The Black Iron Glory
Household chaos

Chapter 43

The Chaos of the Household

"Anna, why did you cry yesterday afternoon? Who slapped you? Tell me ..." Claude came home soon after school and opened the question as soon as he saw his sister.

The little girl did not reply, but tears flowed straight away.

Claude had an idea of what was going on. "Is that Arbeit again? Why did he hit you?"

The girl stuttered and cried. "She ... she wanted me to give her my flower hairpin .. I. .. I didn't want .. and she hit me and took it …"

Claude clutched tightly onto his hand until his pulse was visible. No one let go without a hard lesson now. She actually dared to take the hairpin I bought for my own sister ?! She must have given it to calm Miss Christina down!

I remember hearing Christina bothering Arbeit for some accessories back then. So he dared to rob her from his own sister because he did not have the money to buy it himself? I was surprised. . . If it wasn't entirely made of silver, I doubt he would have noted it. All right, just wait. I will show him the consequences of his actions tonight. . .

After trying hard to comfort his sister, Claude planned to wait for the fool to return with his clenched fist. But to her surprise, she did not see Arbeit at dinner. When asked, Morssen said that since Sir Fux had just returned from Baromiss, the prefectural capital, Arbeit was probably busier than usual and probably would not be coming home.

At the same time, he praised Claude for taking care of his older brother and believed that parenting methods to foster good relationships between siblings worked well.

lucky it doesn't matter, it's just a matter of time.

The next day, Claude took his sister to the store and picked up three beautiful hairpins. He did not need to spend this much time as each of them only needed three sunars, made of silver-plated copper. They look rather flashy and worthless at all with pure silver, but everything is fine as long as her sisters love it.

Finally on the third night, Arbeit returned home. That day, Claude is dragged by his friends to Eriksson's private dock where they set up their secret base to fish for nearly an hour. Initially, they wanted to hold a barbecue, but they did not manage to catch much. The four of them only got two fish combined. So, they lost interest and gave the fish to Pegg, the dock guard, and left the house.

From the moment he came in, he was raving with satisfaction about how hard he worked for Sir Fux and how much he was appreciated by him. Morssen listened to Arbeit tell a story about himself, smiling with his pipe in hand, with a few occasional nods.

When Claude entered the house, Arbeit looked away and pretended not to see him. He also pointed at his empty cup to make Angelina pour red tea on him.

"Let me do it," Claude said as he picked up the silver teapot from his sister and headed to the dining table.

He lowered the teapot and grabbed Arbeit's collar, lifting him from his seat immediately.

"You ... What are you doing ?!" yell the fool, panic.

Morssen, startled, shouted furiously. "Claude, what are you doing ?!"

Claude ignored. The anger he held for the last three would not stop even if the sky god himself descended into their dining room.

Arbeit clutched his collar desperately with both of his hands. Claude loosened his right hand, but Arbeit would not be able to push his left hand away.

Claude is aiming, tense, and wham! He slapped Arbeit's cheek violently.

"Gift!" Arbeit spat out a mouthful of blood into Claude's uniform. He had snapped at her and no longer tried to push Claude's hand, instead choosing to protect her face for fear of being slapped again.

Claude lifted his knee sharply.

"Brrreeeuuggghh .." Arbeit vomited, but he had not eaten dinner. No one threw up, except for the white foam. No one could resist the attack to the stomach and remain standing. Arbeit was currently curled up like a cooked shrimp.

Claude sent another knee to his face.

"Aackkk!" arbeit cried out in pain as his nose was struck. He landed on the ground, gripping his bloodied face.

Before Morssen could finish his sentence, he saw Claude beating his eldest son until he rolled on the ground with his own blood, crying out in pain.

"You ... You're out of control! Claude! How ... how dare you ?! How dare you beat up your older brother ?! Stop this instant!" morssen shouted as he pointed sharply at Claud.

"Shut up!" Claude sent a sharp look at his father, his red eyes scaring the old man. "Stand there quietly. You'll know why I hit him a little!"

While pulling the chair, Claude walked over and stomped his right foot on the Arbeit. "Speak. What happened to the silver hairpin?"

Arbeit only muttered in pain, refusing to speak whatever happened and letting Claude trample the hand that covered his face. He could only pitifully ask his parents to protect him.

"Wait, Claude, what are you saying ?!" Morssen looked surprised. He was not prepared to hear something so shocking.

"Simple, Dad. The eldest son you are very proud of has connected with a beautiful 28-year-old woman who lives in the neighboring attic, Miss Christina. They've been sleeping in bed for half a year or so now. Now, you finally know where this son of yours is spending his salary, right? Last month, he even bought his girlfriend two tops and one skirt! He even promised Miss Christina a suite with a bathroom and bathtub! If we didn't have every empty room, he would rent one for her somewhere else and pay the rent himself!

"The woman even asked Arbeit to buy her jewelry! It seemed that this kid had spent all his money elsewhere, so he set his sights on the pure silver hairpin I bought for Anna! Anna did not want to give it to him, so she slapped him and stole it to give it to Miss Christina!

