Chapter 257 - 253: The Family’s Secret

Chapter 257: Chapter 253: The Family’s Secret

The funeral for Old Chakus drew to a close.

Friends and family returned to Chakus Manor. After dinner, they would go their separate ways, returning to their work, studies, and daily lives.

That evening, the long dining table in the manor’s restaurant was filled with friends and family.

Several long tables were joined together and covered with a pristine white tablecloth. Aside from the head and foot, each side could seat dozens of people.

As the man who would soon inherit the title to become the new Baron, and the current leader of the Chakus family, Hilbert rightfully took his place at the head of the table.

As the final meal to bid farewell to the Old Baron, it was an occasion Chakus Manor took very seriously. For some of the Old Baron’s old friends, this might be the last time they would see each other for a long while.

Dinner was helmed by the manor’s chef, Portman, with help from culinary teams hired from several of the city’s restaurants. Aside from a few traditional—and rather infamous—British dishes, the menu skewed toward a diverse selection of world-renowned cuisines.

There were large steaks, seared and cooked to each guest’s preferred doneness; there was also house-special foie gras and caviar; and even some popular Chinese dishes like sweet and sour pork ribs and Kung Pao chicken.

Glasses clinked and the atmosphere at the table was congenial as guests chatted amongst themselves, sharing amusing anecdotes and reminiscing about the past.

Hilbert cut into his steak, his gaze lost on his wine glass as he ate.

Hilbert had not yet told anyone that he had personally slain the Evil Spirit—not even his own mother. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to share this information.

Rather, he figured there had to be a reason why no word of this miraculous power had ever leaked out during the family’s long history.

Just as the mysterious man had said, this was a power that belonged to the Chakus bloodline.

Hilbert clenched his hand, which still felt sore and weak.

’From now on, it’s up to me to carry the Chakus family.’

He stood up, raised his wine glass, and gently tapped its side with a fork.

"CLINK, CLINK, CLINK..."

The crisp sound drew everyone’s attention, and the dining room gradually fell silent.

"Thank you all for taking time from your busy schedules to attend my father’s funeral. As a direct descendant of the Chakus family’s bloodline... I also hope that you all will..."

It was just a string of pleasantries. The Hilbert of the past would have disdained them, but now, he was learning to wield them.

As he spoke, it felt as though his mind was in two places at once. While his lips formed the words, his thoughts replayed images of his father at important occasions from the past.

’Am I truly worthy of standing here, just as he did?’

It wasn’t just the responsibilities he had once arrogantly dismissed that he had been running from. Perhaps it was something deeper, something that imposing figure had shouldered all on his own!

’As his son, as a direct descendant of the Chakus bloodline, I should have shared his burden.’

Tonight, Hilbert couldn’t help but feel sentimental.

His mother, Mansa, felt a sense of relief at her son’s newfound maturity.

"Hilbert, you’ve finally grown up. Your father would have been so proud of you. How he wished he could have lived to see this day... that nightmarish disease..."

Hilbert suddenly reached out and grabbed his mother’s arm, steadying his slightly ragged breathing.

"Mother, Father didn’t die from a disease!"

His voice was hushed but exceptionally firm.

Seeing the worry on his mother’s face, he reached out with his other hand and took hers as well.

"Mother, believe me. I haven’t gone mad. Once dinner is over, I’ll tell you what I’ve discovered."

Corini, who sat beside Mansa, was old, but his hearing and sight had always remained sharp. He vaguely overheard what Hilbert said.

Having watched Chrisman Chakus grow up, his bond with the late Baron had been more akin to that of a father and son than a master and servant.

So, as the friends and family began to disperse later that evening, Corini chose not to leave. Naturally, Hilbert and his mother would never dare to ask the old man to go.

...

In the drawing room where the coffin had previously rested, the three of them sat by the fireplace. His mother Mansa and Corini stared with their mouths agape, the worry on their faces deepening.

"My boy, you... you don’t need to be this way. It’s all over now..."

Hilbert could tell from his mother’s expression that she didn’t believe him.

"But Mother, I came down here myself last night! I saw it with my own eyes! And that foul-smelling stuff on the floor this morning, have you forgotten? That’s what was left of the Evil Spirit I killed with my own hands! They wanted to drag away Father’s soul!"

