurry. He could not gather his strength to think about anything, and could not look at his son clearly. Wearing a pair of bloodshot eyes... Those eyes that seemed like they were crying...
He opened his mouth,
"Say it... Say that word... You say it... Why don’t you say it..."
The voice was heard for some time, but very quickly, it was completely gone.
Grant’s face changed immediately
"Benjamin... Has he always been in contact with you?"
"No, this is the first time he’s sent a letter in such a long time," Claude explained quickly, "This letter is for you but it didn’t manage to reach you, so I have to forward it to you..."
Grant waved his hand instead and interrupted Claude.
"Do you know what he did outside of the country?"
Upon hearing that, Claude watched as Grant became agitated, he then fell silent. After a short while, he answered to Grant by nodding his head.
Grant noticed that he was being inappropriate, he took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, but his voice still bore a sense of resentment, "He hid from all of us, became a mage, and even announced this secret to the public on the stake... Yes, he ran away, but did he think about what would happen to us?"
Claude looked up, "He went up to the stake for you."
"I didn’t ask him to!" Grant became louder as if what was said hit his sore spot, "I'd rather be tied on the stake and be burnt to death, than being like that now, where everyone thinks that I’m the one who owes him all."
Upon hearing that, Claude could not help but hit on the desk, he put aside his formalities toward a pope and returned to being that strict father.
"I’m not saying that you owe him anything, but... he’s your elder brother, after all!"
"So? So I have to do as he mentioned in the letter, abandon the doctrine all these years and tell the people that mages can actually get along well with other people?"
"You..."
Claude slapped on the desk again as he got angry, but he could not say a word.
On the other hand, Grant’s face was as cold as ice.
He felt that since he became the pope, he should not express his true emotions because of these matters, but he could not do it. When he faced Claude, he would become obedient, easily angry, and would go ballistic easily. Agitation and resentment would flow out like an opened mouth of a spring, he could not control it at all.
He just could not understand...
"Why do you have to speak for him all the time?" Grant held in his emotions and said.
"I never did!" Claude let out a humph, and clasped his hands behind, "My attitude toward the both of you has always been the same! You usually perform well, so I gave you more freedom. He didn’t perform as well before, so I’ll be stricter with him. I was never biased against any one of you!"
Grant shook his head and sneered.
"But, for that person who betrayed our family and learned magic, you’ve ruined our home." He locked his eyes and stared at Claude, "Ever since he left, you’ve never spoken to me anymore. You think... You think that everything is my fault."
"I never said that it’s your fault!" Claude almost roared, "This is your mother’s mistake, I neither blamed nor scolded you for it!"
"No... Although you’ve never said it, I can feel it," Grant was holding back his anger as well, his body quivered, "When I was released from being trapped in the cathedral, it wasn’t easy for me to get home, but the look you gave me was... just that."
He could never forget Claude’s look back then.
Being confused, blaming, angry... More than that, he was greatly disappointed, as if at that moment Claude hoped that he did not have a son like him.
Grant had been locked in the cell with no food for four days, when he returned to home all tired and worn out, he could not say a word when he faced that kind of look.
Claude continued saying with much anger, "The reason I looked at you that way was that you used your own brother, you used him to cover up those dirty deeds and sins that you did! I am really disappointed in you!"
"I didn’t do it on purpose!" Grant could not hold it back any longer, "It was Mother who knocked me out and sent me to the cathedral to be locked up! I didn’t even know what happened at all then!"
"If you really didn’t know, why didn’t you show feel sorry at all when you returned?" Claude pointed at his nose and shouted, "Do you feel so wronged for being locked up for four days? If you can’t even bear this little hardship, what happened to all the teachings from me? If your brother hadn’t learned magic secretly, he would’ve been dead in place of you on that stake! What about you? You look all fine, learning your divine arts with a peace of mind, be the pope that you are now... That’s your own brother! Do you even care about your family at all?"
"Since when did I not?" Grant was flustered and angry, he shouted incoherently, "When I... When I came back, I did it all to protect you! With a mage in our family, His Highness the Pope was about to put all of you on the stake and burn you, if...if I didn’t listen to them, if I continued being stubborn, the Lithur family won’t even exist anymore!"
"You..."
"Obviously I’m the one who has been doing the most, why can’t you see it?" Grant cut him off and continued shouting, his eyes were filled with resentment, "Benjamin left so selfishly and left me in such an awful mess. I gave up my dignity and cleaned up the mess, now you think I’m being a hypocrite instead... Those priests were threatening me with your lives, how could I not give in?"
Claude was stunned, the anger in his eyes started to disappear.
"You... Why didn’t you say about this?"
"It’s because you’ve never given anyone else a chance to talk about this, this home has always been running according to your opinions and your ways, no one had a say," Grant shook his head and backed off a few steps, his face showed an insulting smile then said, "Come on, I know what you’re really disappointed about, you don’t have to hide it."
As he said that, subconsciously, his hands started trembling.
Claude’s face changed as well.
"What, what..."
"Why are you pretending? You know what I’m going to say. That issue, if you and I both keep quiet about it, you can just shut your ears and pretend that nothing has happened, but is that really the case?"
"What are you talking about? I..."
Grant cut him off fretfully and shouted as loud as he could, "I slept with a man! I’m a disgusting man guilty of sodomy!"
Instantly, Claude hit the desk angrily, the booming sound shocked Grant completely.
"You shut up!"
"I..."
As if his childhood trauma resurfaced, Grant backed off subconsciously, he remained scared like a child for a few seconds before he took a deep breath and realized that he no longer had to be afraid anymore.
Claude anyhow grabbed a book instead and slapped it against Grant’s face, then scolded him ferociously, "You... How can you even talk about this? Are you even my son? You’re the pope now, for God’s sake! Talking about something like that, do you even feel sorry for the pride and glory that our ancestors from the Imperial Capital claimed for us!"
At that moment, Grant’s face turned dark.
"...What did I say?"
"You said... You said that disgusting word!"
Upon hearing that, Grant chuckled suddenly, his widely-opened eyes turned a little red, the red veins on his eyes could even be seen.
Instantly, he became really aggressive, "What’s wrong? Is it really so terrifying? It’s just a word, it won’t dirty your mouth if you said it. Say it... Say it... Why don’t you say it!"
"I’m not like you, I have some sense of shame at the very least," Claude pointed at his nose instead and scolded, "Take back what you said, don’t say a word about it anymore, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything and I’ll still treat you like a son in the Lithur family, or else...or else..."
Suddenly, Grant took a few steps forward and grabbed Claude by his throat with a great force, he pushed him against the wall of the study room.
"Or else what? You’ll kick me out of the house? Are you going to disown me..."
At that moment, Claude was suffocated and turned red, his dignified look disappeared into thin air. He was being choked at his throat as Grant pushed him against the wall, he abruptly got himself into a situation where he could not catch his breath anymore.
"Let, let go... I...can’t... can’t breathe..."
He struggled with all his might, his legs were kicking everywhere as he attempted to pull apart Grant’s hands on his neck. But... But he was already so old, his young son who he remembered as someone who used to look up to him had already become much taller than him in a blink of an eye.
He was stunned because of that.
As he suffered the pain that came from his throat, in just a split second, Claude’s vision became blurry. He could not gather his strength to think about anything, and could not look at his son clearly. Wearing a pair of bloodshot eyes... Those eyes that seemed like they were crying...
He opened his mouth,
"Say it... Say that word... You say it... Why don’t you say it..."
The voice was heard for some time, but very quickly, it was completely gone.
