Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 1-3) ✓

14 | Ranking Up

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"MASTER LEIGH, BREAKFAST IS ready," Étienne calls out from outside Max's bedroom. No one answers him, so he does three consecutive knocks, but still, there was no answer. Without a second thought, he barges inside the room after his fourth knock. He expected to see Max sleeping in bed, but to his surprise, Max was half-naked on the floor doing pushups.

     Étienne instantly bows apologetically and says, "I thought you were still asleep master."

     Max finishes five more pushups before standing on the floor. Étienne rushes to take a towel so Max can use it to dry himself with it. Max doesn't thank his butler and uses the towel to wipe the sweat dripping from his chin. He then heads to the mirror to check his body. Max used to exercise and train for his self-defense when he was younger, but since he's been busy with the corporation, he never had a chance to do it. That's why Max decided to start exercising again, especially when fighting can happen in their school.

     "Where's my brother?" Max asks before throwing the wet towel back to his butler.

     "Sir Marcus is already eating breakfast downstairs. He said to—" Étienne suddenly stops in the middle of answering Max's question. Max looks at him confusingly, but then he realizes that Étienne is actually staring at his chest, or more specifically, he's staring at the necklace that he's wearing.

     "Master, you're wearing madam Luna Lemieux's family necklace," Étienne says with shock. "You actually kept it."

     Of course Étienne would be surprised, considering the fact that he came from a line of butlers, specifically for the Lemieux family. His father was Luna's own personal butler, which is why Étienne was assigned to Max when he was born. The necklace is as significant to him as Max.

     "Starting today, I'll be wearing it," Max answers, touching the necklace as he said it.

     "You are aware that you cannot wear that publicly, am I correct?" Étienne asks, but Max doesn't answer him and wears his shirt instead. But even though he didn't give an answer, Max knew about that fact. Max can only inherit the Lemieux riches, along with the necklace, when he turns eighteen. He's still seventeen, so he's still not in the position to flaunt it.

     "By the way, if you ever mention anything to father I will fire you," Max warns before hiding the necklace underneath his shirt. Étienne wanted to tell him about how his father would react if he ever catches Max with that necklace, but he decides to keep his mouth shut and nod his head instead. "Understood."

      "I'll eat breakfast after I finish some paperwork. Please tell Marcus to not wait for me," Max says after, and Étienne bows and walks to the door. Before leaving, Étienne looks over his shoulder and seriously tells his master, "Madam Luna was killed because she was a Lemieux. You don't want to end up like her nor the Stepanov's." Then Étienne leaves and closes the door behind him.

      Max takes a seat on the sofa and stares at the scattered papers on top of the center table. He reads through one of the reports, but as he's doing so, Max unconsciously touches the necklace through his shirt. He traces the shape of the pendant and whispers under his breath, "Lemieux." And as soon as he says that word, he spots a signature in one of the papers. A signature from a man named Denzel Sinclaire.

...

Marcus left using a different car this time. No one knows about the relationship he has with Max, but it's better to be safe now than be sorry later.

     "Master Leigh, sir Marcus wants me to send you a message before he left the household," Étienne says as he opens the car door for Max. Max heads inside and waits for Étienne to do the same. As soon as his butler fastened his seatbelt, Max finally asks, "What was it?"