Emperor's Reckoning

Tamuh grinned inwardly, discovering Lyon's weakness was the first step in making 'friends' with him.

(That damn old witch Malaqa and her good-for-nothing student Renduval! It's fine, it's fine, you can have the damn kunpeng. A dead beast is nothing but a dead beast, but what's better than a dead beast?)

Tamuh leered toward Lyon before he muttered, "The hunter."

"Where was I?" the matriarch pondered, "Oh right, so after I invited her to my clan, she immediately showed us how incredibly gifted she was. She found no equal in her peers, and the seniors were having a hard time believing it."

Lyon smiled, "Until she met my wife?"

The matriarch nodded before she took a sip. She then replied after a gulp, "That's right. Until we met your wife."

The headmaster shook his head with a smile, "Young friend, it seems like your wife is as capable as you."

"Hahaha, that would be underestimating her," said Lyon with a chuckle. "She is cooler than me, fiercer than me, more beautiful, smart, cold, decisive, and her hair is freakin auburn! Can you believe that? hahaha!"

The headmaster smiled wryly as he noticed how deeply affectionate Lyon was for his wife.

"She is," said the matriarch of the Yuki Clan as she nodded. "It was unbelievable, to think a girl would be able to contest her, at the time."

"So Cecile met her when she was a little girl?" asked Lyon with a smile.

"No, she was in her teen then," said the matriarch before she sighed, "Ah, how time really flies, now she is a grown woman and have a remarkable husband, can't say I'm not jealous."

"Oh?" Lyon raised his brows. "Does this have anything to do with the way you guys cultivate?"

The matriarch dejectedly nodded. "Our way of cultivation, well, the basic principle is the same as the ordinary one that we all know, but the advantage that we have is to affiliate ourselves with ice."

"I don't get it," said Lyon as he creased his brows.

"Our art is heavily ice-based, and it's really powerful, we could freeze an entire kingdom if we want to," said the matriarch with a smile. "However, such great power comes with a price, and the more we tap into the deepest and most unforgiving art, the more we shed our capability to feel emotional."

"I see," Lyon then chuckled, "Than those pair never had the chance, to begin with, hahaha!"

The matriarch smiled wryly and nodded. Tael and Carius never had the chance as they were swindled by their own imagination.

"But it's fortunate that they realized it with time," Lyon snorted with a smile. "Else, Porealus and Zet wouldn't be here... oh wait, damn it!"

The matriarch chuckled. "You're really a fun person to be around, young master."

"You think so? You know where elsewhere I can be fun?" Lyon raised one of his brows with a smirk.

"Well, you know you don't want to go that route," said Lumina as she gulped down her food.

"Hehe," Lyon chuckled.

Tamuh raised his brows, "Hmm.." (It seems like this woman would be troublesome, I would need to find a way to separate him from her for a while).

"Undeniably, my wife is really powerful, the lady beside me is too," Lyon grinned.

"That is true, she was magnificent, Cecile was. Now, she is extraordinary, I still couldn't believe that she would even find someone that is deemed worthy to take her hand, yet, young master, you surely put Mortal World on her knees and did it."

The headmaster furrowed his brows, "The Mortal World on her knees?"

"Ups, look at me and my faulty lips," the matriarch chuckled before she took another sip of the wine.

Lyon chuckled before he frowned as he realized something, "So that means, you are incapable of loving someone? But you seem so, not as cold?"

"That's because I didn't learn to that kind of depth. However, that's beside the point. The ultimate price of our devastating art is our womb."

"Ah, I see," Lyon nodded. "That's a really hefty price to pay."

The matriarch smiled as she looked down a bit, "It is."

"Does the price match the reward?" asked Lyon as he drank before cursing inwardly due to the content of the glass being mere water.

The matriarch didn't answer, or rather, couldn't answer. She didn't even contemplate and only looked at Lyon's eyes.

"Ivy didn't follow the path that deep either, thus the affection, no, 'longing' perhaps is the correct word here, that she has buried deep within her surfaced," said the matriarch.

