Rosalina’s face twisted the moment she heard Nathaniel mention the envoy from her old family.

To be honest, they weren’t really her family anymore.

They had killed her mom, tried to sell her off like some cheap prize, and done plenty worse. How was she supposed to go back there?

If she didn’t have Julius, maybe things would be different.

But now she had him, her only real family. Leaving him was simply not possible. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Kill the envoy!" Julius’s sharp voice cut through the room, carrying a soft but very real killing intent.

Everyone’s heads snapped toward him at once. Rosalina stared hard, her face a perfect picture of pure disbelief.

"Are you crazy?" she snapped, her voice a little strained. She coughed quickly to fix it and kept going.

"Killing an envoy could start a war. Do you actually want a war with the Valentina clan?" Her brows knitted together into a deep frown.

Elizabeth stayed quiet. She seemed to be rolling the idea around in her head, not jumping in just yet.

But Nathaniel looked like he was already regretting every life choice that had led him to this moment.

’My clan, which has lasted this long, is finally going to end,’ he thought.

A bitter smile tugged at his bruised face as he stared at his son standing there like he was dead serious.

’I think Eli’s all the craziness and obsession only got passed down to him,’ Nathaniel sighed inside.

He could already see the future of the Hayes clan looking pretty bleak if Julius took over, which he would.

Who in their right mind suggests killing an envoy from a force as strong as yours?

’Sigh... I wish I had another child... This one is never going to...’

Nathaniel closed his eyes for a second and silently apologized to every single one of his ancestors.

’Sorry, Grandpa. Sorry, Great-Grandpa. Sorry to all you old guys who worked so hard to keep the clan alive.’

’Your useless descendant only managed one kid, and now that kid is about to burn the whole thing down with his big mouth. I failed you all. Please don’t haunt me too hard when the clan disappears.’

As Nathaniel was busy imagining the sad end of his family line and begging forgiveness from the dead, Julius leaned forward, eyes shining bright.

"I know. You don’t need to remind me. Killing the envoy would cause a war... but this war won’t be between our two clans."

Nathaniel’s ears perked up right away. A spark of interest lit up his swollen face.

"What do you mean, son?" he asked, suddenly sounding a lot more excited.

Just like that, all the disappointment and quiet regret about not having a spare kid started to melt away.

Taking a breath, Julius explained, "Mom told you about Uriel, right?" He knew she would have told his father everything, no matter what. And sure enough...

"Yeah," Nathaniel replied.

He was honestly impressed by his son’s achievement. The boy had slipped deep into the church. It was a praiseworthy thing. But he couldn’t just praise him out loud, so he listened quietly.

"You see, there will be an uproar in the Holy Empire... in just about two months," Julius said, looking them dead in the eyes.

Everyone listened with full attention, Rosalina, Elizabeth, and Nathaniel.

As for Rosel, she had wrapped herself up in Rosalina’s long black hair like a cozy blanket and was pretending to sleep.

"As you might not know," Julius slowed down as he sat on the edge of the bed, "the Holy Empire is quite chaotic these days... especially the royal family!"

That was enough to snatch back all of Nathaniel’s interest.

He leaned in closer. For the first time since walking into the room, he actually looked like he cared about what his son had to say.

"What do you mean the Holy Empire is chaotic?" he asked, eager to learn more.

As the head of a big clan like the Hayes, he needed to know everything so he could strike at the right moment.

"Did you get some message from Uriel?" Rosalina asked.

Julius nodded. In truth, Uriel had not contacted him. His knowledge came from the original story.

It was quite obvious, really. The emperor of the Holy Empire had suddenly fallen ill, and though no one knew what kind of sickness it was, Julius knew.

It was a heart disease caused by a worm carcass called the Siferwood Death Worm.

And the one who did it was the first prince of the empire, Sebastian Evander. He had finally started his game.

Now it was Julius’s turn to break Crypian’s future ally and remove a hard obstacle.

He thought about it for a moment before he briefly explained what had happened.

He also explained how they should kill the envoy and use him to create chaos.

Hearing his explanation, his father’s jaw dropped open.

His mind went slightly blank as his gaze slowly shifted to Elizabeth.

She stood with her hands on her hips, nose lifted high in pride, as if telling everyone, ’See him? Yeah, that’s my son.’

And Nathaniel could agree. He was proud too. *

’No wonder all my smart genes went to him. If he had Eli’s stupid and obsessive side... my god...’

He didn’t even finish the thought. But now he felt a bit relieved that Julius would inherit the clan.

’Ancestors, be proud!’ Nathaniel thought with a sudden burst of excitement.

’Because this is exactly why I never wanted another child! You see him? He will bring unmatched glory to our clan!’

If a normal person heard him, they would spit on the ground and call him a shameless hypocrite.

He had just been regretting not having another child, and now here he was praising his son and sending well wishes to the ancestors.

Not like they were any better though....they would probably agree with him.

After all, the Hayes clan was famous for its evil hypocrisy.