"Speak, Lutheran Blaze, my champion. What is the purpose of your visit?"Viarth sat on a dignified throne as Rani stood beside him as a loyal wife while the black-haired Lutheran knelt on one knee with his head low.
"Your highness, this va.s.sal humbly request to reunite with his daughter and gaze at her face once again to relieve its anxious heart."
Viarth raised a brow in amus.e.m.e.nt while Rani"s eyes glittered a playful light.
"Your daughter? Whoever you might be mentioning? In the royal records, your wife, the peasant, only gave birth to a pitiable girl that was evicted from your n.o.ble clan under your direct orders.
So I ask again, did you have another night of wild ploughing leading to the emergence of another seed?"
Viarth spoke lightly and looked at Lutheran with a deeply concealed disdain. Even if Lutheran is hailed as the strongest Rank 5 warrior of the Empire, his thoughts and actions have only brought losses to his clan and the empire itself.
Being spoken to so brazenly, Lutheran felt a bout of rage inside his heart, but keeping his foot in the political affairs of the Empire for so long did teach him a few things. One of them being tolerance.
"Surely you jest, your highness.
A rash decision made in my youth cannot sever the bond of a father and daughter.
My blood flows within the veins of Layla Blaze. No matter what the world says, she is my daughter."
Lutheran spoke as veins were popping out of his clenched fists while he still kept his head low. In the outside world, he is definitely the strongest Rank 5 warrior of the Empire, but this t.i.tle fell short to old monsters such as Scholarly Blaze and the Empress herself.
"I see. I can understand the emotions within your statements but at this very moment, she is under the care of the founding ancestor.
You cannot meet her. Not yet."
A deep sigh escaped Lutheran"s lips as he took his leave while the Gloria was already notified about his visit.
"Layla, is this resentment worth it? He is your blood father. Surely you don"t hate him, right?"
Gloria asked as Layla ignored her queries while she immersed herself into cultivation. Since she is cultivating two elements, she has to invest more of her time in cultivation than others. Not only that, but she also has to face the difficulty of inventing skill inscriptions that is suitable for her style.
"Ignoring me is not a mature way to handle the situation, Layla. You can run away from your past, but I doubt that you may never hide from it."
p.i.s.sed, Layla opened her eyes and looked at Gloria"s clueless face.
"Stop s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with me! I am not in the mood.
Besides, why are you even taking that awful person of a father"s side? You know nothing about him.
And you definitely know nothing about me."
Gloria frowned as she could definitely feel the incorrigible hatred hidden in her voice and spoke up.
"No, I do not know about you, your father or the term "s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g", but I definitely know something about being a father.
Believe me, after the fated battle, my only wish was to witness the features of my cherished child and yet, fate had different plans.
Sealing me and my comrades and "preserving" us until we are required.
All that time in the ice, I only held onto the memory of my little boy laughing as his tiny hands wrapped around the tip of my index finger.
So before you say that I don"t understand the resentment you are going through, I suggest that you take some time and process tour thoughts once again."
Gloria walked away as Layla couldn"t help but react to Gloria"s anger. After all, she had seen her happy, lazy and even sultry expression. But never had she even thought that this calm ancestor is capable of showing anger.
Sighing, Layla went back to her cultivation while Gloria started mediating and calmed herself in another chamber as a golden-red glow covered her body while spa.r.s.e Magma Element in the environment entered into her body, increasing her cultivation.
***
"You harlot! How dare you try and talk back to me?!
Know your place!
It"s right below my crouch!"
The stranger slapped a black-haired woman as her naked body fell onto the bed, her body showing various signs of physical abuse while her source of livelihood dripped with nefarious juices.
The woman immediately stood up and swiped her disheveled hair while she looked at the black-haired man with a well-built body and charming eyes. If not for his n.o.ble clothing, she would have never even allowed a guy to treat her in such a manner.
"You think you can get free service in this district. A pipe dream you s.l.u.t of man! You don"t even know who you are messing with!"
The woman immediately took out a knife from beneath the mattress as the man sneered and pointed at another room.
"I wonder if I can get to that little girl before you try and stab me."
The woman"s glare intensified as she immediately jumped at the man while a small girl peeked at the scene with terrified eyes.
***
"Your mother... where is she?"
A beautiful man looked at the black-haired girl as their eyes intersected. Seeing the man, the girl immediately panicked while the man"s eyes widened as he found her face quite familiar to himself.
Stuttering, the man couldn"t help but ask out.
"La.s.s, what is your age?"
Taking a step back, the girl replied with a sliver of fear in her voice. The luxurious clothes on the man triggered her hidden trauma, making her feel dizzy.
"I-I am 4 years old, your highness."
Knowing her place in the society, she knew how to address certain people to avoid offending them.
As the man heard her age, he gulped as his legs felt weak.
"Do you have a name?"
Unknown to him, his voice already started to sound dangerous while his gaze turned into a glare, making the little girl cower even more.
"L-Layla, your highness. I am Layla."
She spoke as tears started to form in the corner of her eyes while she herself felt weak from starving for a whole day.
Her vision spun comparable to a hurricane for a single moment before her world collapsed as he fell unconscious.
Unknown to the girl, she would be opening her eyes to a completely different world.
***
Layla opened her eyes as she stopped recalling her past and stood up with a sigh. Walking towards the door leading to another room, she knocked twice.
"What is it?"
Gloria"s calm voice travelled through the door while Layla spoke lightly.
"Gloria... I am sorry for my previous outburst. Can I come in?"
Apologising, she asked out, waiting for affirmation from Gloria"s side.
"Yes, why not?"
Feeling a burden lifted off her shoulders, Layla walked into the room as she saw Gloria sitting cross-legged while her body was illuminated in gold-red, making her crimson hair glitter in splendor.
"I would like to apologise for stepping into your privacy, too."
Gloria opened her eyes as the magma element was sucked into her body. Her blazing-gold eyes looking into Layla"s with a bit of guilt.
Taking a casual seat, she shook her head.
"We have slept together for crying out loud. I think that we are way past the point of talking to each other cautiously.
It"s just that, you must have been a wonderful father previously, but not everyone is just like you. After all, out of the population of billions, you were one of the people chosen as a virtue.
But this world is filled with callous parents and depraved comrades that strike you at your weakest.
At a very young age, I understood that evil and holy is just a concept created by living beings and I started to abide by the morals I created myself. You could say that I followed the words of the G.o.d.
The G.o.d being me, instead.
But I don"t wish for that resentment to consume me and affect my surroundings. Not anymore."
Layla smiled softly and looked at Gloria gratefully.
"Do me a favour and get the Emperor to arrange a meeting between me and Lutheran Blaze, the head of the Golden Flame Clan."
Gazing at Layla"s confident gaze, Gloria"s eyes brightened as she nodded with a bright smile.
"I"ll get it done. It"s quite refreshing to see you take initiative like that."
Just like that, Layla returned to her room and both of them cultivated until Lucifer and Perenna returned.