✎ to you, who swallowed a star 「 ed•v 」

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𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖒𝖓𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝖖𝖚𝖔 𝖓𝖔𝖓 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖌𝖚𝖓𝖙.

•••

Drip.

The pattering sound of the first rainshower of spring echoed throughout the Khun Family Estate, sending the territory into an inexplicably foul mood.

Khun Eduan was not an exception.

Although he does not quite hate the prevailing weather per sé, but the countless series of events associated with this had always left a slight bittersweet distaste in his mouth. Still, a part of himself over the course of the centuries had grown to look forward to rainy seasons like these, because this is one of the only opportunities he could grab to venture around his territory without having to force himself to bat an eyelash over his countless conniving wives and offsprings.

As horrible as it sounds, Khun Eduan had never been a family man, and neither was he the type of person to think favorably of commitment. He does not have that paternal instinct to prioritize other lives like he does with his own, nor does he believe in the virtue of marriage out of unconditional faithfulness and fidelity. If a woman desires to bear him a child, their emotional needs will not be something he will consider as his business. After all, how can he provide something he never had? That might have almost changed thousands of years ago, but that was all there is. An almost. All what-could-have-beens, and a utopic past he cannot ever return to, because it never existed.

Drip.

"ACK-!"

The patriarch halted his pace as a strangling, broken sound following a resounding impact emanated from the far end of the academy grounds, which was strange in itself because he had thought the old men declared it a restricted area a long time ago to mask whatever rebellion they were concocting.

"You are so fucking weak."

'Children,' Eduan confirmed once he had teleported himself, curiosity getting the better of him. It's not just his own children, however, but the demon spawns molded into his likeness, tormenting a familiar kid bearing chestnut brown hair in the midst of a dense forest.

"What the hell did Master Eduan see in a foreigner like you to make him think you were worthy of training under his wing?"

An Ennui child, probably the ringleader, bashed a large rock toward the brunet with so much force it broke to fragments. Liquid made of blood crimson trickled from the afflicted areas- abrasions on his scalp, temple, and the busted lip the latter had acquired as soon as the lackeys gained enough confidence to take out their frustrations on him, beating his body black and blue, soiling the entirety of his uniform. Still, the Twenty-fifth Bam remained silent as he crouched, head hung low and unmoving, as if giving his assailants the license to proceed for a reason Eduan knows but cannot comprehend.

"When an Ennui wants you to speak, you speak! Fucking bastard!"

The patriarch caught a glimpse of the child's emptied look when one of them grabbed his hair to force their eyes to meet, and something had stirred inside him. "Oh, come on! Where is the arrogance you always had whenever the Master is present, huh?! Where is that confidence of yours when Aguero Agnis and Ran Maschenny hung around you?!" the leader crumpled Bam's collar to hoist him up, only to knee his gut and grip the smaller's jaw. "Are you so special that Father chose to mentor a leech like you rather than his own flesh and blood?"

The bell from the clocktower rang, signifying that it was high time the children return to their classes for a self-study period. And because their mothers' words are law, the group could do nothing but release the brunet harshly and spit at him with sheer disgust, a condescending glare thrown at him who had fallen limp, almost lifelessly of not for the hitched breaths he was keeping together as he slumped the ground. "Do not even bother thinking that you can belong here, fucking immigrant."