Chapter 4: An Uncertain Future
"—Enough."
The voice cut through the silence, echoing against the walls of the grand Western-style chamber, bathed in the amber light of the setting sun. Though it was not raised, its weight pressed heavily on the air.
Jun Takumi sat behind an ornate chair carved with golden lions. His hair was almost untouched by gray, and his eyes were sharp as ever, but the fine lines at their corners betrayed an age filled with exhaustion and unspoken grief.
"Even though we are family... you chose to exile yourself to the southern mansion like some discarded outcast." His voice was heavy, laced with a long-buried anger. "Tell me, Hideo—what is it that you're truly thinking?"
Hideo stood upright before his grandfather. His shoulders didn't flinch. His eyes remained calm. There was no fear. No excuses.
"Haaah..." Jun Takumi sighed, long and deep, as if pushing down a thousand burdens. "Come tomorrow morning. You will return to the main estate."
"…No need," Hideo replied flatly. "I'm comfortable where I am."
Jun Takumi froze. For a moment, his expression went blank—as if unsure whether he had heard correctly.
"Y-You...!" His hand rose halfway, as if to strike, but halted in midair. A tremble ran through his fingers before he pulled the hand back and clenched it tight.
His gaze shifted—anger, disappointment… and above all, sorrow.
"Go."
Hideo gave a slight bow. "Yes, Grandfather."
Then he turned and made for the door.
But before his hand could touch the handle, that heavy voice called out again.
"One more thing."
Jun Takumi's tone dropped lower, colder—undeniable.
"From this day forth, you are forbidden from approaching Princess Julia Ormond. On this matter, there will be no negotiation."
Hideo's steps stopped.
"…Understood."
That was all he said before walking out of the room.
The golden sunlight streamed in from the tall windows behind him, casting his silhouette along the floor—a fading image of a warrior who had lost his battlefield.
'...Does he not care?'
'Or... could it be... that he's no longer the same Hideo?'
After Hideo's departure, silence reclaimed the room. Jun Takumi stared at the ceiling, his thoughts drifting far into the past.
The Takumi Clan once stood tall—challenging both heavens and earth. But one by one, its members fell. And all that remained now… was a single grandson once deemed worthless.
As a desperate measure, Jun Takumi had pleaded directly with the Emperor—seeking to marry Hideo to his daughter, Julia Ormond. But...
"Brother Takumi, it's not that I refuse to help you. But Julia Ormond... she is my daughter. I cannot entrust her to a boy like that."
Jun Takumi clenched his fist.
'If that proposal had been made ten years ago, the Emperor might've begged for our approval instead. But now...'
"This is how the world works…" he murmured bitterly.
Outside the mansion, the evening breeze drifted gently across the land. A golden glow washed over the trees and soil, painting the world in a hue of fading grandeur.
Hideo walked slowly, his mind stirring beneath a calm surface.
Now, he lived once more in the body of a noble boy—abandoned by all.
He... was the last heir of a sinking ship called Takumi.
"Right now… I'm nothing more than a second-generation failure, waiting for the end…"
But then, within the whispering wind, a voice cut through—cold and clear.
"You're wrong."
Hideo froze. His steps halted.
"You're not second-generation," the voice said again—flat, yet sharp like a freshly honed blade.
"I was the second generation, kid. You… you're third."