The Baroness was worried, even a little frightened.

"Hilbert, this is making me very worried... The Chakus family is just an ordinary noble family. We don’t have any secrets..."

Clearly, Mansa was interpreting the paint-like ashes and her son’s subsequent deep sleep as adverse reactions to the shock of his father’s death. To her, his current behavior bordered on madness.

His mother’s distrust was driving Hilbert to distraction, but he had no idea how to convince her. He couldn’t summon last night’s power at a moment’s notice, and even if he could, the consequences would likely be severe, considering the aftereffects and the soreness and fatigue still wracking his body.

Besides, the mysterious man had warned him that the terrifying cost wasn’t just physical—there might be other, unspeakable dangers.

Old Corini had initially shared Mansa’s view and was deeply concerned about Hilbert’s state. However, when he heard Mansa say that the Chakus family had no secrets, his heart suddenly gave a violent thump.

"My lady... perhaps the Chakus family is not entirely without secrets..."

"What!" "What?"

Hilbert and his mother cried out in unison, the former with excitement and surprise, the latter with pure confusion.

Old Corini had been with the Chakus family for far longer than Mansa. Having grown up with Hilbert’s grandfather, he had, including Hilbert Chakus himself, now seen five generations of Chakus Barons.

The old man glanced at Mansa’s astonished face, then turned his deep gaze to Hilbert, as if lost in memory.

"My lady, the Chakus family’s private island... how long has it been since you last visited?"

Mansa thought for a moment, then replied with some embarrassment.

"I’ve only been a few times. Once when I married Chrisman, and a few times after that for holidays. It must have been seven or eight years since my last visit."

"And are you aware that every year, specialists are hired to maintain the castle on the island?"

Mansa was aware of this.

"The maintenance of the island’s essential facilities is entrusted to the Balbax Company. Every year, an expense of 400,000 pounds sterling is allocated to them from the Chakus Wine Estate."

Old Corini nodded with a smile.

"Yes, my lady. But it’s clear you’ve seldom been involved in the Chakus family’s accounts. The maintenance fee has now risen to 700,000 pounds a year. I’ve been in charge of that particular matter since the 1960s. Even after I officially left the service of the Chakus family, the Baron..."

The old man paused.

"Chrisman still had me handle it. I go and stay on the island for a period of time each year..."

He glanced at Hilbert and smiled.

"It holds some of the most important childhood memories for your grandfather and me. I don’t believe you’ve been to the island since you’ve grown up."

Hilbert flushed with a bit of shame. The island was too far away and too remote. He hadn’t visited many times as a child, and after starting high school, he barely even came home, let alone visited the island. He’d almost forgotten what it even looked like.

The old man then took a deep breath. Both Hilbert and his mother seemed to sense that he was about to get to the heart of the Chakus family’s secret.

"Every year, one of the expenses is for renovations and repairs. But the most important part is for certain architectural coatings."

"I’ve only seen it twice myself, but if you were to scrape away the layers of coating on the castle walls in many places, you would reveal the family crest underneath..."

’The family crest?’

Hilbert glanced at the emblem hanging above the fireplace—a crest depicting a lion with a Treasure Pearl in its mouth.

’The old man was making it sound so mysterious,’ Hilbert thought. ’But what’s so special about that that it needs to be hidden?’

Noticing his gaze, Corini gave a mysterious smile.

"Not that one. It’s another crest of the Chakus family. And perhaps... that is the true historical sigil of the Chakus Clan!"

It was a mysterious, immense, and magnificent design. Even though he had only seen it twice, it was an image Corini would never forget.

"It is a crest that represents the dawn..."

Just then, a servant came over to serve tea and coffee, and the old man fell silent.

Not far from where the three were seated, Qin Xiaoxia and Su Su sat openly on a comfortable sofa. A servant had even brought them tea and pastries.

"I see."

Qin Xiaoxia said, taking a sip of his tea.

"This is quite good!"

Su Su nibbled on a couple of pastries, listening with rapt attention to the old man’s tale.

"Mentor, no wonder Hilbert doesn’t know anything!"

*PS: First Chapter for Friday.*