​"This book only shows how the kingdom was formed," Ian said, closing the heavy leather cover with a disappointed frown. "It says absolutely nothing about the current powers or political factions that exist in this kingdom today."

​"Well, Young Master, look at the publication stamp," Tracy said, leaning over and pointing to the faded text at the back of the book. "This book was printed in 620 V.C. That is a hundred years ago! So of course it won’t know anything about the current affairs of the kingdom." She giggled, finding it amusing that her supposedly genius master had missed such an obvious detail.

​"O-Of course I knew that much!" Ian stammered, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment as he quickly scratched the back of his head. "I was just trying to... t-test you! Yeah, test you to see if you were paying attention to the dates!"

​"Of course, Young Master. I completely believe you. Ha-ha-ha!" she said, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

​"You are still laughing at me," Ian sighed, feeling utterly defeated.

​"Pfft... I will stop now, I promise," Tracy said, quickly covering her mouth with her hands to stifle her giggles, though her eyes were still crinkling with amusement.

​"If someone walked in on us right now, they wouldn’t even believe that you are my maid with that kind of cheeky attitude you are showing me," Ian said, a soft smile returning to his face as he looked at her.

​"You are absolutely right about that. At first, I thought maybe she was a girl you sneaked into the estate. But then I saw the maid dress... I was honestly quite surprised," a smooth, mature voice suddenly echoed through the room.

​"Who said that?!" Ian snapped. He instantly stood up, instinctively placing himself between Tracy and the window as his golden eyes scanned the corners of the room. To his shock, he saw absolutely nothing.

​"There is no need to be on guard, Nephew. I’m just messing with you a bit," the invisible voice chuckled.

​Suddenly, the air near the window shimmered like a mirage. Martha Thorne appeared out of thin air, sitting casually on the window sill and staring at Ian with an amused smile.

​"Wow... how did you do that, Aunty? I almost thought there was an assassin in the room," Ian said, letting out a long breath and sitting back down on his chair to relax.

​"Oh, you mean this little trick?" she asked, pulling a beautiful blue crystal ring off her index finger and tossing it lightly in her hand. "I picked up this artifact at a black-market auction held in the Capital. It makes the wearer completely invisible and erases their presence for a certain period of time. It’s an incredibly useful tool for secretly contacting my informants."

​Martha slipped the ring back into her pocket, hopped off the window sill, and walked over to sit at the edge of Ian’s bed.

​"But enough about my toys. I am much more curious about this little cutie," Martha said, her golden eyes locking onto Tracy with a deeply scrutinizing gaze. She specifically stared at Tracy’s striking white hair.

​Under the intense pressure of Martha, Tracy instantly looked down at her lap, her body trembling slightly from shyness and fear.

​"That is my personal maid, Tracy. My mother personally assigned her to come with me, so there is no need to worry about her," Ian explained defensively.

​"No, you’ve got the wrong idea. I am not worried at all. In fact, if this maid was prepared by that mother of yours, I feel even more at ease," Martha laughed softly. Her expression then turned thoughtful. "It is just her hair that has me on edge. I guess I will have to ask Caroline about it later."

​"Her hair?" Ian asked, completely confused.

​"It’s nothing much. It’s just that when I saw her white hair, it reminded me of someone I know," Martha dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, moving on. I overheard you complaining that you don’t know much about the current powers of this kingdom."

​"Well, it’s not like kingdom politics were important to me before today," Ian admitted, crossing his arms. "But when I was sitting in that meeting, I suddenly realized I know absolutely nothing about the factions. Why are the Crown Princes even fighting amongst themselves? Isn’t the First Prince the one who naturally inherits the throne if the King dies?"

​"You could have asked about all of that during the meeting, but I guess you couldn’t do it because of your explosive little outburst," Martha said, raising an eyebrow at him.

​"Outburst?" Tracy asked, looking up in confusion.

​"Yes, Missy. Your little boyfriend here threw a massive tantrum, shouted at all the Family Elders, and stormed out—"

​"That’s enough, Aunty," Ian interrupted sharply, shooting her a serious glare while Tracy instantly turned beet-red at being called his ’boyfriend’.

​"What? Are you going to get angry and scream at me like you did to those old men back there?!" Martha snapped back, her own expression instantly turning fierce.

​"No—" Ian started, but Martha cut him off completely.

​"Do you think you are the only one who lost him, Ian?!" Martha’s voice cracked. "I was hurt even more! Since father’s passing your grandfather by the way, I practically raised your father sincehe was little at that time! He was my little brother, and my heart was shattered when I heard he had been murdered."

​Tears suddenly welled up in Martha’s sharp eyes, falling silently onto the bedsheets.

​"But your Uncle Jacob is the one suffering the most in this entire family. Although he tries to hide it behind a strong face, I can see the agony in his eyes every single day," Martha said, her voice trembling with raw emotion. "He first lost his beloved wife to poisoning at that. Then he lost his brother. Now, his only son is slowly rotting to death in front of him. On top of all that, he has to worry about an impending civil war in the kingdom and the pure survival of our bloodline."

​Martha glared at Ian, wiping a tear from her cheek. "And now, his own nephew just picked a fight with the Elders, causing internal disputes when we need unity the most. Do you want your Uncle to literally die from stress, Ian?!"

​Hearing the sheer weight of the burdens crushing his uncle, something heavy twisted painfully in Ian’s stomach. A deep wave of guilt washed over him for how recklessly he had acted.

​"Sigh... I know you are just a kid, but you are growing up fast, Ian," Martha said, her voice softening as she gave him a sad smile. "You need to realize that lashing out in anger doesn’t solve anything. It only causes more problems, especially for the people trying to hold this family together. The way you should have handled that situation was by calmly telling us that you were unhappy with our passive approach, and then presenting your mercenary plan to move forward. Don’t let your anger control you. A true Family Head controls his emotions, not the other way around since you will become one in the future."

​Ian just nodded slowly, absorbing her words. He had absolutely nothing to argue back with. She was completely right.

​"Well, now that my scolding is over, let’s talk about the current state of this kingdom," Martha said, wiping her face and relaxing back against the pillows. "And there is absolutely no one better to ask about politics than me." She said smiling.