Chapter 15 The Richest Family

My heart swelled with a mix of emotions as I turned to watch the Emperor's figure shrink into the distance. Part of me felt grateful for the honor of being seen off by the ruler of our great empire, but another part of me couldn't shake off the feeling of relief that came with leaving the palace behind.

It was time for us to return home and the Emperor had come to send us of, I turned away from the window as we exited the view of emperor and saw Mom and Dad sitting infront of me, while James was sitting besides me.

My mother's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she asked me, "What did the Emperor give you, dear?"

I couldn't help but feel a slight sense of pride as I replied, "He gave me a Magical Dagger." I reached behind me and pulled out the dagger from its leather pouch, admiring its gleaming surface for a few seconds before extending it for everyone to see.

James, however, seemed unimpressed as he snorted, "I thought the you said the Emperor gave you a Magical Weapon. That Dagger looks just like a normal Dagger. Where's the Magic?" I could feel a hint of annoyance creeping up in me, but I reminded myself to stay calm.

I looked at James, a slight irritation flickering across my face. "Magical Weapons are activated by Mana, James. If you ever read a book, you'd know that."

He chuckled, his eyes crinkling with amusement. "So, you can't use it then."he said with a smile growing on his face "Why don't you give it to me? I promise I'll return it... if you ever get stronger than me, of course." He said as He started laughing, his laughter echoed throughout the carriage, fueling a fire within me. I wanted nothing more than to beat him in a fight right now, Dad suddenly clapped his hands grabbing all of our attention to him.

"Boys there is no need to fight each other here in the carriage,William, that is indeed a Magical Item, and of the highest quality material, too. The Emperor was quite generous, huh?" He said with a smile on his face as he stared at the plain dagger, My curiosity was piqued However, wondering just how Dad could tell the quality of the dagger just by looking at it.

I couldn't help but ask, "Dad, how do you know it was made from the finest materials in the Kingdom? Did you already know about this dagger?"

"Hmm," Dad mused, "I didn't know about this particular dagger. But growing up around the finest ore for crafting such a top notch magical item, one develops an eye for these things." He looked at me and James with a proud smile as he spoke causing me to have even more questions rise in my head.

"Wait grew up?" James asked before I could voice my question which was quite similar to his.

"Yes indeed, Grew up with, The materials used to produce a Top notch Magical Weapon is made using the magic ore whìch our Dukedoms holds the Major Monopoly to in the whole empire"

My eyes widened in surprise as my father revealed the secret to us. "Wait, You mean to say that our family holds a monopoly over the magic ore used to create top-notch magical weapons?" I asked in disbelief. James seemed equally astonished as he echoed my question.

Oh, Holy crap! Though... how come I knew never knew about this? My mind raced with questions - How could I have missed such an important detail? Was there anything else about my family's past that I didn't know?

My father's revelation had piqued my curiosity about my family's history. I turned to James, and our eyes met in mutual surprise. I could tell that he was just as curious as I was to learn more about our family.

"But Dad, I thought our Family is a Military family since when did we do this?" James asked voicing is question once again.

James' question hung in the air, and my father paused before answering. "Our family has a long and complex history," he began. "Your great-great-grandfather was not a warrior, but rather the weakest among his siblings. At the time, our family was a strict knight family, and we held the title of Dukes."

I listened intently as my father continued with the story of our family's past. "Your great-great-grandfather was rejected by his siblings and parents as they grew older. He knew he could never match their strength, so he decided to use his mind elsewhere away from the warrior path that we had followed for hundreds of years. And as a result, we became one of the wealthiest and strongest families in the empire, and gained the title of Grand Dukes and the majority of the monopoly of the Magic Ores from the hands of the other families In the Empire" My father's voice had a gentle, almost nostalgic tone to it, as if he was transported back to a time when he first heard this story.

I was quite amazed, I had never really bothered to go read more about my family past and As my father finished the story, I couldn't help but feel amazed at how much I didn't know about my family's history. Despite spending countless hours in the library, I had never bothered to learn much about the Family or even the Empires, I had solely focused on books that would give me knowledge in increasing my strength.