The boy's name was Jayson, and he was Adrian's younger brother. He was the son of his father's second wife, Celeste Thorne and was the baby of the family. Everyone loved him and always doted on him.
Even Adrian's mother, the first wife, loved him and always treated him like her own son, which was rare in those aristocratic households.
Both wives did not discriminate between them and treated both of them fairly. Jayson loved copying Adrian and would try to do everything that Adrian did. He followed him almost everywhere whilst trying to get Adrian to play with him at all times.
He even threw a tantrum when he found out that Adrian was going to the mountains and he couldn't follow him. That was how much he loved his big brother.
Adrian also adored his younger brother and was the only one who could pacify him when he was making a fuss. He promised to be back soon and he would bring him a gift from the mountains.
As both brothers were hugging, a small head poked out from the side of the bed where it had been hiding.
Because of the glare from the sun, it still couldn't see the face of the person who walked in clearly.
"Big brother Jayson, who is that?" A tiny voice came out of the small face as it asked.
It was an adorable little girl who was only about nine years of age. She was wearing a little green dress that made her look even cuter. She walked out and asked while wearing an inquisitive look on her face. When Adrian heard the voice, his mind was filled with question marks.
'Big brother? When did Jayson become a big brother? Did they have another child while I was suffering in the mountains?' Just as he was about to ask, Jayson let go of him and ran towards the little girl. He brought her in front of him and excitedly said,
"Big brother, this is my new little sister. Her name is Olivia. Isn't she the cutest?"
Jayson asked with a smile on his face. Adrian just stood there, dumbfounded as he stared at the two kids while asking.
"Where did you get a little sister from?"
It took Adrian a while to calm down. I mean, anyone would be surprised if their younger brother suddenly brought home a new sibling. After listening to his brother's sheepish explanation, he finally realized the situation. Olivia was actually a servant girl in training. She was brought into the family after he had left for the mountains.
Due to her cute looks, all the servants loved and doted on her. She even became a playmate for Jayson, who was still sulking from his departure. Jayson, who has always wanted to know what being an elder brother felt like, told her to start calling him big brother.
Olivia was a bit hesitant at first, but after getting the permission of the matriarchs, she soon got comfortable calling him that. After the attack, the two matriarchs took both of them and led them to the escape room that led to this house. Before sending them off, they told Jayson to protect Olivia. Since she called him 'big brother', he had to behave like one.
Jayson promised with tears in his eyes as he took Olivia's hand and ran through the tunnel as fast as they could. He was young, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that they were being attacked and that they might not be able to survive this time. After the two of them arrived at the house, they planned to hide there. They hoped that after the attack, someone would come and fetch them.
However, when they heard the knock on the door, they became afraid. Jayson told Olivia to hide in the corner of the room while he tried to put up some semblance of resistance against whoever it was. They couldn't have imagined that the person who came for them was Adrian.
Perhaps it was because of the recent tragic experience that Adrian was not really opposed to treating the girl like family. Since his brother had already done so, he didn't mind it as well.
His longing for his family made it easier for him to accept Olivia as part of his family. I mean, at this point, they were all he had left. He smiled at the little girl and told her that she could also call him big brother. The little girl also smiled back and said in a cute and childish voice, "Big brother Adrian".
After chatting with them for a while longer, he put both of them to bed.
They were already tired. Even though they hadn't done much, the stress from having to monitor their surroundings in case someone was coming for them had taken its toll on them. It didn't take long for them to fall asleep.
Adrian sat on a chair in the room and watched the two children sleeping peacefully.
His mind was racing with thoughts on what to do next. They obviously could not stay in the city anymore. Even if the people of the demonic faction left, other people with malicious intent would not spare them if they found them.
Those who were either envious of the Thorne family or those who had always been suppressed by them would try their best to eliminate them. The greedy ones would want to take over the various businesses that the Thorne family had, and having them around would be like having a sword over their heads at all times. They would obviously want to remove such a dangerous variable.
Even without all these factors, the current Adrian could not re-establish the Thorne family. He simply wasn't strong enough.
In this world, only the strong had the right to make decisions. If he tried to do anything now, he would most likely be ridiculed and ignored. After sorting out his thoughts, he was about to retire for the night when he suddenly thought of something: the Blake family.