Evolution Of The Broken Heir

Chapter Six:The Veyne Family Dinner

By the time Darius Veyne returned to the manor, the sun was already shining behind the trees.

The forest had grown quiet around him, but his body was anything but calm.

For hours, he had pushed himself through the training course he had built with his own hands. Every obstacle had been designed to test something different speed, balance, strength, endurance, and reaction time.

None of it was impressive by the standards of the Veyne family.

But Darius had never had access to the resources his cousins enjoyed.

So he had built his own path.

The manor came into view through the trees.

It was a large, well-built residence, but compared to the estates belonging to the other direct descendants of House Veyne, it looked abandoned.

The manor had been assigned to Darius when he turned twelve—the age at which members of the Veyne family were expected to awaken their powers.

It was supposed to be the beginning of his independence.

Instead, it had become his exile.

His parents were already dead, his inheritance had been taken from him, and his lack of an awakened ability had made him useless in the eyes of the family.

No one wanted to stand beside someone who had no future.

Darius entered the manor and dismissed Nyx before heading to his room.

The spacious quarters still reflected his status as a direct descendant, but there was little warmth inside. There were no expensive decorations, no servants waiting around, and nothing that suggested the room belonged to someone from one of Arkenfall's most powerful bloodlines.

Darius changed into lighter clothes and headed toward the back of the manor.

A few minutes later, he passed through the backyard gate and entered the forest.

Then he ran.

His footsteps struck the ground in a steady rhythm as he moved between the trees. He didn't slow down until he reached the clearing where his training course had been built.

Darius stopped and took a deep breath.

It was time to train.

The course stretched across the clearing.

Wooden pillars stood at different heights. Heavy stones were suspended from ropes. Narrow platforms had been placed between trees, forcing him to maintain his balance while moving at speed. There were targets hidden among the branches, traps designed to test his reaction time, and weights he had to carry through the course.

It was crude compared to the training grounds used by the Veyne family.

But it was his.

Darius had been banned from the family's youth training sessions years ago because he had failed to awaken.

Rather than accept that as his fate, he had searched through old combat manuals, studied the techniques of awakened warriors, and trained his body through sheer repetition.

He couldn't awaken.

But that didn't mean he had to remain weak.

Darius moved.

He sprinted toward the first obstacle, jumped over a low barrier, twisted around a swinging weight, and immediately dropped beneath another.

A wooden blade shot toward his face.

He leaned sideways.

It passed within an inch of his cheek.

Darius continued without stopping.

His breathing grew heavier.

His muscles began to burn.

Still, he didn't slow down.

For years, this had been his answer to the people who called him useless.

If he couldn't rely on an ability, he would rely on himself.

If he couldn't inherit power, he would build strength with his own hands.

And if the Veyne family refused to acknowledge him, then one day he would become impossible to ignore.

He trained until the sun disappeared completely.

Only then did Darius finally stop.

He dropped onto the ground and sat cross-legged, breathing heavily.

Nyx stood several meters away, waiting quietly.

Darius closed his eyes.

Training did not end when his body became exhausted.

That was when another part of it began.

He replayed every fight he had experienced recently.

The movements.

The mistakes.

The moments when he had reacted too slowly.

The strikes he could have avoided.

The openings he had failed to notice.

He went through each battle in his mind, examining it from different angles.

It was a simple technique he had learned from combat manuals, but Darius had turned it into a habit.

He wasn't simply remembering his fights.

He was studying them.

Every mistake became something to correct.

Every successful movement became something to refine.

Over time, the process had sharpened his instincts.

He couldn't compete with an awakened warrior in raw power, but he had learned how to make every movement count.

After several minutes, Darius opened his eyes.

Nyx was standing before him.

She immediately bowed.

"9th Vein."

Darius looked at her.

"It's almost time for dinner."

"Dinner?"

"Yes, 9th Vein. The quarterly gathering."

Darius stared at her for a moment.

Then he sighed.

He had almost forgotten.

Three months had passed already.

The quarterly family dinner was not an invitation.

It was an order.

Every direct descendant of House Veyne was expected to attend, regardless of their status or circumstances.

Darius slowly rose to his feet.

He hated these dinners.

Not because of the food.

Because of the people sitting around the table.

Every time he attended, he was reminded of exactly where the family believed he belonged.

At the bottom.

Darius wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Let's go."

