Villain's Refund System: The Protagonist's Harem Is Mine

Sterling residence felt colder after midnight, especially when six relatives waited outside the sealed appraisal room without speaking.

Damien crossed the black marble corridor on a repaired leg, ’wonderful, five seniors failed, so Father invited an audience to inspect the surviving problem.’

The arena healers had closed his thigh around a silver brace, though each step still pulled pain through the muscle.

An academy appraiser stood among the relatives wearing pale assessment robes, with Garrick Vane’s staff held tightly against his narrow chest.

Garrick avoided Damien’s eyes and turned toward the twelve-meter doors before their locks withdrew by themselves.

"Lord Sterling, the patriarch requested complete cooperation during your bloodline appraisal," he said, entering behind two senior cousins.

"Did complete cooperation include kneeling before anything actually happens tonight?" Damien asked, noticing padded guards beneath Garrick’s robes.

"House Sovereign pressure exceeds every ordinary assessment standard used by Halcrest," Garrick replied, touching one knee as if checking its protection.

’He brought kneepads, damn, that tells me more than his entire professional vocabulary.’

The appraisal room contained no chairs, only a circular silver floor beneath one raised black platform.

Aldous Sterling stood there wearing a plain charcoal coat, broad shoulders filling its severe cut without medals or house decoration.

His iron-gray hair swept backward from a hard face marked by deep lines, while dark eyes held every person separately.

Damien’s body recognized its father before his mind caught up, tightening the stomach beneath ribs that had faced monsters more easily.

’Calm down, he has not done anything yet, seriously, original Damien, your family did a number on you.’

Cassius waited beside the platform in a fitted silver jacket, his flawless smile carrying none of yesterday’s arena excitement.

"Brother, your remarkable recovery continues to surprise everyone inside this family," he said, offering one open hand without stepping closer.

"Yeah, attempted murder keeps improving my schedule," Damien replied, leaving the offered hand untouched, "you should recommend it carefully."

Cassius lowered his palm after one late heartbeat, while two cousins glanced toward the closed doors.

Aldous looked at Damien’s saber and spoke without raising his voice.

"Draw the weapon, then release every layer of borrowed power you possess," he ordered, resting both hands behind his back.

The command pressed against Damien’s core before any visible aura entered the room, ’borrowed, so he assumes somebody built my growth for me.’

He drew the saber and let his natural mana spread across the silver floor, keeping Dread Presence sealed.

Garrick raised his staff as crystal markings formed beneath Damien’s boots.

[Registered level: 151]

[Current level: 155]

[External core: None detected]

Whispers moved among the relatives until Aldous lifted one finger, freezing every loose sound inside the chamber.

Motion stopped with it, including Garrick’s falling sleeve and a cousin’s half-finished step.

Sovereign pressure entered Damien’s bones from every direction, forcing his injured leg toward the floor.

’Oh fuck, this pressure feels nothing like aura, he is ordering the room to agree that standing has become illegal.’

He drove the saber point against silver and held his body above one bent knee, while pain reopened beneath the brace.

Aldous descended from the platform through air that remained perfectly still around his coat.

"Your level rose by one hundred seventeen inside twelve days," he said, stopping three steps away, "name the patron responsible."

"Nobody sponsored the Flood Line beast that tried eating me," Damien replied, forcing his shoulders upward, "survival paid better than family approval."

Pressure doubled before the final word settled, cracking one silver tile beneath his forward boot.

Every relative dropped to a knee except Cassius, though the heir’s back bent beneath an invisible weight.

’Father can crush this entire room while asking questions calmly, yeah, fighting him would last one extremely educational second.’

Garrick’s padded knees struck the floor first, and his white staff rolled until it touched Damien’s bleeding boot.

Aldous studied the black tally while Sovereign Audit moved through every part of Damien’s mana.

"The Blood Ledger was appraised as passive accumulation without meaningful release," he said, turning one glance toward Garrick.

"Patriarch, the original manifestation concealed its active conversion pathway from our instruments," Garrick answered, forehead shining above his lowered face.

"Concealed means you missed it while writing Trash across a public record," Damien said, gripping his hilt before pressure folded his wrist.

Garrick opened his mouth, though Aldous silenced him through one slight movement of the hand.

"Demonstrate your hidden release against my domain before these witnesses," the patriarch ordered, finally looking at the saber rather than its wielder.

Damien checked his empty Ledger and felt irritation break through fear, ’zero Debt after arena settlement, great, he wants thunder from an unloaded weapon.’

