Parting Ways

His sister was in a casual dress with no laces.

Her arms were crossed as she stared at Jeffrey in the middle of the hallway on the second floor.

"Sorry about that," Jeffrey shrugged, "I had a quick party with some friends-"

"I don't want to hear excuses," Dora cut him off, giving him a serious gaze, "The capital should be much farther away than your school, yet you still came back home an hour later than me."

"Like I said," Jeffrey slowly repeated, trying to keep his voice calm, "I had a party with some friends. It was important to me, as I would likely not get to see them for a while after today."

There was silence after he finished speaking. His sister simply looked at him sternly. She didn't move a muscle.

Finally, after the silence was beginning to get awkward, Dora uncrossed her arms and continued to lecture her brother, "Our parents had been waiting for you, but they soon had to leave once I got back. I suggest you stop being an embarrassment to the fam-"

"Whatever I do, it has nothing to do with the family's honor," it was now Jeffrey's turn to cut off his sister, "I did not know that they had some business to take care of. For that, I do apologize, but only to them. Don't stand here and act like you have a right to lecture me in their place."

After finishing his outburst he immediately moved past Dora, striding to his room. He brushed shoulders with her and ignored her look of outrage.

Before even giving his sister a moment to angrily respond, Jeffrey spoke, "I'm off to write a letter to them. Don't bother me while I'm in my room."

He closed his bedroom door with a slam.

----------

After a couple minutes inside, Jeffrey quickly finished writing his letter and checked for any mistakes. When finding none, he got up from his chair and moved away from his desk to the door.

Suddenly, as he reached for the handle, a knocking sound could be heard.

"Who's there?" Jeffrey asked cautiously.

"It's me, my lord," came the voice of the family's head butler, "I came to ask if you needed anything to eat."

"Oh, no. I already ate at the party with my friends," Jeffrey politely declined, "Thank you anyway, Walter."

"No problem, my lord." Walter said before his footsteps echoed away.

Jeffrey took a deep breath and waited for a few seconds before opening his door and heading to the mansion's message room.

He could have asked Walter, or any of his other servants, to deliver it for him but Jeffrey preferred to do this by himself.

'It's not like I'm guaranteed to remain here forever, so it's best not to trouble them,' Jeffrey thought, 'Sooner or later, I'll be leaving this place. Might as well live my life without having servants to cater to my every need.'

As he headed down to the message room, he walked past some paintings of him and his family. They depicted Jeffrey and Dora during their younger years, often together with another member of the family.

Jeffrey recalled the memories of his childhood in this mansion. He remembered how Dora used to have been very close to him, albeit still a bit reserved. She would hang out with him occasionally and tried to look after him from time to time.

However, as they reached their teenage years, Dora was given more responsibility as the family's heir. As she grew more mature, she gradually became more indifferent to Jeffrey. It was to the point that she disregarded his presence in the family, and only noticed him whenever he did things that she disapproved.

During those years, Jeffrey had attempted many times to open up to her, but to no avail. Despite her fiery appearance, she could not have been colder to her brother.

'Is this what happens to most noble families?' Jeffrey's mind wandered off again. At this point, he had already reached his destination and put his letter in a magic circle. He quickly activated it and the letter soon disappeared.

'As you shoulder more responsibilities, you must become more detached with your family?' Jeffrey continued thinking as he turned around and left the message room, 'No, that's not right. She still gets along with mom and dad. Dora always maintained a positive relationship with them. Even when meeting up with our distant relatives and grandparents, she had always held a decent attitude.

'It's just me she can't seem to stand.'

Jeffrey sighed out loud as he walked back to his room, startling some servants who were cleaning nearby.

He considered that perhaps it was his easygoing and extremely social attitude which upset his sister. However, when he looked back at his memories, he couldn't find any moments where she was particularly annoyed by it.

He soon reached his room and prepared to relax himself for the next day.

----------

It was now five days after Leo had come back home.

During that time, he had been preparing his luggage to start his journey in becoming an adventurer.

Among those days, Leo had also made sure to spend more time with his little brother.

Leo had occasionally brought James along to meet with Austin in the city market so the three can enjoy their summer together. They had even once got ice cream down there.

When he wasn't heading out or sorting his things, Leo would examine the phoenix feather that he previously found in his dorm at Halo Academy.

The more he studied it, the more he felt certain that there was a reason it was given to him. There did not seem to be anything dangerous about it though. The feather still remained mysterious but also harmless.

Leo had debated on whether or not he should bring it with him. A phoenix feather can be very useful for certain situations.

After thinking about it for some time, Leo eventually decided to keep it with him.

As of now, it was finally the day where he would leave his home.

It was currently around noon when Leo stood in front of his house's front door.

He had a medium-sized bag strapped to his shoulders which carried all the items that he needed for his trip. His clothing was neat and simple, nothing overly complicated or fancy.

With his body facing the door, Leo turned his head and glanced at the people who were sending him off.

His little brother was there, along with their mother. Their father had said that he had other things to do and was currently out of the house. It seemed like he was making his stance clear that he wasn't going to support his son's decision.

Although only one of Leo's parent's was here, there were a few servants to make up for his father's absence.

They were the family's butler and some cleaning staff. As of now, they made up all of the servants in their small mansion. However, with the family's business steadily increasing, it won't be long before new servants would arrive. It may even be possible that his mother would no longer have to cook food for the family anymore.

Everybody waved their hands to each other.

"Goodbye, honey!" his mother said. She had been a bit frustrated that her husband was not here to see their son off but she still managed to put up a warm smile.

"Goodbye, young master." all the servants said as one.

"See you soon, Leo!" James was the last to say goodbye. He had been the most reluctant about his brother leaving, however he still chose to pay his respects and deliberately held his farewell to the end to give Leo the biggest impression.

Seeing them all like this, Leo nearly teared up.

He knew that if he wanted to take back his decision, now would be the time. But he still kept his conviction strong.

"Goodbye everyone!" Leo responded with a smile as he waved his hand, "I'll make sure to visit one day. I hope that all of you can be here when I come back."

And with that, he turned back to the door and pushed it open. He stepped outside and closed it behind him.

The family's gate was already opened beforehand. Now was the time for him to see where his life will lead him.

----------

Leo walked through the city square. He was currently heading to the city's entrance.

As he approached, he noticed a figure coming towards him. It was Austin, but he was not alone. Beside him, there was a formally dressed man who was holding something small in his hands.

This left Leo a bit confused. He had told Austin ahead of time that he would be leaving today, so he was surprised to see that there was someone else at the entrance of the city waiting for him.

Leo quickly greeted his friend before giving a questioning stare towards this newcomer.