Chapter 331 - 323. Collaborator
Sixty-three years ago, he was born as Darleon Horin. Twenty-two years later, he was just Darleon, and it wasn’t until six years later that he took his wife’s surname, becoming a Belthera.
From the youngest direct descendant of an Old House to an exiled, Darleon had gone from riches to rag, and gained a name for himself without the help of his family. It was exactly as he wanted; it was the whole reason he threw away his family name.
The House of Horin wasn’t too well known in public, unlike the House of Mallarc and Caishan. They did not dabble in commerce or politics, where eyes easily fell on them. They dedicated themselves to the exploration of the world’s history, uncovering mystery of the Old Days. That being said, for some reason, they held enough power to bend the government and public figures to their will. It was a House that had power in silence, away from public knowledge.
Perhaps because of that, no one knew who Darleon was when he ventured unnamed to the world. And to this day, the people outside the House who knew he used to be a Horin could be counted with one hand. Consequently, no one knew why he would throw away his position and abandon the name of Horin.
The truth, for Darleon himself, was more boring than anything.
He was fed up. He was just fed up with everything happening in that House. The constant infighting, the relationship that didn’t feel like it happened between blood, the obsession about maintaining power...
Ever since he was old enough to hold weapons, he was told that he might be killed if his older brothers felt like he was a threat to the official heir position. Little Leon was confused; he had never wanted to be a patriarch, he just wanted to play with his siblings like the kids in the school did.
But it didn’t matter. He wasn’t a threat as long as he did not awaken. But he did, and he became just another target. His older siblings, who were supposed to be his protectors in a more benevolent world, became his biggest source of danger instead. Constantly, he was faced with slander, poisoning attempts, traps inside dungeons, and things that could kill him anytime. It didn’t matter that he had no intention of being the heir, he was still a possible candidate, and thus, he was still in the pool of contestation.
The only way for him to get out of that pool was...well, to get out of the clan housing that pool in the first place.
But doing so would mean leaving his mother behind, the only person who showered him with the love that a son should receive. And so he held on; he held on until he was blue in the face, just like how he held on in Celestia later on despite the internal politics going against him at every turn.
He held on, until he didn’t have to. Once his mother was no longer there in the world to keep him sane, he voluntarily left the clan; left the family that never felt like a family, left the House with nothing but the name his mother gave him.