041 - Red string: Rightful heir

The door of the conference room opened, and Grace left the room, with Leyna following behind her after letting go of the door. The directors of the board exchanged glances, but Marten did not linger.

He pushed his chair back and stood up to leave, his tight expression casting a silencing spell along the way to the elevator. By the time he arrived below, his car was ready and waiting for him.

Marten closed his eyes in the backseat, the movement of the car lulling him into a calm that soothed him, or at least tried to.

The journey was silent, with the sounds from the traffic sounding distant through the closed windows. About a quarter of an hour later, the car stopped before a villa, and he stepped out without waiting for the driver to open the door for him.

It was when he stepped into the house that he allowed his expression to turn grim. He glanced at the empty living room, but didn't pause, and made a beeline for the study. And there, he didn't have to restrain himself anymore.

*BANG*

He slammed the door shut, as the words Grace said earlier came back to the forefront of his mind:

"Now that the aggressive pursuit of a higher performance has caused the Group to suffer a setback in one of the key nodes of its strategy, I will have to trouble everyone to come up with a solution. And the sooner, the better."

She might as well have called him out and pointed straight at his nose.

Marten's anger was all too visible, now that he stopped holding it in. He breathed like a bull, like the bellows in Hephaestus' forging room. His eyes, if they had been able to, would have cut through everything he was looking at, whether the desk, the armchair, or the shelves.

The study felt dim, narrow, and stuffy, and that was the only explanation to the sudden tightness in his chest.

Marten tried with all his might,' to regain his composure, but the decades of dissatisfaction came crashing down on him. He marched to the desk, and threw the first thing he got his hand on with all his strength, as memories came to his mind.

*CRASH*

Memories of the mire he had never managed to get out of replayed in his mind, of all his failures at taking the place that should be his, of all his efforts over the years that had gone unrewarded, disregarded by his father.

"Arghh!" *Bang*

Having started, Marten let loose. He let loose all the resentment he had accumulated inside, his resentment for not having been given the throne at the top despite all his efforts, for not even having been given the opportunity, for… having been born second, for just having been born second.

*Bang!!!*

The door opened, and the one who came in was startled by the impact that happened close.

Julene looked around, before focusing on her husband who she had never seen that way.

"Marten, what is going on? Why are you back so early?"

"Humph!"

With a snort, Marten paused his rampage. He took a deep breath, and loosened his tie, before in the end pulling it off his collar. He threw it away, then went to sit on the chair behind the desk.

He seemed to have freed himself from the overflowing part of his emotions, though his eyes remained dark.

Julene picked up the papers scattered on the floor as she walked to the desk. She put them down and went around the desk to stand behind her husband. She put her fingers together and started massaging his temples, waiting for him to calm down, before she spoke in a soft voice:

"Today was the meeting of the board. Did something happen?"

"Humph!"

Marten's answer was another snort, before he closed his eyes to enjoy the massage, and let go of the anger that would serve no purpose other than making him waste his energy.

He started to relax under his wife's ministrations. He let the fire in his heart bleed away, and let the quiet that descended in the study impregnate his being.

Julene continued massaging him for a while in silence, before she asked softly:

"Is it Grace again?"

The question brought a frown to Marten's face, a frown Julene felt with her fingers on Marten's temples.

The frown didn't last long, and Marten opened his mouth, though not to answer the question of his wife:

"Where are Gilem and Sepp?"

Julene paused subtly, then resumed moving her fingers. The lack of answer and the reaction of her husband had already told her everything she needed to know. And she also knew why he was asking about their sons.

She calmly replied:

"They have both gone out."

A moment passed, and Marten asked:

"Is Gilem still reluctant?"

Julene calmly smiled:

"He will not refuse to obey his father, you do not have to worry."

Marten grunted, in a way, acknowledging his wife's words.

"Tell Sepp to start to behave himself."

Seeing the Marten she knew come back, Julene's smile deepened:

"I will let him know, and he will know what to do. He won't jeopardize your plans."

The silence came back, and Julene spent a few more minutes massaging Marten, before she went around the chair, and sat on top of him.

Despite being in her fifties, she hadn't neglected herself, and she didn't look past her prime. Whether it was her hair, her skin, or her figure, with attentive care, she did not look old.

The fleshy weight made Marten open his eyes. He reacted by bringing his hands around Julene's waist. And with that, all the remaining dissatisfaction inside him melted away.

In the silence, Julene rested her head on Marten's shoulder, and she spoke quietly:

"Being angry is not good for your health. No matter what, Grace is only a daughter-in-law of the family. Even though, for her, your father exiled Garland, your elder brother, you have done so much, and you are the rightful heir of the Group. You will get back what is yours, so don't worry, and don't push yourself too hard."

After a moment, Marten replied:

"Hm."