Free Web NovelChapter 29: 29: Noble Law (2)
Tina fell to one knee.
Lucard grabbed the back of her dress near the collar and pulled her up just enough so she could see him.
"Your first slap was for Jenny," he said. "This one is for speaking too much."
Paak!
Her head turned the other way.
"This one is for calling Jake a mouse."
Paak!
"This one is because your voice annoys me."
Paak!
Tina tried to cry, curse, and breathe at the same time. It came out as a messy sound that even a dying goat would probably reject as embarrassing. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Adrian tried to attack Lucard from behind while Lucard was dealing with Tina. He formed a short bone blade in his unbroken hand and aimed for Lucard’s back.
Peter saw it and shouted, "Young Master."
Lucard did not look back.
He kicked backward.
His heel struck Adrian’s knee.
Adrian screamed in pain and fell forward.
Lucard turned, grabbed him by the hair, and slammed his face into the stone path. Not hard enough to kill him. Just hard enough to make his nose bleed and his pride leave his body before his soul did.
Jenny flinched.
Jake’s eyes shone.
Peter looked very uncomfortable, but he still stood in front of Jenny and Jake like Lucard had told him earlier.
Lucard looked at Peter and said, "Protect Jenny and Jake."
Peter straightened. "Yes, Young Master."
Lucard pulled Adrian up by the collar again and pushed him beside Tina. Then he kicked the back of Adrian’s leg, forcing him to kneel. Tina tried to crawl away, but Lucard stepped on the edge of her dress and pulled her back. He pressed one hand on her shoulder and forced her down too.
Soon, both Adrian and Tina were kneeling in front of Lucard’s feet.
Their faces were swollen. Adrian’s nose was bleeding. Tina’s cheeks were red and puffed on both sides. Her makeup was ruined, her hair was messy, and her eyes were filled with tears and hatred. Adrian looked even worse because he had tried to fight and failed badly. If someone who knew them came now, they might need a few seconds to recognize them. If that person had bad eyesight, they might need a full introduction.
Jake looked at them and smiled for the first time that morning.
He was enjoying it.
To him, Lucard was not being cruel. Lucard was standing for them. Lucard was punishing the people who had hurt his sister and humiliated their family. After three days of running, fear, hunger, and crying, seeing his brother make their enemies kneel felt like watching justice arrive with a very angry hand.
Jenny did not feel the same.
She was angry. She was hurt. But when she saw Adrian and Tina kneeling with swollen faces, fear rose inside her too. This was still House Ravencroft. They were inside another noble family’s manor. If things went too far, they might not leave alive.
"Lucard," Jenny said.
Lucard looked at her.
Jenny held her cheek and shook her head. "Stop. That is enough."
Lucard looked at her watery eyes again. The heart curse inside his chest became quieter, as if it approved that he had defended her. That annoyed him more than the insult of the guards.
He looked back at Adrian and Tina.
"You heard her," Lucard said. "She said it is enough."
Adrian and Tina both looked relieved for half a second.
Then Lucard slapped Adrian once more.
Paak!
"And that is for making her say please earlier."
Tina’s lips trembled.
Lucard looked at her.
She quickly lowered her head and did not speak.
At that moment, a loud voice came from the other side of the garden.
"Who dares to beat my son in my own house?"
The voice was filled with anger and authority.
Everyone turned.
A middle aged man in black noble robes was walking quickly toward them with several guards behind him. His hair was black with streaks of gray, and his eyes were sharp and cold. He carried a dark wooden staff with a bone raven carved on top. This man was Baron Ravencroft, the house master of House Ravencroft.
A garden servant must have run inside and informed him about the fight. He had come rushing, and the moment he saw Adrian and Tina kneeling near Lucard’s feet, his face became dark with rage.
Adrian looked up like a drowning man seeing land.
"Father," he said with a broken voice. "Father, I am glad you came. That bastard beat me. That bastard beat your son. Please punish him. I have never been humiliated like this."
Tina also started crying loudly. "Uncle Ravencroft, he hit me. He hit my face. Look what he did to me."
Baron Ravencroft’s anger grew stronger.
He raised his staff.
Black gray mana gathered around it, and a bone claw formed in the air. The claw shot toward Lucard without warning.
Lucard’s eyes narrowed.
He moved back quickly.
The bone claw passed in front of his chest, barely missing him. It struck the stone path and left five deep marks in the ground. Lucard’s clothes moved from the force. If that spell had hit him directly, his current body would have been heavily injured.
Baron Ravencroft looked at him with killing intent.
"Who the hell are you?"
He did not wait for the answer. He moved to Adrian and Tina first. Two guards helped Adrian stand while Baron Ravencroft personally lifted Tina from the ground. His face softened a little when he saw her swollen cheeks.
Tina cried harder after getting support. "Uncle, I did nothing wrong. He attacked me. He attacked Adrian. He is a monster."
Baron Ravencroft patted her head gently.
"Do not worry, Tina. Now that your uncle is here, nobody dares to bully you."
Lucard watched that scene with cold eyes.
So this was how it was.
Jenny stepped forward quickly.
"Uncle Ravencroft."
Baron Ravencroft looked at her.
