Noah kept his hold on Warren’s shirt, pulling Warren towards a small library nearby.
Noah had enough of Warren’s recent behaviour. Warren was heading on a path which would land him in danger, and Noah didn’t have the means to help his son.
Noah let go of Warren with a shove, pushing him into the room, and after he entered, he closed the door.
"What were you doing asking your mother that kind of question?" Noah asked, his voice low as he tried to keep his anger at bay.
"Why can’t I ask for the reason my parents fell in love? You won’t tell me why you fell for a woman who can’t walk, so I have to go to my mother. There’s nothing wrong with what I asked unless there is something you want to hide," said Warren.
No matter how he looked at it, his parents weren’t suited for each other.
Kate couldn’t be picky since she couldn’t walk, so many of the men who once shared her status would not want to marry her unless she had a great deal of wealth.
His father’s personality had always seemed so opposite from his mother and seeing how Noah criticised Kate’s actions in the past, why did he settle for her? He could have married one of the maids who worked alongside him in the past.
This led Warren to conclude that this was all about money.
"There’s nothing to hide from you. Your mother and I love each other," said Noah.
Warren laughed. "Oh, come on. I’m too old to fall for that now. I’m a man with a perfectly working mind. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t settle for spending the rest of my life taking care of her, but her money might sway you. Why did you stick around instead of running off?"
Warren didn’t think he was the reason his father stayed.
Noah stormed over to where Warren stood to grab the collar of his shirt. "Enough!"
"How could it be enough? When you react , I am forced to believe that I am hitting the nail right on its head as my words bring you displeasure. Surely, you didn’t think I wouldn’t question your union," said Warren.
Noah shook his head, knowing it wasn’t worth it to fight his son.
Kate had snapped out of whatever mood she was in, and if she heard they had fought, she wouldn’t be pleased.
"All you need to know is that I love your mother. I wouldn’t be here caring for her if I didn’t love her," Noah said, releasing Warren after.
Warren tidied his shirt. "About that, I’ve been curious. Is it truly love, or is it guilt that keeps you here?"
"What?" Noah asked, confused about what guilt he should have.
"Well, if you approached her for bad reasons and then realised the state she was in, I wonder if you stuck around because you felt guilty that you were going to use her," said Warren.
Either that or his father had nowhere else to go, so he stayed here.
"I can’t understand it," Warren said.
Noah laughed at Warren’s assumption. He had his reasons for staying by Kate’s side, though she was so difficult and she often insulted him, but it had nothing to do with guilt. It certainly wasn’t Warren’s place to know.
"Keep this up, and the next time your mother asks about you, I will have to tell her that you are in the town guard’s hold. Stop trying to claim that home, and most of all, stop trying to pick a fight with Edgar. Look at what happened to your mother’s family," said Noah.
Men of great status and wealth wouldn’t dare pick a fight with Edgar, yet his foolish son was going out of his way to do so.
"Leave those battles to men who have the power to go up against men like him. You’ll end up buried somewhere around this kingdom, and I will not be able to do anything for you," Noah said, hoping Warren would snap out of this.
"That’s because you’re pathetic. This is what I get for my father being some lowly servant who seduced my mother when she was at her worst. Why did Clark let you get near her? I could respect you if you had sent me off to be with the Duchess," said Warren.
"Send you off? Why would they take you in, you fool?" Noah asked, quite close to hitting Warren. "You like to ignore all the things your mother did. She was cruel to her sister. If you have forgotten that, you may go to the court to read about it."
"I know all that she has done. I believe my mother has been punished enough for what she did. She now lives in hell, only moving if someone helps her. Besides, based on what I read, it was my grandmother who did the worst things," Warren said, wishing all the blame wouldn’t go to his mother.
The worst Kate had done was attack Alessandra to ruin her face. The mistreatment over the years didn’t come from his mother alone, but based on the records, it came from his grandparents.
"Had the duchess taken me in, maybe it would have changed my opinion of her. I will make sure the town knows how cruel-"
"You are out to speak ill of them and ignore what your mother did as well, because they didn’t take you in? Have you lost your senses?" Noah asked, disturbed by the way Warren thought.
Noah always thought Warren was a son who loved his mother so much that he didn’t want to admit his mother had done wrong in her past, so he cast blame on everyone else. Now, Noah realised that Warren acted this way because he wanted to punish Alessandra for not taking him to the estate.
Noah touched his face. There would be no reason for Warren to have gone to the estate. They didn’t have as much wealth or a large home like Alessandra did, but they had enough for Warren to be raised better than most children.
"The duke would never have allowed a child of Kate to enter his home, and your mother would never send you there. They share a father, but the duchess and your mother are hardly sisters. You have no place there. You have no reason to go there," said Noah.
Noah continued to say, "You think I am the one chasing money, but it is you. You are chasing wealth that does not belong to you. It is foolish of you to be jealous of what they have. Enjoy what you have and live a long, peaceful life."
"I want the life my mother told me of. I’m tired of working while others get to enjoy wealth passed down. As a father, you failed me and I hate you for it," Warren said, brushing his father’s shoulder as he walked by.
He had long made up his mind that he would ruin the duchess for not helping him, and nothing was going to change that.