A lie, it had to be a lie. Alex didn't believe the words to be anything more than cruel lies.

　　"Don't lie to me! You have already disowned me, what's the need of inventing such lies!"

　　"What need is there for a giant to deceive an ant?"

　　"My father ordered me to marry the daughter of the previous Viscount Leitner to tell the world that house Leitner could still count on the support of house Kracht.

　　That was all so that he could repay the man for saving his life at the cost of his own. Their camaraderie was heartwarming but brought my n.o.ble name untold disgrace.

　　Because your mother…is nothing more than an arriviste wh.o.r.e! I knew it from the start, every man of high n.o.bility knew how easy it was to spread her legs in exchange of benefit.

　　All my peers knew how she fawned on the mighty and disdained the feeble. But I had to wed such a creature…because such was my father's wish."

　　There was evident resentment within Count Wolfgang's voice as he reminisced the past.

　　"We are all free to live our lives as we choose. Therefore, while promiscuity is not something, I'm particularly fond of, I do not outright despise it. However, those who see others as nothing more than tools to advance their social standing and s.e.x as a mean of entrapment, profoundly disgust me. Thus, while I did marry her, I have never touched her."

　　"As we walked into the bridal chamber, I recall that she was overjoyed. But when she realized she could be nothing more than my wife in name, she started looking for new, better options. And fifty years ago, she found your father, a Semi-Holy Priest of the Holy Flame Church."

　　Alex staggered and fell onto his rear with his trembling legs spread and disbelief consuming his eyes.

　　"It's not…possible. A lie…it has to be a lie!"

　　"Please…stop!"

　　He clenched his hands around his head, his nails digging past his hairs, and almost drawing blood from his skull.

　　"Believe if you want to. Do not believe if you don't want to. But know that no matter how evil, a tiger will not eat its own cub. Were you my son, were you my only male bloodline, I would rather kill you than cripple your manhood."

　　"Your life is a lie. A devilish ploy orchestrated by your repulsive genitors to take over my house. A mixture between an opportunity for promotion and the mean to satisfy their greed. But I pitied you, the whelp that asked for nothing. So, I gave you an education, hoping you could be upright. I taught you martial arts, hoping you could defend yourself. But most importantly, I gave you…my name!"

　　"Yet, you dare consort with evil to bring harm to the hand that raised you? Ungrateful worm! Even if you were my son, I would still butcher you!"

　　Wolfgang's battle-ax cleaved the air, aiming for the stupefied Alex's neck. But as the blade approached his flesh, droplets of tears streaked down his cheeks. Tears that caused Wolfgang's ax to stop and his face to contort into a frown.