Chapter 568 - 566: The Sky Has Fallen, Why Would He Become the Princely Heir?

Chapter 568: Chapter 566: The Sky Has Fallen, Why Would He Become the Princely Heir?

But unexpectedly, he had overheard a conversation between him and a strange man.

The man said.

"Don’t forget how you got your position as General. You wouldn’t want anyone to find out you’re not the real Caleb Jacobs, would you?"

At first, the Great General was speaking placatingly, calling the man "brother." But the next moment, all he heard was a choked sound before the man was murdered to keep him quiet.

He was right below the window at the time. Despite hearing such an earth-shattering secret, his expression remained calm. He simply raised his gaze to peek through a crack before slipping away without a sound.

’It’s having feelings for someone that gives rise to selfish desires.’

’When he first found out, Aaron Sinclair had been conflicted. After all, they had taken him in and fed him. He owed them a debt of gratitude and couldn’t repay their kindness with malice. But he never imagined they could be so ruthless as to send assassins to kill him on his way out.’

’From that moment on, they were nothing but his enemies. And who would harbor any personal feelings for an enemy? Besides, he had learned from his parents that it was people from the General’s Mansion who had stolen him in the first place. So, he would settle both the new and old scores at once.’

’Kill me? Heh... I’ll make you all reap what you’ve sown and pay the price.’

’A simple death would be letting them off too easily. He wanted them to be utterly ruined and disgraced, so reviled that they’d have nowhere to be buried even after death.’

’Stealing military honors and assuming a false identity? As a member of the Royal Family, there was nothing wrong with him cleaning up a few pests. After all, the soldiers who truly served the country and died on the battlefield were the ones who deserved to be remembered—not left with their injustices unavenged for a lifetime.’

The story of the General’s Mansion’s true heir sleeping in a pigsty was simply too sensational. For the next few days, the entrance to the General’s Mansion was as bustling as a marketplace. Countless people would take detours just to pass by, gathering in groups to whisper and point.

Because of this, on several occasions, Caleb Jacobs didn’t even dare to use the main gate when returning from the imperial court, instead sneaking in through the back. He simply couldn’t bear the shame; it was utterly humiliating. He had always wanted to be a renowned figure in Atheria, but not like this.

While at court, his colleagues’ gazes were filled with ridicule. Who knew how they were badmouthing him in private. Then there was the Emperor; Caleb Jacobs could feel his sovereign’s gaze growing more and more cautionary. After so many years, the General’s Mansion he had painstakingly built was about to be ruined by his own son.

As court was dismissed, the civil officials who were his rivals would speak in carefully chosen words. Though they never mentioned his son by name, every jab was aimed at him. As if that wasn’t enough, some even sent medicine for his son’s "brain" under the guise of concern. Weren’t they just outright saying that he, Caleb Jacobs, had fathered a fool—a son with something wrong in the head?

Back at the mansion.

He was seething with uncontrollable rage.

He smashed his teacup to the floor.

"Go! Go get that little bastard for me!" The "bastard" he was referring to was, of course, his own biological son, Arthur Jacobs.

It wasn’t just Caleb Jacobs; for the past few days, Arthur Jacobs himself had been reluctant to leave the mansion. He didn’t want people pointing at him, making him feel like a lunatic. He kept comforting himself, though. ’It’s fine. After a while, everyone will forget. I’m still young. Once I grow up and achieve something great, they’ll all be fawning over me. Who will still be hung up on this one little mistake?’

Soon enough, someone came to summon Arthur Jacobs.

"Young Master, the General summons you."

It was one of his father’s personal attendants.

Arthur Jacobs frowned slightly and couldn’t help but ask, "My father? What does he want with me?" ’I don’t have time to play at being a loving son right now. That so-called father of mine didn’t hold back at all when he was beating me before. It’s too late for regrets now.’

Arthur Jacobs hadn’t been idle these past few days. Though he stayed inside the mansion, he was constantly scurrying about, always busy with something.

He had to periodically complete various tasks issued by his system. Though some were bizarre, he had thankfully been able to complete them all. For example, counting the exact number of lotuses in the pond, or helping a hen incubate her eggs in the coop. They sounded ridiculous, but as he only had to go through the motions, it was acceptable. Perhaps because he’d already experienced crawling through a doggy door and entering a pigsty, he no longer found these new tasks to be a big deal.

He had already accumulated thirty memory points, with just seventy more to go. He believed that as long as he completed the system’s tasks quickly, it wouldn’t be long before he acquired a photographic memory. A meteoric rise to power would no longer be a dream. So what if people laughed at him now? In the future, he would be so far above them they could never hope to reach him.

For the past two days, he had been locked in his room, tasked with copying out a treatise on feminine virtue 500 times. The task was timed, so he had barely slept. After so long, his fingers were stiff and trembling. When he stood up, he saw his clothes were covered in ink stains.

Arthur Jacobs was annoyed to hear that Caleb Jacobs was looking for him.

’I still have a hundred copies to go. What does he want at such a critical time? If he makes me waste time and I can’t complete the task and get the reward, all my effort from the past two days will have been for nothing.’

Nevertheless, he followed the attendant.

When Arthur Jacobs saw his father, the man was staring at him with a ferocious expression. As if slapping the table wasn’t enough, his father then grabbed the pen holder from the desk and hurled it directly at him.

"You insolent brat! Look what you’ve done!"

Arthur Jacobs, of course, wasn’t just going to stand there and take it; he dodged out of the way. The pen holder grazed the corner of his robes before crashing to the floor and rolling a few times.

Pulling his gaze away from the pen holder, he took a step back. He glared at General Caleb Jacobs. ’It’s the same thing again. He only calls me over so he can beat me.’

’This old bastard can’t possibly think that just because I’m his son, he can beat and curse me whenever he wants. I’ve been wandering on my own since I was a child, suffering all kinds of hardships. How many days has this so-called father of mine ever provided for me? What right does he have to hit me?’

’Did they bring me back for any reason other than their own selfish ones? It’s only because the General’s Mansion was left without an heir, and they need me to provide for them in their old age. If the General’s Mansion had any other sons, would they have even remembered I existed?’

Enraged by this thought, his voice rose as he spoke. "Father, why are you hitting me? What kind of man are you, taking out the frustrations you suffer outside on me?"

Caleb Jacobs was so furious he could only point at him.

"You insolent brat, what did you just say? You dare talk back to me?"

"Has this General’s Mansion starved you? Have we failed to clothe you? Why else would you be crawling through doggy doors and stealing pigs? Are you insane? Do you have any idea what people are saying about our General’s Mansion? What they’re saying about *you*? Do you have any clue at all what they’re saying about you out there?"

Arthur was unfazed. He replied, "I don’t care about trivial things like that. Father, you don’t need to meddle in my affairs. I know what I’m doing. Everything I do is for a reason. All this ridicule and humiliation are just stepping stones for me to become stronger."

At that moment.

Caleb Jacobs felt as if he didn’t even know his own son.

He was so enraged he clutched his chest.

"What have I done... What have I done to deserve this?!"

Looking at his hopeless son.

Caleb Jacobs muttered.

"Retribution. This is my retribution."