Mortimer Blackwood struggled to keep up a composed front but his mind was racing. His expression turned gloomier as the courtyard fell silent. Everyone was waiting for his response.Each passing minute was like a step closer to doom. After a while, Mortimer finally spoke again in a cold tone."Very good... Since this is what you all want to do, instead of wasting resources and fighting against each other, why not join forces?"The four elderly patriarchs exchanged a look. They weren't scared that Mortimer had figured out the plan on their mind, rather, they were confused. What did he mean by join forces?"You... What are you talking about?" The Patriarch of Russell's family questioned with a snort.Mortimer Blackwood snickered and mused inwardly, 'Didn't you start this riot, old man? Why pretend to be puzzled now?'"I mean, let's join forces and get rid of that bastard once and for all!"Mortimer Blackwood patted his chest and announced, "My family will take the lead! Are you all sati
Grandfather Hathaway was startled. "Orion, are you certain of what you are—""Yes," Orion nodded frantically. "So please, let's not provoke him and incur his wrath.""What the heck!" Before the patriarch of Hathaway's family could speak, Grandfather Sinclair slapped the table furiously. Pointing at Orion, he fumed, "You... Are you looking down on my family?!"But Orion hurriedly bowed and apologized, "I'm sorry, grandfather Sinclair. That was not my intention. Please don't misunderstand me."Even though Orion lowered his head and was seemingly apologizing sincerely, he was mocking the old man inwardly.Foolish old man! That person is not someone even the imperial families of Cascadia could mess with. They simply couldn't afford to provoke him. But if they refuse to back out and still carry on with their plan, they would meet their end soon!If Orion mentions his real thoughts, it would sound absurd but he had an inkling his thoughts weren't exactly wrong. "How can our aristocratic fa
"But Cascadia is our territory. If he dares to come here, we won't let him off!" Grandfather Sinclair retorted hatefully. He could almost see Kian in front of him. If that bastard really comes here, he was done for!But the Patriarch of Russell's family was confused. "Didn't you all say we have lie low and not act rashly? Why—""You..." Mortimer Blackwood facepalmed helplessly. Has this old man always being this stupid? "That bastard didn't only offend us. So even if he comes to Cascadia, we might not have to take any action at all before he ends up dead!"Grandfather Russell frowned as his confusion deepened. But then, he suddenly thought of something and sat up, "The children did report that the bastard killed Master Theo. I was unwilling to believe it before... Are you talking about the people of the Underworld Emperors?""Finally, you get it," Mortimer sighed. "Kian killed the leader of the Underworld Emperors. Do you think they will let him go scot-free?""But..." The patriarch o
There was silence once again as the two other patriarchs exchanged a look. This only lasted for a minute before they turned back to Grandfather Windsor. The expressions on their faces clearly showed that they weren't convinced.Grandfather Windsor snorted and rolled his eyes before finally spilling the beans, "Okay... Okay... I'll tell you two old men since you are so eager. I got some news. That boy's identity is not as simple as it seems."The other two patriarchs exchanged a look again. "What did you hear? Why didn't you tell us before?""Well, I don't know for sure as the details are sketchy. So don't ask me," Grandfather Windsor waved dismissively "However, you two need to know that you shouldn't provoke that boy at all unless you want to end up like those five other imperial families!"The patriarchs of Harrington and Carrington were shocked. Their eyes widened in fear as they comprehended the underlying meaning of his words."Do you mean something will happen to those imperial
Many mass media companies who did not want to miss out on the news quickly sent out their reporters to investigate the houses of the two families, Sinclairs and Grays.Early that morning, crowds swarmed toward the buildings, eager and relentless. After clamoring outside for some time, some of the reporters managed to push their way inside. But once they did, they discovered something unexpected—the buildings were completely empty. There was not a single soul in the buildings.The members of the Gray's and Sinclair's seemed to have left overnight. This sparked another interesting speculation. Did the two families perhaps commit a huge crime that caused them to scurry away like thieves in the middle of the night? Every headline was carrying the same hashtag. [THE SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE OF THE TWO MAJOR FAMILIES OF VALORIA PRIME]While this commotion was still going on, another piece of news broke out and it was related to the famous Radiance Gallery.[AFTER SOME DAYS OF CLOSURE, RADIAN
"Who was it? Was it someone from the gallery?" Savannah asked as soon as he returned. She noticed his dark expression and his frown. She was worried, thinking the call might be related to the gallery as everything had been going quite too well for the past days that she still felt surreal.But Kian smiled, his gloomy expression disappeared like it was just an illusion. "No... It was a personal call. I took care of it. Let's round off our grocery shopping and go home. It's getting late."As if on cue, Noah pouted and whined, "I'm hungry."Savannah laughed and nodded, quickly forgetting about her worries. "Fine. I'll just grab one or two vegetables and then we can go home."As Kian pushed the cart behind her with a smile, he made a mental note to send a message to Wesley later. He needed to find out why the Montgomery's family were spying on him.The next day, Kian dropped Noah off at school and headed to the gallery. Unlike the first few days when the gallery reopened, there were no l
"Tut-Tut!"The call was immediately answered just after the first ring and Wesley's emotionless but respectful voice came through the line, "General?""Come to the gallery," Kian paused and thought something before he quickly added, "Immediately."Wesley's ears perked up. Immediately? He has accompanied Kian for years and he can confidently say the word 'immediately' was rarely or never used by the general. What could be so urgent?Even when Valoria country's border was invaded by a large army of terrorists one time, Kian was as calm and composed as ever.But this time, he asked him to come to the gallery immediately. The urgency could be heard from his voice. It was strange. Something must be wrong!Thinking of this, Wesley squinted fiercely but before he could speak, Kian called out to him with a puzzled tone, "Wesley, are you there?""Yes sir. I heard you and we will be there in some minutes."Before Kian could ask what Wesley meant by 'we', a 'tut-tut' sound resounded from the pho
"General," Wesley noticed something was wrong and called out. With arched brows, he asked, "Is the human head not enough? Should I have added something else?" Kian facepalmed helplessly. What was he thinking asking this cold-blooded machine for advice? Wesley might seem normal sometimes but he actually wasn't a sane person. When Kian began to make a name for himself in the Valorian army years back, Wesley was introduced to him by the old general. He had quite a pitiful background story. His ancestors ranked till his parents had all been soldiers. They breathed the air on battlefields all their lives and Wesley was just a baby when his parents were killed on the border. He had therefore been raised on the battlefield. Although he didn't choose to become a senior in the army even if he was capable of it, he ran menial jobs. He had killed so many people too. So Kian wanted to kick himself right now for thinking that a man who only knows killing and shedding blood might have som