Edgar Alstreim took a deep breath as he turned to look at Weiss Alstreim. His lips moved.

"Who are you?"

"Weiss Alstreim... the Young Master... of the Alstreim Family..." Weiss Alstreim replied in a monotonous voice.

Edgar Alstreim nodded, but he sneered. 

To think that Weiss Alstreim still thought of himself as the Young Master when he should be perfectly aware that he lost the battle when he got caught by him in a death grip.

Could it be that the realization just hadn't sunken yet?

'Perhaps...' Edgar Alstreim thought before moving on to asking the real questions.

"Are you the person responsible for my wife, Julianna's death?"

"... Yes."

Weiss Alstreim replied with a dull expression, and even though Edgar Alstreim knew it would be the case, he still couldn't help but feel anger swelling up within him. An intense killing intent flashed past his eyes.

It was the second question he asked, yet the rage he felt was boundless. His arms shook as he controlled himself.

"Why did you kill her when you could've just dealt with me...?"

"A mere... maid doesn't have the stature to be greeted... with respect just because she became... your wife at that time... Besides, she was... your weakness..."

Edgar Alstreim's anger abruptly quelled, but he felt deep remorse welling within him. If he had just waited for some time and didn't give Julianna a proper status, perhaps she never would've been targeted. He should've known this but drunk by the Young Master's status; he foolishly thought no one could possibly target him.

Indeed, no one directly targeted him but took him out using his weak points. It was all his fault for not considering everything when it is his responsibility to be careful of competitors.

Claire lowered her head as she heard, but when she saw her father tremble, she instantly wanted to head towards him and console but she couldn't, not at this moment.

She was aware that revealing herself is equivalent to revealing the opening of Forsaken Phoenix Realm. Unless it was an emergency, she knew that she could commit such a blunder.

1

While Edgar Alstreim was wallowing in self-blame, Davis interjected.

"Does Grand Elder Elise Alstreim have to do anything with Julianna's death?"

"... No."

"Oh... then what about Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim?"

"... No."

"So it was all your doing then?"

"... No."

"Mhm?" Davis narrowed his eyes, "Then who were all responsible for this matter?"

"... I... and two others, Nesec Alstreim... and Azeris Alstreim."

Edgar Alstreim blinked. Although he wondered why Alchemist Davis would be curious, he knew Nesec Alstreim and Azeris Alstreim. After all, he literally killed one of them with his own hands.

Azeris Alstreim was the youth who killed Julianna, but Nesec Alstreim was someone Edgar Alstreim recalled about just now.

Nesec Alstreim seemed to have died during a mission soon after the death of Julianna. However, he didn't know the specifics but judging by what Weiss Alstreim said, Nesec Alstreim seemed to have worked along with Weiss Alstreim and Azeris Alstreim to kill Julianna. 

"Did you kill Nesec Alstreim?" Edgar Alstreim asked.

"... Yes."

"Why...?"

"To erase the complete evidence..."

Edgar Alstreim's killing intent inadvertently as he swung his hand....

*PahhH!~*

A resounding slap echoed!

Weiss Alstreim's head swiveled, and his neck almost bent sideways, but he didn't even react and kept a dull expression on his face. He didn't even bother to return to the position before Davis used his soul force to straighten him up.

Davis digested the information as he looked at Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim and Grand Elder Elise Alstreim and saw that they were really astonished to know that Weiss Alstreim was solely the one responsible for killing Julianna in the past. 

It shouldn't be surprising that they didn't know, considering Edgar Alstreim had killed Julianna's killer, the pawn on the spot out of rage, and Weiss Alstreim moved to kill Nesec Alstreim. These two matters effectively cleared all evidence of Weiss Alstreim's involvement in Julianna's death.

However, Edgar Alstreim looked really surprised that these two weren't involved. He narrowed his eyes in disbelief and investigated.

"How did Grand Elder Elise Alstreim help you in obtaining the Young Master's position through ousting me?"

"Grand Elder Elise Alstreim... tried to haggle with you, but since you... didn't step down; she was forced to... take a few measures such as suppression, and bullying as she supported me in ousting you..."

"Suppressing you... was difficult. But once... I got hold of your weakness; I no longer needed help and did... everything by myself. After I forced you to cripple yourself using external forces... as well as making you step down from being the Young Master... she helped me quell the voices of discontent."

"In the end... I was able to obtain the... Young Master's status... without facing any problems..."

Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim's expression fell. 

His body was increasingly trembling, wanting to slap Weiss Alstreim to death in an instant, but he just couldn't in front of the Ancestor. His trembling stopped, but it wasn't from relief or ease but from the realization that he could no longer stop themselves from being exposed.

Edgar Alstreim's expression flashed. This could only be the truth as Weiss Alstreim could not lie in this state unless Alchemist Davis explicitly told him. 

With this evidence, he knew that he could effectively punish Grand Elder Elise Alstreim!

He continued to ask.

"How did Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim help you in obtaining the Young Master's position through ousting me?"

"Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim... didn't..."

"He didn't?" Edgar Alstreim became taken aback!

"... Yes."

Edgar Alstreim blinked in doubt before he changed the question, "Was Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim related to ousting me in any way?"

"...Yes."

A smirk appeared on Edgar Alstreim's lips as he glanced at Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim, "How so?"

"Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim... suppressed any information regarding Grand Elder Elise Alstreim's involvement... in ousting you..."

Edgar Alstreim understood that Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim didn't have any direct involvement, but his expression changed as he burst into laughter!

"Hahaha! How moving! The parent takes care of the children's mistakes..."

"Extremely moving indeed! But when you're the victim at the end of this endearing behaviors, it makes you puke towards the injustice done to you!"

*PahhH!~*

Edgar Alstreim slapped Weiss Alstreim again, but this time, it was without powerful energy behind it. He further pointed at Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim and bellowed!

"You old fart! Was killing Julianna the only way you could make Weiss Alstreim the Young Master!? Was through making my Claire disappear the only way you could make Nora Alstreim the Young Mistress!?"

"Don't you know how to compete fairly!?"

Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim became red as he felt a pang of shame at being berated by a junior in front of all the big-shots. He wasn't even able to form something in his mind to refute. In reality, he knew that no matter what excuses he made, with the Ancestor here, he was convinced that they were going to be suppressed and punished.

Although being executed was far-fetched, imprisonment was inevitable.

"When a bad sapling grows in your garden, you would root it out to stop it corrupting the other good saplings. However, I precisely failed to do that..."

Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim heaved a heavy sigh before he looked at Edgar Alstreim with wide eyes, "I admit my mistakes!"