Inheriting a Lost Bloodline, My First Task is to have heirs?!

My name is Kayden. I just turned 20 this year. It is 3 years past from when a guy is tagged as "marriageable" or in commoner's terms "ripe for the picking". I am an illegitimate son of the viscountess of the western territory who I'd rather not name since I just feel irritated thinking about it. My father who is a pretentious pushover was kept as one of the concubines outside of the viscountess' house. I do get support from my mother financially at least and my father seems to be happy that he is being kept like this. If you ask me about it though, I totally hate it. Being kept hidden with my mother being in control of almost everything we do is nothing less like being a trapped bird in a luxurious cage. You are still trapped in a cage whichever way you look at it. I definitely want a different life than this.

When I turned 18, I got curious about the entertainment district much from the stories I hear from the maids in our house. They say that it is a place with a lot of talented and good-looking men who are showcasing their talents and skills so as to attract good marriage prospects. This has brought the idea of using this way to try and change my future. I never told my mother about my shows and it is not like nobody knows I am her illegitimate child since she brags about it to her friends at gatherings so she will eventually find out. I think she is enjoying the fact that she keeps a lot of concubines and illegitimate children outside the main household but still her life is smooth sailing since none of the men complain or cause trouble. If you think about it, we are all only illegitimate since she doesn't put our names in her family's register. She doesn't think that having this many children and mistresses outside is shameful at all so what can you expect. You need to formally pay a specific amount of financial support if you register a man and his child under your name and for someone as greedy as her, she won't like us having a lawful claim on her money.

Given the status of men in this world, if you already got knocked up and the woman offers to support you, even with just scraps, men would readily accept it for practical reasons. Raising a child alone is hard and your reputation will be in tatters being pregnant and all without a wife. Women know it and they take advantage of that desperation we innately have. Too bad, I am not a pushover and surely not a caged bird.

My father though a total pushover in the eyes of others was secretly competitive. From a young age, he worked hard to earn money for his grand plans as he call it. He told my mother that he simply wanted to buy things with his own money. My mother, thinking that he is just showing his useless pride and not something that would cause a potential problem, just let him do whatever. Well, my father lied. Again, he is a pushover but he is not stupid. Let's just say my father is what you call a "green tea bitch". He pretends in front of my mother, keeping her interest on him but underneath all of that acting are his plans to secure my future.

Let's go back to the money he was earning. He used it to get me schooled at home by good and "expensive" teachers. I know how to read, write and at least enough about money and business to not get scammed. He also focused on me learning musical instruments and not just one but six! Why? He said that if you will put your effort and time on something, it would be only perfect if nobody is better than you at it. So him being competitive and all, tortured me, a child who is only three years old at that time to take music classes every fucking day for about 12 years until he is contented with my proficiency. And yeah, it is his idea for me to perform at the entertainment district too.

My father being the green tea that he is, thought that we are hitting two birds with one stone with this plan. He said that the more people know about my talent and my looks which he said that I totally got from him, the better marriage prospects I will get. He then continued about me earning my own money that I can bring into the future household I will join so I don't get bullied like him. So... he is indeed pretending to be a pushover huh?

For the last 2 years I have been having shows in this area, I kind of became popular and was given a regular spot to perform in Arfa which is one of the high-end establishments in the area. I guess being an illegitimate son of a noble is also one of the factors so I guess my connection with that woman is useful for once. I don't have a single positive feeling towards her. My father irritates me but since I understand that he is doing his best to get me out of a possible arranged marriage if my mother suddenly remembers I exist and thinks of selling me for monetary gains, I totally appreciate him. It still doesn't change the fact that he is still annoying most of the time, though.

My image in Arfa is aloof and picky. It is my father's idea. He said that men that are hard to get and picky get a lot of suitors that are willing to spoil me. Well, it doesn't affect my daily life though so I just got along with it. I just need to dress up and look handsome, play a bunch of songs with whichever musical instrument I feel like using for the day and just get over with the show, get my pay and put it in the bank. My father lets me keep all the money I earn and he has also set some conditions as to who can court me while taking in consideration that I have to like the woman too.

It was a normal day with good and chilly weather and the usual crowd. I was preparing for the show when the manager hurriedly entered my dressing room. He then said that we received a specific request from a young woman and she wants me to play 6 songs and each with a different musical instrument. I was surprised and looked at the manager and said, "6 songs and a different instrument each? How much are we talking about here?" The manager said excitedly, "She paid 1 silver. You get 60% of the 600 coppers regular rate. The 400 coppers are your tips. She said that if she enjoys your show, she'll give you another silver." My eyes widened. A wealthy prospect has arrived.

Don't get me wrong. I am not greedy for money but it is a request and she paid the right price and I am kind of excited to see how she looks like. Maybe she is my fan like most of the girls but she has the money to show her appreciation so why not? I don't mind getting married too if I like her. I am already a "ripe fruit" anyways.

I hurriedly gave orders to my attendants/bodyguards to bring out all of my 6 musical instruments to the stage while I make a quick list of songs in my mind that I will play tonight. On a regular night, I play about 2-3 songs but just for her, I am playing 6 tonight. I hope she really likes m- umm my songs I mean.

When I got into the stage, I started looking around the audience for the woman who made the request. My manager saw what I was doing and quickly pointed out to the private room on the second floor which was directly in front of the stage. In there, I saw a young woman dressed elegantly. She has a veil on half of her face but with how her skin, clothing, temperament and all, she must be very beautiful for sure. Then, like she is expecting me to look for her, our eyes met and I just lost it.

When our eyes met, I had the weirdest feeling I ever had in my life. Something hit me not in a physical way but I felt it while at the same time, something seems to have been sucked out of me. My breath hitched, my body felt hot and my legs seemed to be turning soft like jelly. I had to sit in front of the nearest instrument to steady myself. I had to look down and try to breath normally. I thought for a bit and realized, "What are the odds for this resonance to happen?"

I found myself looking for her again and once I found her eyes, this time, I no longer have the strength or willpower to break our eye contact. As if challenging my sanity, she didn't break eye contact either. My body just followed her request as I played the six songs she wanted in succession. I don't know if I played everything right but I felt my mind blank out the moment I looked into her eyes.

After my show, I almost stumbled as I ran towards where she was. When I got to the private room though, all I found was a note about how great the show was with a silver coin on top of it. She was gone. She just left just like that.