Family History

The English nobility of the Old Regime is very different from that existing elsewhere in Europe. Only the elders of noble families bear the title and can live on the income of their lordships. The cadets must seek their fortune elsewhere and work while maintaining their noble qualities.

It should be noted that the British sovereign currently regularly creates nobles, who are most often created for service rendered to the country in politics, economics, sport, or artistic life.

Before the revolutionary era, the English nobility was minor. About twenty thousand people out of a population of nearly five million were nobles.

The English nobility is very hierarchical. At the top of the hierarchy were the lords, or, that is to say, a few dozen families.

The lords are: The descendants of the elders.

The warrior chiefs of the Middle Ages.

Personalities ennobled by successive sovereigns.

We distinguish between the civilian temporal lords and the ecclesiastical lords, certain bishops. They sit by right and for life in the House of Lords, one of the two chambers of the British Parliament. At the time, the House of Lords had a significant political role. They constantly frequented the Royal Court, a source of favors and political positions.

Baronets, knights, and squires form the elite of the nobles. They live in mansions on their country estates, which they manage well by putting into practice the ideas of the agricultural revolution.

The gentry are nobles whose influence does not go beyond their parish. The titles, which are generally accompanied by the name of the land, are hereditary. The titles are carried by the eldest of the family.

The cadets, without losing the status of gentleman, that is to say, being noble, cannot have a title of nobility and generally do not have land. They must therefore find a job in trade, industry, and services. This phenomenon has specially developed since the beginning of the 17th century. Thus in London in the 17th century, one in five apprentice printers was of noble origin.

These cadets most often marry the daughters of commoners.

There were dukes, counts, countesses, and baronets. They sat in the Court of Lords for decades.

The Lordcasters never had many children; they only had one son, but in their eighth generation, they had twins Rothchild and Rory Lordcaster.

One was expected, and the other was taken for a mentally disabled child. The latter was neglected, although he was the first to see the glimmer of light during childbirth. It was not an easy delivery. Rothchild was the heir to all of the titles, and Rory received nothing—not to mention that he was thought to be mentally retarded. He was twenty-two minutes older than Rothchild.

They were afraid to leave their inheritance in the care of a mentally impaired person. They were upright people and respected by all. Rory didn't have the makings of a nobleman, let alone the shoulders to handle the duties and role of a Lordcaster in this society of nobility.

His parents disinherited him and placed the poor kid under the supervision of the governesses who had taken care of him since his second year. His father considered him handicapped because of his social standing. He couldn't afford to be seen with such offspring; he was a disgrace.

He went so far as to hide his existence from high society. His mother sent instructors and people to accompany him without her husband's consent as if the poor kid could care for himself alone.

It turns out that the latter was not a retard as they said or saw him. They didn't understand him; that was just the problem. His governess, not wanting to cause more pain to the young lord, provided him with things he often asked for because she took a liking to him. She considered him her child.

Years and years passed, and Rory grew up with grace and beauty, educated like a lord under the protection of his Nanny Agda. What he knew was business, he spent his childhood making deals with the people around him, and if he wanted something, he would have to compromise. Clever and cunning.

That is how he acquired his negotiating skills; he left the manor at seventeen with his governess, who did not have the heart to leave him alone. She was afraid that her little protege could not survive alone outside the manor's walls without her care and someone who knew him. At first, things weren't easy for both of them. Agda took him everywhere she went, and whatever she was doing, Rory was always by his side. She never took her eyes off him.

Under a mild summer sun, as she went out for a troll with him, he met the Duke of Winchester in the company of his third daughter Amélia, who had been in fragile health since her early childhood. Rory brilliantly discussed a chess game with older people, who could be his father or even his grandfather. He challenged them one after the other, only beating them on the third pawn.

The crowd around him was perplexed, some attracted by his quick wit and style of play, others by his beauty and grace. The second category didn't even notice his game; some are born for that, to criticize and judge without taking the trouble to understand when they are no better deep down.

Those of the second category wondered how such a person could be so stupid, considering how he carried his head and spoke; he spoke slowly and with little difficulty articulating words.

Many people didn't know or couldn't see; they mostly understood that there was a brilliant mind beyond this mentally disabled handsome kid, as they called him.

Fortunately, Agda knew it all along, so she accompanied him or brought him to places he would undoubtedly be noticed. She knew she wasn't the only one that could see beyond the sorry beauty of the kid.

That afternoon, Rory caught the attention of the Duke and his daughter. His daughter was brilliant; unfortunately, she had poor health. She was the Duke's pupil. He always made time for her. He always managed to bring her under the sun whenever the opportunity presented itself.

They mingled in the crowd surrounding this boy, who had the charm of a five-year-old kid and the beauty of a god. The Duke hissed in admiration at the painting he eyed as his daughter was dying to discuss a game with the odd boy.

