Smack!Even as Cara was going to insult Jean and Winter further, she felt a sudden gust of wind brushing against her cheek, and it soon blaze agonizingly.The audible slap left everyone in the room stunned."What the…""Frank?"Winter was clutching her reddened cheek as she looked up, staring in disbelief at the man suddenly standing beside her.On the other hand, Frank's eyes were narrowed, and his growl was murderous. "How dare you hit my sister!""D-Did you just hit me?!"Cara was left clutching her bruised cheek which quickly swelled up, at a loss.Her lips trembled even as he looked up and glared at Frank. "H-How dare you! Who do you think you are?! I'm Governor Quill's daughter-in-law!""You're asking for it!"Even before anyone realized it, Frank slapped Cara across the face again with his backhand, hitting her so hard he knocked out several bloodied teeth.She dropped limply on the floor with a thud, stunned, and it took her considerable effort to come to her senses
"Mr. Lawrence…?"Alba's cheek stiffened as he pointed at Frank in disbelief. "He's Frank Lawrence? The one that Father mentioned? Aren't you mistaken?!""No, sir."The soldiers shook their heads repeatedly, leaving Alba's face falling.Still, as he glanced at Cara, who was still hollering nearby, his haughty expression soon returned as he snorted coldly. "No. I don't believe this, unless my father personally tells me he is."According to the family tree, Alba would be Frank's uncle.However, he had just exposed himself for knowing Frank but pretended not to at the gates.And now, he was basically turning a blind eye again, demanding Governor Quill to personally come and verify Frank's identity.Everyone there was well aware that Governor Quill only returned to Quill Manor once every year, and telling him to come was basically harassment.The bottomline was that Alba was simply refusing to acknowledge Frank.Meanwhile, Alba was still rambling coolly, "Would a member of the Qui
Seeing that there was no one else around, Jean calmly walked up to greet Frank. "I'm surprised… You've really kept your cards close to your chest!"She had been there with Winter when Frank was personally training her in traditional Draconian medicine, so she and Frank were quite close too. And while she was not as accomplished as Winter, she was a capable assistant to her."What's that supposed to mean?" Frank raised a brow, perplexed.Jean was glancing at Winter just then, rolling her eyes at her bestie who was smiling stupidly as she leaned into Frank's chest."I'm talking about your family connections, of course," she said with a snort. "I mean, Governor Quill's grandson? Tut, tut… You'd be strutting in Riverton if you had told everyone back then, and there certainly wouldn't be so many problems."Frank chuckled at her words, shaking his head. "I just found out myself, and…"He then paused, glancing coldly at the stairs where Cara fled. "I wouldn't stoop to taking up such tit
Winter's jaw could not close for a long while, as she had no idea what to say."F-Frank…?"As she came to her senses, she asked in agitation, "Are you really Governor Quill's grandson?!""Yeah." Frank nodded.However, Winter clearly did not notice the troubled look in his eyes and hung her head as she murmured to herself, "Great… I knew you were special and would succeed one day… And prove yourself…"Frank chuckled when he saw that Winter was more thrilled than he was.Patting her head, he reminded her, "Relying on family and connections isn't really succeeding, kiddo.""Then… what is?"Winter drew a blank but soon grinned in delight and shook her head repeatedly. "Doesn't matter now. No one would dare mess with you, Frank! You're Governor Quill's grandson, gosh…""Shush…"Seeing that Winter was more excited than he was, Frank put a finger on his lips before sighing. "Don't get too excited. I'm not going to announce it anyway.""What?"Both Jean and Winter were stunned by w
Jean simply shrugged at Winter's question. "I'm fine either way.""Actually… Let's not do that." Frank smiled, remembering Governor Quill's horrific presence just then.Given Winter's meek nature, she would faint at the sight of Governor Quill.In fact, it would be fine if she just fainted—Frank would have trouble forgiving himself if something worse were to happen, and Governor Quill would most probably feel the same too."Something like this… should be planned ahead," he said vaguely."Umph!"Just as Winter tilted her head aside in confusion, Megan Quill grunted audibly in pain, drawing the trio's attention.Jean scowled and muttered, "Guess Dr. Georg has just done his thing.""Yeah." Frank agreed."Urgh… How did things turn out like this?"Winter remained too kind for her own good, feeling concern for the patient despite being slapped for her troubles. "Frank, can't you do anything about the parasite?""I can," Frank replied without hesitation and recounted how Megan was
Saul carried an air of permanent superiority, but Frank did not flinch.In fact, he remained calm despite Saul's glare, even chuckling. "So you're Grandfather's eldest son, and everything you say goes here in Quill Manor?""How dare you!" Alba snapped furiously, hearing the tone Frank was taking up against his eldest brother. "Watch yourself, brat! That's my eldest brother Saul you're talking to! He's the acting head of the family, so if you speak rudely again, he will tear your mouth right off!"Just look at him, Saul! I told you that he's a real prick, speaking with such impudence!"Cara York leapt forward, quickly adding fuel to the fire and pointing at her bruised cheek. "See?! He even hit me in our house! What are you waiting for?! Scum like him should be arrested and executed!""Are you telling me what to do?" Saul suddenly asked icily.The whole room turned silent right then.Still, Cara was ready to speak again, but she flinched when she saw Saul's impassive glare fixed
Not even Saul could have anticipated that his ambition might be threatened by some nephew who appeared out of nowhere.And being the eldest son, he had to watch as his own father showered said nephew with praise, even suggesting that he would let the kid inherit his office.At that point, Saul was not going to take this lying down.That was why he and the younger generation of the family were all busy sending out their people to find out more about Frank over the last few days.It was therefore shocking that Frank came on his own, even striking Cara in public.That was certainly the perfect excuse for Saul to eliminate Frank as a threat, but Frank's words had now caught him off guard."Brat…"Saul frowned, wondering the same thing Jean and Winter did.Was Frank really not interested in the Quill family's wealth and influence?Was that even possible, refusing to become the governor of the entire east coast?!While various expressions alternated over Saul's face, he had lived l
All Frank thought of Governor Quill was that he had a troubled life plagued with troubles he could not express much and was hence forced to live in solitude.In fact, that would be his opinion of Governor Quill, even if the man was not his grandfather—he had always respected his elders.Nonetheless, Saul's cold expression did not ease despite hearing what Frank said—if anything, he looked even more vicious. "You brat!" he snapped. "Do you really think that someone who has lived as long as I have won't be able to tell that you're being passive-aggressive?!""What?"Passive-aggressive?While Frank was left utterly confused, Saul thought he was just faking it and chuckled coolly."Fine, I'll spell it out for you!"Saul spoke confidently, even as Alba and Cara looked on in confusion. "You're just worried that our family would pressure and stop you from taking the governor's office. That's why you're trying to look soft and mislead us, so that we'll let our guard down! In reality…