Sign of the Zodiac: Cancer
Gathering

The next morning, Damian is called to his father's study. He could have guessed it would happen. Titus seems to have been called first, and has now left home to go to work. Mrs Castor is nowhere to be seen, but usually the mother will comfort her from morning if Damian has problems.

The young man ignored him and only focused on preparing the heart to face his father's anger.

“I'm facing, Dad,” Damian said after welcome into Duke Castor's study.

His father was busy working on important papers at his desk, looked up a little, then told Damian to come closer. The young man according. He stood in front of his father's desk in a polite manner, not wanting to make matters bigger.

“Come out of this house,” said Duke Castor briefly, densely and.

Damian scrunched his forehead, not really understanding the meaning of the father's words. “What do you mean, Dad?” tanyanya's confused.

“And don't call me dad anymore. From now on you are not part of the Castor family,” said the Duke firmly, without turning towards Damian, and sounding undeniable.

“Daddy .. ,” says Damian at a loss for words.

Duke Castor stopped his writing activities on the parchment. He sighed softly, then finally looked up at Damian. “I can no longer support you. You killed your own tunagan, and now you're trying to destroy your sister's family?” the father said full of accusations.

Damian shook his head hard. “I didn't kill Luceila. She was preyed upon ..” Damian could not continue his words. His heart still grieved in light of the terrible event.

“It doesn't matter now. Rumors are circulating that you deliberately lured the girl out to fall prey to evil spirits. You committed that heinous act solely of not wanting to marry a descendant of a lowly baron. Our family can't accept that bad accusation anymore. So I hope you understand and just leave quietly stripped of your status as a noble. Go without your mother's knowledge. I'll explain to him later,” Duke Castor said emotionlessly.

Damian is totally stuck now. His father's decision was unanimous. He will not be able to fight it again. So now he's banished from the Castor family? Justjust like? Where should he go after this?

“I'll give you enough money. You can survive for a few months with the money. After that you can live freely as you want,” concluded the Duke later.

***

Damian walked out of his father's room, still shaken by what he had just heard. But he also had no other choice. In just a short time Damian had already lost everything. Is this karma because it has destroyed the lives of many people before?

The young man could do nothing more. At his father's request, Damian leaves the Castor family's residence secretly, unbeknownst to his mother. Before it was dark, he explored the city of Ponza with an empty mind. His body was like an automatic tuning, only moving based on instinct without any plan. That's when he met with Altan who was shopping at the market.

“It's a rare sight. Seeing you walk in the crowd of ordinary people in the city never occurred to me at all, Castor,” greeted Altan with his usual cynical tone.

Damian breathed a heavy sigh. “I'm no longer a Castor,” he said frankly.

Altan smiled wryly while grunting. “At last you were dumped by your family? It wasn't too surprising,” the silver-haired young man commented.

Damian glanced lazily. “Thank you for your honesty.”

“You're calmer than I thought. So what's your next plan?” ask Altan as he walks over to Damian's fingers.

“Entahlah. Have fun until starving to death, maybe.”

Altan laughed a little. A rare expression he had never shown before.

“Looks like you're enjoying my suffering,” Damian said scornfully.

“What do you mean?”

“Close with me,” invite Altan later.

Damian didn't really understand what the young man Giyatsa was saying. However, because he had no other destination, he finally complied.

Altan apparently took Damian to the residence of Marquess Erald, where he lived while in Ponza. The owner of the house did not seem to be in place. Only a few servants greeted them.

“Why did you bring me here?” ask Damian later.

“I want to check something,” Altan said then guided Damian to his room on the second floor.

Altan told his guests to sit down. Some waiters serve sweet drinks and snacks for them. Damian felt that Altan was being treated like a guest of honor in this house, which made him envious. Without noble status, he might not be able to accept this kind of luxury anymore in the future.

“Try holding this. What do you feel?” ask Altan while holding out a small green stone that is said to be the zodiac stone.

Damian received it in his grasp. The stone was like a faint shimmer and felt warm in his hand.

“How?” Altan asked again.

“How is it?”

“How does it feel to touch that stone?”

“It feels ... warm,” replied Damian unsure.

“Warm?” Altan again grabbed the stone from Damian's grasp. “This stone feels cold in my hand,” continued the young man Giyatsa with furrowed brows.

Damian took it back. Once again he felt the warmth of the stone, which if grasped felt increasingly hot.

“No. This stone is warm, even long to be hot. Maybe because of my body heat,” Damian insisted.

Altan. “For whatever I hold it the stone remains cold. It does not absorb heat energy from the human body. I suppose. Except ...” The young man did not continue his sentence.

“Except what?” ask Damian curiously. Is there something wrong with him?

“We have to do something,” Altan said later.

Without further explanation, Altan took Damian to the fighting field, where the knights of the Marquess residence usually practiced. It was already dusk, and hence the knights were no longer active there. There were only the two of them in that place.

Altan then told Damian to sit cross-legged in the middle of the field. Holding the zodiac stone, Damian is asked to close his eyes and empty his mind while breathing.

“Focus only on your breath and don't think about anything. Feel the energy from that stone flowing into your body,” Altan commands later.

Although he did not understand what Altan was trying to do, Damian still complied. There is no harm. Who knows, he might also be able to get a shelter tonight, with a Giyatsa tribal fighter who is good at eradicating Deimheim. There was no such luck after he went through various troubles.