Chapter 3.

Chapter 3.

Alex was very tense, he did not feel calm after hearing Keneth's voice, all these years despite being family they were never so close and now he enters Alex's room through a passageway that he did not know existed.

Keneth knew that his son was very unhappy for all these years and seeing Alex's look he felt more guilt for all these years that his son had to live like this.

"Alex, I know that all these years I have treated you badly, and there is no justification for it, but there is a reason behind everything."

Keneth lowered his head and Alex for the first time saw that look in his father, a look that changed from a feeling of deep pain to overflowing anger, from frustration and helplessness to one with hatred and thirst for revenge, all in the same instant that Kenneth started to speak.

"We don't have much time son, we have to get out of here first."

Alex still had doubts but decided to follow his father. There is a tunnel connected to the hidden door in his room, this tunnel was wide enough to accommodate a person standing, Alex followed Keneth the entire route without saying a single word, it was somewhat uncomfortable for Alex but about 10 minutes Alex could see another door, when they opened it he realized that it was on the hill behind the mansion, far enough to barely look at the house.

"Alex, I can imagine how you feel and I know that you hate me for how I have treated you all this time. I am sorry, I am really very sorry, I have not been a good father and I owe you a lot in this life."

Alex could feel that his father's voice was broken, he felt that he did not know Keneth well, he wanted to complain about many things but when he thought of his father's face and anguish, part of his complaints were forgotten.

"Alex I would like to be able to spend more time with you and talk about many things but as I told you in your room we don't have much time and you must leave the dukedom, if it is possible leave even the Kingdom."

Putting his hands in his pocket Keneth took out a few things.

"Take this letter, in it is written what you want to know, in this card there are 1,000,000 gold coins, I know it is not much but Elena has almost all the control in the finances, and lastly have this necklace, please don't ever lose it, because it is very important, give it to someone named Zhui Cui I am sure that if you give it to him he will help you. You can go to the town of Los Cedros, most likely you will be able to find information about him there."

Alex felt a lump in his throat, it has been a short time since he obtained the memories of his previous life and to a certain extent he does not feel much attachment to his current parents, but still after seeing Keneth's state for the first time he felt a fondness familiar, as he saw the preparations his father made for him.

Keneth didn't wait for Alex's response and simply gave him a hug.

"Take care of yourself and remember about the necklace, I hope it helps you, José and his wife will go with you, so you won't be alone."

Without waiting any longer, Kenneth turned around and walked towards the mansion but this time he did so outside the tunnel.

"Young master, we have to leave immediately, please follow us, ahead there are some horses waiting for us."

......................................

Los Cedros Town.

The town of Los Cedros is a town located in the southernmost part of the Waterfall Kingdom, sharing boundaries on the east and south with the WindRose Empire, while to the west is The Beast Mountain Range. Its streets are decorated with paper lanterns. Its architecture is typically of an oriental country with sloping roofs and carved wood.

Los Cedros benefits from its proximity to the mountain range, as many warriors come with the idea of entering and training. You also find many medicinal plants that help with training and improving the body, as well as minerals used for forging, although there are rare occasions that you can find stones that are very useful for magicians. For this reason it is very popular among warriors and magicians throughout the continent.

While with the WindRose Empire it maintains free trade, which is very important for that region, but on some occasions there can be certain skirmishes between the two parties, although everything happens without it being made known as it ,is a way of giving experience to the troops on both sides, but although they are small battles the casualties are not few either.

In a house located somewhere within the city there are 3 people, from their expressions you can tell that they are worried.

25 days have passed since the three of them left the duchy of Niels, after traveling for 20 days non-stop they arrived in this town and managed to buy this house that from now on will be their home. This morning María went shopping. Her character is very kind and she knows how to communicate with people so she already knows some people, which can be beneficial because it can help gather information. "

'Maria, is there any news about the Duchy?'

"Young master, there is no news in the town about the dukedom, there is also no news that is relevant in the kingdom, I also asked about that Zhui Cui but so far no one knows about him, I will continue trying to find information about it, you should rest young master If something happens I will immediately inform you."

You're right, I'll be in my room checking some things, you should rest too, the trip was very long and we need to recover."

"Take care, young master."

Sitting in his room, Alex contemplated a paper in his hands. Since they left the duchy, he has wanted to take time to read the letter, but María told him that it would be better to do it in the town of Los Cedros for safety and because it was an indication that Kenneth had given.

<<I think it's time to read what my father wrote>>.

Alex, I want you to know that I love you very much, I love you with all my heart and I hope that one day you can forgive me for not giving you a better life, I would have wished things were different, but fate wanted to play a trick on our family .

You probably think I never loved you and was only favoring your sister, but there's a reason I had to act like that.

