Emperor's Reckoning

Lyon was sitting at the back of the caravan before he saw Luna talking to him.

"Are you not going to join us?" asked Luna with her brows raised. "You seem to be pondering a lot of things halfway here."

Cecile chuckled before she turned and caught up to Lumina. "You seem to be in a hurry. Share with this older sister what's wrong."

"I hate veggies," said Lumina before she entered the tavern.

"Heh," Cecile smirked. "No wonder her nose was twitching a lot, I guess a dragon hardly eats any greens."

"She must have a hard time shitting," Kesya chuckled before she entered the tavern.

Cecile sighed as she heard what Kesya had just uttered. ( The only elf I've seen with vulgar words, his influence is something else. How come people around him pick up his bad habits. Actually, now that I think about it, it's rather hard to think about his good traits ). She smirked and looked over at his husband. She shrugged and smiled before she joined the others inside the tavern.

"Well?" Luna raised her brows as she awaited his answer.

Lyon exhaled a wisp of air before he said, "This feels more like a fantasy the more days come by."

"Uh.... what?" Luna furrowed her brows, "What are you talking about?"

Lyon shrugged his shoulder, "Nothing important."

He darted out of the caravan before stretching his arms up high and his feet tiptoed. All of his muscles slowly relaxed as he let out a satisfying exhale. "That's better."

"Let's head to the tavern," said Luna before she turned around. However, she could only manage to make half a step before her hand was grabbed. "Hm?"

She turned and looked at Lyon with furrowed brows, "Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Lyon furrowed his brows. "Nothing?"

"Then... why are you grabbing my hand?" she made a wry smile.

"What? Err... is it really weird?"

"Be honest, Lyon, is something wrong?" asked Luna before she furrowed her brows, "You're... you're not going to ask me for a dance now, would you?"

"Dance? What? No? We are like in the middle, err, I mean, don't give a damn if anyone is looking, do you want to dance?" Lyon smiled.

"Ehmm, no?"

"Then why you ask?"

"I mean, you're holding my hand, and... we are not in a ballroom nor a festival here."

"What? OH! oh... I see," Lyon nodded. ( So holding hands on the street is not really the custom in this crazy world ). "Meh, so what." he shrugged before he stood beside her. "This is how we do it in my world."

"Your world? You mean your home?" asked Luna.

"Yes."

"Do what?"

"Dating, you know casually holding hands and strolling with no care for the glaring jealousy of the single dudes or dudettes."

"This is how you date in your home? Holding hands?" asked Luna.

"You know, in my point of view, that question is way too late to be asked right now, I've come too far in this cultivation journey, to be honest," muttered Lyon before he sighed.

"Lyon, you're not making any sense right now," Luna frowned. "Are you that hungry?"

"What? No, I'm not that hungry," Lyon furrowed his brows.

"You seem a bit disoriented."

Lyon sighed. "Forget it."

He let go of her hand as he darted away from her glance. However, it didn't take half a second before his hand felt the recent warmth.

"??" He turned before seeing the woman that was the closest to his age, bashfully looking down and holding his hand.

"I mean, if that is the custom in your home, I have to learn it, right?" Luna gave out a bright smile.

Lyon couldn't utter a word even though his mouth didn't lock shut. His dark pupils slowly dilated as he met her eyes. His heart skipped a beat and his cheeks unveiled the tint of a red hue. He hardly could feel his legs nor his brain working. He was fixated on her and was incapable of feeling the gentle wind of nature.

"Ehm... Lyon? Is there something on my face? You're not blinking," said Luna.

"Don't need to," Lyon answered with a smile.

"Y-You know, this actually feels a little embarrassing now," said Luna as she looked away.

"No need to look away, no need to be embarrassed," said Lyon as he slowly crawled his fingers and locked them against hers.

She looked up to meet his usual smirk. The unfair confidence that he exuded could best even be the most experienced king. It was the charm that he possessed and also the twist of fate that she shared with him. She had not a single thought of ending up locking hands with someone that came from the empty sky, not even if the seers themselves were the ones that told her. It was an abrupt notion, yet here she was, creating ripples of love out of an unjust contract. She trapped him with a soul contract, but she was caught with an eternal one instead.

"S-Stop staring at me, it's embarrassing," said Luna as her eyes darted all over the place.

"There is no harm in looking at a beautiful woman," Lyon smirked before he laughed.

"People are staring..." Luna's face couldn't shrink deeper.

"That's the whole point," Lyon smiled before he turned and looked at the tavern. "I can even hear the bustle and hustle from here."

"Well, it's a tavern, not a restaurant," said Luna as she occasionally steal glances at her hand. She smiled under her hood.

"Yeah, though, it's disappointing that I can't drink any liquor. That's like the whole point of this place."

"Tavern is a favorite place to gain information, whether it's good or bad. Whether it's gossip or actually factual. Whether it's rumor or sin."

"Sounds more like a random forum on the internet," Lyon squinted his eyes. "But this is not my first time entering a tavern."

"I have a feeling that you don't want to explain what the foreign word you just said, so I will refrain for now. However, you must promise to tell me what 'internet' is someday."

"I will."

"Then let's go, I bet you love taverns, it checked all of your lists."

"What list?" Lyon raised his brows before he laughed.

"Vulgar, booze, and women," Luna rolled her eyes.

"Heh, that's the good tavern, this one seems proper," Lyon chuckled before both of them got up the stairs.

One step into the tavern, the entire atmosphere suddenly died down. Everyone was silent and turned around. They had their eyes on the mysterious couple with the oversized cloak.

Luna tightened her hand as she trembled at the large pressure from their glance alone. The look of a killer, hunter, and others was all weighing against her heart.

"Older sister Cecile said to stay low, Lyon," muttered Luna.

"I know, but what can I say, they surely give me a tight jaw," Lyon smirked under the hood.

"Heh, you seem like a tough bloke," said one of the adventurers before he slammed his hand against the table, courting all attention.

( here comes trouble ) thought Luna as she saw the man stand up.

He had muscles written all over his tight sleeveless clothing. He had a wide jaw and a ponytail, a man that was as tall as Graham but lacked the lithe that the latter had. He played a small blade with his hand as he made his way toward the couple.

"Don't kill them, Aloy hahaha!" shouted one of the adventurers enjoying his drink before a ripple of laughter followed.

"Don't worry, I won't, I just want to have a little chat with these two," Aloy smirked.

Cecile who was sitting at the corner of the tavern with the rest of the group sighed. "He just entered the place and already, a problem."

Kesya chuckled uncontrollably. "He is like a magnet for troubles."

"He didn't even start anything," Lumina sighed.

The old farmer felt left out as he looked left and right. He had no words to say but internally as he darted his glance toward the couple.

Cecile raised her hand before waving at his husband.

Aloy raised one of his brows before he smirked. "Look's like your friend is looking for you."

"Then if you do excuse me," Lyon answered with a smile before he walked past him. However, Aloy deliberately made a little bump against him.

"Oh, be careful fellow, you haven't drunk a sip, and you're already tipsy," Aloy laughed before ending up smirking. "If you got drunk and passed out on the street outside, some bad people might snatch your tools, hahaha!"

Assid and Graham furrowed their brows whilst Kesya made an audible crack from her knuckles as she grinned. However, Cecile's quick response managed to suppress their killing intent down to a notch, but it was all too late for the old farmer. He passed out with his head facing the roof.

Lyon stopped before Luna immediately wiggled his hand, "Don't..."