Jaques didn't come back the morning, nor the day after that, he didn't even come back for the next two weeks which had Whitley worried for a small while. His plans made it imperative to know not only where his father was but also what he was doing, and while his instincts and the small amounts of rumors he was able to overhear from the staff told him he was just going through the process to disown Winter and deal with all the fallout of that incident his mind was telling him otherwise, and something deeper than that knew much better than simple instincts.

Without letting his guard down Whitley continued his studies and kept an ear to the ground results came rather quickly after that when he learned that Jaques was on his way back to the mansion today, he didn't know the exact time of his father's arrival but he had to make quick if he wanted to meet him as any "loving son" would.

In the middle of this rush he paused for a moment a thought occurring to him, 'I knew better than to let my guard down but did Weiss? I only barely got the information that he's on his way, I can't expect her to have the same information.' Three seconds he paused there as a plan formed in his mind before he quickly nodded then he was off once again through the bland white and blue halls.

A small use of aura ran through his legs increasing his speed without increasing the sound of his footsteps a rather important part of this, if she heard him coming then it would ruin the plan. As he got within a couple of feet of his dear sister's door he dropped the aura entirely and let his feet hit the ground with reckless abandon the sudden noise filled the hallway with the crack of footsteps on the tile while he doesn't stop but he can rather clearly hear the slam of the door opening, along with a shout of something he couldn't quite make out. A smile on his face as he mentally smiles at a successful plan, 'Schnee's don't run down hallways especially not me, she'll know something is up but the rest is up to her from there.'

He got a couple of feet further from the bend before he stopped running taking in a deep breath as he drew his Aura into him once more returning to a sedate pace towards the bullhead pad, 'I won't be able to use Aura while he's here, I need his trust for the later parts of the plan if he found out I was following in Weiss and Winter's footsteps than I'll lose some of that trust, anywhere up to a quarter of what I have today, not an acceptable outcome when every little bit could be the difference between victory and defeat.'

On his way to the platform he was intercepted by one of the butlers seemingly a newer one and human which is a bit of a rarity, among the staff at the mansion around seventy percent was Faunus while the last thirty percent was human, 'Likely an attempt to disprove his supposed racism to the public, completely ignoring that even if a majority of the staff is Faunus none of the head staff is Faunus but I suppose I digress.'

He's pulled out of his inner musings by the man in front of him, a young man maybe in his twenties or early thirties with dull and short golden hair, who begins bowing respectfully "Sir your father requests your presence in his office." Maybe in other places, this would be an odd sight but for the Schnee house this was nothing new, every maid and butler in this house knew of Whitley's maturity and cold intellect, and their mannerisms towards him showed it.

"I see then I believe you should be showing me the way there, as well as giving me details of his request." Whitley stood straight a blank look that didn't match his young age fixed on his face as he began to walk towards the office. Even if he worded it in that way any outside observer could clearly see that the butler wasn't leading him anywhere as he fell in step maybe half a foot back from Whitley.

"He didn't appear upset or anything else of the sort when he made the request but he seemed annoyed by something that I couldn't quite catch, however, he looks like he's had more than his fill of sleep and likely slept on the way back here as well so I could maybe chalk that up to him being grouchy from recently waking up. I'd give it a coin flip if he was still that way or in a good mood whenever you arrive." He rather quickly gives the information to Whitley who nods along his mind putting together the rough beginning of a plan that he'll never use, given how long it's taking the butler to get to the fucking point it's likely his father didn't tell him why he was called never the less Whitley gives a slight hum of confirmation, and a gesture for the butler to continue giving him information.

"He didn't tell me why he wanted you but I heard from the recently returning maid that he wants to talk about something he prepared while he was gone." Whitley had to physically stop himself from pausing as he thought on the newest information simultaneously giving everything he needed and nothing at the same time.

He started to breathe in but paused and let out a shallow breath before continuing, "I see, then things should be fine thank you very much for your service Prin you are excused, I can walk the remainder of the way over on my own." Prin simply nods in response and breaks off, walking down a corridor that will lead him to do one of his other jobs.

