The Pursuit of Vengeance

The Nelnmont Patriarch's expression crumpled with furious hatred.

His body quivered with anger.

And yet, he just barely managed to keep himself in check.

She had too much power over him, as much as he hated to admit it. The fact of the matter was that she could cripple the foundation of the Nelmont Family with this one scandal alone.

Whether it was legal, reputational, financial, or social, she could inflict upon him and his family untold agony if she truly wanted to.

He knew that.

The demand for dropping the lawsuit was bad enough, but what was truly worse was the condition of not being able to see his daughter ever again. It was what drew his attention the most, and what he was most unwilling to yield.

"…I will drop the lawsuit," he managed to squeeze through his gritted teeth and clenched fists. "I will even publish the most reputationally restoring statement about you and the Institute. In turn…"

His expression grew even more intense. "…I get to keep my daughter.

His desperation was palpable.

His daughter was the one and only means to

"She doesn't belong to you," Headmistress Lenolia said in an icy tone, with anger. "You have no right to harm her. You have no right to control her future. You have no right to traumatize her as you have. And mark my words…"

Her eyes blazed with determination.

"I will fight with all my power, political or magical, to protect her from you."

The man's expression grew even more ashen as he understood just how committed she was.

"Releasing this proof to the press and to the authorities, and you would lose custody in an instant," she growled. "I'm relatively certain that I can use my power to ensure that she continues studying at the Elendir Institute of Magic under my guardianship. So I can get what I ask of you with force if I have to, and destroy everything you have and have ever built in your entire miserable life."

His eyes remained fixed on the Headmistress with venomous hatred.

"You won't get away with this," he growled. "You may think you have me beat, but if you think I'm going to give up on Melia, then you've lost your mind."

His eyes flared with anger.

"She's our family's only lifeline. I won't ever give up on her."

"What strikes me as equal parts amusing and disgusting," the Headmistress snorted. "If you just got your health under control, combined with some expensive but accessible healing magic, you could become fertile and have another child, but you would rather abuse and torture your only child instead. Perhaps the only good thing to emerge from that is that you will not spread your filthy seed anymore."

Her voice was venomous.

His expression grew even furious as he controlled the urge to lash out and choke the life out of her.

Yet, he knew he didn't stand even the slightest bit of a chance.

She was almost goading him just so that she could have the deniability of self-defense when she struck him.

"This conversation is over."

Her tone was one of finality.

"You will rescind your lawsuit and issue the statement today," she spoke with force. "And you will never return to the Elendir Institute of Magic ever again."

"I am a stakeholder in this Institute!" He snarled. "My money funds that extravagant magicademy!"

"And that money will continue coming," she spoke with an irreverent voice. "Unless you would like to lose all that money. You can think of it as a tax."

He gritted his teeth. "You're violating the law! Don't you have any shame? Your very existence disgusts me as a lawyer."

She gazed at him with an expression of disgust.

"Child abuse is also illegal."

"I was disciplining my child for her duties!" he snarled at her. "She has an obligation that comes with being born in such a great family!"

"I don't care to discuss this matter with you," her tone rang with bloodlust. "I have laid out my demands and the consequences of not following them. If you wish, I can destroy your entire life this very moment."

The air boiled with a perilous tension as the two of them glared at each other with intense eyes.

He got up, still maintaining a contemptuous gaze of hatred.

"You cannot protect her from me forever."

His tone was ominous.

"Eventually, she will leave the Institute," he glared at her. "And no threats will stop me from getting her to fulfill her duty. The Nelnmont Bloodline and its legacy are more important to me than anything else."

He walked away briskly, exiting her office before Headmistress could even push back against his menacing words.

Her eyes swam around in thought.

It was indeed true that she couldn't protect Melia forever.

She didn't want to, for it would mean that she would never become independent in her life, which was vital for her to achieve. The more time passed, the less weight the child abuse evidence would have, especially once it neared the statute of limitations.

There was only one solution.

"…I will need to ensure that she becomes strong enough to resist her family."

Thankfully, as a student of the Elendir Institute of Magic, her success was guaranteed, and she had a high chance of making it to the senior rank.

"She will need more than that," the Headmistress knew that no single senior mage could possibly resist the pressure from a family as powerful as the Nelnmont Family.

She could join a faction or another family.

Or get a high-ranking position in a governmental institution.

Regardless, only a combination of political and magical power would be enough to keep her family in check.

She was naturally very far from reaching this point, having just completed her first year of the apprentice program. She would need to spend many more years mastering magic and working on her resume to get accepted into a powerful group or institution that can protect her.

