William felt disgusted in his own way. His mother, always independent, hadn’t even considered consulting him about passing on the title, as capricious as she had always been.

And for good reason, Gwynevere had been a witch for over a hundred years. Still young and beautiful to an extent that it was uncertain how much longer she would live. So people would think that Gwynevere would continue to stay in that position.

William had never thought about inheriting the title from his mother, who he assumed would remain in that position forever. Anyway, since his mother would stay there, he planned to leave and find his own life.

He had been thinking like that for a very long time, and now suddenly being told to inherit the title…

‘Isn’t this too much?’

William, who had been walking briskly, suddenly stopped in a strange mood.

‘A very long time?’

He was just 14 years old. Yet, he felt as if he had been wandering for much longer.

‘Am I so surprised?’

Anyway, he felt really disgusted. There were only about 4 years left until he became an adult, and now, all of a sudden, he was told to become the Duke of Rodante. It felt daunting to think about how people would disregard him for his youth.

“Darn it.”

William kicked a protruding rock as he returned to the dormitory.

“Hey, William. Your mother at school… Why was she so angry?”

James asked cautiously as he saw William’s terrifying face.

“My mother wants me to become the Duke of Rodante.”
“Huh?”

“When you become an adult, she says she’ll pass on the title.”

“…Really?”

While William was serious, James’s reaction was rather unimpressed. Frustrated, William said,

“I’ve never thought that my mother would pass on the title to me. I’ve been thinking about living independently for a long time.”

“Ah… I see.”

“Yeah. But now she suddenly tells me to become a duke. Nobody has ever considered me as a successor until now!”

James couldn’t understand why William was so upset. Anyway, since William seemed uncomfortable, he cautiously approached.

“Nobody has? Well, at least I thought it might be possible?”

“What?”

“Because you might become the Duke of Rodante, I thought we should be friends!”

William stared at James in disbelief. James, tapping William’s arm, said,

“My foresight was right.”

Feeling like he had made a good bet, James chuckled, while William, thanks to him, cooled down and thought,

“Wait, is this considered obvious to others?”

Has it been taken for granted all this time that William would be considered the successor of Rodante? Why? When his mother is alive and well?

“Anyway… I don’t know why I got angry, but if it’s decided, I just have to work hard from now on, right?”

“…”

“Still, thanks for telling me early.”

“…Did I?”
“Isn’t that typical? In houses with many children, they often don’t reveal who the successor is until death, but sometimes they do in the will… Wouldn’t it be good to know in advance when the title will be passed on?”

Is that so? William thought with a bewildered feeling. But why am I so angry?

“Or maybe, did you have a dream?”

Yeah, a dream. William had a dream.

“Yeah. I have a dream.”

“What’s the dream?”

Not a cozy alchemy shop with Larisa… Instead, helping people in need and improving people’s perception of alchemy.

“An alchemist.”

“What? Hey, that’s…”

James’s face looked troubled. The combination of Duke of Rodante and alchemist sounded like a dreadful pairing.

“Why choose a profession with such a bad reputation… Can’t you do it secretly as a hobby?”

Sure. This was a normal reaction. But William wanted to change that perception.

Anyone could be a Duke of Rodante. But if it wasn’t him, who would open up a new world with alchemy?

William’s determination solidified.

The saying that having a son is useless proved to be true. Even though he resisted so vehemently before, insisting on marrying Larisa, now that they pushed him to marry, he did nothing.

“What? Respect? Respect is for lunatics.”
It was also William’s greed that kept Larisa, who was dying, in agony. If William hadn’t been greedy, Ginevra wouldn’t have committed a sin against Larisa.

Ginevra knew how obsessed William was with Larisa.

“Even if I lock her up at home, she manages to sneak out and meet him. Even if I keep them apart, they somehow cross paths. What do you want me to do?”

“Yeah. Drink.”

Siod poured alcohol into a glass. He was trying to console the distressed Ginevra by offering her alcohol. Empty bottles were scattered around the research lab.

Ginevra poured out constant complaints, and the more William heard, the more he thought that William was not ordinary.

“Do you know how crazy William is? He ripped his own heart out right in front of me! Just to see his mother go crazy.”

Especially the last part was shocking.

“He’s a bad guy.”

“Who does he resemble? Isn’t it because of your resemblance?”

“Are you drunk?”

“I’m not. It’s because of you.”

Siod gave up on arguing as he watched Ginevra, who had started sobbing. Alcohol was probably not a good idea. He gently pushed her glass away and said,