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Chapter 19 - Act 3

[Act 3 - Soren Chandler, Age 10 - Corrected]

Humans are naturally attracted to beautiful things. Their eyes are drawn to these pleasing things and their eyes follow through the ignorance of their will.

"Aren't you... spoiling him too much?" Allistair asked as he sat on the couch opposing them while Soren and Mikhail were sitting on the floor with the former laying his head on Mikhail's lap while the latter fed him grapes like he was an Egyptian emperor being fed by his servants.

The first time they met each other, Mikhail easily warmed up to the two children.

The young master had been alone for the majority of his life due to his parents' protectiveness but now he finally had two kids who were in the same age range as him to play with. He easily understood when Sophia and Dimitri explained Soren and Allistair's presence in their house and he did not dispute it.

As a matter of fact, Mikhail was pretty excited and happy when he learned his parents had finally found two appropriate heirs to their business. He knew why his parents did not want him to be the heir and he accepted it willingly. He wasn't after the fame or the prestige of being an heir.

He was still the sole young master of the leaders of the organization and it was assured he would walk in a path of gold his entire life.

He didn't complain when he found out his parents chose kids who were from the streets to attain their business.

As a matter of fact, Mikhail was secretly delighted by that. Not only that, he could still be involved in the organization if he wanted to when he grows up or completely departs from it. Unlike those who chose to depart and are punished by the organization, Mikhail had this leverage as the young master who is highly valued by his parents.

"Am I? I don't think I am. He's just a little baby after all," the young master cooed as he pinched Soren's cheeks causing the child to burst into a fit of giggles.

"His mental state doesn't make him a child, Kael," Allistair spoke out honestly and it made Mikhail stop what he was doing. He looked at the teen and glared slightly.

"Ali, don't say that-"

"Just because the trauma of our parent's action and his experiences in living in the streets made his mental development slow down so much that even though he's already ten yet he still acts like seven should you treat him like a child-"

"Ten is still a child, Allistair," Mikhail looked directly into Allistair's eyes and they were locked in a gaze competition. Allistair was the first one to back down as he looked somewhere else because of the intensity of Kael's gaze.

"You, me, and Soren. We're all children here. You don't have to be so harsh on your brother."

After the brothers were incorporated into the organization, they were immediately brought by the family to a doctor who specialized in children to test for their well-being.

Allistair was perfectly fine. He is a growing healthy kid aside from him being slightly underweight because they had been living in the streets for roughly three years.

Soren, on the other hand, was diagnosed with some issues.

Sophia and Dimitri believed that he was still in his single digits age because of how he reacted and responded to his surroundings but, to their surprise, Allistair later revealed that Soren was about ten years of age already. He just didn't mention that immediately because no one asked him then until the examination.

He then explained the possible reason for Soren's situation.

Aside from the fact that they had been abandoned by their parents in the middle of nowhere to fend for themselves and never to be seen again, Soren had to witness countless deaths when they lived in the slums of the city. Allistair was pretty much immune to them after a few times but Soren who was on the younger side, saw people get brutally murdered daily which was a traumatic experience for him.