"My Aspect requires harm, contempt or a branded exchange before Reckoning becomes available," he replied, choosing truth without exposing screens.

"Then withstand my contempt while your Aspect gathers enough material," Aldous said, increasing Sovereign pressure until the silver floor split beneath Damien’s rear heel.

The Blood Ledger accepted each crushing pulse as a hostile exchange, sending pale light through Mina’s tempered conductance channel.

[Flesh Debt: 44]

[Flesh Debt: 109]

[Flesh Debt: 183]

The tally grew brighter while Damien’s ribs compressed around shallow breaths.

’He could stop my heart whenever he wants, damn, staying upright suddenly feels less brave than incredibly stupid.’

Cassius remained bent near the platform, watching every tally segment with attention hidden behind concern.

Damien applied Sinner’s Brand toward Aldous, but the mark dissolved before touching his coat.

[Target Exceeds Perception Range]

[Brand Rejected]

One corner of Aldous’s mouth moved almost imperceptibly, which frightened Damien more than open anger.

Damien tightened both hands around the hilt, ’was that approval?, no, assume indigestion until this room stops trying to kneel me.’

"You attempted to mark Sovereign Audit inside its own domain," the patriarch observed, releasing another layer of pressure.

"Asking for proof felt pointless if I behaved politely," Damien replied, raising his head against the weight.

His injured thigh gave way, though the saber kept his knee several centimeters above fractured silver.

Blood reached the brace and ran over Garrick’s abandoned staff as the Ledger crossed two hundred.

[Flesh Debt: 228]

[Reckoning Available]

’There, release it at Father and die, or keep holding until my leg quits, excellent collection of choices.’

Damien pulled his saber clear of the floor, then turned its edge away from Aldous before discharging Reckoning into the empty tile beside him.

Silver force broke through one layer of frozen air and carved a narrow line across the patriarch’s domain.

[Reckoning]

[228 Debt × 2.0]

[Damage Released: 456]

The strike vanished before reaching the wall, yet every frozen sleeve dropped when Sovereign pressure withdrew.

Relatives collapsed forward around Damien while Cassius caught himself against the platform with one rigid hand.

Damien remained standing through the sudden absence of weight, though his damaged leg shook beneath a coat darkened by blood.

Aldous looked from the cut inside his silver floor toward Garrick kneeling beside it.

"Revise the appraisal, then record Blood Ledger as an unclassified Sovereign mutation," he said, returning to the platform.

Garrick bowed lower and reached for his staff without lifting either padded knee.

"The academy review will reflect House Sterling’s verified classification immediately," he answered, keeping his gaze on fractured tiles.

"Reflect what your instruments verified," Damien said, resting the saber against his shoulder, "my family already knew its own name."

Aldous stopped above the first platform step and looked back at his second son.

"Remain standing until every witness leaves," he ordered, while his gaze moved briefly toward the bleeding brace, "then repair that weapon properly."

It was not praise, though the original body’s fear loosened around Damien’s stomach for the first time.

’He noticed Mina’s work, weirdly specific, completely cold, but I will take whatever passes for acknowledgment in this house.’

Cassius approached after the relatives began filing out, his public warmth restored around careful eyes.

"You earned Father’s attention tonight, brother, which many stronger heirs pursue for decades," he said, adjusting one silver cuff.

"Then those heirs should try surviving more murder attempts this month," Damien replied, watching the heir’s smile arrive perfectly on time.

Cassius left without answering, while Garrick followed last and kept his head below Damien’s level.

The room sealed behind them as a full system panel opened above the cracked floor.

His injured leg finally touched one wall for support, ’everyone left, thank fuck, standing proudly becomes harder after the audience disappears.’

[Damien Sterling]

[Level: 155]

[System Points: 9,840]

[Debt held: 0]

[Divergence: 11%]

[Foreknowledge Integrity: 94%]

[Ascension Board: #197]

[Active skills: Eye of Reckoning, Sinner’s Brand, Blood Ledger, Stay of Execution, Reckoning, Flicker]

[Title: The Villain]

[Gear: Tempered Sterling saber, Flood relic shard]

[Death Flag: The Finale]

Damien reached the final line before another red panel covered his status.

[Script Quest: The Stolen Showcase]

[Fatality detected]

[Primary victim: Mina Park]

His phone screamed from inside the coat as Mina’s workshop alert filled its display.

[Prototype signal lost]

[Location: Halcrest exhibition vault]

Damien pulled the saber from his shoulder and walked across the broken appraisal floor before his leg could object.