Puppet

你Zeff walked back and forth inside his room. He had to think about how to deal with the Sylverious family.

That family wasn't an easy opponent. They looked like timid little fluffy puppies on the outside. But their wolf-ish color was hidden beneath those fluffy furs.

Now that he came back to the past, he was freed from the leash of the Sylverious family. Perhaps it was also a good thing that he died. That life was only full of suffering. He was living that life under the control of other people.

Although he became a baron, it was still not enough to defeat the Sylverious family. Also, he couldn't feel at ease because the Sylverious family's power already reached the dukedom. They could easily throw him aside if he was not needed anymore.

Zeff clenched his fists in frustration as his eyes turned cold. This time, he would turn up the table against them. He whispered in his mind.

After his parents and grandfather died, he became like a puppet to them. As an ignorant kid, he became someone who was at their beck and call even after he grew up.

When he starts to notice their involvement in his family's death, it was already too late for Zeff. His involvement with the Sylverious family was already unredeemable. He was already deeply tied to them and was living the life of a puppet.

He could not even touch even a single hair of their family members. Sooner, the Sylverious family would become big and powerful. Though, only a few people would know about it as they were hiding their real power under those gentle fluffy furs of them. But in truth, what was hidden underneath those gentle fluffy furs was a vile predator.

Of course, he would not let it happen again.

Plop!

Zeff let his back fall on the bed. He could not help but shudder every time he remembered his past. Or was it his future?

It was both a past and a future now in his current situation.

Nonetheless, he must avoid getting that forsaken leash attached to him. Or else, that dark lonely road will repeat.

'How to defeat such a powerful enemy…?' The thought flashed in his mind while staring at the ceiling.

At the corner of his eyes, at one corner of the ceiling, he caught a glimpse of a small moth stuck on the web house of an eight-legged creature. The moth tried to struggle but its effort was in vain. Not only the moth, but there were also other insects stuck on it.

'Such a fragile-looking creature, but was able to dominate his prey with those web traps,' thought Zeff. He could not help but make a wry smile on his face.

Zeff sighed.

Although he was always an obedient child to his mother, this time he had to disobey her. He wasn't the ignorant kid he used to be. Regardless, he would do it for everyone's sake.

He jumped off of the bed and went beside a drawer.

Zeff changed his clothes first. He didn't need to wear those kiddie clothes he used to like when he was a kid. A plain shirt and pants were enough for him.

Then he pulled the door open. He peeked left and right. There was only an empty, long corridor. A silent atmosphere greeted him when he came out.

He only had a month from now to complete all his preparation. He needed to go outside.

His mother and father were for sure inside his grandfather's chamber at this very moment. They were probably talking about the current situation of the family and the town.

The old Zeff could never understand the troubles of the people around him, but the current him had fully understood it.

Regardless, Zeff had to find a way to heal his damaged meridian. He knew that it was the work of the Sylverious family.

His family had failed to find a medicine to cure his illness. But Zeff knew now.

Since it was the 21st day, then it was only a week ago that person visited their manor. Zeff could still remember it.

A week ago, it was 3 days before the Appraisal Ceremony in the town, that man, Lucius Sylverious, visited their domain in the guise of goodwill. His reason for coming was of course to send his warm-felt support for Zeff in the coming Appraisal Ceremony. But in truth, that person's real intention was to poison him and damage his meridian.

He had a memory of that time when he handed him a sweet yummy-looking chewing food wrapped in a small wrapping paper. But even that was only a fraction of their real intention. It was only the start of their hideous plan for the Anworth family.

Zeff stopped walking in front of the tightly closed sliding window. It was a sliding window that he used to ignore and didn't spare a second look at before, but. There was one occasion that he opened it.

Using his two hands, he opened it again by pulling the sliding window.

Creak!

The window made a slight creaking noise and dust flew, hovering in the air. He could also smell the awful smell of it. Regardless, after opening it, a gentle wind came in and brushed his soft smooth skin. It also made his messy hazelnut color hair slightly dance.

Without bothering himself with insignificant stuff, he peeks outside. He rolled his pair of azure eyes into the vast cloudless sky. It was noon. The sun was blazing almost in the center of the sky.

Being a shorty again inconveniences him, but what could he do, he was back into his childhood body after all.

Regardless of his height, it was still enough for his head to pass the height of the window. Enough for him to peek outside through it. He saw a tree. It was right in front of the window.

This tree was where he used to play underneath it. If his memory was right, there should have been a swing beneath it, hanging from one of its branches.

At this height and distance, he believed he could jump off from the window to the tree. But he didn't do it. It was unreasonable to do it.

Although he had a full grasp of all the techniques he learned as a fighter, his instinct was screaming that he would injure himself in the process. His current untrained body could not endure the task.

He needed to be careful somehow. He could not let his reflex and his mental state as a fighter overlap his mind. He was inside an inexperienced body, so it was easy to injure himself if he did some stunts that were usually easy for him in his adult version. Those stunts were only worthwhile if he could muster his soul force.

Zeff rolled his eyes to glance around, but soon they stopped at a certain area. He squinted his eyes. He spotted it, the thing he was trying to find. It was also the reason why he opened this window again.