"I knew it…!" Ren ughed, holding her stomach as she heard Leinor's story. "He was checking me out just before he ran into you."

  "He did what?" He asked, his pupils shrinking to tiny pinpricks.

  "Yeah, he was probing me with his aura. Got a backsh; probably that's why he is out cold." She winked at him mischievously. "Let him be; he will have a headache for a day or two at best," she said as she let out a cute giggle, grabbing Leinor's arm and pulling him in for a hug. "You should concentrate on getting ready!"

  "Ready? For what?"

  "Fufufu~ You'll know~!" She winked at him, "First, go home and meet with your parents. Then come back, and we will talk!"

  "What are you talking about? Is there something I missed?" Leinor tilted his head, racking his brain, but nothing came to mind.

  "Yep~ Something big! Now go!" She spped his butt, sending him on his way, while Leinor was befuddled about what was going on, but her words were enough to make him want to go home and ask about it from his father.

  "Mom!"

  "Yes, dear?" came the answer as Ren went into the lounge where Anya, Xendar, and Niji were enjoying tea served up by Hal.

  "Can I have the left side of the mansion?"

  "Mmm? Why?" Xendar asked as he raised his eyebrows.

  "The Young Lady will soon be a married woman, My Lord." Hal smiled, making Xendar grimace.

  "You can, Dear." Anya nodded, looking at her with love in her eyes, not letting Xendar contest against it.

  "Tsk… I guess… It is better to have you both live here than for you to go to the pace." He grumbled, clearing his throat.

  "I wonder how the people will react as the Prince comes to live with his wife and not me moving into the pace… fufufufu, there will be a scandal~!" She bit into her small lips.

  "There will be nothing!" Xendar snorted. "They'd better behave!"

  "Rex, you are on edge~" Anya stroked her husband's head while Niji looked on with a wry smile, shaking his head.

  "I'm starting to get where you're coming from," He whispered to Ren in the end.

  "Oh, you saw nothing yet~" She stuck out her tongue in answer as she was excitedly waiting for Leinor, guessing that when he came back, there would be an amusing expression stuck on his face.

  …….…..

  "Wedding…?! In the upcoming week?!" Leinor repeated his father's words with a dry mouth while his mother, Meishan, sat beside Dermitos with a calm, stone-like expression.

  "What? I thought you would be overjoyed?" Dermitos blinked his eyes, surprised at his outburst.

  "Wha… of course, I am! But... I didn't prepare any gift… or clothes, or a proper ring, damn it, not even a banquet, or what about music? Performances?" He stood up, walking up and down, biting on his thumb.

  "Ahahaha, rex, boy, rex! I took care of everything!! You don't need to overthink anything." Dermitos chuckled, watching him with a bright grin.

  "I still oppose that Leinor should be moving into a General's house. What message will it send to the masses?" Meishan spoke up in a cold voice. "That girl should come here."

  "At least there is warmth there," Leinor shot back at her, looking into her eyes without any fear, shaking her with his gnce alone, literally, even though he didn't use any of his actual aura.

  "You two… You should make up; you are mother and son!" Dermitos sighed, trying to appease his son.

  "You are not against it, Father? To me, moving out?" Leinor asked, moving his eyes onto him.

  "No. If you are happy with her, then that's enough. You do you, son!" He waved his hand, knowing they won't stay here for long anyway.

  Leinor finally had a smile on his face after hearing that, as he bowed toward his parents before leaving. Hearing his hurried footsteps, Dermitos knew he was already rushing to find his eldest brother for advice, as he was already married way before he was even born.

  "How long are you going to hold up this farce?" He asked his wife with a hand on his temple, massaging it.

  "What farce?"

  "Don't py the stupid." Dermitos snorted, "I know why you do this! Look, I know how you feel, how you see me. You are my first girl and always will be." He added, stroking her face, before his expression turned serious, and his hand changed cold to the touch. Suddenly, Meishan's face aged more than eighty years in under a minute, turning it wrinkled and ancient-looking. "Don't make me choose between you and my son. Because I won't choose you..." He whispered, looking deep into her eyes before resuming to supply his energy, returning Meishan's trembling body to its youthful appearance. As she sat there, she couldn't say anything, as she was petrified, and even peed herself from fear, while Dermitos stood up. "Change your attitude because if you continue this and ruin the wedding…." He held his hands together behind his back but didn't say more; he just left Meishan alone in their room, sighing to himself after being far enough from her.

  …….…..

  "This pce is too noisy," Emi grumbled, sitting in a carriage next to Poli while Hal accompanied them.

  Emi was wearing a light green blouse with a wide, long skirt, folding her fox tail around her waist as a decoration, while a cloche hid her ears.

  "This is how cities work. But I guess a farm girl wouldn't know about it." Poli smiled, keeping up an innocent expression.

  "A what?" Emi tilted her head, not understanding its meaning.

  "It means you are coming from a vilge, Miss Emi," Hal smiled softly, expining.

  "Hmf. And? We live as a tight-knit group. Here? There are so many people; everybody is a stranger to the other."

  "A million people can't know everybody. It's just not possible." Poli shot back.

  "What if the city is attacked? Most of the people here are weak!" Emi added, looking out the window, seeing the swarming masses that reminded her of an anthill.

  "We have defenses. If you want to attack this city, you must be prepared to die. Armies are defending it, not to mention experts that only show their powers when necessary." Poli expined with a proud look.

  "Miss Emi, people here are safe." Hal continued, much more amicably, "They don't need to worry about being killed by a random predator or an enemy. Not everyone wants their life to be all about training and fighting. Many don't have the talent for it, or they reach a comfortable level and stop... Because they value living their lives to the fullest. That is why those with the power are also responsible for defending the rest."

