Emperor's Reckoning

Sophia was taken back by her sudden suggestion. The charming woman was educated through and through but she would have never thought to invite the possible enemies into her own home. There was a limit to being brave and she had no idea if this was over it or not. 

"Aunty Pris, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course it is, tell them to come tomorrow in haste. My personal invitation, I'm sure they won't refuse or do they want me to enter the battle of inheritance?"

Of course, she was joking about the latter part as Sophia slightly chuckled. She could only nod before suddenly hugging her tight to Priscila's surprise. Before Priscila could utter a word of the console, Sophia let her go from her sudden embrace. She took a slight bow before bidding her farewell.

Looking at her distancing back, the woman tightened up her upper lips.

"I know right, why didn't I get a hug too."

"Nobody wants to hug an old man like you."

"Hah! You said it! I'm an old man! See the disguise works!"

She pinched her head before she turned around and walked away. 

"Hey where are you going?" asked Jin.

"I need to notify my daughter of course."

"Are you sure? Won't you like be a bad mother if you did?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Priscila turned around to face her husband.

"Well, you know, they might be making our grandchild now?"

"... WHAT?!" the shout almost widen the hole in the ceiling.

"Hey, why are you so surprised? It's a given nature, I mean. He is her husband, our daughter said it so."

"HOW... How are you so calm with all of this happening?! It's all happening so fast! Why am I the only one that had emotions crashing down?"

"Maybe because you overthink it?"

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"You!"

"Hey! Hey! Stop it. We need to focus on tomorrow's event that you suddenly arranged. Good lord, your impulse is something else."

"It's just a banquet what is there to arrange more than the usual?"

"Well, things are naturally will get pretty physical tomorrow," he shook his head before muttering, "I hope my house is still intact by then."

The hole in the ceiling above them didn't give him the mental support he needed before letting out a sigh.

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Meanwhile, Sophia was heading down to see Lyon's group who chose not to chase them inside the castle.

"There will be a big banquet tomorrow night, all the Throne winners will be invited and so you. The Treas family had accommodated your stay personally, each with a personal assistant that you could call at any given time."

Sophia deliberately hid the fact that it was a banquet for Lyon, otherwise, things might get wild before the time came. With how the winner had been shown and thus ending the competition, it would only be proper to end it with a grand banquet, after all, they were geniuses of the later generation.

"Wait a minute, does that mean free food? Like a lot of meat?! Venison and kinds of stuff?!"

Ryona's eyes were glimmering with hope. Even though Sylviana had accommodated hers and others from the Labyrinth of Simak, her carnivore instinct never fade. 

"Yes quite a few royal meats are there for your indulgence," Sophia smiled before she continued, "I will join you tomorrow inside the banquet."

"Oh no..."

"Yup, not good."

"Finally I got to see him in action myself!"

Biane and Clemora had the same reaction of shaking their heads with black lines over them. They remembered how things went down when they went into a banquet before an uninvited guest came from out of nowhere. They remembered vividly as he opened the huge double doors before stealing all the attention from the four royalties.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" asked Sophia who didn't know a certain history of Lyon's feat.

"*Ehem, everyone certainly had different experience regarding... banquet and him."

Princess Aelina had her cheek turned a red hue before she couldn't bear the embarrassment and consoled them with her palms as her mind reminisce that night where an unruly young man out of nowhere suddenly take a knee before throwing her up in the air to bask in the moonlight. It was the time she cherished and hold dear.

"Hmm... whatever you do... don't let him drink wine!" said Biane with a stern tone. Her warning was supported by a nod from her half-sister Clemora. The two of them saw firsthand how he destroyed the entire cliff with a single note pricked from the zither.

"Really? Was he that prone to alcohol? Well, well, well, looks like the Handsome Thief got his weakness figured out," Sophia chuckled before Clemora shook her head,

"It's not a weakness, it's... well... how should I put this... the alcohol only awakened his true potential uncontrollably, however, that was just one sip of wine, if its a bottle... I'd... I don't know... my imagination could only go so far."

Clemora's words were words of concern. They were not by any means to scare her but being one of the two that watched how he sent those nobles down to the raging waves with a variety of sharp protruding rocks while somehow making his own escape safely still bought awe.

"Luna, we will meet him there."

Luna's eyes were absent-minded before a hand patted her shoulder. The golden demoness that broke her cultivation in the process of saving her student stood with a smile. 

"E-en..." she nodded. However, Luna soon looked at Karina let her gaze controlled her as the latter looked at the castle.

Unlike the others, Kyoko was furrowing her eyebrows as she looked at Karina. There was nothing but curiosity in her eyes, it had been some time that she looked at the unusual mana flow surrounding the woman's figure.

"Hmm..."

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The room where no one else dared to enter was quiet with only the whispering wind filled in the atmosphere. One of the opened books on top of the desk slowly flipped another page due to nature's breath. Not a single tick of the clock was heard, only ice cubes that were melting were hitting the glass they were confined in.

The shimmer of the sun was slowly diminishing as the cumulonimbus clouds started to gather with their pitch dark hue. The temperature naturally whisked down as the rhythm of the forest was heard. 

The young man was resting peacefully, unaware that he was loved by the beautiful woman which his head was laid in an embrace to. Laid down on top of her voluptuous bosom, the orifices on his face had stopped bleeding but a smile was worn on his tired face.

Her hands rest on top of his bare chest as her left wrist slightly felt the thumping of his heart. The auburn beauty had her hair slightly fluttered by the wind that came unhindered from the broken window. 

Both of them were exchanging their heat toward the skin-on-skin method. They need not the blanket that they were resting on for their bond was warmer than the sun. 

The sleeping auburn beauty slowly twitched her eyebrows before her eyes slightly fluttered. She gradually opened her glance before her lips pointed upward as the young man was still in her embrace. She combed his hair with her finger, she couldn't believe it was real. (You did the impossible... I know you could do it).

"The reckless prisoner that I knew of... is the first miracle that happened in my life, and it's a beautiful one at that."

Despite the firstborn lightning was heard in the sky. It brought nothing but an empty threat to her. There was no hint of jolt or even a fidget from her expressions when the loud thunder struck the sea nearby.

"Hehe, look at that Lyon... it's our favorite weather... but... looks like we have a guest here."

Cecile smiled as she looked at the figure that was standing right in front of the bed.

"You've finally decided to come despite the warring aura that I exuded... I see... those eyes..."

Her jade eyes were slightly lit as her jade hair fluttered against the wind storm from the window. Her silver pupils were ever menacing but it did nothing to the woman that was dubbed the strongest female to ever live by the younger generation. The idols of many young lasses didn't cower against the aura of a literal dragon.

The two women were staring at each other despite the raging storm as one additional figure shook her head as she leaned on the edge of the broken window. Her purple lips pointed upward as she saw the auburn and the jade had a showdown just from their gaze.

(Wow, wow, wow.... their intense glares are crippling!) thought Yunesia before she looked at the door in front of her being pushed open without a single creak.

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