Chapter 13: Priceless Possession [1]

The SUV sped down the road, weaving through the towering skyscrapers that lined both sides of the street.

Inside, Dreck Storms drove with one hand on the steering wheel while his granddaughter, Alice, sat in the back seat, scrolling through her phone.

"So, I assume Lorenzo is in the same year as you?" Dreck asked casually. "Since he took the entrance exam today, I mean."

"Yes. I remember him taking the exam right after me."

Alice barely looked up from her phone as she answered.

Dreck glanced at her through the rearview mirror, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what do you think of him? Is he someone worth keeping an eye on?"

Alice finally lifted her head.

She thought about it for a moment before answering.

"A gun."

Dreck blinked.

"A gun?"

"Yes. He seemed to have ordered one of his subordinates to shoot at the instructor."

For a moment, Dreck remained silent.

Then he burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Wait, let me get this straight. The boy actually had someone shoot at the instructor during his entrance exam?"

"That’s what happened."

Alice tilted her head, seemingly puzzled by her grandfather’s reaction.

Dreck continued laughing for a few seconds before shaking his head in disbelief.

"Good grief! What an interesting boy!"

"Is he?" Alice asked, tilting her head to the other side.

Dreck’s laughter gradually faded. His expression grew serious as he focused on the road ahead.

"Alice."

"Yes, Grandfather?"

"If you get admitted to Golden Dawn Academy, be careful around that boy."

Alice frowned slightly.

"Why? He didn’t seem particularly dangerous to me."

"That’s not what I mean."

Dreck paused, searching for the right words.

"There’s just something about him. Something I can’t quite put my finger on."

"Something?"

"Yes. A certain smell."

Alice stared at him as though he had suddenly started speaking nonsense.

"A smell?"

"Not a literal smell, you little fool."

Dreck chuckled at her reaction before continuing.

"It’s the same feeling I used to get whenever I was around Aldric when he was young."

At the mention of that name, Dreck’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He could still remember those days.

Back then, Aldric Riina had been a troublesome young man with far too much ambition and more than enough power to back it up. Even Dreck, who had spent his life honing his swordsmanship, had found the young Mafia heir to be an infuriating opponent.

The boy had possessed a certain audacity that made him difficult to predict.

And now, after all these years, Dreck had encountered that same feeling again.

Only this time, it came from Aldric’s son.

’Just what kind of monster are you raising, Aldric?’

A faint smile spread across Dreck’s face.

"My granddaughter’s academy life is going to be much more interesting than I expected."

Alice stared at the back of her grandfather’s head, unsure what he found so amusing.

She glanced down at her phone again, where Lorenzo Riina’s name was still displayed on the screen.

What’s so special about him, anyway?

She had seen plenty of arrogant young masters in her life. Most of them were all bark and no bite, relying on their family names to make up for their lack of ability.

Lorenzo might have been another one of them.

After all, ordering someone to fire a gun at an instructor hardly struck her as impressive.

If anything, it was reckless.

Still, she couldn’t help remembering the calm expression on his face when the gunshot rang through the examination hall.

Alice narrowed her eyes at the screen.

’Well, I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.’

Outside, the SUV continued racing through the city, carrying the Sword Saint and his granddaughter toward home.

Neither of them knew just how troublesome their next encounter with Lorenzo Riina would be.

---

A few days later...

"I can’t believe this! You threatened my father just so you could have a meal with me? Just when I think you can’t sink any lower than you already have, you find another way to surpass my expectations!"

Sofia Moretti glared at the young man sitting across from her, her hands clenched tightly beneath the table.

Lorenzo Riina.

Just hearing his name was enough to make her stomach churn.

For the past few days, she had hoped she wouldn’t have to see him again. Yet here she was, sitting in one of the most expensive restaurants in Nova City with the very man she despised, forced to endure his presence because he had threatened her family.

And the worst part?

He looked completely unbothered.

Lorenzo casually picked up his glass of water and took a sip.

"You’re making it sound worse than it is."

"Worse than it is?" Sofia nearly shot to her feet. "You told my father that if I refused to have dinner with you, his business would be finished by tomorrow morning!"

"Did I?"

"Don’t play dumb with me!"

Several people at nearby tables glanced in their direction.

Sofia lowered her voice, but the anger in her eyes only intensified.

"You know what? Forget it. I don’t know why I even bother talking to you. People like you will never understand what it means to be ashamed of themselves."

Lorenzo placed his glass back on the table.

People like me, huh?

He couldn’t exactly argue with that.

He had spent the past few days thinking about his situation, trying to figure out how to deal with the mess the original Lorenzo had left behind.

Unfortunately, the more he thought about it, the more complicated things became.

He couldn’t simply get rid of Sofia.

He had considered that possibility once, briefly entertaining the thought of killing her to free himself from the constant influence of his [Perfectionist] trait.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, however, his body had reacted violently.

His hand had risen before he could stop it, striking his own cheek.

The sound had echoed through his bedroom.

He had stood there for several seconds, staring at his reflection in the mirror.

What the hell was that?

It wasn’t that he lacked the resolve to kill someone. Samuel Chen had taken more lives than he cared to remember.

But the thought of destroying something his trait considered perfect had triggered an instinctive rejection so strong that even his conscious mind had struggled to process it.

And Sofia wasn’t merely an object of fascination to him.

The original Lorenzo’s attachment to her had left a deeper impression than Samuel had anticipated.

He wanted her nearby.

He wanted to look at her, observe her, and admire the perfection his trait insisted was worth preserving.

Yet calling those feelings love would have been absurd.

Love required consideration for another person’s feelings. It required acknowledging that the other person had their own desires, their own boundaries, and the right to walk away.

What he felt was closer to a collector’s obsession with a priceless possession.

He wanted to keep Sofia because he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.

Whether she wanted to stay had barely entered his calculations.

That realization had disgusted him.