Holding Pride

"Do you have any plan?" Seraphina asked.

"I have one in my mind. Before that, tell me about your role. Are you some sort of spokesperson for the system?"

"You can say that. The system is quite rigid and doesn't really have a mind on its own. I am more flexible and can answer more of your questions. I can also give out suggestions or advice."

"What are you specialized in?"

Seraphina smiled. "Before you, I have assisted dozens powerful necromancer and dark lords. I believe you will need my knowledge someday." 

Malachi's perspectives of her changed. If she truly had assisted powerful necromancer before, then her knowledge could really help him in the future. It seemed like the dark god was fostering a lot of villains in many worlds.

'Could I surpass a figure like that someday?' Malachi shook his head. 'Anything is possible. Even time could be reversed. I will reach the highest peak of power even if I have to build a mountain of corpses to do it.'

Malachi walked out of his room. He met some servants on his way, but they looked down and did not dare to look or interact with him. Everyone here knew how Aldric treated Malachi. Even though they all pitied him, they did not want to punished by him.

"It's too bad. This house was his and he should be feeling free here, but instead, he's caged and tortured here."

"Shuush. Watch your mouth or you might get yourself killed."

Malachi heard their whispers as he walked to the garden. There were guards there, but they didn't greet or even look at him. They treated him as if he did not exist at all. 

That worked to his favor as well. He kept walking around as if he was enjoying his time in the garden, but in actuality, he was thinking of a way to escape to this place. It had been more than hundreds of years since he saw his home, he only recall a glimpse of it, but looking at it now, he remembered a small detail.

The garden had some sort of hedge maze made of tall shrubs that were carefully pruned and shaped to create walls and pathways. Malachi and his mother used to play hide and seek here.

And one day, while he was hiding, he found a small gap that led outside.

"This is the gap," Malachi said. "If I sneak out from here, I can get to a nearby forest."

Seraphina tilted her head as she sat on his shoulder. "The poison in your body doesn't seem to be a threat for now. Why are you such in a hurry to cure it? Isn't it better if you secretly train to become stronger?"

Malachi smiled. Just as he was about to response however, he heard footsteps. Someone was coming.

It was a 7 year old girl with big expressive eyes that seem to hold a hint of sadness making the people around her look at her with pity. 

She, however, did not deserve any pity.

She spat on Malachi's face. "Filth, you shouldn't stain the beauty of this garden with your presence. Even a fly is more appealing to my eyes. Now, kneel before me and apologize for your mistake."

Malachi's expression was cold as he looked at her, but his knees bent. "I apologize."

Lily raised an eyebrow, quite surprised and amused at the action. "Hahaha, you used to fight back, but now you have known your place. Keep acting that way, filth." She stomped on the back of his head before leaving.

When Malachi stood up, Seraphina looked at him and ask. "Why are you so easy to bully? Most of the lords I assisted before wouldn't bend their knees without a fight. Their pride is too high for that."

Malachi smiled. "If I fight back, she will throw herself to the ground, pretended to be hurt before crying to the guards and tell them that I hurt her. She will then cry to his father. The consequences of that is not worth it right now." 

"My pride can hold on, because I will kill her with the most pain imaginable." Malachi's deep eyes flickered for the first time.

Lily was Aldric's father that he brought when he married Elena. It was one of the reason why Elene considered Aldric to be the perfect man. He was also a single parent like her, but who would have thought it would come this way.

"What about your plan? What are you going to do?"

Malachi looked at the small gap in the hedge. It was so small that no one would notice it if they didn't take a careful look. "I never tell my mother this, but I usually go to the forest through that small gap. My mother would never let me go to the forest, but I was a stubborn child." He let out a small laugh.

"As I walk by the forest, going deeper where a child shouldn't, I found a strange book. When I opened it, I saw pictures of strange demonic creatures. Entities of nightmare with thorns on their tongue and horns on their forehead. My mother only tell stories of fairy tale. Tales of rainbows and unicorns. It was the first time I see something new, so I kept reading the book and it drew me in. That was when I first learned about necromancy. I didn't learn the craft until my mother died and I was trying to find a way to escape."

"So you are going to the forest to find that book?"

"Yes. I also want to kill small animals and collect their souls to cure this poison while I do that. Even though it's not deathly right now, the poison make my body weaker as it piled up." 

"Are you going to sneak out now?" Seraphina asked.

"No. Not yet. Aldric will know that I escape from this house. He keeps a careful watch on me. I have to bid for my time," He looked at the sky.

The sky was bright and clear on this evening. There weren't much clouds covering the blue sky today.

Aldric stood by the window on the fourth floor of the mansion. He was watching Malachi walking around by the garden. Even though he was just a child, Malachi put a small torn in his heart that kept disturbing him. He felt uneasy at the thought of him still alive.

"How do I get rid of that child without looking so obvious? As long as he's gone, all of Elena's assets will rightfully be mine, and no one can say anything about it."

Elena's assets were too big. She was an extremely wealthy woman and her assets even went beyond this town. The amount of profit her business earns were astronomical and was the major reason why he could obtain his position of power right now.

"If that child grow older, he can take all of the assets from me. In fact, just by him existing I cannot utilize all of the assets to my liking."

Because the owner of the assets were not proper yet, Aldric could not sell or auction anything major. This restricted his movement.

"Father!" Lily came in his office. "Father! I got great news!"

Aldric's cold face turned to bright and cheerful. "What is it, darling?"

Lily giggled. "I met that whore-son earlier and I told him to be on his knees. He immediately obeyed me."

"Oh, really?"

"Un, it seems like he's scared of me now."

"Of course, he wouldn't dare to offend my sweet daughter." Aldric pat Lily's head before she ran around in his room with joy.

Though the news sounded insignificant, Aldric actually frowned as he looked at the garden through the window.