Reinera POV

  “If we don’t take care of this now, Father, it will be too late,” she heard her brother exclaim.

  Usually, he would never say something like this so directly, but there were only four of them in the room at the moment. The other person in the room was her uncle, so that wasn’t an issue either.

  “The moment we decide to take action is the exact moment we will be fully committed. It is not a decision to make lightly. I would rather we were safe than sorry, considering the limited information we have,” her father, the Emperor, noted calmly to his son.

  “We both know that Corvus and the Alliance of the Morning Sun are working together to cripple the Empire. I don’t know why you are so hesitant to act,” Jaxson stated with a scoff.

  “We haven't been able to find any hard evidence of that. An emperor doesn’t make decisions that affect the entire empire because of a gut feeling. It is our responsibility to act with reason and logic. I thought I taught you better than that,” her father said reproachingly, some impatience slipping into his tone.

  “It’s not just a gut feeling. We already know that the Conclave is actively receiving support from both countries. We also know that they have been poking around the tournament. The odds that at least one of them, if not both of them, were involved in the recent theft in the secret realm are extremely high,” her brother stated firmly.

  Her father stood up and paced the room, a fierce scowl on his face.

  “Just because the people involved are from Corvus and the Alliance of the Morning Sun does not mean the country itself is responsible. There are always independent actors trying to influence continent-wide events. The Conclave is clearly behind most of it, but we can’t go to war with two other countries because one specific group is using them.”

  “You make it sound like either of them wouldn’t gladly see us fall on our own swords,” Jaxson retorted.

  “Enough.” A sharp voice cut interrupted them. “You guys can have this discussion later. This tournament is supposed to be a time to relax and enjoy ourselves. You guys are arguing more than ever,” her uncle said with an annoyed sigh from his spot on the couch.

  “Plus, you are disturbing Reinera; she probably wants to watch her friend’s fight in peace, if you two don’t mind,” he said with a short nod toward her.

  Her uncle was completely spread out on the sofa, eating snacks with his legs kicked up, but there was still an air of authority about him, and they all quieted down quickly after his reprimand.

  She smiled gratefully at him and got a wink in return. She rolled her eyes.

  Uncle Cassian was always the unpredictable one in her family. He was an eccentric individual who did what he wanted. He didn’t care for politics or that nonsense.

  Her father, Lucerius Luminous, was the firstborn and ultimately the one who inherited the crown. Despite this, many people tried to raise Cassian to replace her father as Crown Prince when she was younger.

  There was a good reason for this. Cassian was talented. Unbelievably talented.

  Even without the privileges of being a Crown Prince. Uncle Cassian had reached Tier 5 before her father, despite a ten-year gap between them. It wasn’t even that her father wasn’t talented himself.

  However, Cassian had no ambition to wear the crown. He wanted to enjoy his life at his own pace without the responsibilities weighing him down. It was both a blessing and a curse.

  A blessing because it meant that with Cassian’s support, her father’s ascension to emperor had been a relatively peaceful affair. However, it was a curse because the man was just so damn lazy when it came to things that he didn’t care about.

  If it had anything to do with crafting or fighting, then Uncle Cassian would move heaven and earth to accomplish what he wanted. However, if he had to attend a party of an influential noble, he would do everything in his power to avoid going.

  There was one particular example in which Cassian orchestrated a minor plague in the region he was exploring just to have an excuse not to come home and avoid attending a distant relative's birthday party. That was only one example too. There were plenty more.

  With that being said, she couldn’t help but admit that of all her family, Uncle Cassian was her favorite. He had always been there when she needed a person to talk to or a shoulder to cry on. He didn’t treat her like a princess or someone who had a responsibility to the Empire like her other family did.

  As much as she loved Amelia, she knew she couldn’t rely on her for stuff like that. At the end of the day, Amelia was her protector.

  Speaking of Amelia, Reinera wondered how she was handling her training. Amelia was supposed to be training in preparation for her advancement, but it wasn’t a sure thing.

  She brushed those thoughts aside for the moment and was finally able to focus back on the fight unfolding before her now that her brother and father were no longer arguing.

  Just another reason to be grateful for her uncle, because it was shaping up to be an exciting fight.

  She watched as Julius threw his insanely powerful spikes at the eagle flying in the sky. She remembered Liam Abrams, but she didn’t think he would have improved this much. That eagle wasn’t just a simple construct. It was like he had breathed life into the construct.

  It had to be a powerful epic-ranked skill. Of that she had no doubt.

  Her eyes narrowed, and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud when she saw Julius summon a pair of the most extravagant and grandiose wings she had ever seen from a Tier 3. Liam’s eagle was impressive, but it was likely more due to a skill rather than any manual manipulation.

  However, she knew Julius and his skills. She was aware that he had a general construct creation skill, but all of the details she spotted on these wings were manually woven together—a monstrous feat.

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  She could have likely done something similar. But she had already advanced to Tier 4, and the improvements to her body and, more importantly, to her mind, were insane.

  Her bloodline only further increased these benefits. Her light mana had never felt more malleable and potent. It was no wonder her father wanted her to advance the moment he thought that she was ready. The difference was unbelievable. Due to her advancement, she had been able to level up many of her skills that had been progressing slowly.

  To her curiosity, her uncle had swiveled himself into a sitting position as he watched the fight unfold. A fight that had quickly devolved into a magical brawl. Large swaths of flame and ice were thrown back and forth.

  With that being said, it was quickly becoming a one-sided battle. Reinera already knew what the result would be. She watched as Liam was pushed to the brink of defeat. Nothing the older boy did worked. Julius brute-forced through every trick and skill Liam threw at him.

