[Ding!]
Kaine heard a sound in his head the moment he placed the last empty bowl back on the tray. Then, three screens appeared in front of him.
[Serathiel.]
[Stage One Restoration Progress: 6.37% → 6.82%.]
[Proper nutrition detected.]
[Blood production improved.]
[Nutrient absorption improved.]
[Strength +0.02.]
[Vitality +0.04.]
[Recovery Points +1.]
...
[Lysara.]
[Stage One Restoration Progress: 6.11% → 6.49%.]
[Proper nutrition detected.]
[Basic vitality improved.]
[Spiritual Root stability improved slightly.]
[Perception +0.02.]
[Vitality +0.02.]
[Recovery Points +1.]
...
[Nerys.]
[Stage One Restoration Progress: 7.84% → 8.31%.]
[Proper nutrition detected.]
[Physical stability improved.]
[Maximum Mana +1.]
[Vitality +0.02.]
[Recovery Points +1.]
...
Kaine stared at the three screens in surprise as he felt a familiar, warm energy moving throughout his body.
’Food counts as well...?’
He thought only the medicine he gave them counted, but when he thought about it, nutrition was important for their recovery, it wasn’t surprising that it would be counted.
Kaine nodded to himself, then, he glanced at the messages again.
The improvements were much smaller compared to when he gave them their medicines, but that didn’t matter, the important thing was that they improved.
Kaine dismissed the screens and looked at the three women instead, all of them had finished everything he gave them.
Seeing the empty bowls on the tray made him feel... satisfied.
They liked it.
His efforts in the kitchen weren’t wasted.
He smiled a little, then, he looked at their beds. They couldn’t remain upright like this forever, the three needed to rest. So Kaine walked towards Lysara and Nerys’s bed.
"I’m lowering it back, okay?"
The two nodded at him.
Kaine touched the crystal on the side and the upper half of the bed slowly began to descend, both Lysara and Nerys shifted their bodies and settled down. Kaine noticed how their arms trembled from even that smallest amount of effort, but he let them do it on their own.
They needed to move a little, else they might lose all their mobility.
"Comfortable?"
He asked once they settled down, the two nodded again. Kaine nodded back, then, he glanced at the Dragon. Again, unlike the other two, her ruined limbs couldn’t support her weight at all, she was in no state to move herself, he needed to help her.
So Kaine approached her gently.
"I’m going to move you now, alright?"
He spoke, making sure she was ready. The Dragon looked at him, then, she gave him a small nod.
Kaine leaned forward and placed one arm behind her shoulder and supported her side with the other. Serathiel’s body still stiffened at his touch.
It would still need some time for her body to understand his touch wouldn’t hurt her like others, that she didn’t need to brace herself when she was around him.
Kaine didn’t rush it, he didn’t even think it was possible for the girls to ever trust him and let their guards down.
He knew he wouldn’t have.
Shaking his head inwardly, he carefully lifted her away from the raised section.
"Tell me if anything hurts."
"...alright."
Then, he activated the bed, the upper half started descending.
Kaine supported her the entire time, her body remained in his arms, Serathiel kept staring at him in silence the entire time.
Kaine, on the other hand, placed her back on the bed once it became flat and stepped back.
Then suddenly, Serathiel’s expression tightened a little, it was something most people would have missed, Kaine didn’t. He looked and noticed a pillow was touching the root of her wing so without her explicitly saying anything, he corrected the pillow’s position.
Then, he took another pillow, folded it slightly and positioned it beneath her side instead, making sure the roots wouldn’t hurt anymore.
"Is it alright now?"
He asked once he was done.
The Dragon kept staring at him in silence, then, she nodded.
"Good."
Kaine smiled again.
He then adjusted another pillow behind her head, then he moved her injured arm a little so none of her weight rested on the damaged joint. He then pulled the blanket over her and as he did all that, he made absolutely sure he didn’t make a mistake that would hurt her and constantly asked if she was fine or not.
He was being careful, almost... excessively so.
From the other bed, Lysara watched everything in silence.
The more you heal, the stronger I become.
That explanation was becoming harder and harder to believe completely.
Especially when she saw him adjust her pillow again, he barely moved it by half an inch, something that wouldn’t even make a difference, yet he still did it.
Food and medicine she could still understand, even his unnatural obsession could be explained in some distorted sense but...
How was shifting a pillow by half an inch going to help with recovery?
Serathiel didn’t even complain about it, he just noticed her slight discomfort, looked for the cause and fixed it on his own.
Would that make him stronger in any way?
Lysara didn’t think so.
And it wasn’t just her, both Serathiel and Nerys could feel it as well, they had remained in captivity for who knew how long, they knew what selfishness looked like, better than anyone in the world.
Kaine’s intentions didn’t feel selfish and even if they did...
They... they preferred his selfishness over what they had seen.
Knock Knock
Just then, a knock was heard.
Kaine looked at the door.
"Young Master?"
A familiar voice came from outside.
It was Renn.
"Coming."
Kaine answered, then, he looked back at Serathiel, one corner of the pillow was slightly folded beneath her shoulder, he pulled it free. Then, he checked the pillow supporting her side one last time, adjusted the blanket so it wasn’t pressing against one of the damaged patches on her leg and once he was absolutely certain she was fine, he stood up and walked towards the door.
Lysara and the other two women kept watching him move away in silence.
Kaine reached the door and opened it.
Renn rarely disturbed him. In fact, unless something important happened, the man usually made sure no one disturbed him at all.
