Free Web NovelChapter 4: Luke, No Kingsley
The noble cars arrived at Kingsley estate. Once the driver opened the door, Vivian jumped out and started toward the palace as fast as she could.
"Father! Father, I have to talk to you!" she yelled. She wanted to reach him before anything bad happened, and explain to her best that Luke wasn’t a failure.
Vivian pushed the doors to the Throne Room. Usually, this was a room for ceremonies, but it was anything other than that tonight. Her father, Cedric Kingsley, was sitting on the highest chair, flanked by the family elders. Behind Cedric stood Roselyn, the stepmother with a fake smile on her face.
Vivian ran toward the middle of the room. "Father, please! About what happened at the school—"
"Sit down, Vivian," Cedric interrupted firmly.
"But Father—"
"I said, sit!" Cedric roared.
Vivian flinched. She had no choice, so she walked to a chair on the side and sat down, her hands shaking in her lap.
A moment later, the other three walked in. Adrian walked at the front, Raven walked behind him, and at the back was Luke. When Cedric saw his son, Luke, his face soured.
Meanwhile, Luke felt the weight of everyone’s eyes. He knew it was his hour of reckoning.
One of the oldest elders stood up. He was holding a long piece of paper. He cleared his throat and began to speak.
"According to the laws of the Kingsley House, strength is the only measure of a leader," the elder said. "Luke Kingsley has failed the standard. He has summoned... a tool, not a beast. Therefore, he is no longer fit to be the heir."
Luke felt his face go hot. He was flushed with shame.
The elder continued, "From this moment on, Luke Kingsley is officially disinherited. He has no claim to the title of Duke, no claim to the family fortune, and no claim to the Kingsley name. The title of Successor is now given to... Adrian Kingsley."
Behind, Adrian exhaled. Mission successful for him and his mother. When he glanced at Roselyn, they shared a look of victory.
"No!" cried Vivian. "You can’t do this! He’s your son!" ƒreewebɳovel.com
But the elder wasn’t finished. He looked at Luke with cold eyes as if he were his father. "And that is not all. For the crime of bringing such immense shame to this prestigious clan, Luke Kingsley is hereby banished. He must leave the estate immediately and never return."
The room went silent. This was much worse than just losing a title. Being banished meant he was being thrown out into the wild world with nothing.
Vivian burst into tears and ran to her father’s feet. "Father, please! Banishment? Please, no! Monsters are appearing in the city every day! He won’t survive!"
Even Roselyn looked a bit surprised. She had plotted to make her son the heir, but she hadn’t expected Cedric to be this cruel.
"Cedric, dear," Roselyn said. "Is banishment not a bit too much? The news says the Gamma gates are manifesting randomly now. It could be very dangerous for someone who... well, someone who is as weak as Luke."
Cedric didn’t care what the women thought. "He is not a Kingsley," he muttered. "He is a mistake."
At the center of the room, Luke was devastated. He felt like his heart was being crushed by a giant hand. He couldn’t just stand there and let them throw him away like trash. He had to show them. He had to prove he wasn’t weak.
"Father, wait!" Luke shouted desperately. "I’m not weak! You don’t understand what happened on that stage! I have power! Just look!"
Luke focused all his energy on his soul, and he called out the gauntlet.
Clang!
The dark, heavy metal appeared around his hand and arm. It pulsed with a dull, red light.
〖Hell Ape Gauntlet Activated〗
〖Current Strength: x50,000%〗
Luke held up his hand, the air around the gauntlet shimmering from the heat. "See? It’s not just a glove! It’s a Beast Armor! I can feel so much strength right now! I can fight!"
He expected his father to be impressed. He thought maybe Cedric would see the red glow and realize this was special. But instead, Cedric’s face turned from cold to pure rage.
The Duke stood up from his throne, rising like a gargantuan volcano that was about to explode.
