Result of Anton's Actions

Raz accepted the apology graciously while feigning some bewilderment. Even if Anton tried to kill him, no real damage was done to him. On the contrary, the attempt on his life forced his mana circuits to develop and open forcefully.

Viscount Malfe looked at his son, who was still passed out in a puddle of his piss, before he picked him up by the scruff and dunked his head into the cold water of the fountain.

The cold water woke Anton out of his unconscious state, who started to scream the moment he woke, "AHHH MONSTER!!"

He tried to run with his legs, but after a moment, he realized his legs were dangling in the air, and then he looked at his father, who looked angrier at this moment than he had ever seen before.

Viscount Malfe's eyebrows were scrunched, his nose flared, jaw clenched, and veins bulging as he roared, "You little SHIT! Not only did you enter my personal study and steal things without my permission.

"You dared to try to use one of my few mana shards to do what? Try to injure or kill William's son. I'll give you a moment to say your pathetic excuses now before I beat you blue."

"F-f-father. It was just a joke. A joke. I admit I stole the orb and a mana shard, but I just wanted to show it off to the other kids," Anton explained as he tried his best to mitigate his inevitable punishment and repair the situation.

Raz interrupted, "So what were you doing when you planned to smash the mana shard while laughing, saying I would pay the price?"

Anton turned his head towards Raz before falling back onto the ground in terror as he shrieked, "Father, it was his fault! He's a monster! He used some trick or magic to make a dragon appear, which caused me to faint. I swear it!"

Hearing his son's excuses, Thomas knew that his son was definitely in the wrong, but his words did bring up the question as to how he fainted.

William, seeing Thomas deep in thought, spoke, "Are you really suggesting that my son, who has no magic artifact on him, somehow used magic so powerful that it made a dragon appear that caused you to faint and wet yourself?

"To say, my son, who isn't even a few months older than five years old, has already developed his magic circuits to control mana is impossible. Even the Head Magus of the royal court wasn't that talented! There might be nobody that talented!"

Even though Anton knew what he saw and experienced, as he listened to William, he realized his words sounded like pure fantasy. Even the Head Magus of the royal court only developed his mana circuits at the age of eleven, which was already held in admiration as he was declared a genius that came only once every few decades.

Still, he tried to defend himself as he pleaded to his father, "Father. Please, you have to believe me. I'm your son!"

A crack rang through the air as Thomas viciously slapped Anton across the face before he huffed, "You are right that you are my son. As my son, it was my duty as a father to discipline you and educate you properly. However, seeing your actions today has clearly shown that I had neglected my duties and failed. No more!"

Thomas lifted his son over his shoulder in a fireman carry.

He proceeded to walk off before apologizing to Raz and William once more, "Again, I am truly sorry about everything. I hope you'll leave things to me, seeing as we are friends, William. I'll be sure to teach him a lesson thoroughly. He will be wishing he never even tried something like this."

"What you said is true, as I would also ask for the same things if I was put in your position. As long as you compensate Raz with something and thoroughly punish him, I have no quarrels with letting you take care of this," William said.

Usually, William would be furious and adamant about punishing someone like Anton himself, but when Thomas was interviewing the children.

He had checked out the metal orb and realized that it wouldn't have even activated even if Anton had broken the mana shard, as the orb was not an artifact that could be activated in such a pathetic way.

Plus, William knew that Thomas was usually a relatively peaceful person, but when his mana shards or family reputation were on the line.

He would become incredibly easy to provoke. In fact, William could only feel a tinge of sympathy for the child as he was sure to face a rough time at the hands of his father.

Bowing one more time, Thomas spoke as he started to walk off, "Don't worry, William. I'll be sure to send your boy something good as an apology for this, and you won't have to worry about the punishment. I have something planned for him."

As he was being dragged off, Anton squirmed in protest before Thomas bellowed, "Stop protesting! Even your mother won't be able to get you out of this. You are lucky that your little plan wouldn't have worked out anyway and that William's son is unscathed.

"If you had even hurt his son, I would've disowned you on the spot. Don't you know that William and I are friends? Don't you know that William's father is a Marquis? You STUPID BRAT! Do you know the consequences we would have faced if you injured him or killed him? I would've flayed you and offered you to William's father myself!"

Soon the incredibly angry father and wailing son had gone out of ear shots distance.

William looked over at the other children and suggested, "Children. You kids should head inside to your parents. The banquet will start soon, and you wouldn't want to cause your parents to be late, would you?"

Hearing that they might cause their parents to be late, the children ran in fear of earning the scorn of their parents. After all, their parents were no saints either and would punish them if they were late.

As the children ran off, William walked over and looked around before asking, "Did your—"

"Yes, they have finally developed," Raz interrupted.

William smiled as he heard the news and laughed, "You are quite lucky. That brat couldn't have hurt you with that magic artifact even if he wanted to, and now you are bound to get something good from Thomas!

I'll be sure to let your grandfather and Apollyon know as they'll be surprised and delighted. Now let us go in and enjoy the banquet lest I want to be scolded by your mother for showing up late."