"She longed for her long-lost older sister... I see," said Lyon as he sighed. "Well, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, we are all moving toward what we compelled to go, compelled to do yet, he has still the free will to do whatever we please in this thing called life."

Whilst the headmaster was nodding Lyon further asked the matriarch, "What do you think that she should do?"

"She should do what her heart wants her to do," said the matriarch with a weak smile. "But as a future matriarch, she shouldn't."

"En," Lyon nodded. "As a matriarch, the bigger picture is prioritized, but being a fellow woman, a fellow cultivator, she should do what her heart wants her to do."

"Oh, and she is not her older sister, young master," said the matriarch with a smile under her thick veil.

"Oh? What?! She is her mother?!" asked opened his eyes wide, "Damn... nice."

"What?"

"What?"

The matriarch shook her head before she turned her glance toward the headmaster. She took out a tiny folded paper that was hardly the size of a regional map and gave it to the headmaster, "Please read this."

"Hm?" Tamuh leered over his shoulder before he muttered, "She is giving something to headmaster? What is it?"

The headmaster had his eyebrows raised before taking the folded paper out of her hand. He calmly unfolded the paper with high vigilance that didn't appear in his motion. Turned out, it was nothing but paragraphs.

He read the content of the paper but the creases on his forehead grew more intensely his eyes went left to right and back like a typewriter. His eyes widened before his pupils shrunk as she looked at the woman whose face was covered with a thick veil.

The matriarch nodded.

The headmaster calmly closed his eyes as he took a deep breath before letting it out through his mouth instead. He opened his weary eyes before nodding.

"I will arrange this matter, thank you," said the headmaster as he nodded.

"Thank you," said the matriarch as she nodded.

The headmaster nodded before he turned his glance to Lyon and gave him a wry smile, "Sorry, young friend, it seems that I have to end my evening early."

"Hmm," Lyon nodded. "It seems like you have some errand to do, but don't forget my request, headmaster."

(Request?) Tamuh frowned.

"Hahaha, I sure will keep that in mind," said the headmaster before he stood up and nodded. "Enjoy your evening."

Lyon raised his glass with a smile but he noticed how the headmaster's glance changed the moment he turned.

"Thank you for your time, young master," the matriarch smiled.

"At the very least, you can tell me your name," said Lyon with a smile. "I swear, woman's name is expensive these days."

The matriarch chuckled, "I guess I have forgotten to introduce myself. I'm not as famous as master Lily once was."

"Well, I mean, those two old men basically called out each other as buddies, but you were not," said Lyon as he shrugged with a smile. "Oh wait, you know what, don't tell me your name just yet."

"Kesya, come here," said Lyon as he called her out with his hand.

"Hmm??" she immediately stood up and circled around the table before standing beside him, "What is it?"

Lyon grinned before he said, "Give me your ear."

"W-Wha? You're not going to take revenge on me now, right?" Kesya took a step back with fright.

"What? No! Just give me your ear for a sec!" said Lyon before he pulled her ear.

He whispered something that made Kesya smile and nodded quite frequently.

"Alright, are you ready?" asked Lyon.

"Absolutely, you're going down young master!" said Kesya with a grin.

"Oh my, what's going on?" the matriarch chuckled. "You two seem to be competing on something."

Lyon smiled. "Can you say your name after I count it down?"

"Eh? S-Sure?" The matriarch smiled confusedly.

"Three, two, one, go!"

"Jasmine!" shouted Kesya.

"Rose!" shouted Lyon.

"Chrysanthemum Yuki," the matriarch smiled.

.

.

.

.

"What?!" exclaimed both Lyon and Kesya at the same time as they frowned in disbelief.

The matriarch chuckled before she nodded then went back to her seat.

Lumina leered at her back before she tugged Lyon's back, "She is using your presence here."

"I know, but did you hear what her name is?" Lyon raised his brows before he shook his head.