Chapter 319: Pride Is Sometimes Born From Shame

Stopping in front of the crystal, Julian slowly raised his hand. His fingers hovered just above the surface for a short moment. Then, after taking a small breath, he finally pressed his palm against the cold crystal.

’Please... Goddess Althea, I beg you for a better result this time.’

A faint light appeared near the bottom.

It flickered weakly before slowly climbing upward, but compared to the bright surge Alexius had produced earlier, this one looked almost pitiful.

The glow only reached a short distance before stopping completely, leaving most of the crystal dark. Julian’s fingers twitched against the surface as he stared at the result.

"..."

The courtyard became silent as no one said anything.

Somehow, that silence felt far worse.

Julian could feel every pair of eyes fixed on him. His gaze slowly moved toward the adults standing nearby, searching their faces one by one.

Several elders no longer wore the pleased expressions they had shown moments earlier.

One of the tutors lowered his eyes toward the record in his hand, while another quietly exchanged a look with the person beside him.

Ruvian frowned as he watched from the side.

The result itself was not actually terrible, at least not for a normal child of Julian’s age. But this was the Rozenberg family, one of the Great Noble houses, and everyone standing here had clearly expected far more.

Gradually, Julian turned his head toward his father.

The man had not moved from his place, and his expression remained almost completely calm. Yet the slight tightening of his jaw and the way his eyes lingered on the weak glow made his disappointment clear enough.

When Julian met his gaze, his father looked away first.

That small movement saddened him.

One of the elders finally broke the silence, letting out a sigh as he studied the fading light.

"Still no meaningful improvement, even after all the additional lessons and resources that have been given to him since the previous evaluation."

His tone was not loud, but in the quiet courtyard, every word reached Julian clearly.

Another elder turned toward the tutors.

"How long has he remained at this level now? I remember being told during the last evaluation that his growth was simply delayed, and that we should expect a noticeable change once his mana settled." He folded his arms before adding, "Yet from what I can see, very little has changed at all!"

The tutor holding the records hesitated before answering.

"Young Master Julian has improved, but the increase has been much slower than we originally predicted. His mana response has risen slightly over the past several months, though not enough to meet our standard."

He glanced briefly toward Julian before lowering his voice. "Ha! At this rate, it may take much longer before we see any significant progress."

Julian heard every word.

His head lowered slightly, and his hand finally slipped away from the crystal. The faint light inside it disappeared almost at once, leaving only his reflection on the clear surface.

One of the older men clicked his tongue.

"That is precisely the problem. A child from an ordinary household might be praised for this level of growth, but Julian is not an ordinary child, and we cannot judge him by ordinary standards."

His gaze settled on Julian as he continued. "He carries the Rozenberg name, and that name comes with expectations whether he likes it or not."

Another elder gave a slow nod.

"No one is asking him to become a great magus at seven years old, but there must at least be some sign that he is moving toward the level expected of him. We have spent years giving him the finest tutors, the best resources, and every chance to improve, yet the gap between him and the other children continues to grow."

His eyes briefly shifted toward Alexius before returning to Julian.

That comparison did not escape Julian.

He did not argue or make a single sound. He simply stood there and listened as the adults discussed his worth as though he were not even present there.

Julian’s father finally spoke.

"Alright, that’s enough."

His voice was calm, but there was a cold weight behind it that immediately silenced the others. He looked at Julian for several seconds before continuing.

"You may return to the line, Julian. We will discuss your training again later."

Julian looked up, faint hope flickering in his eyes, almost as if he had expected something more than that. However, his father had already turned his attention back toward the tutors.

A forlorn look crossed his face before he lowered his head again.

"Yes, Father."

Stepping away from the crystal, Julian began walking back toward the other children. He had barely returned to the line when several children nearby began whispering among themselves.

Their voices were low at first, but none of them seemed particularly concerned about whether he could hear them.

One boy even covered his mouth while trying to hold back a laugh.

"Did you see how little the crystal reacted?"

"Yeah. And he is supposed to be from the direct branch of the family."

"That is honestly quite embarrassing."

A few of the children quietly laughed.

"My father said children from the direct branch are supposed to inherit the strongest blood of the Rozenberg family, so how did he end up like that?"

"I know, right? If anything, his result was worse than some children from the side branches."

Julian’s steps slowed as he finally returned to the line. He kept his head lowered, pretending not to hear them.

"Maybe being born into the direct branch does not mean much after all," another child said with a small laugh.

