Mark's words of encouragement, or rather his attempts anyway, seemed to have spurred a determination in Gray. As this helped Gray more or less start to study harder as they'd spend more time in the library trying to read books that weren't present. The best Gray can do is try to be smarter so he can impress his Mother, while simultaneously ignoring Owen, not that he was trying to approach him anyways which means he most likely doesn't know that Gray is his son.

Meanwhile, Mark had finally been able to fully recover from his injuries he is currently being discharged by the hospital now that they have deemed him fit to outside now.

"Finally some proper fresh air," Mark commented in a low voice as he started walking around all the while his parents were signing papers about his discharge. He spotted Malachi grabbing his bag and his rifle, which was wrapped around a bag for security reasons.

"Grandfather, are you also being discharged today?" Mark called out to Malachi as he walked towards him, meanwhile, Miriam smiled and ran towards him with a hug.

"That's right," Malachi smiled as he ran his head across Mark while wrapping his arm around Miriam. "Though I won't be coming with you."

"What why?!" Miriam asked in disbelief, in the time Mark had spent being hospitalized Miriam had spent her time with Malachi as both Joshua and Mary were busy working on paperwork while keeping an eye on him recovering. Mark felt a little guilty getting all the attention of his parents all the while his twin almost got neglected had not for her spending time with either Gray or Malachi.

"Well, I promised your Mother that I'll be a better father and try to restore our House to its former glory," Malachi said with a confident smile as he pulled out a torn piece of paper and unfolded it reveals a map of a small settlement called Fenrir which is hidden within a valley in the mountainside.

"We're property owners too?" Mark asked.

"Used to, but it's under the control of a steward in my stead after Mary left and I went hunting the Behemoth years ago," Malachi explained as he folded the paper and placed it back into his coat pocket as he did so.

According to Malachi, he was the Master of a lesser Settlement known as Fenrir where the Dirus family ruled the settlement. But recently they ended up being ruled by a steward that was fiercely loyal to the Dirus the same way his family had sworn their loyalty to Aina, though that did nothing to reassure Mark knowing he had been gone for decades and for all he knew a new steward had taken over and chose to take over as the ruler of that settlement. In terms of allegiance, however, they were mostly neutral which surprises Malachi knowing that his only daughter had married a man who is more or less a sworn soldier towards the Archimans.

His coming back to a Settlement that he more or less abandoned and welcoming him back with open arms feels like a pipe dream. Mark thought as Malachi continued to explain many things about the area of the settlement. Honestly, I doubt that they'll take you back old man, come to think of it. I certainly hope that I don't end up getting your sense of priority.

"But you'll write to us right?" Miriam asked him with a pair of pleading eyes.

"I promise I will," Malachi said with a reassuring smile. "Once I finish restoring the settlement, I'll start writing to you all I promise."

You're more likely to die than succeed. Mark thought to himself, he may not be the best ruler in his past life but he was fairly confident that Malachi is a lesser ruler and an incompetent ruler at worse.

"So you're finally heading off?" Mary said walking towards them with her arms crossed but she had a small smile on her face. Given how her first interaction towards him was outright hostile, this is an improvement implying that the two have started to get along more.

Guess he took my word to heart. Mark thought as Malachi began to explain everything about her and how he plans to come back.

"You don't have to come back, you can always stay with us," Mary said in a soft voice while Miriam started nodding in agreement. "Maybe even watch Mark and Miriam grow up."

"I want to be a respectable and honourable grandfather for them to look up to. And not some vengeful old man who abandoned his loved ones for revenge." Malachi said with a dry laugh, Miriam was confused but Mark couldn't help but smile at his comment.

"And he's not coming in alone." The two turned to find Ain walking towards them with a smile on his face while beside him was Owen with a rather neutral look on his face. Mark suddenly remembered his talk with Gray a while ago about how Owen was his father, the more he looked like Gray and how he has the same aquamarine eyes that Gray had. Not to mention he had the same smile that had this mischievous glint into them the same way Gray would talk him into sneaking out at night and talking at the rooftops back in Dahlia.

There is no doubt that Owen is Gray's Father.

"Malachi explained everything to us and in the last few days, I had agreed to assist him in restoring the Settlement as thanks for everything that had happened," Ein explained with a confident smile on his face.

"I just hope it doesn't escalate into conflict though," Mary commented in a low voice.

