Chapter 4
Arthur Blanchard. Late forties.
He was the CEO of Landbury, the world-renowned automobile company.
He had only been in office for two years, but he was already a highly capable figure who had sent shockwaves through the global business world and stock market with his energetic and unconventional activities.
There was one unusual thing about Arthur.
Despite being the youngest son, he had inherited the position of CEO.
At Landbury, where family management and succession by the eldest son were deeply rooted traditions, it was apparently the first time in the company’s history that someone other than the eldest son had inherited the CEO position.
It was probably because Arthur was an exceptional talent capable of breaking even that tradition.
Of course, since the Landbury CEO’s family descended from British aristocracy, many people had opposed the decision in the name of tradition.
But that opposition didn’t last long.
Arthur had transformed Landbury, which had been stuck permanently in third place behind Beretta and Reinhold, from a two-horse race into a genuine three-way competition.
The new car announced a year after Arthur Blanchard took office, the ‘Percival Y,’ named after his son, became an unprecedented hit.
It sold 1.3 million units, achieving the highest annual sales figure in the company’s history.
And then.
“I’m sorry, Ian. Is your cheek all right?”
“Yes. Yes…”
The dark-blond middle-aged man currently cooling my burning cheek with ice was none other than Arthur Blanchard.
The youngest son of the prestigious British Blanchard family, whose personal net worth alone was in the trillions of won, and the CEO of Landbury.
My future stepfather…
And—
“Ian! What should we do…! Has your nose stopped bleeding? Are you hurting anywhere? Are you dizzy? Oh, my goodness, you got hurt so badly…”
“Yes, Mom. I’m okay. Don’t worry.”
The second husband of my mother, who was currently on the verge of tears like a young girl.
“How can I not worry?! Come here. You were already a frail child, and now you’ve got a nosebleed too. Oh, this is awful…”
“No, I’m really fine. It was only one hit, after all.”
“Ian, I apologize on Percival’s behalf. I’m truly sorry. I’ll make sure to discipline him properly and have him apologize to you.”
And he was also the father of the bastard who would go on to cause the scandal that would shake both Landbury and the Blanchard family to their foundations.
After our shocking first meeting in the employee cafeteria, where Percival had slapped me across the face out of nowhere, we had hurriedly moved to Mr. Blanchard’s office.
It was a space inside Landbury’s penthouse.
Still holding my aching nose and cheek, I shook my head.
“No. Percy… didn’t do anything wrong. I was rude first. I’m sorry.”
Percy?
The thought of calling him that made me shudder.
I had hesitated because I wondered whether I was even allowed to call that bastard by a nickname, but I had no choice.
“Ian…”
Arthur looked at me with a deeply moved expression.
I suppose after looking at his own delinquent son all the time, seeing a child who actually listened must have touched his heart.
That’s why you should’ve raised your kid properly.
Instead of saying that, I widened my eyes innocently.
I needed to look as harmless and naive as possible.
“There was a strange-looking bug… I pointed at it because I wanted to show him. I think Percy misunderstood me. It was my fault. I understand how he could have misunderstood.”
“Oh, what a good boy! Sarah, Ian is absolutely adorable.”
“Yes, Arthur! He’s my pride and joy.”
I hadn’t exactly wanted to see the two of them exchanging moist-eyed looks right in front of me.
Even while talking about me, the two of them seemed to have completely forgotten that I was there as they gazed at each other.
I awkwardly rubbed the ice pack against my cheek.
Well, I was familiar with this sight.
Looking back, these two had always been like this.
It suited their love story perfectly.
They had spent a night together only hours after meeting, started dating, and gotten married just four months later.
Their passion had continued throughout their entire married life.
There was a reason why the tabloids had made such a fuss about my mother, calling her the Cinderella who had come from Korea, and about me, calling me a beggar who had been struck by lightning and somehow entered the Blanchard family as a prince.
“My lovely Sarah, Ian really is such an adorable child. He takes after you so much…”
“Arthur…!”
The tabloids, newspapers like The Sun and the Daily Mail, had sometimes attacked Mom, claiming that she’d deliberately approached Mr. Blanchard because she was after his money.
But that wasn’t true.
If they’d actually witnessed this scene in person, they probably would’ve agreed with me.
“Sarah, I want to make you Sarah Blanchard as soon as possible.”
“Oh, Arthur, honestly!”
“…”
Whatever happened with the scandalous remarriage between two people from completely different social classes that would come later, the love between these two was genuine.
By the time I entered high school, Mr. Blanchard, who would be in his mid-fifties, would suddenly step down from his position as CEO because of an illness that came out of nowhere.
At that time, Mom would stay by Mr. Blanchard’s side and personally care for him through his illness.
Not only that, but around then, Mom and I would formally sign documents renouncing any claim to the Blanchard family’s wealth.
If we got into a legal battle with the Blanchards over the threats they made against us, Arthur wouldn’t have been able to spend the last part of his life peacefully and quietly.
That had been Mom’s only wish.
When that bastard heard about it, it was the first time he’d ever bowed his head to Mom.
“Sarah…”
“Arthur…”
“…”
Rustle.
I tightened my grip around the ice pack.
But, Mom…
Can’t you see that I just got smacked by your boyfriend’s son?
You said I’m your pride and joy.
That pride and joy’s cheek is swollen right now.
It got slightly bigger in a way I didn’t ask for.
Regardless of how happy I was that Mom was happy, I had no desire to watch a forty-seven-year-old man and a thirty-five-year-old woman disappear into their own little world.
So I turned my head to the side.