While Agda, like a poor devil, tried to ward off people who got too close to Rory without succeeding. She feared he would have a fit in the middle of all these people watching him and scare the hell out of them. Seeing her maneuver exasperated, the Duke decided to help her by addressing the crowd, whom he asked to stay further away from the young man.

Rory was not paying attention to the crowd; he was trying to concentrate on the game. He also wanted to help Adga, who bent over backward to meet his needs and help him in any way possible.

This is the first time someone apart from Adga cared about him and got involved in his troubles. He looked up to get an idea of ​​the person who had just calmed the excited crowd around him and met the eyes of the smiling Duke. He stopped smiling as he saw his blue eyes lingering on him firmly with a question mark on his expression.

His heart stopped beating for a moment; he felt it. He was younger than his daughter and disturbing. He gave him a nod like a curtsey with a beautiful smile. The Duke was amazed and a little overexcited like a child. Rory answered him with a nod and went back to his game.

The Duke chuckled nervously and turned back to his daughter. She begged him to let her play with him. He accepted on the only condition that the boy gets his invitation to go to his house.

Despite her father's presence, Amelia's governess, who always accompanied her, came closer to them at the Duke's nod. He asked her to message Agda and Rory and to wait a few minutes after the young boy had finished his game, which she did by bringing the Duke's words back to Adga.

After a few hours that seemed endless to Adga, Rory's opponents said he was exceptional; they asked him to come back so they would learn a lot by watching him play; he looked at Adga, who nodded yes.

The people who challenged him and to whom he explained his game once finished avoided reaching out to him and only bowed to him, which said a lot.

Adga, eager to tell him the news without knowing if he would accept the request, was trapped between excitement because her dream was about to come true and anxiety, after all, she was unaware of Rory's reaction. She wondered. Will Rory get it or something? How will he react? Is it a good idea?

However, she started despite herself to explain the situation to Rory awkwardly while twisting her finger, who listened to her while striding, almost forcing the poor Agda to run to keep her pace. When she finished telling him the news, Rory stopped short in his track, turned to her, and gave her a big, emotionless smile.

"Do you want to get rid of me?" asked Rory, pained with a sorrowful expression. "tell me honestly, you don't want me anymore?" She rushed to explain the situation to him without rushing him. she knows he has excellent thinking skills, but she also knows that sometimes nothing can stop him from acting like a three-year-old on emotional matters.

Rory is the type to get angry when things don't go his way or when sudden changes happen in his schedule. He controls everything, hates sudden changes, and panics when he finds himself in situations he does not know, as brilliant as he can be. Agda knows by habit that he can never work with other people like an apprentice or things like that.

He acts like a child even though he is one. A teenager is a child, no? But now, she has to find a way to protect him. She doesn't want them to lock him up in one of those specialized centers, mental asylums, or anything like that.

She needs someone who can recognize his abilities and is willing to be patient with him despite his excessive mood swings, and she is about to meet a potential candidate.

She explained her intentions to him; if they locked him up, they would drive him mad and kill him. She knows he will die if that happens. After consideration, they accepted the invitation.

After many visits, the Duke and his children were impressed by his beauty, grace, and intelligence, which proved to be more entertaining and instructive. They proposed to Agda to stay with them, and the Duke agreed, and his daughter Amélia fell under the captivating charm of the young man and married him four years later.

He was twenty-one at the time. He managed the accounts and everything related to finances. He created his company five years later, he was twenty-six years old, and his son was three years old. While Rory was evolving with the Duke, his twin brother was expelled from the house of lords; his family took the humiliation very badly that their beloved son had done to their lineage. First time in centuries, a Lordcaster has shamed his family name that badly.

The Duke had become the father Rory never had, and his family accepted him as one of them. Despite his difficulties, the Duke wasn't afraid to introduce Rory to high society. He didn't see Rory as a burden or something like that. He was just a kid like the others with his particularities. On the contrary, he always says, "it is the disadvantage of being so beautiful and intelligent; otherwise, you will not be so wise and respectful today."

The Duke never missed a single opportunity to give banquets in his honor, although some said he exhibited him to the public as a kind of human trophy. But he didn't care; his intentions were good, and Rory knew it, too. Rory helped find a cure capable of alleviating the disease Amélia was facing, and his business was based on research and sold drugs worldwide.

Agda stood by his side until the end, sometimes serving him as an emotion detector and as a nanny for him and his son. She was all he had. Amélia died fifteen years later; her son was eighteen.

Nevertheless, Rory's parents tried to bring him back home without success. Over the years, his business became the largest of all time, he bought land over forty thousand hectares under the Duke's directives, and he climbed the ladder of this society that he was denied access to on the pretext that he was a shame, a disgrace.

