Three years later:
"Is it good?"
Lex asked with a dazzling smile as he fed the food to Lily, the one with black hair and brown eyes who nodded her head as he did so. Rose pulled at his shirt, a pout filling her face, she being the one with brown hair and brown eyes, earning him a chuckle as he scooped the soup and provided the spoon to Rose, who happily took a bit of the food.
"It's delicious, big brother,"
Rose spoke as she did, a small amount of the soup leaked through her lips, which Lex gently wiped away with a kerchief. This heartwarming scene melted the hearts of all the servants around.
Right now, Lex and his sisters both sat at the dining table, surrounded by the maids and butlers looking at all this with gentle and pride-filled eyes. These past three years have increased their loyalty and respect toward Lex, and all his hard work in doing so has paid off.
'These girls are now completely dependent on me,'
Lex thought as he looked at his two sisters happily munching on the food that he was giving them. After the stunt he pulled three years ago, his family became stronger than ever. His mother took time to be with the family, mending everything before she dived back into the business world.
As the big brother of the family, Lex did everything in his power, sticking by the sides of his heartbroken sisters to be their most powerful pillar. He did everything from feeding them, being with them in times of pain, sleeping in the same bed, and being their mental support. He did everything to stick with them and be their great big brother.
Thanks to that, he placed a huge marker within their hearts. The bond between the twins that should have grown extremely close just among the two of them didn't take place. Instead, he entered and took the extreme place for both of them.
Now he was an irreplaceable part of their life that they wouldn't be able to give up. Of course, this was just for the current little twins, and their feelings still stayed at the level of siblings. But the current status quo was enough for Lex. The imprint he did now would be the springboard he would use to climb to the relationship he needed.
The other thing he did was to earn the moniker of a genius. Using the devastation of his father's death, he started to display 'changes' in himself, turning from a lively child to one of calmness and a bit of coldness, but this was followed by an extreme level of intellect.
He soon managed to show all the teachers who came to teach him how special and different he was. With just two months of his homeschooling, he floored all the teachers with his insane level of intellect, which quickly spread his name throughout the city and later to the country.
The main reason for the centring of his genius was the hands he put into business. Of course, he didn't start his own business, but he completely floored his teacher in economics, a study that he actively asked for. Afterwards, he even advised on some matters of business of his family, which earned profits!
Teachers upon teachers came, and Lex started to absorb all of this like a sponge. His knowledge 'increased' in the eyes of his family, and Lex even showcased a keen level of business instinct, a 'spider sense' in making a profit, one for which his father was very well known.
This raised his status and cemented his future as the young master and future lord of the Mervick family. He gained a lot of love from his grandparents, and he even displayed a very gentle and great personality to all the workers in the palace, making him very loved.
And, of course, he didn't forget to get close to Irina, and he can now say she is his very best friend. But that's all he reached. After all, it's not possible to evoke romantic feelings within an 8-year-old girl. It would take at least her puberty for him to make some serious moves.
'And my opportunity will be arriving soon...'
When Irina turns to that age and 'that' event takes place, he will be there by her side, and he will stick to her fully. It's at that point he will use to change the feelings within Irina.
Soon, the dining within the family was done, and his sisters were taken to their respective teachers under their disapproving gaze. He gave his two sisters kisses on their cheeks as he let them be. This, along with a promise of playing with them, improved their mood.
Soon after, Lex retired to his study room, in which he called out the butler Kaelum, his father's most trusted right-hand man. Soon, the door to his room opened as Kaelum entered.
"Uncle Kaelum..."
Lex called with a smile. The man in question was someone he was very close to, someone he completely trusted. Kaelum had raised him in the past and was now raising him in the present.
Kaelum has black hair and brown eyes. Although he looks to be in his late 20s, he is about 40 to 50 years old, and with the current technology and the BioFusion EnhanceX, looking young is just normal.
"What is it, young master?"
He asked with a smile. To this, Lex's expression turned serious, and he focused directly on Kaelum as he spoke.
"Take me to meet my big sister..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the smile on Kaelum's face stiffened, his expression dropping. But before he could say a word, Lex raised his hand, stopping him as he spoke.
"Father told me about it just before he passed away..."
Hearing this, Kaelum's expression turned complex, and hesitation filled his voice as he asked.
"Then can you tell me why the young master didn't talk about this till now?"
To this, Lex replied.
"Well, I was deciding what I should do. For both you and I know what my mother shall do if she finds out about this case."
This answer of his only made Kaelum's body tremble, and he had every right to be, as his mother would definitely kill the girl. It didn't matter that she was just 2 years older than him and was just 11; his mother would kill that girl just as she had killed her mother.
'My father should have played this better...'
Lex didn't disdain his father for cheating on his mother. After all, in high society, it's normal to have more than one wife along with several lovers. It's the norm, and as long as your wife has no problem, this will continue.
But his father was a very faithful man, and he did love Serena. However, his heart soon split when Logan's heart fell for another innocent-looking, beautiful woman, and being as smart as he was, he kept this a secret from Serena. Indeed, it's normal in high society, and perhaps if Logan had taken the straight route and talked about this, Serena wouldn't have taken such drastic actions.
'In the end, it all comes down to my mother's obsession,'
Lex mused. His mother was an amazing and beautiful woman, her beauty enough to outshine all. Both his mother, Serena, and his father, Logan, knew each other as children, and their engagement was a forgone conclusion.
But what his father, Logan, didn't know was the fact that his mother had Amoreligia, an extremely rare and unique genetic condition that affects primarily young girls, although it can occur in individuals of any gender. It is characterised by an extreme and uncontrollable obsession with a specific person or object. This obsession often takes the form of intense romantic love or infatuation.
His mother was only later diagnosed with this, and by that time, his father, Logan, had become the centre of her obsession. That meant there was no escape for him anymore, and his father did love his mother. So things went smoothly from there on.
He even made the vow of not taking up another wife, as his mother was more than enough for him. But, as they say, fate isn't always under your control. His father met Aria, the loving, caring, and gentle woman who, in a way, his mother wasn't. It was a chance meeting at a very uncoincidental time.
His father was smart, and he did everything to keep it a secret. He almost succeeded, and the main part being he almost succeeded. His mother, Serena, did find out about the fact, and, as you can all guess, her obsessive love took over her, thus resulting in her action of killing Aria.
In Lex's mother's mind, her husband was completely faithful; it was the woman, Aria, who had seduced Logan. This led her to take drastic measures without consulting his father. This, in turn, led to the accident.
That day, his father was driving when he got the call that Aria had been brutally assassinated and killed. This, at that moment, broke his heart, as his father had come to infinitely love Aria more than his mother. This shook his mind and led to the accident.
'A coward, he was...'
Lex sneered in his mind. His father was a Nano Blade Adept reaching its peak, and if he had willed it, he would have easily survived such a crash. But his broken mind, along with his fear of meeting the future, led him towards succumbing to his injuries and passing away.