  She could only shake her head as she watched Julius slam fist after fist into Liam’s battered figure. To the Abrams Scion’s credit, he didn’t give up.

  “Fascinating,” her uncle commented out loud. To her shock, he even placed his bowl of snacks to the side and leaned forward with both of his elbows on his knees.

  He must have spotted Julius’s level of control as well.

  In all honesty, he probably saw more than she did. He was always so damn perceptive. It was a skill he had honed to help his crafting. He likely saw through more of Julius’s techniques than she did, and she already knew what kind of skills he had.

  Her brother, who was distractedly reading something, looked up. “What is fascinating?” He also knew that their uncle wouldn't call something fascinating unless he thought it was worth his time.

  Her uncle didn’t bother to answer him. However, Jaxson didn’t take offense, knowing how their uncle was, and shrugged, returning his attention to the tablet in his hands.

  “What skill does he have? Is it some advanced evolution of [Mana Manipulation]? Or is it perhaps an evolution of a different but similar skill?” To her surprise, his question was directed towards her.

  “Umm, I don’t know. But also, even if I knew, you know, I can’t tell you that,” she said slowly.

  He laughed. “Of course, of course.”

  She said that, but she saw a weird glint in his eyes.

  “Hey, Lucy,” he suddenly called out to her father, the Emperor of the Luminous Empire. If any noble heard the Emperor addressed so casually, they might have fallen to the floor in shock.

  Her father didn’t even flinch at being shouted at like some servant. He simply held back a sigh and looked up from his own tablet. “What do you want, Cassian?”

  “Do you think you can—”

  “No,” her father said immediately, cutting Cassian off and instantly looking back down at his tablet.

  “You didn’t even hear what I was going to ask for.”

  “You want me to remove the barrier that helps shroud the participants from any scrying and other inspection-type skills, right?” Her father said, not bothering to look up.

  “No, that’s not what I was going to ask for,” Cassian said with a scoff.

  Her father finally looked up, curious. “Okay, fine. What do you want?”

  Uncle Cassian squirmed in place and looked at his brother with bright eyes. “Can you remove the barrier?”

  Her father looked at him incredulously, unable to speak from the shamelessness on display before him.

  “Just a little bit so that I can take a quick peek at the boy,” Cassian added.

  “Don’t even think about it. That boy is already deeply involved with several people we cannot afford to offend right now.”

  Cassian scoffed. “I wasn’t planning to offend anybody.”

  “Yeah, you never plan to, but somehow it inevitably leads to that.”

  Cassian wagged his finger at his brother. “First off, that’s completely untrue and slanderous. I personally take offense to that.”

  “I don’t care,” her father stated bluntly.

  Cassian ignored his brother and kept on going. “Second off, who is he connected to that makes you so hesitant? Jaxson is a little young and stupid..."

  She heard her brother choke on something.

  "... But he is right about one thing. You have been much more reluctant to take action than usual. Is it because you are worried about all of the various people and organizations coming in for the tournament?”

  “Totally unrelated matters,” her father said, looking away from him.

  Reinera frowned. Perhaps, there was some truth to what Uncle Cassian said. Was her father worried about offending or maneuvering around so many troublesome parties?

  “So who is it?”

  “Hm?”

  “Who are the people behind Reinera’s little friend that’s got you so worried?”

  Her father sighed. “He is currently staying at House Zenith’s Estate.”

  Her uncle waved his arm. “That’s no big deal. Daemon is a reasonable fellow. He won’t mind if I kidnap— I mean, invite young Julius for a discussion.”

  “It’s not Duke Zenith I am worried about.”

  “Oh?”

  Her father stared at his brother with a serious expression. “Julius Snow is discipled to Cain Steelborn. The man already made a big fuss when we were holding his disciple for questioning after the second stage.”

  Reinera noticed for the first time that Uncle Cassian had a truly pensive look on his face. She wouldn’t be surprised if he knew who Cain Steelborn was. Reinera had only just learned herself, but from what she had heard, the man was a force of destruction.

  In terms of pure combat power, Cain Steelborn was evaluated as a top-level threat on the continent. The Lord of the Shattered Throne wasn’t someone any country wanted to go against. She held back a chuckle.

  Julius had indeed found himself the perfect person to tie himself to. With how much trouble he was bound to face in the future, it was perfect. Even her uncle wouldn’t offend someone like Cain Steelborn carelessly.

  “That might be a little tricky,” her uncle muttered with a finger on his chin.

  She nodded and looked away, relieved. At least her uncle wasn’t a complete idiot. She was watching as the fight concluded. Julius had somehow gotten on top of Liam’s broken form, using his knees to pin the other boy down.

  Reinera winced in pity. She didn’t really like Liam in the few interactions she had with the other boy, but according to Julius, he wasn’t so bad. Still, she felt bad upon seeing the other boy without an arm and covered in his own blood.

  Julius would occasionally say something to Liam before punching him in the face. He was probably telling Liam to surrender, but Liam only yelled weakly in his face.

  However, Julius must have decided that it was time to end things, and his fist glowed brilliantly with blue light before smashing down onto Liam’s face. The life protections around the arena activated, saving Liam from death.

  The crowd's roar was deafening.

  “Hey Reinera!” Her uncle shouted over the noise.

  She slowly craned her neck to look at her uncle. “What?”

  “Do you think you could introduce me to your friend?”

  “What happened to your plan about kidnapping him?” She asked flatly.

  He gasped dramatically. “I would never do something so horrid. How could you even say something like that?”

  She rolled her eyes, not bothering to remind him that he had just said that he would kidnap Julius, not even a few minutes ago.

  Instead, she ignored her uncle, who had clamped his hands on her shoulders, shaking her as she pretended that he didn't even exist.

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