The Shocking Revelation of the Adopted Heir
The noise echoing from the room spread around us, freezing the atmosphere solid. “What’s that sound?” Niobe, who’d come with me, reacted like she’d heard something utterly absurd. Everyone else had a similar reaction, but I alone stayed calm. Because this was an event from the original story.
“I’m going in!”
That let me stride into the room without flinching, even in this sudden crisis.
“Seres?!”
The first thing I saw was Ares, looking utterly shocked. “Seres, it’s been a while.” Next came Hairel, the high priestess—and that made even me hesitate for a second. What the hell is this bitch doing here?
And finally. A fairly pretty guy with long silver hair like mine, but taller and bulkier. Even with the gender swap, I recognized him. Nemeth Huferion. Ares’s nephew, technically.
In the original story, Ares had one younger brother. He fell for a commoner woman and ran off with her blessing—Ares didn’t approve, but it wasn’t a bad breakup. Just bad luck. The brother, who’d been living well after eloping, got caught in an accident and died with his wife. That left their kid, Nemeth, who showed up at the Huferion estate...
‘My late father told me. Turns out Seres, your daughter, isn’t blood-related—she’s adopted. So I’m the only true direct descendant. That makes me the rightful heir!’
He could’ve just revealed he was family and lived comfortably as a countess’s kin. But no, he spouted that nonsense. It was one of the incidents that wrecked Seres’s mental health. In the original timeline, this came before Ayran. The order was off here, but seeing a key original villain darkened my eyes.
Nemeth flinched under my gaze.
“So you’re Seres.”
“Yeah. And who the hell are you?”
I didn’t hide my disbelief. “I just heard some utterly ridiculous bullshit. You yelling that I’m adopted. Who even are you to say crap like that?”
“...The one and only direct descendant of the Huferions.”
Nemeth shook off his fluster and puffed up arrogantly. “And it’s not bullshit. My mother told me clear as day. You’re not blood—you’re adopted.”
That’s what he claimed in the original too. But there, it was confirmed he was Ares’s nephew, and everyone—Seres included—dismissed his claim about the adoption as nonsense. No proof, after all. The reason that absurd claim worked in the original boiled down to two things.
‘Oh ho, that’s intriguing. Could be true, who knows.’
‘What the hell?!’
Viol pretending to buy it to pry Seres away from the Huferions and bind her to herself. And Ares—the one who knew the truth—already dead.
In the original, Ares plotted rebellion to get Seres back, failed, and ended up in the imperial palace dungeon as a criminal. Viol used that to control Seres. Ares, refusing to let Seres suffer humiliation because of her, chose suicide instead. Ironically, that left no one to debunk Nemeth’s lie, putting Seres in a bind.
But...
“We can just ask Mother if that’s true!”
Here, Ares was alive and well!
Idiot. With Ares perfectly fine—unlike the original—he still shows up spouting this garbage. I looked at her, expecting her to call it nonsense.
“...”
“Mother?”
But there she was, sweating bullets in a way that felt off. ...Wait, what?
Her expression meaningful enough to harden mine, Ares slowly stood and approached me.
“I’m sorry. For hiding it all this time.”
What?
“After that day, I just couldn’t bring myself to tell you the truth...”
“W-Wait a second. So that’s true? You hid that I’m adopted this whole time without a word?!”
What the fuck is this?!
This wasn’t in the original—I was flustered—but Ares shook her head gravely.
“No, I told you once.”
“When?”
“The day you argued with me and lost your memories. That’s when I told you, and that’s what the fight was about!”
That was the foreshadowing?! What the hell, fuck!
I wanted to snap that this absurd plot twist had to be a joke, but then...
‘You’ve fooled me good all this time. I believed you were my real mother. Never doubted you for a second!’
A memory I’d never experienced flashed in my head. Me yelling at Ares.
...What?
“Auntie admitted it. Seres isn’t the true heir!”
With Ares confirming Seres was adopted, Nemeth grew even bolder. Ares eyed her nephew with a voice laced in chill.
“What the hell do you want? What’s your goal here?”
“What I deserve—my rightful place!”
“...You’re my nephew first. You could’ve just revealed your identity and lived without want. Why greed for Seres’s spot?”
Cold light gleamed in Ares’s eyes at Nemeth. He flinched at the icy stare, but “Hold on, you’re getting too worked up,” Hairel interjected, stepping between them.
“I get why you’d resent Lord Nemeth for springing this suddenly. But his claim isn’t wrong, is it?”
“...What are you scheming?”
“No schemes. I’m just helping since Lord Nemeth came to the temple asking to reclaim his birthright.”
Hairel murmured calmly under Ares’s quietly furious gaze. But it was all excuses.
‘What I’m after is obvious—putting pressure on your son.’
Hairel sneered inwardly at Ares. With Seres poised to become saint, she’d racked her brain to stop it. Unexpectedly, Nemeth showed up at the temple. She figured a direct claim at the Huferion estate wouldn’t fly, so he sought the temple’s extralegal authority—and luckily caught her eye.
‘Seres is adopted, and there’s another direct heir? No better weakness than that!’
Hairel planned to use it to oust Seres as heir, install Nemeth, and control the Huferions...
...Not really.
‘Honestly, that’s impossible.’
Sorry to Nemeth, who strutted like her backing guaranteed him the heirship, but no dice.
‘Adopted or not, Ares backs him as heir, and Seres’s position in this territory is absolute.’
He’d always been idolized like a celebrity; now, after healing the entire populace, support was sky-high. Plus his empire-wide rep as the empire’s top beauty and feats healing foreigners.
‘Replacing Seres now? No way. But I can use this to pressure him.’
Hairel glanced at Seres. ‘The truth hitting hard? He’s been silent, clutching his head since.’
Having heard the truth from Ares, Seres leaned against a corner, one hand on his forehead.
“My lord, there must be some mistake!”
“I sense power in you that only the finest Huferion bloodlines possess!”
His presumed knight guards surrounded the distraught boy, consoling him.
‘No knights like that last time—new hires? But they look familiar...’
Hairel puzzled briefly over them.
‘...Whatever. Key is using this to pressure Seres. Can’t steal the heirship, but it’s a scandal that’d hurt if it spread.’
She’d demand Seres withdraw from saint candidacy to keep the secret and silence Nemeth. Or use it as a shield if he became saint anyway. Purely for her power—no grander ambitions. Spreading the adoption secret or truly toppling him could backfire badly.
...But she didn’t know. The situation had already spiraled beyond control.
“Eek!”
“Why are you here?!”
Sudden commotion outside the door.
“P-Please wait a moment!”
“We’ll fetch the countess shortly...”
The servants outside panicked like they’d seen something untouchable.
“Who?”
“Who is it?”
Hairel, mid-scheme, and Nemeth, mid-demand, turned to the door. Some VIP had arrived—and who’d barge in so brazenly?
“No way.”
Ares’s face iced over, a guess dawning. Then the door flew open as if about to shatter, and someone entered.
Red twintails. Black dress. A woman with violent, glamorous beauty.
“Empress Viol?”
Hairel blankly uttered the name of a figure even Seres—or all imperials—would recognize.