KNOCK KNOCK

Her attention returned to the door, which opened with a single wave of her hand.

She found herself gazing at the man who came up with the idea in the first place.

"Mr. Cæ," she remarked with a smile. "What brings you to my office?"

He pointed to his side with a knowing expression. "Headmistress, I just saw the Nelnmont Patriarch storm away with an ugly expression. I can only imagine that…"

His eyebrow rose. "…things went well?"

He walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Your strategy has proven to be remarkably effective," she informed him with an appreciative expression. "You have found a path forward that alluded even my awareness. Thanks to that, I have successfully managed to get the Nelnmont Patriarch to back off from the lawsuit and Melia. Thanks to you…"

She leaned forward with a small smile of gratitude. "I have managed to get him off my back and protect an innocent girl from terrible abuse."

He heaved a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. I suppose that's that then. It's all I came for, so I should be getting to work then."

"Wait," Headmistress Lenolia stopped him with a calm tone. "My gratitude to you isn't just limited to words. The truth is that you have done me a great favor, more than you have helped yourself."

He raised an eyebrow. "I stood much to lose if the lawsuit went through, too."

"Not nearly as much as I did," she spoke with a knowing tone. "The talent acquisition will soon come to an end in a few days, and although you would have lost protection, you wouldn't have lost the gains and markets you have already made. It would have been inconvenient at most."

He shrugged lightly at those words. "Perhaps."

"I would like to offer my gratitude in a reward, rather than just some pleasant words," she spoke with a calm tone. "Tell me, what would you like? Perhaps another fund for your business? Perhaps some more credits for your work in the student council, or perhaps a letter of recommendation from Archmage Cantor himself? It will be difficult, but I can arrange it—"

"A name."

He cut her off.

His tone was intense.

His dichromatic gray eyes sharpened with peril.

Headmistress Lenolia frowned. "…A name?"

"Yes, Headmistress," Cæ continued with an intense voice. "You are a divination expert. And you have many political ties and connections, as I have seen. I want your help with getting a name."

She raised an eyebrow. "What name?"

A flicker of bloodlust flashed in his eyes.

"The name of the person who killed Lilia."

It had been more than two years since Lilia had died.

He had spent six months in a coma healing from the accident, and then another half year helping Selvig's Ristorante bounce back. Since then, another year had passed in his first academic year of the apprentice program. He had been tremendously busy with his business, his magic mastery, and later the talent acquisition program.

And yet, he hadn't forgotten about the fact that all of this was happening because a truck ran a red light and crashed into them without even slowing down.

That person was responsible for the death of Lilia.

They were responsible for the new path that Cæ's life took.

"I tried getting the name from law enforcement, but it became very clear to me that I was dealing with a case of corruption," he growled. "Investigations had been dropped and the police commissioner even suggested that it was my fault, when that was clearly bullshit. He dragged me by the collar and threw me out of the police station when I threatened to look into this matter deeper."

His eyes blazed with vengeance.

His expression crumpled with boundless rage and hatred.

An ocean of darkness that he buried deep within his heart now overflowed to the surface.

Headmistress Lenolia's eyes widened as she bore the sheer amount of palpable, venomous hatred that he harbored in his heart.

The boiling rage that threatened to explode.

In that moment, she understood that she understood very little about him, if anything at all.

The ferocious, menacing emotions that he displayed were the real him.

The real him that he had hidden from everybody else.

"…And what do you intend to do if I give you the identity of this person?" Her tone was heavy. "What will you do when you find out who this person is?"

She gazed at him with a piercing gaze.

"I will kill them with my own two hands."

There wasn't even the slightest hint of hesitation in his voice.

There was crystal clear clarity about what he intended to do.

Headmistress Lenolia gazed at him with a severe expression.

The air boiled with tension.

The atmosphere grew electric with peril.

"Do not go down this path, Cæ," she spoke to him in a soft tone. "There is no fulfillment to be found in the path of vengeance. You will find that your heart was as empty, perhaps even emptier, than it could have otherwise been."

She got up, walking towards him before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You have an opportunity to build a new life. A new family. A new future," she insisted. "Do not risk it all for an empty pursuit of vengeance that could potentially destroy your life."

And yet, it wasn't enough.

"I have no intention of backing down, Mam." his tone was unyielding. "I will find out one way or another. And I will exact my vengeance on them, with or without your help."

She heaved a resigned sigh.

"Very well then, I have no intention of going back on my word."

She gazed at him with serious eyes.

"I swear that I will uncover the name of the person who is responsible for the accident."