Nero studied the man in front of him. There was an arrogance that filled his eyes, as well as a sense of pride. He had been accused of not knowing the struggles of his son, but he felt prideful that he was able to disprove that claim, even if he admitted to instigating Silas' troubles himself in doing so.
"Back in your day?" Nero repeated, his voice no longer amused. In fact, even his volume had decreased as he spoke once more.
"Was it really tough, back in your day? Did you suffer a lot? Was life inconvenient for you?" Nero's mocking tone was quite harsh, and even the butler standing behind him began to stir his aura as a warning.
"Maybe that's the difference between you and the countless foot soldiers who laid down their lives so that everyone else can have a better life. They are trying to improve conditions for humanity, while you are complaining about the unfairness of your own son having it easier than you did.
You're not trying to toughen him up, you're exacting revenge on him for any difficulty you faced in your own childhood. Instead of trying to strengthen his character, you're trying to tear him down. You are not a father, Hurbert Rodney. You are a curse, just of another kind."
Nero did not yell or scream, and he was not forceful with his words, Yet the disgust in his voice was sharper for the level tone he kept, somehow.
"I do not know about anything else, but you can be sure I'll be keeping my distance from one Rodney at the very least."
Nero turned to leave, no longer wishing to spend any time here. This meeting had turned out to be a disaster, and there was no point in making it any worse. He was also aware that if Hurbert was such a callous man, then Silas would probably suffer the consequences for anything he said.
As it was, by calling the man's ego fragile and suggesting he change Silas' school, Nero had somewhat ensured that exactly that did not happen. After all, he would most likely feel the need to prove that his ego was not fragile. But there was just a small chance for that, and it was not certain. After all, such simple reserve psychology did not always work out.
When he turned around, he saw Silas frozen, fear and shock written all over his face. Nero shook his head.
"If I were you, I'd move out of this building," he said to Silas, even though he knew the chances of that happening were low. "The hostels are not so bad."
He looked at Vanessa, who was hiding her emotions well with a horrified expression, and at the butler, who was glaring at Nero.
With a snort, he left the room. He was not expecting to be harmed right now. After all, they left school in a very public fashion, and if anything happened to Nero it would reflect poorly on Hurbert's prestige. But he felt a headache coming on as he thought about the fact that he had just created a huge problem for himself.
The best he could hope for was to be ignored, while the more likely scenario was that he would face more than a few problems once he joined the army. Most likely, he would face a few problems sooner.
If only his own father hadn't disappeared, he could lump this problem in his lap. Although Nero's family was not as rich as Silas', they were not without influence and contacts themselves.
Back in the study, Hurbert looked at Silas and questioned him.
"This is the kind of company you keep? Rude and lacking all manners?"
He shook his head disappointingly before turning to Vanessa.
"I am sorry you had to see that farce, dear. But sometimes, it is good to be exposed to the true characters of others early on. I suggest you keep your distance from such a deviant as well. It will only affect your own future. Silas, why don't you take Vanessa to our private library. Since she wants to research curses, she might find our collection quite fascinating."
Silas, who finally woke from his stupor, squeaked some incomprehensible words and quickly led Vanessa out of the office. The butler stayed behind.
Hurbert frowned slightly as he kept repeating the name 'Grant' as if trying to recall something, but could not. Contrary to how Nero had actually expected, Hurbert was not angry at all. That was because he truly and genuinely underestimated the amount of arrogance in the man's bones. No matter how their exchange actually went, he never took a single word Nero said seriously.
To him, they were just the words of a child. He did not need to pay attention to them.
Instead, he was much more intrigued by Nero's unflinching attitude, especially when being targeted by someone in his position. Such depth of character and resolve was rare, even in actual soldiers let alone a student.
Hurbert, as a cunning man, immediately identified as a potential pawn for the future. As such, he was interested in his background, but he could not recall any notable families with the surname Grant.
"Bring me a file on that child," he said to his butler, and surprisingly the aged man seemed to have exactly such a file ready.
While the files contained detailed records for Nero's achievements in school, the background information on his family was much more limited. There were, however, pictures of his parents, which gave the man pause. A smile appeared on his face, for the first time.
"Interesting," he muttered to himself.
"Shall I ensure the young master stays away from him?" the butler asked.
"No, but let him think I disapprove. It's good for kids to rebel a bit at this age, builds character."
With that, he closed the file and handed it back to the butler. He turned his attention back to his research. To him, this whole incident was just a small interlude during his work. After all, there was nothing more important.