The Monarch's Retribution

Chapter 3 - Fire

Nicolas rushed to hold his mother the moment he heard the Patriarch’s voice. Only when she was standing close to him did he turn his attention to the Patriarch.

“Five thousand dollars?” The Patriarch, Grey Tyris asked in an even tone.

“Yes Grandfather!” Nicolas answered enthusiastically.

Grey Tyris didn’t say a word after Nicolas’ response; instead, he stretched his hands. Not a second later, a brown envelope was placed in his hands.

The Patriarch opened the envelope and then counted five one thousand dollar notes, then brought it out.

A happy expression appeared on Nicolas’ bruised face at the sight of the smooth five thousand dollar notes. With such an amount of money, he would be able to buy the supplements he needed for his mother, and as such her health would definitely improve!

The Patriarch looked at Nicolas coldly for a few seconds, before throwing the five thousand dollar notes to the ground.

“If you want the money so damn much, then crawl to get it!” The Patriarch suddenly bellowed, disgust dripping from his tone.

Nicolas gritted his teeth as the five thousand dollar notes touched the marble floor.

This was the highest form of humiliation.

In the presence of more than a hundred people, he was being treated like this. Yet Nicolas had no other choice. For the sake of his mother’s health, he had to bear with this.

“The Patriarch of the Tyris family is so kind!” someone in the crowd murmured. Of course, there was sarcasm laced in her tone.

“Yes! Even as audacious as this dog’s request was, he still fulfilled it!” another person added in a tone filled with ridicule.

“As expected of the Patriarch of the Tyris family!”

Several other guests made similar comments on the Patriarch’s ‘kindness’ for obvious reasons. Of course, the main reason was mainly to spite Nicolas; while the other reason was to flatter the Patriarch of the Tyris family and get in his good graces. There was certainly no harm in trying.

Faced with such insults, Nicolas’ shoulders trembled in anger. However, there was nothing he could do.

He went on his knees and crawled, picking the one thousand notes one by one, all the while receiving insults and ridicules from the guests.

Nicolas remained quiet and picked the money; and when he was done, he turned around and left with his mother following him closely.

There was only one thought in his mind as Nicolas walked towards the grand door of the great hall.

‘I. Nicolas, will surely repay this humiliation a thousand fold!’

***

-Stormwind City Hospital

“That would be five thousand dollars.” A middle-aged man with balding hair in a white lab coat said in a gentle tone.

Nicolas brought out the five thousand dollar notes and handed it over to the doctor hurriedly.

After he left the Tyris family manor, he took his mother back to their room, after which he came straight to the hospital. Luckily, the hospital was merely a ten minute walk from the Tyris family manor, so he was able to arrive pretty quickly.

The moment he arrived at the hospital, he walked straight to the doctor’s office and requested for the supplements; hence the ongoing transactions.

“Here you go boy.” The doctor said kindly as he handed over the supplements Nicolas’ mother needed after confirming the payment.

“You need some supplements too boy. You’re too malnourished for your age.” The doctor added concernedly just as Nicolas was about to exit his office.

Nicolas stopped moving and turned to face the doctor, a bitter expression on his face.

Of course, he knew that he was malnourished for his age. However, there was nothing he could do.

The Tyris family treated him worse than a dog. How was he supposed to eat enough food to grow well?

The doctor noticed the bitter expression on Nicolas face and sighed loudly, before bringing a bottle of supplements and handing it over to Nicolas.

“These supplements are going to help you greatly. Make sure you take them diligently.” The doctor said with a kind smile on his face.

Nicolas, not used to such kind treatment was very reluctant to receive the supplements from the doctor.

“Of course, it’s not for free. You must pay me back the moment you are able to do so. It’s just five hundred dollars, so I’ll be waiting for you.” The doctor added after a while.

It was only after this confirmation, did Nicolas finally accept the supplements. He needed to grow stronger, after all his workload after the scenario today was bound to increase. How would he take care of his mother if he was too weak to work?

Should such a situation occur, his mother would definitely starve to death!

The moment he collected the supplements from the doctor, he exited the office and started walking briskly to the Tyris family manor.

Due to how fast he was walking, in just less than six minutes, he arrived at the manor.

The moment he entered the manor, he noticed that something was terribly wrong. The whole manor should have been in a celebratory mood; as it was the Patriarch’s birthday after all, so why were the majority of the guests standing outside the great hall meant for the celebrations?

Nicolas would not have paid them so much attention, but the guests all stood along the path he usually used to walk to he and his mother’s room, which was situated at the far end of the manor, therefore he had to pass through the guests to get to his mother.

“Let me through!”

“I need to move!”

“Out of the way!” Nicolas yelled, desperation clearly evident in his voice.

As Nicolas shuffled through the crowd to move towards his room, a gnawing feeling started forming in his heart.

Why did the guests for the birthday celebration all gather here? Weren’t they supposed to be celebrating?

Moreover, the number of guests increased as he moved closer to his room.

It was totally absurd.

The more Nicolas moved closer to his room, the more the gnawing feeling increased.

He didn’t know when he broke out into a run, but he didn’t care. His whole concern now was finding out what led to this bizarre situation.

After what seemed like an eternity to Nicolas, he finally appeared from the crowd.

The sight that greeted him however, made Nicolas’ precious supplements drop to the ground.

The reason?

Nicolas’ room, the room he tucked his mother in, was on fire!