[United Kingdom]

While Vlad was ascertaining the whereabouts of Alcina, at the same time in the city of London within an exceptionally high-end hotel, Aaron lay flat on his back on the bed, staring straight at the ceiling.

Now that he was calmer and less shocked about the event that happened, he could feel the pain of having burnt his leg. The painkillers helped, but there was still a dull ache.

As he watched the ceiling a memory flashed in his mind, a memory of him and his formerly beloved Aunt Valerie.

His father, a man of intense will, stoicism and a penchant for simply staring at his son for absolutely no reason, had insisted that the young Aaron, at age 16, be trained and educated in the way of the family business by Valerie, his trusted confidant and friend.

Young Aaron had refused, stating he needed no training and that he was already more than ready to lead the Theed family. However, there was no changing the decision; his father wasn't a man to change his mind.

And so, at the age of 16, James Aaron Theed found himself in a dark alley, knife in one hand and gun in the other. His face was bruised and his lips cut open, his left eye swollen and black.

In his own rebellion against his father’s decision, believing himself already capable, he left home both in frustration and in eagerness to prove himself.

Valerie silently stalked the lad in amusement as he ran up on thugs in an alley nearby and foolishly initiated a fight only to have his own buttock given to him seasoned with a black eye and a busted lip, he was lucky that it was daytime and thugs saw no reason to wet him up (stab him).

And now, at night time, the same thugs were beaten, bruised and bound courtesy of Valerie.

“Go ahead, little one. Finish the job.”

She beckoned the child. His grip on the gun was loose, but his handle on the knife was tight, a detail that Valerie noticed but never voiced.

“Do I really have to do this? Can't you do it? miss Valerie”

Aaron asked, feeling more than a little hesitation at the prospect of murder; when his father said she'd train him, he had thought it would be combat, not train him to Kill.

“You are the future head of the family, little one; you know exactly what that entails, don't you?”

The blue-eyed woman said, and Aaron gulped as he felt his stomach churn at the prospect; he was already satisfied with how Valerie had beat them up; what reason was there to kill them now?

“Can't you do it? As someone working for my father can't I command you to kill at my order”

“You certainly can but what happens when you don't have a subordinate to command? Or when someone you thought was a loyal subordinate tries to kill you”

Valerie queried the young man; her gaze showed no emotion, and her words were said in a monotone.

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“I'm sure none of my father's subordinates would betray him or me when I'm the head”

“I suppose that's true”

Hearing such confirmation from her made him feel slightly better about the situation. It felt as though he could always count on her.

“But you still need to do it, developing a killer instinct is necessary if you want to overcome adversity, no man or woman with power be it political or physical is afraid to kill, as they know the necessity of demonstrating their resolve and will”

She advised, but Aaron could not help but think of prime ministers and presidents; surely they weren’t so violent and bloodthirsty, right? Regardless of what Valerie had said, he still felt hesitant.

“Aaron, no one will follow someone who can't do what they can do, no one will follow someone without the resolve that they have, and no one will follow someone unwilling to walk the road they're walking. Weakness invites betrayal”

She said with finality this time her voice carrying a threatening tone that made Aaron shiver.

“Either kill now and cultivate the resolve necessary to take over for your father or Don't and prepare for an eventual betrayal”

Her words were unpleasant, but he couldn’t argue against them; his father had been open about what the family did when he was at the age of 13, and now, 3 years later, once again, he's being plunged into the deep end.

“If it makes you feel better, you can kill just one of them and I'll kill the rest, use the gun it will be quicker”

With slight hesitation, he dropped the knife and held the gun with both hands and placed his fingers on the trigger. He struggled to pull the trigger at first, hesitation and unwillingness telling him to stop, but with force of will, he pulled the trigger.

*BLAM!*

The bullets pierced through the head of one of the thugs, killing them instantly. The force from the gun had caused the young Aaron to stagger back, and he felt a tingling sensation on his hands.

“Good work, let's go get some Ice cream”

*BLAM!*

*BLAM!*

Was all she had said before; pulling a gun out of her jacket and with zero hesitation or thought, she killed the other two thugs, paying no mind to the seemingly conflicted child who stood there contemplating what he had done.

*Knock*

A knock on his door pulled the young man out of his musings; his face showed a neutral expression before quickly switching to an expression of confusion; he was certain he told no one to knock on his door, not even room service.

“Young Master, it's me, Walter”

Hearing the voice and recognizing the name he quickly sat up on his bed, limped his way out of the room and went to open the door.

“Walter!”

Having opened the door, Aaron was quick to give the man a hug, causing Walter to reciprocate the hug, patting the young man on the back and comforting him.

“I heard what happened, young master.”

Walter informed as they both separated from the hug; Walter was a tall man with short white hair; he had dull blue eyes and a face littered with scars; his tall figure and face boasted a menacing feeling that most would find eerie and scary.

“Did my mom tell you?”

“Yes but I also went to the mansion and saw its ashes”

The middle-aged man said as he scratched the back of his head, and Aaron only responded with a simple “oh” as he showed a distraught facial expression.

“Young Master, who did it? If you don't mind me asking”

Aaron couldn't help but shiver as Walter asked him such a question. The old man had a stern look on his face, one that did not show much emotion, but Aaron guessed that deep down, Walter was simmering in silent anger, and the young lad was correct.

Walter had been his father's left hand; he did all the dirty work and handled all the negotiations that were a bit too suspicious, and it is largely thanks to this ageing behemoth of a man that his father had survived so long in such a vicious world they live in.

It also went without saying that the man was highly skilled in a multitude of fighting styles and weapons. He was extremely experienced and had been with the Theed family since the time of Aaron's grandfather.

“It was Au… it was Valerie”

He said, correcting himself as he didn't feel right calling her “Aunt”. His head did not look at the man before him as he spoke. However, the reaction of shock that he expected didn't come; instead, Walter let out a sigh.

“I see”

“Walter you–”

He turned, ready to flip out and accuse him of the same thing he accused his mother days prior. However, the serious look he saw on Walter caused him to pause.

“Young master, are you willing to let this matter go and take over the family as you should as the heir or do you want revenge?”

He asked calmly, his tone more neutral than it should be, this caused the young Aaron to frown. He did not like the lack of reaction from the people he thought would be most shocked by the news.

“How could I possibly let this go? I need to know why she did it, who put her up to it, she'd never do something like that without reason”

He said, despite not wanting to acknowledge her as his Aunt anymore, some part of him still hung onto the hope that his dear aunt was forced to betray the people she loved, surely it was that type of cliche and not some malicious intent from her

“I'm afraid she would, Young Master”

Walter answered, his voice calm as if stating a fact.

“NO! She wouldn't, someone must have threatened her, one of the other families or someone else.”

Aaron refused to believe, and his refusal caused Walter to once again sigh; this time, the anger he was feeling lessened; he needed to explain things to Aaron and doing so while angry wouldn't be ideal.

“Young Master, listen, there's still a lot you don't know, the old master, your grandfather hadn't wanted to be involved in that side of the world anymore and your father shared the same sentiment, although he wasn't privy to Valerie’s true nature like the old master was”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sit down young master, I have a lot to explain”

Walter informed as he moved towards the couch to take a seat, prompting Aaron to do the same.

......