"Woah!"
When Vesper pushed open the front door of his mansion, his eyes shone.
When he went through the original Vesper's memories and found out he had the smallest mansion allotted to him in the family, his lips had twitched, not because of how badly the two brothers were being treated but because this smallest mansion covered half an acre of land—meaning it was quite big for someone from Earth like him.
Despite already having seen it in his memories, he was still amazed by the scale of it when he witnessed it with his own eyes.
A ten-foot-tall stone wall encircled the mansion, with the main gate serving as the only point of entry and exit.
Beyond the gate lay a spacious courtyard. A narrow but paved path stretched from the gate to the residence, flanked on either side by neatly arranged flower beds that Selene created and looked after to enhance the beauty of the place.
Five trees stood proudly in the courtyard—two on the right side and three on the left—their broad canopies offering comforting shade.
On the right side of the courtyard, beneath the largest tree, was a well, the sole water source of the house, and on the left side of the court, on a tree, hung a wooden swing, which Alric enjoyed daily.
Then there was the residence, which—to him—looked massive when he compared it to the one-bedroom apartment he owned back on Earth.
The residence design wasn't complicated. Beyond the front door was a spacious living room, and then there were three rooms—one was a training room, and the other two were bedrooms with attached bathrooms.
He walked over, inhaling the faint, refreshing scent of the flowers, and pushed the doors, but they didn't open.
'Hm?' He frowned because Alric always forgot to close the door from inside, and there really wasn't a need to do it because other people rarely came near to their mansion. But it was now closed.
Knock! Knock!
Not wanting to overthink, he knocked on the door and waited.
However, even after a minute had passed, the door didn't open, nor did he hear the sound of Alric rushing over to open the door.
Worried, he knocked again and called out loudly at the same time, "Alric, it's me. Open the door."
"...Coming, big brother." This time, he immediately heard Alric's voice before the subdued sound of him running echoed from inside.
Creeaaak~!
Within a few moments, the thick wooden door creaked open, and his 10-year-old baby brother threw himself in his arms before he could react.
"You returned, big brother~!" He chirped happily.
A smile inadvertently appeared on Vesper's face, and he hugged him before lifting him up, sitting him on his arm. "Haha, of course. How could I bear to leave my baby brother alone for too long!?"
Alric giggled. "Hehe~"
Vesper's smile vanished when he saw dried-up tear streaks on his cheek and a glaring red handprint on his right cheek, which was now unnaturally swollen.
Alric noticed his big brother look at his cheek, his expression turning bad.
Panicked, he hurriedly tried to divert his attention, "You found the herb, big brother. It's amazing! Now Aunt Selene can get better. Let's go inside and feed it—"
"Who was it?" Vesper asked, interrupting him. He was feeling an uncontrollable surge of fury seeing someone had hit his baby brother, and quite ruthlessly at that.
Upon hearing the question and feeling he was very angry, his smile vanished and his eyes became teary.
"I-It was A-Adam, big brother." Alric sobbed, his voice trembling as he began to explain, "He came over two hours ago with his friends and started saying that y-you won't return because some beast would have eaten you. I-I got angry and argued. He then started saying bad things about you and Aunt Selene. I couldn't endure it and told him to shut up a-and called him a lowly servant. He got angry and hit me. He even kicked me."
He lifted his shirt and showed him the blue bruise on his stomach.
Vesper's fury turned into a blazing inferno, ready to erupt.
If he was suspicious earlier, this had now all but confirmed that not only did he inherit the original Vesper's memories, but he also inherited his emotions whether he liked it or not—in other words, he was well and truly Vesper now.
After crying for a while, Alric calmed down. He then lowered his head and muttered, "Maybe I should have controlled my anger…"
"Don't think like that." Vesper said, raising his chin so he was looking at him, "Although no one treats us like family here, it's a fact that we are Ironharts, the sons of our father, which means we are lords of the servants in this mansion just like Lucel and Ryder. We have the right to treat them however we like, but they can't disrespect us, let alone hit us. So, it's Adam who is at fault, not you, understand?"
Alric nodded before his expression became downcast. "But what can we do even if he is at fault? No one will help us punish him because he is Brother Ryder's servant."
Vesper stored the Yellow Beard Roots he had been carrying in the system inventory, turned around, and started walking out of the mansion as he said, his eyes flashing with a murderous glint, "We don't need anybody's help. I'll show you."
"W-What? Where are we going, big brother?" Alric asked, suddenly feeling nervous.
"To find Adam and punish him for his sins." Vesper stated in a cold voice.
"Noo, let's calm down, big brother. We should feed Aunt Selene the herb first. We can think about punishing him after that." Alric immediately panicked and started trying to stop him.
Vesper sighed, his gaze turning colder.
Original Vesper put up with everything and was always passive. Learning from him, Alric also became the same.
Though he wouldn't say he was wrong in his ways because they were weak and had no support, what could they do? If they retaliated one time, things would only become worse for them.
He knew this but still wasn't going to endure it.
Why?
Because he knew if he endured it and didn't do anything, today wouldn't be the last day Alric would be beaten.
He also wanted to show everyone that he, Vesper Ironhart, had changed, and they should think twice before trying anything funny.