"Oh no, we're going through a more passive route," Ein explained to them and shot a rather teasing smile at Owen who just looked down uncomfortably as Ein wrapped his arm around him with a rather amused look on his face. "

"Are you staying cause of Miss Aina?" mark said trying his best to sound innocent when in reality he was trying to both get a reaction out of him and also learn the truth about his intentions. Plus if he can get Owen to stick around and be at least a positive male influence towards the Gray he can make him a far easier target for Mark to manipulate in the future.

"Yeah something along those lines," Owen said sheepishly. "Thanks to that I got reassigned as Master Aina's personal Guard."

So you're going to be her boy toy then, got it? Mark thought to himself trying his best to not scoff at his thinly veiled excuse to just be with Aina. This gave him a hilarious idea that if the two end up becoming together once more and Gray would end up walking onto them in the heat of passion.

"By the way," Mark turned to Mary with a curious look on his face who incidentally had the same teasing look on her face, indicating that she probably had the same thought Mark was having when Owen sheepishly admitted that he was going to be living with them.

"Where will we be staying?"

"You'll see," Mary said with a rather amused smile on her face while Owen sighed as though this wasn't the first time he had seen Mary pull such a thing.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

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[The Second Advent]

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Meanwhile, Joshua finished writing the paperwork that needed to discharge Mark from the Hospital, Aina walked to his side about to tell something to him.

"I heard about Owen." Joshua smiled trying to ease the tension with a little tease. "Looks like he's sticking around, try not to get too heated and—"

"I told him about Gray," Aina said as she leaned by the counter and in a low voice caused Joshua to drop his pen and looked at Aina with a surprised look on his face. While he did advocate that she and Owen were to get back together for the benefit of Gray so that the child won't grow up without a father but he didn't expect her to tell him almost immediately.

"How did he take it?" Joshua asked.

"Surprised, to be honest, I can't blame him though," Aina said rubbing her arm, it was her way of showing that she was uneasy. "It has been seven years since we had a proper talk like that and now I ended springing into him that he's a father now."

"I see," Joshua said turning to Mark and the others who were busy talking to one another while he can see Owen shooting glances at Gray who was also occasionally looking at him. "Does Gray know?"

"Not yet." Aina shook her head.

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[The Second Advent]

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One of the things that Mark had found interesting is the development of these massive metal carriages known as automobiles or vehicles, as what would take a day's worth of journey or even more thanks to the vehicles that were provided alongside the fact that a handful of roads have already been built many years ago. He had read maps of the Loria region and running the numbers, he had learned that the path from Caga to Ophel would take at least a few days at their top speed on foot and with the aid of mounts, but thanks to the Archiman affiliated trucks and the roads that came with it all it would take is a few hours.

Perhaps it was at that moment, that Mark initially thought that the world he had been born into was no different from the feudal world Marchosias was born into but instead, it would seem that this new world is somewhat more advanced with a few untamed lands. This is why he, Miriam, Gray, and to his surprise; Gaige were staring out of the window of the trucks watching the Lorian countryside as they made their way towards the Capital of Loria which is the City of Ophel.

Mark looked in awe as he spotted multiple towers that dot the landscape from the distance, but unlike the ones he had seen in the past which were somewhat curved, they appear to be cubic or rectangular all the while being enveloped by the environment indicating that they have long been abandoned in the past.

I wonder what happened. Mark thought to himself as he turned to the other children who were just as amazed as he was.

"Hey Gaige," Mark called out to him with a tap on the shoulder. "Are you also coming with us to Ophel?"

"Yup, the doctor said I'm free to go home," Gaige said as he began to explain to him that his family the Shinomoris live in Ophel as that is where their branch that serves Hashira Enterprise and that the only reason why he was in Caga in the first place is the fact that Caga is known within the Region for having the best doctors as he has a weak immune system.

Poor kid, Mark thought as he listened to his story about how one time he had been hospitalised for days and had to endure blood tests. Had he been born in my world he would have no doubt been killed the moment they learned of his immune system.

It was also there that he learned that Gaige has had little to no friends as he had spent his first seven years in the hospital drinking medicine created specifically to improve his body, and it was only recently that he was now deemed fit for society. It was honestly pitiful for Mark, as he can see the kid wanting to enjoy life but he was held back by his health.