And judging from the tense look on his face... this seemed important.
"What happened?"
Kaine asked.
"Young Master..."
Renn hesitated for a moment, his eyes momentarily looked at the three women inside his room, then, they returned to him.
"You’ve been summoned by the Family Court."
...
About thirty minutes after Renn knocked on his door, Kaine stood in the middle of the Valcrest Judgement Hall.
The place was much larger than he expected, obviously, he had never come here before. The hall was used whenever an internal dispute involved important members of the family or when someone committed an offence serious enough that a normal punishment wouldn’t suffice.
There were rows of seats on both sides of the chamber, several elders were already sitting there, Gareth and Helena included. Neither of the two spared him a longer look than they would if he were someone else.
At the far end of the hall, on a seat that was higher than every other, sat the Family Head.
Kaine’s grandfather.
Hadrian Valcrest, a Rank Four Summoner, one of the strongest in their Zone. He had a calm, unreadable expression on his face.
Kaine himself was standing alone on one side of the hall and when he saw who was standing on the other side, he was now sure what this was about.
Kaine stared at his cousins standing in front of him, or at least, one of them was standing properly.
Teren.
He only had a thin bandage placed on his neck.
Kess was... much worse.
He was sitting on a chair with his legs slightly apart and his expression twisted in agony whenever he moved even a little. From what Kaine was told, the healers said the damage wasn’t permanent, but his kick had caused severe bruising and swelling around his lower abdomen and groin.
Kess would need at least two weeks before he was able to walk normally again.
Then there was Marlon.
He was the worst of the three.
Both his eyes were completely covered by thick healing cloth, the healers did say his eyes would recover, but it would take time.
For the next month or so... Marlon wouldn’t be able to see.
Unlike Kaine’s, the siblings’ parents were standing right beside them, both of them had dark expressions on their faces as they glared at Kaine.
Kaine obviously ignored that. His focus was more on everything happening around him.
No servants were allowed inside the Judgement Hall, but statements from everyone who witnessed what happened in the kitchen had already been taken.
Finally, when everyone settled down in their positions, the Family Head looked at the entire hall.
"Begin."
He commanded and the instant he did, Teren’s mother nudged him from behind and he stepped forward.
"He attacked us."
He spoke as he pointed his finger at Kaine.
"We were just talking and then he suddenly attacked Marlon. He twisted his wrist, attacked his eyes, then kicked Kess before either of us could react. Then, he took a knife and put it against my throat."
He recalled the entire incident and glared at Kaine with intense anger when he was done.
The Hall remained silent. Everyone stared at Kaine, Kaine himself didn’t react. He just stared at Teren without any change in his expression.
He could hear some of the family members whisper amongst themselves, most, however, were focused on the Family Head.
"Kaine."
That was when the Family Head called out.
Kaine turned towards him and he asked for his side of the story.
"What do you have to say?"
"Marlon put his hand on me."
He repeated exactly what happened but the instant the blind Marlon heard those words, he snapped.
"I JUST TOUCHED YOUR SHOULDER!"
That shout silenced the entire hall, several elders looked at Kaine, waiting for him to say something.
Kaine didn’t.
There was nothing else he could say.
He would never tell these people why he attacked, he would never tell them about his past, about how his body reacts when someone touches him. He kept it all hidden for eighteen years, he wasn’t going to reveal anything today because of a small mistake.
"You responded to someone touching your shoulder by attacking his eyes?"
Hadrian narrowed his eyes.
Kaine remained silent and that silence did not help his case.
"Exactly!"
Marlon, however, didn’t stay silent.
"He attacked us for no reason! That’s why we couldn’t react, he took us by surprise! Else a pathetic Unranked like him could never have defeated us."
He spoke with a disgusted look on his face.
"Exactly!"
Kess nodded as well, glaring at Kaine.
And Teren, the man who was begging Kaine to let him go just hours ago...
"A pathetic coward! That’s who he is now!"
He was the same.
Kaine stared at him and something in his expression changed, something so small that most people in the room didn’t notice it.
But Helena did, so did Gareth.
And that was when Kaine spoke up.
"Three Rank One Summoners."
The three cousins frowned at those words.
What about them?
Kaine looked at all three of them.
"Three Rank One Summoners lost to one Unranked because they were taken by surprise, and you think saying that makes you look better?"
The instant he heard those words, Marlon’s smile disappeared.
"Master Darran has spent years teaching us that being taken by surprise is one of the easiest ways to die outside the Safe Zones and you still failed?"
He talked as if he himself couldn’t believe it.
"What’s the point of basking in the glory of being a Rank One Summoner when you couldn’t even activate your Aspect when it mattered?
There were three of you, how were all three of you taken by surprise? That too, by a pathetic Unranked?"
He asked.
The three siblings clenched their teeth when they heard those words.
This bastard...
He was humiliating them.
Kaine, on the other hand, didn’t care what they were thinking, he kept his eyes on them and continued speaking.
"If all it took for an Unranked to defeat you three Rank One Summoners is for him to take you by surprise...
Then you are lacking."
He declared coldly.
"You should train more before using your Rank as proof of your strength."
"Kaine."
That was when Gareth’s voice came from the side.
Kaine glanced at him, he could see it in his eyes.
A warning.
He ignored it and turned back towards the brothers.
"Three Valcrest Rank Ones, defeated by one pathetic Unranked..."
He turned silent for a very small moment, looking at everyone present here for the slightest second.
"If that becomes public...
What do you think would become of the Valcrest name?"