The Last Archmage Reborn as the Forgotten Heir

Chapter 06

A tall black iron gate stood before Kaelan. The Garrison family crest was majestically engraved in the center, gleaming under the morning sunlight. The grand mansion behind the gate looked so luxurious that it would make anyone assume its occupants lived a flawless life.

Kaelan stood still for a moment. His gaze traced the building stored in this body's memory with a flat expression a place that should have felt like home, yet felt far more unfamiliar than the alley where he had died last night.

A day has passed since I disappeared. Did anyone look for me?

A small laugh escaped his mind. His birth mother? No. His stepfather? Impossible. His stepbrother... Perhaps that man already thought Kaelan’s body was rotting in some corner of the city.

Kaelan pushed the gate open slowly. Creak... The sound of iron echoed softly.

Several servants sweeping the courtyard immediately turned their heads. Their eyes widened momentarily. "Y-Young Master Kaelan?"

One of the servants hurried to open the main door. The other servants merely exchanged glances, then lowered their heads again. No warm greetings. No words of gratitude. Kaelan walked past them without stopping.

The moment the living room door opened, the atmosphere suddenly froze.

The long dining table was still laden with breakfast. At the head of the table sat an elegant woman in her forties, Evelyn Garrison, Kaelan's biological mother. Beside her sat a gray-suited man with a calm demeanor, Victor Blackwood, Kaelan's stepfather. And across the table... a handsome young man in expensive clothing was holding a fork.

The young man's face instantly lost its color. Clang! The fork slipped from his hand.

"...Kaelan?" Ryan Blackwood's eyes widened in disbelief. Impossible. He had seen Kaelan beaten until he stopped moving with his own eyes. How could... he still be alive?

Kaelan caught that shock clearly. So it's true. You were the one who wanted him dead.

"Kaelan!" Evelyn stood up so fast that her chair shifted back. She walked over to her son. Kaelan's expression did not change, though for a split second he saw the woman's eyes turn red.

She's crying? Kaelan's original body seemed to hope for something. But that hope shattered in an instant.

Slap!

A hard blow landed across his cheek, echoing through the dining room. Kaelan's head turned slightly to the side. The room fell silent.

"Where have you been all night?!" Evelyn snapped. "Do you know we were all panicking?" Without giving him a chance to answer, the woman pointed directly at Kaelan's face. "Look at your condition! Always causing trouble! Because of your antics, Ryan came home full of injuries!"

Kaelan slowly turned his head back. The trace of the slap felt hot, but it wasn't the physical pain on his cheek that he felt—it was something far heavier. The lingering sadness and disappointment of the soul fragment left inside this body.

So this is what it feels like... a mother slapping her son before asking what happened.

Behind Evelyn, Victor sipped his coffee calmly, the corners of his lips curling up ever so slightly. Meanwhile, Ryan was already standing up with a facade of fake concern. He walked over to Kaelan.

"Bro..." His voice sounded sincere. "Thank goodness you're okay."

Kaelan didn't move. Ryan continued in a worried tone, "I've told you time and time again not to hang out with those thugs. If only you had listened to me..."

His sentence cut off when Kaelan smiled a smile so faint that it gave Ryan chills.

"Thugs?" Kaelan's voice was calm. "You said I hung out with thugs?"

Ryan forced a smile. "I'm just worried about you, Big Bro. Doesn't that make sense?"

The room went silent once more. Kaelan stared straight into Ryan's eyes. "Didn't you all know my daily routine? I go to college. Come home. Study. Then return to my room." He paused for a fraction of a second. "So when exactly did I have time to hang out with thugs?"

Ryan was left speechless. Evelyn's expression turned doubtful for a second; it was true, Kaelan practically never left the house except for college, and spent every weekend confined to his room.

Victor immediately spoke up in a gentle tone. "Kaelan, you must still be in shock. Don't talk nonsense."

Kaelan shifted his gaze toward him. "Shock?"

Victor nodded. "Ryan is only trying to help you."

Kaelan let out a soft chuckle. His laugh was so flat that it made the room feel even colder. "Help me?" He looked back at Ryan. "Then tell me."

Ryan froze.

"Who are those thugs?"

"I..."

"You said I hung out with them." Kaelan took one step forward. "That means you know who they are."

Ryan involuntarily stepped back. His heart pounded faster. Kaelan's gaze today wasn't the look of a foolish man who always kept his head down; it was a look that made him feel as though all his lies were being laid completely bare.

"Bro, I just heard it from some friends at college..."

"Which college friends? Ethan? Mason? Daniel?" Kaelan rattled off random names.

Ryan grew instantly nervous. "No... I mean..."

Kaelan cut him off. "So you don't know."

Ryan bit his lip. Evelyn immediately stepped in front of Ryan, glaring angrily at Kaelan. "Enough! Why are you cornering your own brother? He was worried about you!"

Kaelan stared at his mother for a long time. The woman's expression hadn't changed at all still full of conviction, still trusting Ryan instead of him.

"Mother." Kaelan's voice was softer, yet it caused even Evelyn to quiet down.

"What is it now?"

"When was the last time you believed in me?"

Evelyn frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since I stepped into this house..." Kaelan looked straight into his mother's eyes. "When did you ever ask what actually happened before punishing me?"

No answer came.

"The slap comes first. The accusations come first. The trust..." He paused briefly. "...Never."

Evelyn's face stiffened. The hand that had just slapped Kaelan slowly lowered. Usually, after being struck, Kaelan would immediately apologize while offering a trembling explanation. Today, he didn't. Her son stood tall, his gaze unwavering, and it made him feel completely alien to her.

Victor sensed the shift in the atmosphere and quickly intervened. "That's enough. We don't need to drag this out."

Kaelan looked at the man expressionlessly. "Right. I don't want to drag it out either." He bent down to pick up the shabby bag still slung over his shoulder, then turned toward the back hallway of the house.

Evelyn called out to him. "Kaelan! Where are you going?"

Kaelan stopped without looking back. "To my room. The place you always remind me of... as the only place that belongs to me in this house."

He resumed walking. No one stopped him. The sound of his footsteps gradually faded down the hallway of the back mansion, leaving the dining room in a stifling silence.

Ryan only dared to let out a breath after Kaelan was completely out of sight, cold sweat dampening his palms. On the other side, Evelyn still stood frozen, haunted by the look in her son's eyes that she had never seen before. And at the end of the table, Victor sipped his cooling coffee, concealing a dark, calculating gaze.

For the first time, the Garrison household no longer felt like it was under their control.