In order to explain everything to you I need to go back in time. I know you don't know, but our family has a Qi collection method with which you can guide yourself to the top of Rank 9. Magicians and warriors, apart from their rank, their power depends on the level they are at, let me explain two warriors of the same rank but different levels will not be equally powerful, an initial rank will be more weaker than someone that have top level, of course there are exceptions to everything but what I want ,is that you can get an idea of what our family has in his hands, so when I was only 8 years old my father told me about this. My father also told me that more than 100 years ago our family had many rank 9 warriors and it was one of the most powerful powers in the continent . He told me stories of the achievements and glories of our ancestors. Inspired by the many stories I began my path in Qi cultivation. Not to brag, but my talent was first class, and step by step I demonstrated my skill. At the age of 16 I was already a rank 6 warrior and at the age of 18 I was already an intermediate rank 7 warrior. That earned me visits from many people wanting to become friends with our family. It was comforting to see the admiring look of many people and that my efforts were not in vain, but I always told myself that it was more important to develop on my goals and focus on my goals, nothing more important than my training . My father gave me total freedom, I went and came wherever I wanted, with my strength together with the fact that I was the duke's son, practically no one dared to play tricks on me.

The success of the moment meant that many nobles inside and outside the Kingdom thought about recruiting me, so many marriage proposals arrived. I told my father at the time that he would not accept any proposal, since I had no intention of getting married, I just wanted to be stronger. One day an invitation came from the King to the crown prince's birthday, your grandfather and I were not thinking of going but we had to show a certain face so we decided to show up, the event of course passed, I was a little bored to be honest, but when I was thinking about retiring, something happened that made me change my mind.

I saw the purest and most beautiful being smiling at me and approaching me, when she was in front of me it was as if the whole world was paralyzed, it was difficult for me to breathe and my hands began to sweat, honestly at that moment my title of genius was muddied in the floor, just remembering it is embarrassing.

But she was not alone, she was accompanied by another young woman, so our conversation was about trivial things. Two days later I saw her leaving a store so I gathered courage and went to talk to her, I finally found out her name Caroline, we spent a lot of time together after that day, I fell in love with her like crazy, I must confess that I even forgot my training but I didn't regret it, I felt it was worth it.

I returned to the duchy and we continued in communication. She even came to visit me, our relationship was increasingly solid and the feeling was reciprocal, so the two families were about to declare the engagement, but one day I decided to visit her,but when I got to her home, her family denied me seeing her.They didn't even give me the opportunity to see her, day after day I went to look for her but they only denied her to me, a few days later I found out that she was going to marry the crown prince.

It was so painful and heartbreaking that she had played with me. Her friend was going to look for me, she was very enthusiastic and told me that she had always been in love with me, that I should give her a chance, but I was never interested, somebody had broken my heart, there was no way to fall in love again, she didn't take it well but I didn't give it importance.

One day I came home after training and the crown prince was in the living room talking to my father while they were having a drink from a bottle, the prince wanted to talk to me, if I'm honest I didn't want to see him, I wanted to hit him so hard that he would kiss the floor ,but I decided to face the situation, he asked me out and I agreed. We went to Enchanted Ocean, a famous restaurant in the capital. He said that he would treat me and that he hoped I would give him my blessing for his future marriage. I felt those words were like a vile mockery, but I had to endure it.

We were drinking and I don't remember how but I ended up drunk, a strange thing because for my cultivation it almost prevented me from getting drunk, I didn't give it any importance because I thought that my mentality was unstable and freeing myself would be good, Caroline's friend appeared again and she joined us on the table, she was very enthusiastic about me again but to be honest I wasn't interested in her.

The next day I woke up with a woman in bed, it was her, Caroline's friend and her name is Elena.

After 3 days she said she was pregnant and wanted me to take responsibility, obviously I had my doubts, forgive me son but the circumstances were quite absurd but there is a method to know if what she said was true or not, the result was that at birth your blood reacted with the blood of the Niels family, so you were undoubtedly my son, so I immediately agreed to marry your mother and fulfill my obligation.

Everything was fine and after months of you being born everything changed, she started going out every day, and arrived later and later, I found that your mother was seeing another man, but I could never find out who it was, I confronted her and I thought that she would deny it, however, she laughed cheekily and told me that it is what I deserved, that she hated me for not loving her when she gave me her love and that she would make my life hell, I was so angry that I was going crazy, but you know what ,what she told me, she threatened me, she had poisoned my father and what's worse, she put a dagger to your neck that if I didn't do what she wanted she would kill you immediately even if she died later.

When she put the dagger on your neck I lost the desire to fight, a rank 7 warrior is very strong but it's not omniscient or omnipresent, she gave me something to drink assuring that it was not poison, even if it was poison I didn't have many options ,so I ended drank it .I wanted to buy time, I know it's only temporary but if there is life there is hope.

What your mother gave me no longer allowed me to advance, what's more, although I am still at level 7, someone weaker than me can beat me, my cultivation is not solid.

Your sister was born but it is a fact that she is not my daughter, she grew up having my last name but it was all to follow your mother's wishes, you grew up and of course that meant other conditions that I had to meet ,if I want you to live, for example not letting you practice and that you should be excluded in everything.

I know that your mother's hatred towards me is a product of me rejecting her, but even if it is true, what she is doing is too cruel . I suspect that there is something more behind all this, that she hates me can be justified but she hates you doesn't make any sense.

Son, I want you to know that I love you, and I always will, I regret the life you have led and I just want you to be happy, live and live in your own way, I will always support you even if I'm not here with you.

It should have been someone more stronger, maybe everything would be better.

Alex felt deep sadness, he couldn't help it ,when tears of pain started to fall.