'Good help isn't lacking here thankfully or maybe it's not lacking for me? Good help for father is, it's almost child's play to get a spy or two in here... although I suppose that's just because I'm his child, if those were spies for other people then they probably wouldn't last a minute with how they are, but oh well it's whatever at this point.' Now alone he allows himself to take a deep breath in and breathe it out as he arrives at the very large wooden door that leads to his father's office. A quick check was made to ensure his clothes were perfect, but he dare not do it for longer than a moment lest his father call him in and take control of the conversation without resistance.

With that said Whitley opened the door smiling as he entered an action that may seem rude to certain people but his father would appreciate, while his father was very domineering and commanding but he enjoyed losing a verbal spar far more than he enjoyed winning one without resistance not because it made him feel like a bully or any silly notion like that but rather because it didn't give him the feeling of conquering an enemy, didn't give him that rush of success that Whitley believed his father craved so much.

"Father, it is good to see you after such a long time passed, if I may say you are looking incredibly well rested after the nights spent at your work especially as soon in the morning as you have returned." As such Whitley began the verbal spar with subtle implications of inability to face issues, laziness, and ulterior motives. None of what he said was inaccurate but rather it pointed at his father and had more people been here it would have essentially told everyone that his state wasn't a good thing given it was just the two of them however it isn't a threat.

"Indeed, you're doing about the same Whitley, I suppose our days have been similarly gracious on us with the thorn gone from our side." He says with a smile that made the hair on the back of Whitley's head stand up an underlying feeling of utter rage welling in his chest, but his father doesn't see behind him all he sees is Whitley's face which holds its smile unaffected by his father's jab at his sister. However, before Whitley could comment on the connection between the two basically saying if he was all those things for being this long without looking tired then so was Whitley, his father speaks up.

"But I've called you here for more important things than speaking about the past. Come with me Whitley, I will talk with you as we walk." This over anything else that has happened in the short time he was with his father today worried him more than a verbal spar from his father ever could, and he was quick to back up as his father got from his chair, opening the door when his father was within ten feet as he was taught.

The walk began rather quietly as they began to move through the halls of the estate him and his father looking straight ahead as Whitley followed his father's direction but this silence was broken after a while, "You see Whitley I believed in Winter. I truly thought she would come to her senses, that she would have heeded my words and warnings, that she would be the one to sit in my seat, you and your sister next to her your sister as an advisor and you as the head of the Schnee Security the three siblings, my children... all together for the world to witness the power and prowess they bring to humanity."

His voice was wistful as if looking into the far past a memorable tone that slowly dragged even Whitley into his thoughts, and no matter how true the statement was Whitley believed on some level his father was genuinely telling Whitley the truth, which made the boy even more confused.

"Yet with your sister gone that dream is never to come to fruition instead your sister is to be the head of the SDC, and I cannot abscond your position as the Head of Schnee Security so easily as such your sister will have to find an advisor on her own time starting out without the comfort of another beside her, a fate of loneliness doomed to her by her sister. Yet I have thus far not prepared her for the role she will be in, and thus I have to increase her studies to prepare her for the burden she is going to shoulder, but to do so only to her... it would be unfair to her you understand?"

'Ah, so this is where the bullshit comes in.' Whitley's thoughts connect the dots even while his head nods as his father looks at him. Father never truly cared about fairness especially when it came to things such as studying, 'no father wants me preoccupied so that I don't start getting ideas as Winter did and try to leave him or even worse try to overthrow him and take the seat for myself.'

"So you're going to increase my workload, is that why you wished to have this walk?" Whitley asks confused, truly he saw no reason why they couldn't have talked about this in his father's study, but Jaques simply shakes his head before stopping rather abruptly and turning to a door off on the right of the hallway.

