Inside the courtyard Leon sat flanked by Arian and Ember, staring daggers at Linda Firestone as if the beating she had just received wasn’t enough.

Neither of them had said anything since landing.

The silence in the courtyard was heavy. The kind that follows a fight that didn’t fully finish.

"I can understand that you just entered the transcendent stage, but I’m sure your clan should have told you at least these rules."

The city lord looked at the two of them like a man who had caught children fighting over a toy.

"What do you think would happen to the city if more transcendents started battling on a whim? Do you want to destroy my home? You children!!"

He was clearly frustrated.

Not just at them specifically. At the principle of the thing. He’d seen this before, young transcendents who got a taste of real power and immediately started swinging it around in populated areas without a single thought for what was underneath them.

He wanted to punish them.

He really did.

This was a serious precedent he did not want to be set. Before he knew it the next fight would start because they saw these two get away with it.

But he had reservations.

He was well acquainted with the Firestone manor’s matriarch. She was extremely close to becoming a magic king and could already use equivalent power when she needed to.

She was not someone to be easily messed with.

As for Leon, just looking at the makeup of the team around him he could already guess the boy was connected to something with serious backing. No one sat that relaxed next to a magic king without some kind of foundation beneath them.

"Sigh."

The city lord let it go.

"We are sorry, Sire. It was a bad decision on our end."

Leon and Linda said it at the same time.

Then immediately cut their eyes at each other.

The city lord watched this and shook his head slowly.

"I am not without reason. Young people like you are always hot blooded."

He stood as he spoke, hands clasped behind his back.

"You are both invited to my manor in the coming month, to be attended together as a show of reconciliation."

He didn’t wait for either of them to object.

He simply disappeared the following second.

The courtyard went quiet again.

"Hehe."

Leon smiled, looking over at the woman standing in front of him.

She was around thirty. Arms crossed. Expression flat.

’Did that old man just set me up on a date?’

He almost laughed out loud.

’Did he not see Arian and Ember fuming behind me right now?’

He could feel both of them without even turning around. Arian had gone very still. Ember wasn’t even blinking.

’Old bastard!!’

He cursed inwardly and kept his face calm.

But Linda didn’t seem moved by any of it.

This kind of thing was a normal occurrence amongst the older generation. They liked to connect people who had reached the same realm, push them together and see what happened. Whether they were compatible. Whether something could be built.

Whether babies could be made.

Unfortunately ninety percent of their matches were usually pulled straight out of their asses.

Linda let the silence run for a moment.

Then she looked directly at Ember.

"Young girl." Her voice was even. Not warm, not cruel. Just decided. "Your destiny is linked to my Firestone manor. I won’t beat around the bush."

Ember didn’t respond.

"Come next month, our matriarch will arrive at the city lord’s manor." Linda continued. "By then you will have no way to resist."

She wasn’t asking.

She wasn’t threatening either, not really. It was something closer to a statement of fact, delivered by someone who had already seen how it would end and was simply letting the other party know in advance.

If it was what she thought, the matriarch wouldn’t mind making an enemy of everyone between here and hell just to have this girl on her side.

That she was hundred percet sure of.

Obviously not willing to stand down any further, Linda stood and turned to leave.

From beginning to end Leon had not said a single word.

He let her speak. Let her finish. Watched her walk away without moving a muscle.

Then he looked over at Ember.

There was a glint in his eyes.

He remembered the first time he had met her. That restaurant, the early days, before any of this. The system’s appraisal had lit up with characters that matched almost exactly with what the name Firestone carried.

He hadn’t said anything then.

He hadn’t been sure enough.

But the chances that Linda was right were quite high.

Leon turned that over quietly. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Being right and being safe were two different things. Linda could be completely correct about Ember’s origins and that still wouldn’t mean handing her over was acceptable.

He had to see it for himself first.

Whatever the Firestone manor thought they were owed, that conversation hadn’t happened yet.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"For the time being, I think it’s best you two stay in a 5 km radius of the courtyard" Leon said with a smile that wasn’t a smile.

He had met people like Linda before, he wouldn’t throw them being kidnapped by her past what she was capable of doing. She had already expressed what she wanted, and such a risk was not worth it.

"Besides I still have a lot of treasures left over from the gifts from the five elements school, you two can start charging to the peak of level 4." Leon added with a consoling smile.

They didn’t want to caged he could tell, and he did trust them, but this place wasn’t entirely safe.

"We understand" both of them nodding looking in anticipation.

They had a deal, and as soon as they did their own part Leon would have no grounds to hold them from it. Of course it was easier said than done.