Hearing the sound, the crowd instinctively scattered. Louis turned his head, only to see a youth around sixteen walking over. The boy was slender and dressed in a spotless white suit, his expression gentle yet composed.

With such natural talent, he could only be the future heir of the Smith family—John Smith.

He was considered a flawless successor, at least according to the exaggerated praises of the residents of Zone 5, who claimed he was destined to lead the Smith family to its peak, just as Athena once had.

Athena ignored such rumors, while Joshua only snorted in disdain. How could anyone ever compare to Athena? They were nothing but empty flattery. He glanced at John and found nothing special about him, just another hypocrite wearing an ugly façade of morality.

As for Louis, the moment he laid eyes on John, he nearly broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly lowered his gaze, looking so timid that he didn't dare meet anyone's eyes, clearly uncomfortable with being surrounded.

John's eyes glimmered with a violet light as he looked at Louis, whose reflection mirrored his pupils. Luna sobbed, "Oh heavens, poor Louis, he's lost weight. How cruel."

Lucas furrowed his brows. "This is the punishment he deserves for daring to deceive us and run away."

Then Lucas suddenly chuckled lightly. "But only I should have the right to torment Louis like this. Whoever caused him to grow thin truly deserves to die!"

Luna whispered, "I still want to keep his head as beautiful as possible. Seeing him this thin makes me reluctant to cut it off..."

Lucas mused aloud, "Or perhaps we could cut his head off right now." Even with his slight weight loss, Louis still looked flawless.

But right after, Lucas shook his head at his own thought. "No, Aboli would be furious."

Luna gnashed her teeth. "I hate Aboli."

Lucas comforted her. "Don't worry, one day we'll deal with her. Cooperating with her is only so we can find Louis and bring him back."

Luna nodded, though it was as if the two of them had forgotten how Aboli had pinned them to the ground and beaten them senseless not long ago.

At that moment, John finally spoke. "It is my greatest honor that everyone has come here today to keep Luna and Lucas company. However, they're a bit tired and couldn't come out, so I came to chat and enjoy the day with you all. There's no need to be reserved—we're simply peers of the same age."

The others couldn't help but feel stunned, finding it rather absurd.

They had been invited here, yet the hosts were too "tired" even to step outside. And tired for what reason? Many exchanged knowing glances but didn't voice their thoughts.

Of course, none of them were displeased by this change. On the contrary, their gazes fell on John, and they were more than delighted.

After all, Luna and Lucas were only adoptive children in name, mere playthings the Smith family had bought—famous in title but empty in worth, let alone any real power.

John, however, was different. John was the true future heir of the Smith family!

Even if John said they were peers of the same age, that was never the case. Everyone knew that the heir of a great family stood on a completely different level than these pampered young masters and ladies who only knew how to idle their days away.

Even within the same household, meeting one another was difficult once someone became the heir!

If they could use this chance to befriend John, it would truly be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Excited by the thought, the group eagerly gathered around John, chatting.

"Of course, no problem at all!"

"Yes, please send our regards to Luna and Lucas. We really wish to spend time with them."

"Hopefully, there will be more parties like this."

Joshua watched John being instantly surrounded and couldn't help clicking his tongue in disdain. "What's so great about him..."

He muttered under his breath but didn't dare speak too loudly. After all, both were from influential families, and Athena herself showed no signs of wanting to overthrow the Smiths, so outward respect was still necessary.

Joshua thought that if he ever became his family's heir, the very first thing he would do would be to deal with the Smith family—just looking at them already made him sick.

As if sensing Joshua's gaze, John suddenly turned his head. Smiling, he walked toward Joshua without displeasure, as though Joshua's attitude didn't bother him.

"Joshua, long time no see." John greeted softly, though his eyes drifted to Louis with a hint of puzzlement. "And this handsome gentleman is?"

Louis avoided John's gaze, looking timid.

Joshua grabbed Louis's hand and sneered. "My new toy. Beautiful, isn't he?"

John's eyes turned contemplative, a violet gleam flashing within them.

"I want to cut off that bastard's hand. Why does he dare hold Louis's hand like that? Why, why?!" Luna roared, John's hands trembling as if he was on the verge of losing control.

"Louis didn't even resist," Lucas said in a low, shadowed tone.

"He must have been forced. Faced with this pack of strays, Louis definitely wouldn't have had the strength to resist," Luna sobbed.

Lucas, after a moment's thought, soothed her. "Then let's add this one to the kill list. You can hack off his hands when the time comes, and I'll take his head."

"That sounds wonderful, Lucas." Luna brightened, and Lucas's lips curled into a smile.

On the outside, John merely smiled. "Indeed, he is wonderful. But treating someone as a toy doesn't seem very proper."

Hearing this, Joshua couldn't help but laugh. John was always like this—born into nobility yet putting on the airs of someone worried about commoners. Hypocritical, and yet, others actually found him magnanimous and sincere.

"Then you should see the servants at my house sometime, John. You need to broaden your horizons."

John only smiled wryly at that and said nothing more.

In truth, Joshua was already getting terribly bored. Since striking his deal with Louis, he hadn't found him as interesting as before. As expected, no matter how beautiful the face, it lost its charm once you looked at it long enough.

Out of the corner of his eye, Joshua spotted his companions. He flung Louis's hand away and said lightly, "Go play by yourself."

With that, he darted off.

Louis looked at his abandoned hand, his gaze dropping. Standing there, he appeared desolate, as if he were about to cry.

This time, Lucas shouted, "Louis will cry for someone else? Look, Luna! He isn't pure—his mouth is full of lies!"

Luna stammered, "He must have been bullied..."

Meanwhile, inside Louis's mind, his thoughts spun calmly and methodically.

He knew Luna and Lucas were controlling John's body. The violet gleam in John's eyes—unseen by others—was unmistakable to him, just like how he could perceive rapid movements as if slowed. His eyes had always been too precious.

Still, the fact that Luna and Lucas hadn't tried to kill him the moment they met meant they were plotting something. Louis guessed they might have allied with Aboli—or perhaps even been persuaded by her to become her subordinates, just like in the original story.

Thinking of Aboli's abilities, perhaps she already knew Joshua was scheming something.

"Don't be sad, everything will get better," John suddenly said. Louis stiffened and looked back, pressing his lips together without replying.

Get better? How? He was already trapped in this situation, with no way to escape even if he wanted to!

"It won't get better," Louis replied flatly. He had no desire to speak with a so-called heir who had never known life's actual suffering.

"Why are you so sad? You didn't willingly become a slave, right?" Luna, controlling John, blurted out in impatience.

Louis couldn't help but smile faintly at her naïveté. Who would ever willingly become a slave?

But outwardly, he lowered his head in sorrow and answered, "I was captured and brought to the Aurellan family, I..."

"As I thought—Louis could only fall into danger without us! He's so pitiful!" Luna wept again.

Lucas shook his head. "But he was the one who betrayed us first! Have you forgotten how he confessed to Aboli?"

Luna protested, "That was just him lying to Aboli. He doesn't like her—he definitely likes us more. It's only because you bit him too hard that he got scared."

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