To gain more freedom and rights, one must first bear the corresponding responsibilities. Brandon decided to dig a deeper hole for himself. He believed, “Seeing you suffer, a little suffering on my part won’t be so bad...” His siblings seemed to have gotten a bit too excited too soon.

  Looking at his third sister, who sat down contentedly, Brandon cleared his throat, fshed a grin at his father, and with his father’s watchful gaze on him, he said, “As descendants of the Winchesthill family, inheriting the glory of our ancestors...” At this point, everyone in the dining hall put down their utensils and turned their attention to Brandon. Just like when a national fg is raised, when an ancestor’s name is invoked, respect must be shown, whether you want to or not.

  “Since our parents have granted me a brave attendant, it means that I, Brandon Winchesthill, have been recognized and now have the right to walk independently within our family’s territory,” Brandon paused, his earlier pyful tone now becoming more serious. "I, Brandon, am not a child; I am but a wandering soul, lost in this pce." With that, Brandon stood up, his face serious as he said loudly, “I will lead my attendant to venture forth independently. From now on, my attendant and I will share both hardship and joy, life and death!”

  At this point, Dani slowly stood up, seemingly making a great decision of her own. Then, she firmly punched her chest and loudly echoed, “Life and death together!”

  The hall fell silent, the only sound being the echo created by Dani’s decration. The Northmen’s stubbornness also manifested in their oaths; they may not be the sharpest, but they were extremely meticulous when it came to vows. The oaths exchanged between a lord and their attendant were serious matters, and there were frequent cases in the North where a lord, after making a vow, ended up feeling embarrassed when their attendant took the words too literally and used their own cunning to hold them to the promise.

  After Brandon said, “We will share hardship and joy, life and death together,” he confidently waited for Dani to refuse. No one would make such a pledge with a child, even if he was the Duke’s son. And as the fourth son, even with his awakening, he didn’t hold much power. Why would anyone pledge their life and death with someone who had so little to offer? Had Dani lost her mind?

  Dani’s role was mostly to mentor him, not to become his companion in life and death. With the Northmen’s straightforwardness, Dani should have stared at Brandon with innocent, wide eyes and thought, “Why did you agree to this?”

  Making such a pledge in front of so many people would usually mean that Brandon and Dani would soon be packing up to leave the castle and rely on each other in a harsh, lonely life. The thought of that made Brandon shiver; he had only intended to use this opportunity to get Dani out of his bedroom. He never thought it would end up like this, with him becoming independent.

  You should have refused, he thought. Then we could have discussed conditions, asked for more benefits, like housing. You could have even put on a show for the older brothers, crying and making a scene until you got the same privileges they had. Why did you agree to this?

  Perhaps it was the confused look on Brandon’s face that made the Duke feel somewhat satisfied. After a brief hesitation, he agreed to Brandon’s request and even complimented him. When Brandon turned to his mother with a pleading, pleading look, she barely held back a ugh, saying that Brandon was truly worthy of being a Winchesthill. Brandon grumbled to himself, I’m really not your child. I just happened to be born into the wrong family.

  Encouraged by Brandon’s words, his older siblings seemed to want to prove that they too were worthy of the great Winchesthill name. Unfortunately, their attendants hadn’t arrived yet, so that was out of the question for today. Even if the attendants did show up, one had to wonder if they could be any more reliable than Dani.

  “I’m full,” Brandon said, standing up and picking up the bck cat, Flower, who was still licking its pte. Right now, Flower was the only one who could comfort his fragile heart. He needed to talk with his good cat about the helplessness of life. Unfortunately, his little sister, the little loli, also stood up and chased after him, grabbing Flower’s tail…