Lady Celestine seemed pleased by Kaito’s interest in the treasure and turned away from Julius, though her aura was still lingering around him.

“Someone found a body evolution treasure inside of a unique rift that explicitly states it can heal all deformities, ailments, or curses within a person’s body during the evolution process.”

“And you are offering it to me?” Kaito asked.

“Yes.”

“And what’s the price?” he asked suspiciously.

“We can decide on that later. But the spirit you bought seems like a good start,” Celestine said with a side glance at Julius.

“You want me to give you the spirit?”

“I would argue that a treasure that can fully cure your daughter’s condition without risk is more valuable than a spirit that might offset the curse’s symptoms. Wouldn’t you agree?” she said with that same irritatingly polite smile.

To be fair, even Julius thought this treasure sounded a little more valuable than the spirit. A sure way to help save his daughter had more value to him than a spirit that could kill her as easily as it helped her. That is, if what she was saying had any truth behind it. For all Julius or Kaito knew, the woman was lying about the treasure.

It seemed like the woman was very interested in the spirit. She appeared outwardly calm and generally uncaring about the spirit, but her eyes spoke otherwise. She wanted the spirit. That much Julius was certain of, but for what reason, he had no clue.

She mentioned something about her family business, and, given her previous comments about Kaito buying treasures from her for his daughter, Julius assumed her family ran a merchant or trade company of some kind.

It was also possible that the woman simply wanted to take the spirit from Kaito because she feared that Lora might be healed and Kaito would no longer need to throw gold at her to save his daughter.

But that was a bit too predictable. A little too simplistic.

Odds were that there was another angle to it. However, Julius didn’t have enough information to accurately assess the situation. He could only make crude guesses of her intentions.

It was only then that he realized he was becoming a little emotionally attached to this whole situation. But then again, he didn’t think it was necessarily a bad thing. From everything he’d observed, Lora seemed like a good person, and Kaito, a loving father. His gut told him that they were kind people, people worth caring about. The fact that Drasil also liked Lora was further confirmation that she was a good person.

Perhaps he was being influenced by Drasil’s own emotions, but he wanted to help them if he could. But then again, how much did he want to get himself involved in their drama?

He didn’t know, but while he thought about it, he would sit back and observe for the time being.

Kaito and Lady Celestine continued discussing the treasure, and Kaito was trying to verify its existence. He also seemed doubtful of her claims. Wasn’t it a bit too big a coincidence that this treasure only showed up now that Kaito found a possible solution to Lora’s problems?

However, to the surprise of everyone gathered, Lora finally spoke up of her own volition. Her smaller frame moved from behind her father to stand beside him, standing up straight.

“Don’t you two think my opinion matters the most here, considering it's my own body we’re talking about?” she asked with an annoyed expression.

Lady Celestine bowed toward her gently. “Why of course, Lady Lora. Your opinion is of the utmost importance. We are simply discussing the terms of the treasure that will help you.”

“Well, I’ve already made up my mind to use the spirit,” she shot back.

Her father turned around and held her shoulder with a worried expression on his face. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I’m going to try and bond with the spirit. So there’s no need to negotiate with her.”

“Hold on, Lora. There is no need to be reckless right now. This is your life we are talking about,” Kaito said sternly.

“I understand that, and that’s why I’m making this decision for myself,” she said with an equally stern expression and turned to Julius. “Can we do it?”

Julius, who was trying to blend in with the walls, was suddenly placed at the center of everyone’s attention. He rubbed his head awkwardly. “I’m not sure that is something I can decide on my own,” he explained with a pointed look at her father.

Kaito let out a sigh of relief and nodded. “Yes, this isn’t something we can just discuss without proper thought.”

“I’ve had nothing but time to think about what I wanted to do. And this is what I decided. Please, Dad,” she said, pleading.

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Kaito stopped himself from saying something and instead turned to the two other guests. “Leave us, I need to talk with my daughter.”

“Kaito, you aren’t seriously thinking about her going through with this, are you?” Hayden said with a scoff, and this made Kaito’s brows tighten upon hearing this.

However, before Hayden could speak again, Celestine laid her hand on his arm and smiled warmly at Kaito. “I understand you and your daughter’s frustrations. But I promise you I can get this treasure to you within the next week. That’s all I ask of you. There is no need to go forward with this risky procedure. There is no way to predict how a bond with a volatile dual-natured spirit will go with someone of your daughter’s health.”

