The Next Morning...
Noah logged in immediately and went to Fenrir's UVR room...Unlike yesterday, the sun was out and shinning through the cracks of the clouds, giving a new sense of life to this dreadful snowy environment.
Yesterday, he had fought against Fenrir until he lost count...In every battle, he never touched Fenrir or posed some sort of threat to him...This outcome while Fenrir had limited his strength to the level of Noah.
It could be said that he had less than 0.0000001% of his original strength!
Nevertheless, Noah wasn't discouraged at all since he learned a lot in every battle and felt himself improving rapidly.
Today he came early in the morning, hoping for new rounds.
'He is up there again.' Noah raised his head and squinted hard at the peak of the highest mountain in this room.
At the edge, Fenrir was spotted sitting in his humanoid form while staring at the sun.
Noah morphed into a white wolf and started climbing the mountain at an abnormal speed...In a few minutes, he reached the top and approached Fenrir from behind.
"Good morning, elder." He greeted respectfully before sitting next to him, knowing Fenrir didn't pay heads to formalities.
Fenrir ignored him and kept staring at the sun, appearing like he was trying to win a staring contest with it.
Noah returned to his silent self and observed the sun with Fenrir.
Minutes went by then hours...Yet, Noah didn't grow impatient.
He had no issues staying like this for days if it meant staying with Fenrir and continue learning from him.
"Kid, I have read your memories last night." Fenrir shared abruptly.
"Oh..." Noah's pupil expanded for a split second before shrinking back to normal.
"I know that you have gone through some unpleasant stuff." Fenrir said, "This allowed me to understand your motives better."
Noah remained quiet as memories of his childhood resurfaced in his mind after being reminded of them.
He always tried his best to keep those memories buried deep within his heart.
"You have never spoken to anyone about what happened even after you grew up." Fenrir gave him a side-glance and offered, "But, I am here to listen."
'Listen?' Noah glanced at the sun as he mumured, "I am afraid it's a little too late for that."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtPrimogenitor or not, Noah refused to talk to anyone about his childhood.
Who could blame him?
His childhood was nothing short of a nightmare compared to what Felix had gone through...
***
Seventeen Years Earlier...
Two cute children were holding hands while sitting in front of a hospital bed. An pale skinny man was lying on the bed with his eyes closed shut...He had an oxygen mask, a iv needle in his arm, and a bunch more of medical equipment attached to him.
Still, a beeping noise flooded the hospital room, announcing his departure from this world.
"Sob..Sob, Papa...Papa." Grace sniffled while clutching her brother t-shirt.
Noah tightened his grasp on his little sister's hand, trying his best to comfort her as her big brother. But, how could he comfort her when he also needed a shoulder to cry on?
Alas, his father had just passed away due to a serious case of lung cancer.
Because his mother had already died when giving birth to Grace, Noah was left to be the head of the family at the mere age of eight.
Unlike Felix, Noah didn't have any other direct blood relatives like his grandfathers or grandmothers to take care of them.
The Maxwell Family was a big family alright, but it was imbued with competition that made their bloodline ties as thin as a string.
In other words, not a single uncle or aunt was going to rush over here and take them under their wing...Especially, when Noah's parents' status within the family was at the bottom of the barrel.
Not every Maxwell was born with Felix's parents genetics, making them top-notch businessmen and entrepreneur.
Some were born with just enough talent to manage a car dealership, a small mall, factory, or something in this range.
Noah's father was a hardworking car dealership manager near the suburbs of the metropolis...As for his mother? She was a loving housewife.
Their assets weren't high enough to lure in other family members.
Abruptly, a middle-aged woman entered the room and clapped her hands twice with an irritated expression, "Let's go...Your nanny is waiting for you outside."
"No!! Papa!! No!!"
"It's time Grace." Noah pulled his sister towards the door, knowing that the middle-aged woman was growing impatient with them.
He wanted to avoid upsetting the middle-aged woman since she held their fate in her hands.
She was the service worker sent by their family to handle their adaptation situation.
Usually, orphaned children get either picked up by one of the family members or sent to foster homes under their wing.
However, Noah's father had bribed the service worker to leave his children under the care of their nanny, so they could continue living their lives in the same house.
After they left the room, the nanny came forth and hugged them both with reddened eyes, appearing like she had done her fair share of crying.
"It's going to be alright kids, It will be alright..."
Hearing her soothing voice and feeling her soft touch on his back was enough to break Noah's defenses and make him start sobbing next to his sister.
Even though she was just their nanny, he felt like he could lean on her.
Alas, he didn't spot the hidden glint on the nanny's reddened eye.
...
After Noah and Grace were dropped off at home, the nanny tucked them in their beds as they were too tired from all that crying.
The nanny closed the door and went to sit on the living room couch in silence. She simply kept looking at the walls and furniture with a pleased expression.
'That old turd has finally kicked the bucket.' The nanny smiled widely while touching the soft texture of the couch, 'This is all mine, all mine.'
Noah's father would have never expected that the trusted and caring nanny he hired in the past six months was an actual opportunist!
'It's been a hellish six months with that scrawny geezer breathing down my neck.' The nanny raised her feet and placed down on the table, 'Now, I can do what the hell I want.'
To keep her as a full-time nanny until his children reach adulthood, Noah's father had signed off this property in her name and also made it possible for her to get a monthly salary from his fund in that duration.
In fact, she even had a bit of gain from his Will...All of this to make her feel comfortable taking care of his children since he was literally asking her to be their guardian.
Alas...Human's nature was hard to predict even for normal people, don't even mention a very ill man on his last year.
...
One week later after the funeral ended...
Noah finally started to spot some irregularities from his nanny.
She started to scold them a lot for the little things...Force them into bed two hours before bedtime, so he could go out and 'have fun', then return late at night.
She rarely woke up in the morning anymore, forcing him to be the one preparing his sister for preschool.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBecause he was merely eight years old, the only thing he could offer for food was cereal with milk.
Still, Noah didn't complain...He was satisfied with just living under the same house with his little sister.
Alas, he was too naive for his own good...
...
Days went by then months, the caring nanny was nowhere to be seen...
What was left behind was a hideous witch, who was easily irritable and had no qualms with restoring to violence to vent her anger.
Smack!
"Didn't I tell you to not make noise when you are washing the dishes in the morning?!" The nanny cursed furiously with reddened tired eyes after slapping Noah right in the face.
"Sorry..." Noah lowered his head while holding his cheek.
"F*ck sake, don't be sorry be better!" The nanny cursed loudly one last time before returning to her room.
Thud!
She slammed the door behind her, making Noah flinch in his place.
Soon, silence befell the kitchen as Noah kept standing on a stool in front of the sink without moving an inch.
'This is fine...' Noah ignored the pain of his tingling cheek and restarted doing the dishes a bit more slowly this time.
Noah already knew that his nanny had fooled them and his father.
Now, she has finally shown her true colors when she realized that the Maxwell family absolutely didn't give a crap about Noah and Grace's existence.
Even though he knew that the situation wasn't ideal...He still convinced himself that this was much better than entering a foster house.
Noah felt like his nanny wouldn't go as far as land her hands in his little sister unlike the foster kids.
After all, it wasn't like Noah could make a call and request for immediate change to the nanny.
The service worker was bribed to give them this treatment...In other words, there was no nanny replacement, but a straight send off to the foster homes if they got found out.
In the worst-case scenario, they might even get separated if the foster homes were too full to accept two at once...Noah dreaded that thought very much.
'As long as I stay with my sister...This is fine.'
Alas...Soon, Noah was going to be given a reality check on his decision.