"How dare you!" Cedric roared. "You dare to show me that... that piece of blacksmith’s scrap? You stand in the Throne Room of the Kingsley House and show me a glove? Do you think this is a joke?"
"No, Father, it’s—"
"SILENCE!" Cedric exploded. "You are an insult to my blood! You are an insult to your mother’s memory! I never want to see that disgusting piece of metal again! Guards! Take this disgrace out of my sight!"
Two big guards executed the command by grabbing Luke tightly.
Meanwhile, Luke was so stunned by his father’s reaction that he didn’t even struggle as he was dragged out of the palace, hearing his sister’s cry echoing through the hallways.
Luke was put in the back of a black SUV. The windows were tinted dark, so he couldn’t see much of the estate as it disappeared behind them. Up in the passenger seat was Alice, a woman who had known Luke since the day he was born. She had carried him. Held him. Fed him. Seen him grow up inside that house with her own eyes.
So watching his life shatter like this hurt her deeply.
They drove in silence for a long time. The SUV sped away from the wealthy district and toward the heart of the city. The neon lights of New Florence began to flash against the windows, and finally, the car pulled over in a dark street near a bus station.
Alice turned around in her seat to speak to Luke.
"Your father told us to just drop you off with nothing," Alice whispered. "He wanted you to leave and live a rotten life until you died in a gutter. He wanted to punish you for being ’weak.’"
Luke was angry, but he didn’t say anything.
"But I couldn’t let that happen," Alice said. She reached into her pocket and revealed a plastic card. Leaning over, she handed it to Luke. "This is what I can give without being noticed. It’s not much for a Kingsley, but it’s 7,000 scrips. The PIN is 2244. Please, Luke. Use it to find a place to stay."
Luke looked down at the card. 7,000 scrips was a lot of money for a normal person. It was enough to survive for a few months if he was careful.
"Thank you, Alice," Luke said. "I... I won’t forget this. I promise."
"Just stay alive, Little Luke," she said, using the name she called him when he was a toddler.
Luke opened the car door and stepped out onto the cold pavement. He took a deep breath of the city air, which smelled like rain and car exhaust. The SUV rolled away immediately until its taillights disappeared into the traffic.
Luke stood there for a while, recovering from everything that had happened. One hour ago, he was a prince of the Kingsley family. Now, he was a banished nobody. He felt the sting of his father’s words again: A mistake. An insult to my blood.
"You’re the one who made a mistake, Father," Luke muttered to himself.
He gripped the card Alice gave him. Without Alice, Luke really would have been dead meat. He would have been sleeping on a bench tonight. But now, he could find a dormitory space in school, get a roof over his head, and afford some food. He had a chance to start over.
Luke started walking down the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets. He needed to find an ATM to check the notes, then look for a place to sleep. As he walked, he looked at the tall buildings and the people walking by. Nobody knew who he was. For the first time in his life, he was just a regular person in the crowd.
It felt strange, but also a little bit nice He didn’t have to act like a "young master" anymore.
As his walk of retrospection lengthened, Luke thought about the gauntlet and the Molten Triceratops Mask. He realized he was the only person in the world with a system like this. Everyone else relied on their pets, but he was becoming the beast himself.
However, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise.
SCREECH!
A car swerved on the road ahead of him and crashed into a light pole. Suddenly, Luke heard commotion coming from the direction of a shopping mall two blocks away.
People started screaming. Luke saw dozens running out of the mall’s main entrance. They looked terrified. Some were falling over, and others were yelling for help.
"Run! Get out of here!" a man yelled as he sprinted past Luke.
To understand what was happening, Luke grabbed the arm of a fleeing passerby, a young woman who was crying. "What’s going on? Why is everyone running?"
The dishevelled woman screamed, "A Gamma gate! It just appeared! Right in the middle of the food court! The monsters are coming out!"
Luke let go of her arm, and she ran away as fast as she could.
He looked toward the mall again.
--
--
--
A/N: Thanks for reading!
