Thorns Beneath the Petals

Rocco offered a soft smile, as if to assure him, No harm done!

"Since he's a chef, he should have known better... But of all things, he added shrimp only to my brother's soup... It's almost as if he did it on purpose!"

Once again, the atmosphere turned icy.

At the same time, Rocco felt a chilling, murderous glare directed at him from his mother, but he was too scared to confirm it.

Ugh… why is everyone glaring at me? I didn't do anything wrong... His body trembled in fear.

"Wh-What are you saying!? More importantly, Rocco! What do you think you're doing, standing up during dinner!? Show some manners and sit down!"

What!? That villainous mother of mine is trying to change the subject and make me the villain!

Seeing his mother suddenly shout at him with a furious expression, Rocco puffed out his cheeks in frustration.

Although annoyed, he knew that arguing now would only fill his father's irritation to the brim, and he might end up killed for it.

He clenched his fists and held back his words, determined to stay cool.

He quietly took his seat again, muttering, "I'm sorry..." under his breath.

His mother, satisfied with his apology, smiled smugly.

What should he do?

According to his plan, he was supposed to give the impression of the "harmless second son who unintentionally helped Sylas."

But with this atmosphere, he just looked like the "rude second son with no manners."

How could he turn this around?

As he sank into despair, suddenly, his father spoke in a low, almost subterranean voice.

The calm anger in his voice was directed, not at Rocco, but at his mother.

"...Is that so? That's quite the response to your son's crisis. You seem a little frantic... Is there something you're hiding?"

As Rocco's father spoke, the coldness that had been absent in his eyes returned.

Judging by the suspicion and disgust in his gaze, it seemed like he had realized what was really happening.

This was, in fact, a malicious act of harassment from Rocco's mother, who disliked Sylas.

Looking down at his mother, whose face had drained of color, Rocco couldn't help but smirk slightly, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

Ha! Serves her right. Trying to use me as a shield to save herself—there's no way I'm letting her get away with that!

While Rocco was pleased with how things were going, he didn't notice Sylas silently watching him with a piercing gaze as he smugly grinned at his mother's pale face.

...

The hellish mealtime finally ended, and Rocco went to the garden of the main house to take a breath.

The so-called birthday party had turned into a tense, underhanded game of probing between the annex group and the main house group.

Exhausted from the oppressive atmosphere, he came outside for some fresh air... Ah, flowers really are wonderful, aren't they?

The cute flowers swayed gently in the wind.

In stark contrast to the heavy atmosphere inside the mansion, they seemed so lively and cheerful.