"I really don't care about hairpins. If he were to speak to Anna properly about it, something like this would not happen. She shouldn't have raised her hand towards her hairpin. This damn thing deserves to die! Does he look like a brother to you? Anna was his own little sister, yet that did not stop him from hitting her! Since that's the case, I won't hold back. If you don't treat us like you're your own brother, I won't consider you my older brother either! "

The more Claude continued, the more furious he became. Angelina is such a sweet and obedient child who knows to help their mother with chores despite being only twelve. In addition to other things, Claude was impressed at how he took the initiative to take over the dishwasher at night when their mother had to care more about Bloweyk. Claude himself may not want to do the dishes, because it has become a habit for the women of the world to do most of the homework. Men in a household with women doing their jobs would be considered pathetic and feminine.

Claude moved his leg from Arbeit's hand. Since you're blocking your face, I'll kick your waist! He immediately continued his kick.

"Whoa ..." Arbeit quickly rolled to the side after being kicked twice more, causing Claude to miss and narrowly split.

"You dare avoid me ?!" roar Claude as he moved forward.

"Wait, Claude, hold your hand!" morssen shouted as he regained his senses from his stupidity.

"I didn't use my hands!" Claude gave Arbeit another kick. The poor fool was trapped in a corner of the wall curled up and maintained whatever abuse Claude had kept for him.

"You ... Hold your feet too!" Morssen felt himself going crazy. He never imagined that his eldest son would bring so much shame to him. His youngest son on the other hand didn't seem to be listening to him and was even acting very harshly towards his own elder brother. Although he was defending his younger sister, Morssen felt an impending headache as his mind went numb from the chaotic storm that was taking place inside.

Now that Morssen was blocking in front of Claude, he had no choice but to stop.

"Get aside," Morssen said as he pushed Claude away. They had to be separated before he could do anything else.

I'll leave this to Dad for now and see how he intends to handle this. If Claude was not satisfied, he could always give that stupid beating. He will make sure that the lesson is remembered for the rest of that poor life.

Claude walked over to her brother's side and stroked her hair gently. "Don't be afraid, that person won't dare to hurt you again. If he hits you once, I'll give him back ten times. Let's see who else dares bully my cute little sister."

The girl smiled and buried her head into Claude's chest. Although he was shocked when he saw the rough Arbeit, he quickly understood that he stood up for him and no longer felt fear, his fear being replaced by a sense of security.

"Arbeit, stand." Morssen glared at his eldest son. He believes Claude's accusation. Given his understanding of his eldest son, he knew that Arbeit would try to speak for himself about it if he was beaten for no apparent reason. Receiving such a blow calmly meant that Claude's words were true without a doubt.

Morssen's heart sank. Now is not the time to rebuke Claude about messing up his brother. Instead, I wonder if Arbeit is really connected to that Christina. Wargod above, if this news comes out, I won't know how to deal with the other city elites anymore. . . This . .this will be a big scandal and I will be a big joke in front of everyone. . . I wonder how the townspeople would see a head secretary like me when they found out that my son really liked my own tenant? The reputation I spent years building will be destroyed overnight. . .

"Is what Claude said right? Do you really have such a relationship with Miss Christina?" Morssen still holds a sliver of hope that Arbeit will call Claude for making things up.

But he was destined to be disappointed. Arbeit remained curled up in a corner with his hands over his head as if he had just been yelled at by a large burly man, gliding in a corner miserably.

Claude could not help but praise Arbeit for his move. This sly fellow. . . He knew that Dad would not believe anything he said. . . A smarter move would be to curl up in a corner to try to inspire sympathy from our parents after being beaten. . .

Morssen seemed to lose his spirit. He pulled out a chair and sat in it. He suffered too many surprises tonight and is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Sighing deeply, he turned to Claude and asked, "Since when did you know about this?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Claude said, "Recently, on the night when you were having a party. When I returned home that night, you were still in the study room with some guests. I couldn't sleep, so I opened the window in my attic and heard Arbeit and the woman's voice. I thought it was coming from downstairs, only to realize later that it was coming from the attic next to me. When I went up to the roof, I confirmed that it was indeed their voice. back then and seemed to be arguing about something.

"Miss Christina complains about Arbeit not fulfilling his promise to get a room with a bathroom because there is no bathroom, bathtub or kitchen in the attic. Arbeit then promised that he would rent a nice room for her in the city. When Christina asks him for jewelry, Arbeit brings two tops and a skirt he bought for last month and promises that he will definitely buy her accessories next time.

"Just after that, he slept in his place. They caused a commotion and that was when I finally found out about their relationship. At first, I didn't want to bother with his business. But she shouldn't have bothered Anna and picked up her hairpin. "

"Alright, that's enough .." Morssen waved weakly and Claude immediately shut his mouth.

"Yes God! Arbeit, what happened to you?" Madame Ferd had just descended down with Bloweyk and shouted in shock when she saw the bloodied Arbeit curled up in a corner.

"He's fine. He had just slipped and fell," Morssen said, causing Claude and Angelina to look at him in disbelief.

"Both of you, bring food upstairs to eat. Let's not have dinner here tonight. Take Little Blowk with you," said Morssen, sighing again, "Pattie, help Arbeit wash and treat the wounds on his face."

After sighing again, he said, "Arbeit, I want to have a long talk with you."