  "I see..." Emi murmured, turning her head away from the sea of people. "I saw you as hairless monkeys... But you are more like ants."

  "Yeah, say that to the others, and you will receive a beating." Poli rolled his eyes, not happy with her analogy.

  "I don't care." She snorted, watching him with snted eyes. "We will fight anyway, so we don't need to be friends."

  "Who wants to be friends with you? If not to watch over you, I wouldn't be here."

  "I thought you volunteered to be her guard," Hal added, immediately silencing Poli, making him just turn his head, not acknowledging anything, ignoring the old man's chuckle.

  "Where are we going?" Emi asked, breaking the silence that fell over the carriage.

  "To the main market square, Miss Emi." Hal said, "There, you can see many of the things our Empire produces. If something catches your eye, the Young Lady said to purchase it for you so you can bring it back home."

  "I can?"

  "Yes. Master said you should take it as a gift." Poli nodded. "We may have things to settle, but it does not mean we want to be enemies with your tribe."

  "I understand. I'll thank her before leaving." Emi nodded, sounding super serious.

  "Good. It took an effort to heal you enough to walk around freely."

  "Hmf. I would have recovered by myself anyway!" She gred at Poli, who just couldn't hold it in.

  "Sure." He rolled his eyes as they arrived and opened the carriage's door, hopping off and stretching out his remaining hand to help her down. "That is why you groan all night like someone being tortured with needles. You don't need to py the strong warrior in front of us."

  "You are an insufferable, persistent, and annoying, even for a human." Emi snorted, but she still took his hand, getting out of the carriage.

  As their hands touched, both felt electricity travel between them; as they trembled a little but said nothing, Emi just let her hand go as soon as she was down. Each of them knew there were still lightning energies coursing through Poli and Her, sometimes torturing them, as they needed time to expel or assimite it... And now, their touch actually excited those lingering sparks within their bodies. Of course, Emi had it worse, as her affinity was utterly different, her being a demon folk, and her powers inside her were constantly fighting against it, trying to expel it from her body. Thanks to that, a constant battle raged in her every minute that sometimes made her suffer sharp, painful waves crashing all over her body, stunning her until she could force it down and regain control over her muscles. It sometimes took only minutes, but there were times when hours passed, and she was still paralyzed by the pain. This was the main reason she barely had enough power to even walk and was more of a mortal than a cultivator in her current state.

  "Come, I'll get you some snacks. You are sour enough, so some sweets should do good for you." Poli sighed, already walking forward.

  "The only sour thing here is your smell." Emi followed him, making Poli look back at her and scoff, but after a few steps, she noticed he had started smelling himself.

  "No way… I took a bath before coming out…." He murmured, making the fox girl smile, but she hid it quickly before anyone else could see it.

  …….…..

  "Report," came Carthus' voice, sitting in a gazebo, watching the small pond next to it, while drinking wine and holding a book in one hand.

  "We can't get close now that they are back in the capital." Nameless's voice answered, kneeling outside the gazebo.

  "Just survey the area of their home. Maybe they are right... and he will be fine..." Carthus sighed as he closed the old diary of his father. "Still. Continue it until he reaches the Harmony Realm. If he does and does not use it until then, cease every operation regarding it."

  "I…"

  "Just say it."

  "I have a hunch he did it, just that…." Nameless spoke up, trying to say what he believed in.

  "You don't have evidence. I get it." Carthus murmured to himself more than to Nameless, "Still! Years went by. I may be truly old, and my father's shadow lives inside my heart, causing this fear. If I want to move forward, I need to deal with this. Go! Reduce the surveilnce, for now; let them have a nice wedding."

  "Yes." Nameless acknowledged at once before disappearing.

  "You still hung up on that?" came a calm voice that made Carthus jump up, salute the voice, and bow his head as deeply as he could.

  "Forefather! When did you come back?"

  "Some time ago. I was watching you; at least you took a step forward, which is good. I remember when you contacted me as a young boy, telling me about what Erterion was doing." Aerthus finally appeared next to him, signaling to Carthus to just sit back as he also sat down on another chair, pouring wine for himself. "I told you then what I am going to tell you now. There is no evil power. Only evil people. Do you know why I made my son bear the same name as me when I crowned him?"

  "So that our family stays strong!"

  "No. You still have the same problem as Erterion had." Aerthus shrugged, smiling, "You are too fixated on the family bloodline. It is apparent in how you raised your children why one is now in a different kingdom, a result of your bad decisions. If you want to hold too much power, your arms will tire and lose their grip on reality. I made this Empire, so it will stand for a long time. It will give the people a home, security, and opportunities! There will always be an Aerthus leading this Empire."

  "Of course!" Carthus agreed.

  "You don't understand." He shook his head again after hearing his instant reply, "The title Aerthus does not mean the one who holds it is of my bloodline."

  "B-but…" He tried to say something, but Aerthus just raised his hand.

  "Even if a dynasty starts out as good, progressive, or benevolent, there will be a point when it falls. It's unavoidable. It may be because it transforms itself into a tyranny. When I heard about Erterion, I guessed this was it. I was waiting for the news that someone overthrew him and ended my line there, taking over the Empire, donning the name Aerthus for himself or herself! And I would be fine with that. I want the name Aerthus to be an idea. A way a leader adheres to himself, following the right path to lead the Empire forward. The Empire that I created."

  "..."

  "People die." Aerthus continued after a short silence, "People can be killed. Bloodlines can be destroyed or just end naturally without successors. But ideals… they can't be killed. I made ws and decisions, lifting up many of my people, giving them opportunities, and pnting my ideals in them to follow. I wish for my name to be a title they aspire to earn… and one day, when my line is long gone, there will still be an Aerthus who follows my ideals and leads my people."