"It is not the only reason, see I need to ensure you get to a baseline in all the studies before I can begin preparing you for your role, so instead your workload will be temporarily halted, instead you will be devoting your entire time to studying." With that he opens the door revealing a mostly empty room, one of the guest rooms that Jaques keeps only this one has been modified, the windows have no curtains on them, and there is no bed, instead, there are three desks with a total of twelve drawers in between the three of them with a rather comfortable looking rolling chair in the middle desk, but the main feature of the room is three five-shelf bookshelves that were fit to burst with large books, in the first shelve of the middle one alone Whitley rather quickly counted twenty books, each the width of his wrist at the smallest.

"Within those shelves are the finest books that I myself collected in my years and that I kept in a personal library at my workplace, I have picked out three hundred of the best that will best prepare you for your duties later in your life, from business to weapons to mechanics even venturing into Aura and how the tribes of Atlas would use it in their martial arts, you will learn each and every one of those subjects here from these books." His father revealed a self-satisfied grin on his face that mixed with his deep voice to show off his accomplishment, and Whitley had to admit that it was an accomplishment one that had him captivated as he looked at the books in a new light.

"And by learning I do mean learning, you will memorize each and every book here, and to ensure that I have this little gadget." He says drawing Whitley's eyes to the object on the leftmost desk, a small bar that Whitley easily identified as a computer, "Inside of that computer is a written copy of every book on that shelve and one of the most advanced AI's that money can buy with the sole purpose of making eighty random questions based on the contents of these books to test your knowledge of them. Each question will have a fifteen-second timer on it to ensure that you don't just look up the answer in the books provided."

The more his father continued the more Whitley became concerned and his mouth opens as if to say something but he is verbally bowled over by Jaques as he continues on about the tasks that Whitley will have to go through, "Not only that but as this is a very important matter it is important that you finish with it as soon as you can, your access outside the mansion is restricted unless a state of emergency within the house is declared any and all trips outside of the mansion must be requested with the possibility of being denied if it's unimportant enough."

It's around now that Whitley realizes what this is, both a punishment and a demonstration one that would likely be mirrored in Weiss if he could read the mood right to show the two of them the consequences that would happen to the remaining one should they attempt to revolt against him alone, and the power he can bring to bear should they attempt to revolt together, it took him a mere two weeks to get this set up for the both of them, what else could he have done in that time?

"Additionally if you are not done with this paltry quiz within a month then you will have further restrictions placed upon you, should you not have this wrapped up within two then I will be punishing you and the staff under you, should you take three months then you, your staff, and your sister will be punished, for every week after that the punishments will grow larger and larger for all of you." His voice is strict enough and Whitley can't take it anymore.

"Father with all due respect this is ridiculous! It would take me a month to even read all of these books much less to memorize them to the extent I would need to pass the quiz that you have given me!" His voice is shocked and indignant but his father's reply is as cold as it is swift, "Then I suppose you will have to take those restrictions won't you? The question then becomes if you will be willing to take the punishments after that as well or if you will do it right the first time. This decision is finalized Whitley, nothing you can do would ever change that."

With that his father began to leave, "Your task begins today, the drawers are filled with paper, and the middle ones are filled with pencils and paper, I would recommend not using any more notes than you strictly need. I wish you well in your learning my son."

Whitley, shocked by his father's blatant cold response merely nodded standing there as he watched his father's retreating back, his gaze turning from the door then to the bookshelves a sense of dread filling him as he walked over and took a random first book weighing it, it felt heavier than any book he had held before and the letters within were small with some diagrams here and there, he noted the title to be a mechanic's based book. He stood there before looking down, "shit..." he muttered to himself.

Then he took a deep breath, and his eyes opened anew, "I suppose I should get started then."

AN: Thanks for reading everyone, I'm glad for those that reviewed, that being Zergoyl and IsaacMercer, the beginning of this chapter was really rough for me to write for some reason and your reviews helped me get through it, I'm also super excited to see that you all are liking the story so far and absolutely encourage any and all reviews you have so long as they follow site guideline.