Chapter 200 - 194. Felling A Tree
"I will register myself as Ishtera."
Zein looked straight into the Elder’s eyes, which were shaking before. Now, those eyes were blinking in surprise. He stopped talking, letting his words sink into their mind.
"Y-you mean...you’ll take your father’s legacy, Young Master?" the Elder asked, with a small trembling in his voice.
Zein swallowed his sigh. He waited until the police officer--Cohen--finished serving the tea before explaining himself. "I’ll say this upfront; I don’t intend on reviving the clan," he said, sweeping stern gaze to the Elder and the middle-aged man, Senan.
"Then..."
"What I want is to take the name that both my parents left me. I think I owed them that much for birthing me into existence," Zein rubbed his wrist, feeling the pulsing vein beneath. "But the clan, and the organization, I would like you to stop."
"I...have no intention to accept Setnath’s descent. So the seed died with me, your duty ends with me," Zein shifted his gaze toward the youngsters, the young man and woman standing behind the Elder’s chair. "You should forget about any sense of responsibility toward me and life for yourself."
The young man, Arlo, flinched under the gaze. He felt like he was being called out, as if those blue eyes penetrated his mind and read his thought. Indeed, Arlo had been thinking exactly that; feeling that their so-called duty was pointless, hating the fact that he couldn’t freely do what he wanted to do because he needed to abide by the clan’s rule, living as a servant of someone who might or might not exist.
"Young Master..."
"I’m thankful," Zein raised his palm, signaling that he still wanted to talk. "Your loyalty, I respect that. Perhaps if my life went differently, I wouldn’t mind it. But..." he paused, frowning slightly, before letting out a sigh. "I have no intention of becoming the head of a clan, or leading people I didn’t know of. Your loyalty lies with the clan, but I am not a part of that."
"You’re an Ishtera--"