Chapter 99: Heart-to-talk

“Ah!”

On the second floor of the main building at Kastian Manor, inside Leo’s bedroom.

The air was thick with a pungent, somewhat acrid smell of potions.

“Hiss—! Ow, ow, ow! Mother, go easy! I told you, that was just an exaggerated metaphor for how much I crave power!”

Leo lay shirtless, sprawled pitifully across the soft bed.

His once pale back was now crisscrossed with swollen, red welts from the whip.

Just half an hour ago.

He had endured the darkest, most humiliating “double-team beating” of his life.

His mother’s thorn whip, along with Elsa’s broom handle that seemed to appear on his escape route at any moment, had taught him the true meaning of “trouble comes from the mouth.”

“Now you know it hurts?”

Madame Elsa sat by the bed.

She held a bottle of faintly cool, light green potion, scolding him irritably as she evenly applied it to her son’s swollen wounds.

“What have I always taught you? No matter how much you crave power, you can’t lose your dignity!”

Madame Elsa pressed a little harder with her hand, making Leo grimace and bare his teeth again.

“To utter such vulgar street thug language in public, to a girl of all people—do you think that as long as you can get stronger, you can throw away every basic moral principle?”

“If word of this gets out, people will think I raised a hopeless degenerate!”

“If I hadn’t whipped you today, would you really kneel down tomorrow, wagging your tail to lick someone’s boots?!”

“I just got anxious…”

Leo buried his face in the pillow, his voice muffled.

“That Elsa won’t yield to soft talk or hard pressure. I just wanted to learn some real skills from her that could save my life at a critical moment. Who knew I’d slip up when I got excited…”

In truth, the moment he shouted those words, he regretted them.

But spilt water couldn’t be gathered, and he could only accept this beating as his own bad luck.

“Even when begging, you must keep your dignity. Running your mouth just makes you look extremely immature.”

Madame Elsa finished applying the last of the potion and placed the bottle on the nightstand.

She looked at her son lying on the bed and fell silent for a moment.

The fire of frustration at his lack of promise gradually faded from her eyes, replaced by a deep, complex scrutiny.

“Leo.”

Madame Elsa’s voice suddenly turned calm, even carrying a faint trace of weariness.

“Lately, you’ve been training magic like crazy, fighting wild beasts in the wilderness, and even swallowing your pride to beg Elsa to teach you hand-to-hand combat…”

She paused, staring straight at the back of Leo’s head.

“Why are you so eager to get stronger? Is it to prove to Cedric that you’re not useless? Or… just to accommodate me?”

Leo’s body stiffened slightly, and his fingers gripping the sheets unconsciously tightened.

“I’ll ask you again. Look me in the eyes and answer.”

Madame Elsa’s tone left no room for argument.

“Do you really want to go to the Royal Capital?”

The air quieted in the room.

“If you don’t want to go, or if you’re scared.”

Madame Elsa sighed, her tone softening, carrying a mother’s pure protective instinct.

“Tell me now. At worst, I’ll make up some excuse and directly refuse the invitation.”

“As long as you stay here in Fengyue City, I’ll protect you. You can still be that carefree young master who loafs around and gets into small trouble now and then.”

“No matter how much the main family dislikes you, as long as I’m alive, they won’t dare to reach their hands here.”

“You don’t have to force yourself to face those people.”

These words came from the bottom of her heart, with no test, only the deepest maternal love.

Leo lay on the bed, pausing for a long time.

Scenes of his comfortable life at the estate over the years flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

Finally, he took a deep breath and barely managed to push himself up with his arms.

Even though the wounds on his back pulled painfully, he insisted on turning around to meet his mother’s eyes.

“Mother.”

“I want to go.”

“—Hiding under your wings my whole life as a useless young master might be comfortable.”

“But that comfort is built on you constantly compromising, even sacrificing your own interests.”

Leo’s gaze became extremely bright.

“At the banquet, you publicly handed over that formula you researched for years to Cedric.”

“I know you definitely didn’t do it for some noble cause like the prosperity of the family.”

Leo looked directly into Madame Elsa’s slightly surprised eyes.

“I may seem careless on the surface, but I’m not stupid.”

“You did that because you had your own reasons.”

Madame Elsa looked at Leo before her.

She neither admitted nor denied it, simply saying a few perfunctory words.