He and Nyx returned to the manor.

After washing and changing into the formal clothes Nyx had prepared, Darius left again.

The walk through the forest was quiet.

Soon, the massive structure at the heart of House Veyne's territory came into view.

The main Veyne estate.

Darius slowed as he approached.

The building was enormous, its dark walls stretching farther than he could see from where he stood. It wasn't simply a residence.

It was the heart of House Veyne.

This was where the family held important meetings.

Where decisions concerning cities and settlements were made.

And where the head of House Veyne, the Blood Sovereign, lived.

Darius spotted several carriages parked outside.

Some were simple.

Others were so elaborate that their value alone was probably greater than everything inside his own manor.

His cousins had arrived.

His uncles and aunts were here as well.

Darius looked at the carriages for a moment before continuing toward the entrance.

As a direct descendant, a carriage should have been sent for him.

None had been.

He hadn't expected one.

The massive doors opened as he approached.

The guards immediately recognized him.

Their eyes followed him as he walked past, but Darius ignored them.

He entered the estate and continued through the long corridors.

With every step, the feeling in his stomach grew heavier.

Eventually, he stopped in front of a large set of doors.

Darius stared at them.

He knew exactly what was waiting on the other side.

He took a slow breath.

Then another.

"Let's get this over with."

He pushed the doors open.

The atmosphere inside changed instantly.

Darius felt it the moment he stepped through.

The air was heavy.

Not because of the room itself.

Because of the people inside it.

For a brief moment, his body instinctively reacted to the pressure surrounding him. His knees almost buckled, but he tightened his fists and forced himself to remain standing.

Then he looked across the room.

Twenty-one people were seated around the long mahogany table.

The seating arrangement immediately revealed the hierarchy within House Veyne.

Closest to the head of the table sat twelve individuals.

Six on each side.

They were the Pulses—the middle generation of direct descendants.

Darius's uncles and aunts.

Every one of them possessed considerable power and held authority over cities, settlements, military forces, or other important parts of House Veyne's territory.

Further down the table sat nine younger members.

The Veins.

Darius's cousins.

They were the youngest generation of direct descendants and, unlike him, most had already awakened.

At the far end of the table sat the spouses of the Pulses.

The head of the table remained empty.

For now.

Darius stepped forward.

His footsteps echoed across the silent room.

No one greeted him.

No one even acknowledged his arrival.

To most of them, Darius Veyne barely existed.

He continued walking until he reached his seat.

The moment he sat down, he felt the hostility.

Several people were staring at him.

Some openly.

Others from the corners of their eyes.

They hated that he was still allowed to sit at the family table.

They hated that, despite his failure to awaken, he remained a direct descendant of House Veyne.

But there was another reason for their resentment.

His seat.

Darius looked at it briefly.

It was positioned at the far end of the table, directly opposite the head.

It was not the most prestigious seat in the room, but it was still important.

The position had been given to him by the Blood Sovereign himself.

Darius had never understood why.

And neither had the rest of the family.

A long silence followed.

Then a woman seated among the spouses suddenly scoffed.

She wore an expensive silk dress decorated with fine jewelry. Several rings covered her fingers, each one reflecting the light of the chandeliers above.

She looked directly at Darius.

A mocking smile appeared on her lips.

"Looks like you still haven't awakened."

Several people lowered their eyes, pretending not to listen.

The woman continued.

"Honestly, Darius, I think it's time you accepted reality."

Her voice became colder.

"You've been given years to prove yourself, and you've failed every single time."

Darius remained silent.

She leaned back in her chair.

"So why keep embarrassing the family?"

A few people exchanged amused glances.

The woman's smile widened.

"Do everyone a favor and disappear."

Darius slowly raised his eyes to meet hers.

For years, words like these had been enough to anger him.

Tonight, they barely moved him.

Something inside him had changed.

Maybe it was the Devouring Core.

Maybe it was the strange voice from his dreams.

Or maybe he was simply tired of allowing people who knew nothing about him to decide what he was worth.

Darius leaned back in his chair.

"I came because I was summoned."

His voice was calm.

"If you have a problem with that, take it up with the person who summoned me."

The woman's expression stiffened.

The room suddenly became quieter.

Darius looked toward the empty seat at the head of the table.

The Blood Sovereign had not arrived yet.

But when he did, Darius knew one thing.

This dinner would not end peacefully.