"I'm glad that you're now able to get out of the Hospital then," Mark pointed out with a smile they finally arrived in the City of Ophel. At first, Mark thought the city is a great walled city but to his surprise, it wasn't, built along the ruins of an old city which too has been reclaimed by nature as evident from the numerous vines that were growing around the buildings. Despite the fact the entire city is built upon the ruins of a previously devastated city, the people seem to carry on with their lives as though the world outside the boundaries of the City of Ophel was nothing to them.

I am not surprised that the people residing here are complacent and ignorant. I mean look at this place! Mark's first thoughts on the matter as they drove past the gates of the City which only had a handful of small lesser buildings that were accompanied by soldiers armed with the same weapons the ones Ein had equipped himself with on the day. As they drove across the streets of the city, he can see towers that can reach the sky at unbelievable heights all the while people walked in far more expensive clothes and indicated that they were either nobility or just plain wealthy.

Mark glanced at his clothes, which were just normal clothes and were for the most part plain at first glance. Anyone who sees them can tell that they were country bumpkins from a mile away and he was not gonna be a surprise that people are gonna start looking at them funny.

And then Mark realized something.

Aina and Gray are part of a family that more or less serves as the landowners of a large space of land and governs them similar to that of a noble family. But despite affiliation towards said family, they are placed in a rather remote area out of sight of the main family. If Gray's early reaction towards Ein, her biological uncle, is anything to go by this meant that she didn't even know he existed in the first place then Mark had concluded.

Aina and Gray are part of a lesser branch of the Family! The Black Sheep no less! Mark thought to himself as he felt the blood drain out of his face earning a concerned look from Gray who had turned to him for a reaction to the sights.

"You alright?" Gray asked, Mark, faked a smile and waved it off nonchalantly.

How could I have not noticed this!? I am far smarter than this! Mark thought in disbelief as he moved around the truck in a spot where the three children would not notice him as he took a deep breath as he was trying his best to calm down. No, no. The evidence piles up well I was far too confident of my worth to realize this folly. Mark shook his head as he recounted the evidence that he had learned in the last few years.

First, the two of them live and govern a lesser part of the masterdom of Archiman whereas Ein is currently just. He only recently learned that after Ein decided to teach them a few things when they were still at the hospital in Caga.

Second, Gray knew little about the world outside and didn't even know that Ein Archiman existed nor any of his relatives for that matter.

Third, based on Gray's reactions this is the first time he had arrived at this place. Even if the two of them are family Aina would have at least discussed their family history with him, but she mentioned very little about her family in her journals implying that she was at the very least trying to start a new life in Dahlia as though she is trying to put her life as an Archiman behind her.

No, I can still make this work. The situation has gotten even better. Mark thought to himself as he realized the new opportunities that had presented themselves. Yes, the two are black sheep but if Mark plays his cards right he can orchestrate a way to elevate Gray into a better light in the eyes of the leader of this family.

It'll take some time. But I can work with this. His pondering was quickly interrupted as they arrived in the compound of the Archimans the moment he had gotten off the Truck and his jaw nearly dropped as the compound unfolded before his sight. While it was no castle, he can tell that the very place is a mansion surrounded by the large plaza that came with a fountain stationed at the centre of the city.

There is no doubt that I have underestimated their wealth and power. Mark thought to himself as he closed his mouth and looked to find Gray and Miriam who were just amazed as they were when they see it, Gaige and his company had been dropped off earlier at a different location, and they were greeted by the sight of a handful of butlers and maids waiting for them at the gate.

"Welcome home, Lady Aina." One of the Maids said bowing in front of her as she and Gray walked towards her with a kind smile on her face. "Your Mother, Master Yulie is waiting for you."

"I suppose I'm about to get an earful for letting what happened in Dahlia huh," Aina said with a chuckle as she looked onwards to reveal a short older woman that was honestly half of Aina's height, her pinkish white hair tied in a bun and a monocle over one of her green eyes, at first Mark thought she was just a sour-looking old woman but he can sense a form of authority in her, the kind that would stubbornly refuse to admit defeat.

He honestly admired that fighting spirit.

"That's right," Yulia said walking towards Aina with Gray hiding behind her fearfully.

"You and I have a long talk young lady, both of you." She said pointing both at her and Gray.

Well, this is going to be fun, Mark thought with an amused laugh.