And—
“Ah.”
“…What are you looking at, nerd?”
Our eyes met.
Percival Blanchard.
This bastard was two years older than me.
But as the current me, mentally twenty-three years old, all I could think was that I wanted to beat the crap out of this twelve-year-old brat.
Goddamn it, this bastard.
He sure looked the part.
Percival Blanchard had light brownish dirty-blond hair and vivid green eyes.
To put it nicely, he had the stereotypical appearance of a British aristocrat.
To put it honestly, he had the arrogant face of someone who looked like he’d be obsessed with racial discrimination.
And, in reality, he really was that bad.
Up until middle school, whenever he saw me, he’d start by calling me a “yellow monkey” and then tell me to go back to my country.
At some point, whether he’d finally matured or his feelings had changed, he stopped doing that…
Come to think of it, even when he was swearing at the Japanese guy who had been on the same team as him during his F2 days, I don’t think he’d ever made any racist remarks.
Then again, by that point, I’d completely cut off contact with him and had deliberately tried to stop paying attention to him, so I didn’t really know.
He might have continued doing it when I wasn’t around.
Of course, even if he’d changed, he’d never apologized to me, so I had no reason to think well of him.
But…
When I was dying…
“I’m sorry about earlier…”
Since I couldn’t just keep staring at him while lost in my own thoughts, I apologized first.
It wasn’t because I was afraid of him.
It was because there was no reason to provoke someone with such a filthy temper.
But putting that aside—
Can you at least explain what the hell that thing above your head is?
Am I the only one who can see it?
It was obvious that Mom and Mr. Blanchard couldn’t see it.
But it was still floating right above your head…
“Get lost. Don’t talk to me.”
Wow.
What a personality.
I was suddenly impressed.
While Mom and Mr. Blanchard were lost in their own little world, I thought maybe the two sons could have a conversation.
Apparently, that wasn’t going to be easy.
I put down the ice pack and took a deep breath.
As the mentally twenty-three-year-old adult here, I had to somehow soothe this twelve-year-old brat with no manners.
“Um, Percy. They say our mom and your father like each other. So I’d like us to get along. I’m sure they want that too…”
“I’ll kill you. Don’t pretend we’re close.”
“O-Okay.”
The way he glared at me made it look like he was ready to slap my other cheek if I pushed him too far.
I lowered my eyes helplessly, but inside, I thought—
I really want to beat the crap out of this bastard.
If I could just hit him once, I’d feel so much better.
It was frustrating that I couldn’t.
I pulled myself together and secretly glanced at the space above his head.
No matter how many times I looked…
There’s definitely something floating there.
It was some kind of transparent rectangular window.
Like a display window on a computer.
Or a status window from a game.
‘Sub Quest: Become Friends with Your New Younger Brother’?
What the hell is this?
Is this really some kind of game? Why is something like this here…? And why can I see it?
Had the stress finally driven me insane?
Or had getting hit on the cheek caused some kind of brain damage?
But I blinked.
I rubbed my eyes.
The rectangular window was still there.
I sighed in frustration, and Percy… no, Percival Bastard flinched.
I had secretly taken to calling Percival Blanchard Percival Bastard.
He was the kind of guy I couldn’t stand without cursing him.
Anyway, forget about figuring out what that thing is for now.
I need to get through today properly.
I can’t spend the next fifteen years fighting this bastard like I did before.
Looking at Arthur’s face and that bastard here, I became certain.
My life hadn’t exactly been full of regrets, but there had been a few things I wished I’d done differently.
Like pushing Arthur away because I felt uncomfortable accepting his kindness.
Or fighting with Percival Bastard almost all the way to the end, letting things spiral into a complete disaster until we eventually stopped even greeting each other…
But even that bastard…
He cried for me at the end.
Yeah.
No matter what, we’re brothers.
Thinking that made my chest tighten slightly.
This time, at the very least, I wanted to get along with him better than before.
I wasn’t expecting us to become affectionate brothers.
Just a normal enough sibling relationship.
And I wanted Mom and Arthur to live happily together for a very long time.
And, while I’m at it, maybe I can finally escape my eternal second-place streak.
To do that, though, I’d have to beat that bastard.
The so-called genius of the century.
The bastard who would be a World Championship contender the moment he debuted in F1…
…Wouldn’t it be possible?
With me as I am now.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
Percy, who had been watching me with unreadable eyes as I was lost in thought, suddenly called out to me.
I was startled and answered.
The bastard hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
“You…”
“Arthur! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“You can’t do this!”
Suddenly, the door flew open and a woman barged in.
A man followed behind her.
I knew those faces.
They were Arthur’s older brother and older sister.
“How dare you fool around with some rootless Oriental woman like that! You! You said you’re even considering remarrying her. Is that what we handed the Blanchard family over to you for?!”
“And I heard she even has a child! How dare you, when we’re standing right here…!”
They had suddenly stormed into the office and were shouting at Arthur and Mom while pointing accusing fingers at them.
“Look, Henry! Oh, my goodness. So that’s the child? How could he be so shabby and stupid-looking…?”
After noticing me standing nearby, their fingers immediately turned toward me.
Of course, their words were insulting.
But there was something that bothered me far more.
Ding.
“…Huh?”
The moment they entered, the contents of that strange message window changed.
‘Main Quest 3: Drive Uncle and Aunt out and prevent Sarah from being insulted.’
…What the hell is this?
Is this really a game?
“Stop it! What are you saying to a child?!”
Thinking I’d been hurt by their words, Mom pulled me into her arms and shouted at the woman.