“You brat, have you read too many travelogues? I just thought that formula was gathering dust with me, so I traded it for some peace.”

“I want your real thoughts.”

Madame Elsa cut off his long-winded speech, her gaze sharp.

Leo took a deep breath, no longer hiding.

“I’ll do my best to help Mother in the Royal Capital as much as I can.”

“Even if my power is still weak, even if I can only block a hidden arrow for you at a critical moment, or become a useful pawn to distract the enemy when you need me.”

Hearing this, Madame Elsa let out a long sigh.

Her eyes reddened slightly, and she reached out to gently pat Leo’s cheek.

“So, all your recent eagerness to get beaten, going to the wilderness to fight, even throwing away your dignity to beg someone to teach you hand-to-hand combat—all of that was just for this?”

“Yes.”

Leo nodded without hesitation.

“Silly child.”

Madame Elsa stood up, smoothed her skirt, and regained her usual dignified, imposing lady’s posture.

“Since you’ve made your decision, you have to bear all the consequences that come with it.”

When she reached the door, Madame Elsa stopped, her back to Leo, her tone becoming extremely serious and cautionary.

“One last thing, since you’ve decided to go to the Royal Capital.”

“That street thug’s unscrupulous behavior and that stupid habit of kneeling to beg people must be completely reined in. Understand?”

“Understood!”

“Also…”

Madame Elsa tilted her head slightly, glancing at Leo from the corner of her eye as he processed her words.

“You also need to understand one thing.”

“In this world, including in Kastian Manor.”

“When you ask anyone to do something for you, even if it’s just asking a servant for guidance.”

“You must have something worthy to offer in exchange—a bargaining chip.”

“Even if it’s just a seemingly trivial, insignificant favor, that’s still the foundation of a transaction. It’s the most basic rule of survival in the adult world.”

“No one is obligated to help a worthless waste who can’t even prove his own value for free.”

“Especially… someone as rational and goal-oriented as Elsa.”

With a soft click.

Madame Elsa closed the door, leaving Leo alone lying on the bed, dazedly pondering his mother’s final words.

“Bargaining chips… favors…”

Leo muttered to himself, frowning as he frantically searched his mind for anything he could offer.

He sighed in frustration and habitually tried to roll over to a more comfortable position to continue thinking.

But he forgot about his freshly whipped backside.

As his body turned, the fabric rubbing against his wounds sent a searing pain like an electric shock through his entire body.

“Aaaagh—!!!”

Leo let out a miserable scream, instantly arching his back like a boiled shrimp, writhing in pain, tears streaming down his face.

On the corridor.

Madame Elsa, who hadn’t gone far, heard the utterly undignified pig-slaughter scream from the room and helplessly raised a hand to rub her throbbing temples.

She let out a deep sigh.

The fleeting comfort she had felt in the study—that “my son has finally grown up”—instantly evaporated.

“This kid…”

“Can he really do it? Is he reliable?”

With this deep self-doubt and worry, Madame Elsa shook her head, and the sound of her high heels gradually faded down the corridor.

The afternoon sun was just right.

By the fountain in the back garden of Kastian Manor.

Crystal water droplets refracted colorful halos in the sunlight, producing a pleasant, babbling sound.

Elsa sat on a clean white iron bench.

For once, she wasn’t polishing silverware or trimming flowers. She simply crossed her legs gracefully, closed her eyes, and quietly enjoyed this rare moment of peaceful rest, earned by beating that golden-haired brat so badly he couldn’t get out of bed.

A gentle breeze brushed through her silver-white short hair, bringing a chill.

At that moment, the steady, rhythmic sound of high-heeled footsteps approached from the stone path not far away.

Elsa didn’t open her eyes immediately.

But she already knew who it was and how far away they were.

As the footsteps stopped by the fountain, a faint, peculiar scent of a potion master’s incense entered her nostrils.

Only then did Elsa slowly open her icy blue eyes.

Her gaze unerringly fell on the elegant figure standing beside the bench, blocking part of the sunlight.

“Madame.”

Elsa didn’t immediately rise to bow. Instead, she naturally maintained her relaxed posture with legs crossed.

She merely nodded slightly, her tone as flat as if greeting an acquaintance, rather than addressing the employer who controlled her salary and livelihood.

“Is something the matter?”