He became a baron, introduced his son into the business world, and they ran the Kenbes'Empire, his wife's maiden name, Amélia. To prevent others from believing that his company has something to do with his biological parents.

He builds a mansion three times larger than the mansion in which he was born. With more than thirty rooms because he received a lot of people from everywhere, a tea room, ballroom, library, games room, three living rooms, an office, his son's apartments, and his own.

The quarter of staff he had at his service didn't even count. What he loved the most was his ranch. Amélia loved horses; he got the most beautiful horse's bread. The Golf course that his son is the author of is exciting.

Rory and his son were particularly close to each other; it was amazing how he devoted himself to his education with such enthusiasm that no one expected. He watched over him and was always available for him.

Perhaps because he did not have a paternal presence, he did not want his son to undergo the same treatments.

Agda gave herself a duty, apart from watching over them all the time relentlessly, to tell William the story of his father, which brought him even closer to the latter. At times, they were alone in the world, complementing each other.

This error in judgment on the part of his parents stems from the problems that Rory finds himself facing. His twin brother aims at him, as he loses all credibility in front of his parents by amassing failure after failure, while Rory on his side becomes more and more powerful. A gap has been created.

Here is how the Lordcaster family split into two. When Rory's parents died, they bequeathed land to their grandson William, who refused everything; his father and he had enough to live for a century already, and they were good workers. Rothchild persecuted his brother until his death, accusing him of having stolen all he could have as gray matter and neurons. If he is so stupid and Rory so canny, it is because Rory took it all himself.

He squandered his property and left his descendants in unpleasant conditions. William gave them his share of the inheritance and was content with what his father had built with his sweat.

They told erroneous stories to their descendants about the history of these twins. Since then, they have become almost rivals. Rory becomes the cherished child who is pampered and spoiled, while Rotchild becomes the one who is rejected and humiliated.

Three generations since this situation drags on, and even today, they want to make Rory's descendants pay for what he did to theirs. The death of Aim's grandparents and his parents are linked to this story, with more victims over time. His cousins ​​still feed on this hatred, cousins ​​he doesn't even know. Aim is now one more of their victims.

That is why Nodge is afraid for the future of his protege. He doesn't know how to break the news to Aim without bringing him down, so he's paid detectives to find out what happened.

He always found it bizarre how Aim's grandparents died a few years after their son was married and took over the family business.

Now that it's around Aim, he doesn't want anything to happen to him. If Aim refuses to take control of his empire and keep his rights to his heritage physically in full view, he risks facing these people who want to steal it from him and his life with it without anyone knowing.

This time, they will be victorious since no more descendants of Rory will stand in their way and shine in their eyes. Rumors are circulating that Aim is not Kenbes' Empire's rightful heir. That he is only an impostor while the proper heirs are outside, crawling in dust and poverty.

"Nodge must know he's not the only one investigating the company's origin and my parent's death," Aim thought. He has all the papers concerning these three generations. He is not afraid of these threats even though his parents were victims of these dishonest people. He will not be part of their vicious game.

He's gathered all the evidence he needs to make them pay for stealing his parents so early and so young from him. He wonders if being in a relationship with Ewen will not put him in danger, and he begins to think of all possible ways to end this story as soon as possible.

Two knocks on the passenger side window of his car brought him out of his thoughts. He had remained there, sitting lost in his thoughts; seeing Ewen leave to find his family made him melancholy. He didn't want to see him go, and he didn't want to feel this emptiness. He doesn't want to lose a loved one again; it won't be easy to bear, and he will surely go adrift.

He slowly turned his head as if in slow-motion mode. He wasn't entirely out of his thoughts to see Wolf's worried head looking at him, a little lost too. He rolled down the window to reassure him that he was fine. He knew he was going to follow him despite his protests. He also knows that three men are following him in a black jeep parked at a corner of the alley.

"Nodge is scared," he mumbled to himself. "Before, he let only one follow me from afar; now, there are three." This stressful situation is not pleasant for anyone. And Gueniève often comes to the apartment.

"Do you want me to drive you back, sir? Wolf asked softly as if he feared he would hurt him by asking those simple words.

"No thanks," Aim uttered with the same softness but a little wearily, feeling sudden fatigue taking hold of his body and soul.

He rarely drives; when he does, it's to clear his head, to clear his head when he can't take it anymore. Wolf opened the car door, and Aim got out and changed his seat.

He started the car under the eyes of a worried Wolf, "master seemed to be upset, he thinks. Didn't everything go well with his lovely handsome friend?" he wondered while glancing towards the villa where Ewen disappeared. He hurried to get his car which he had parked nearby.

As he started the car, the black wangler jeep passed him. He quickly made a mental note of the license plate. He researched or reported to Nodge the movements he perceived around his master. He's good at this; since Mrs. and Mr.'s death, he's become more vigilant with Aim.