"What a waste of resources."

The boy shook his head as though genuinely disappointed.

"If the heir of the direct branch grows up like this, would he really be worthy of leading the family someday?"

Another immediately nodded.

"Honestly, someone like Alexius would make far more sense."

One of the boys suddenly snorted.

"Even the commoner my father recruited to train as a knight is doing far better than him, and that boy did not even know how to control mana properly a year ago."

Then one of the girls tilted her head, looking Julian up and down. "You know what? Maybe someone like him should have just been born as a filthy commoner instead."

Suddenly, something warm rolled down his cheek and fell onto the stone beneath him. Julian’s eyes widened slightly when he realized what had happened.

’No...’

His heart sank.

He quickly lowered his head, hoping no one had noticed, but another tear followed the first. Before he could stop himself, several more were already rolling down his face.

His breathing slowly became uneven.

’Stop... please. Not here.’

Julian clenched his teeth and tried to hold everything back. He did not want to cry here, not in front of them.

Crying would only make everything worse. But the tears were no longer listening to him. He raised one hand and hurriedly rubbed his eyes.

That was when one of the children noticed.

"Wait... is he crying?" the boy asked, his earlier smile disappearing for a second. The others quickly turned toward Julian.

For a short moment, they all looked surprised.

Then someone laughed.

"He really is crying!" one of the boys exclaimed, pointing at him. "You are seven years old already, Julian. Are you seriously going to cry just because your result was bad?"

Another child covered his mouth while laughing.

"Stop it, you are going to make him cry even more." Her words sounded almost playful, but the smile on her face held no kindness. "What kind of Rozenberg cries over something like this?"

Julian rubbed his eyes harder.

The more he tried to wipe the tears away, the more they seemed to come. His nose had already turned red, and his lips trembled despite how tightly he pressed them together.

’Damn it...’

He hated it.

Even more that they could see him like this.

Ruvian’s expression slowly hardened as he watched from several steps away. He had seen Julian angry, arrogant, wounded, and even desperate before, but never anything like this.

Right now, there was nothing proud about the boy standing before him.

He was just... a seven-years old kid.

Julian slowly looked toward the adults.

Several of the elders had noticed the commotion by now, and their gazes had shifted toward him. None of them stepped forward to stop the children. Rather, one older man’s face tightened with clear disapproval.

"Crying in the middle of an evaluation," the elder muttered. "How shameful."

His hand slowly fell away from his face.

For a second, he stared at the ground as another tear slipped from his chin. Then his breathing broke completely, and his small hands curled into fists.

He could not stay there anymore.

Julian suddenly turned around. Without saying a single word, he pushed past the edge of the line and ran.

"Hey!" one of the tutors called after him.

But the boy never looked back, his hurried footsteps striking the stone again and again as he fled across the courtyard.

The children behind him fell quiet for only a moment.

Then another laugh followed.

Ruvian’s eyes narrowed as he watched Julian disappear beyond the courtyard.

*****

[Ruvian’s POV]

Ruvian immediately went after Julian, crossing the courtyard only a few seconds behind him. The boy had not gotten far, so Ruvian expected to catch sight of him the moment he entered the estate.

However, the instant he stepped through the open doors, Julian was nowhere to be seen.

Stopping in the middle of the corridor, Ruvian looked left, then right. Long hallways stretched away from him, with tall windows, decorated walls, and several paths splitting deeper into the estate.

Servants moved quietly through the halls, while staircases rose toward the upper floors from several different points.

’Damn it... where the hell did he go?’

Ruvian clicked his tongue and quickly moved toward the nearest turn. Only then did Ruvian realize just how enormous the Rozenberg estate truly was.

Without knowing where Julian was heading, searching through all of this blindly would be a pain.

Ruvian slowed down and glanced around again.

At first, he had assumed the memory itself would simply carry him toward whatever happened next, especially since he was nothing more than an observer here.

Yet even after standing there for several seconds, nothing changed.

’Seriously?’

He frowned as the realization finally settled in.

Even though he was inside Julian’s memory, he was still experiencing it like a real place rather than simply watching a vision.

So if he wanted to see what happened next, then he would actually have to follow Julian himself.

’Curse this stupid spell!’

Fortunately, he could still use [Bookmarks].

Yet the moment he opened the map, Ruvian frowned even more.

There were two separate dots marking Julian’s location.

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[Chapter 319: Pride Is Sometimes Born From Shame]

Plot Points= 83,000 PP