“I haven’t made my decision yet. Even if I did, then it’s none of your concern, Lady Celestine. I appreciate your concern for Lora, but I must remind you that you aren’t a member of Clan Yoshu, and your presence is currently unneeded and unwanted. Don’t mistake my patience for timidity, especially when it comes to my daughter. Now, I’m not sure what you hope to accomplish here, but I’m going to have a talk with my daughter, alone.”

His voice was still calm, but there was an undertone of warning. His aura was still restrained properly, but there was, without a doubt, a feeling of annoyance and anger slowly slipping through.

Lady Celestine seemed to understand the situation, if the uncomfortable look on her face said anything.

She smiled, but this time the smile looked much more forced than before. “I understand. Please reach out if you need anything.”

That was all she had to say before she walked away, practically dragging Hayden behind her.

Only when Julius felt them go beyond his sphere of perception did he let out a sag of relief and look over at Kaito with a flat expression. “So what was that?”

Kaito grimaced and rubbed his temple firmly. “A problem that my family and I allowed into our home.”

“If she’s such a problem, why don’t you just tell her to go away and sever all connections between her and us?” Lora asked, shaking her head. “She’s extorting you and the clan for their own profit and goals.”

“She also was the one who procured all of the treasures you’ve been consuming these past two years,” Kaito said with a heavy sigh.

“Even more reason to let me bond with the spirit. That way, we don’t need to keep on wasting money on treasures that barely help.”

“Did you hear what any of us said? The bonding process will be dangerous. There’s no telling what is going to happen, and if she has a treasure that will help you without taking that risk, don’t you want to at least hear her out?” Kaito tried to reason with her.

Lora barked out a sarcastic laugh. “And you trust her? You believe she suddenly found a unique treasure that perfectly solves my issue? Wonderful timing, don’t you think? Odds are that she’s either lying or has had that treasure all along and simply wanted you to keep buying my ‘medicine’ from her.”

Kaito was ready to argue with his daughter again, but this time, Julius interrupted from his spot on the side. He cleared his throat. “Ahem. I admit I agree with your daughter, Lord Kaito. While I don’t know that woman all that well, she seemed more interested in the spirit than in helping your daughter. I’m not sure you can trust her.”

Kaito glared at him, his aura pressing outward, pressuring Julius. “Oh? And trust you? Someone whom I only met an hour ago? Who are you to advise me what to do with my daughter?”

Julius chuckled and didn’t find himself annoyed by this aggressive usage of aura. He knew the father was already annoyed by the other two, and to be honest, the pressure wasn’t even that bothersome.

“I’m not advising you to do anything. But you were the one who told me how confident you were in your daughter’s ability to control the spirit’s mana. So what changed? Did hearing about a possible miracle cure change your thoughts, or did you just get cold feet?”

***

Kaito POV

All Kaito could feel was rage and hopelessness flowing through his veins. He was angry that he couldn’t do more for his daughter and angry at the hopelessness of the whole situation.

And he was angered by this boy's insolence, challenging Kaito in his own house? Who did he think he was?

So despite knowing it was wrong, he unleashed his aura and let it crash into the teen. He didn’t hold back and oppressed the boy, trying to teach him a lesson in respect. But it didn’t work out in the way he thought it would.

The boy didn’t so much as flinch. The moment Kaito’s aura crashed into the boy, it was like watching a powerful stream being divided by a large boulder in a creek. All of his aura washed against the boy’s aura, uselessly flowing past it.

Julius didn’t get angry either; he was looking at Kaito with what looked like pity and sadness. Which only made Kaito feel more embarrassed.

It wasn’t until Lora slapped his shoulder hard that he found his self-control again and reeled in his aura.

“What are you doing?” she asked him with a disappointed expression. And that disappointment made him feel more shame than if she had yelled at him.

He looked over at Julius and immediately bowed his head deeply. As one of the heads of Clan Yoshu, he should never bow this deeply to an outsider, but his honor demanded he apologize for his transgressions.

“I am very sorry. I should have never done that,” he said, genuinely remorseful. There was no reason for him to assault a Tier 4 like that. Not when he was just telling the truth that Kaito didn’t want to hear.

Julius waved his arm, seemingly unbothered by the whole aura attack. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

And that was the truth. The boy had managed to resist his aura with extreme ease, so easily that he almost felt insulted. Julius hadn’t been in any kind of danger of being overwhelmed. Which also begged the question of how?

How did he manage to take Kaito’s powerful aura without so much as a blink or a frown?

He already had an inkling that Julius was not a normal teen. After all, he was already Tier 4 despite his relatively young age and one who seemed to grasp the delicate intricacies of aura better than most veteran cultivators. And definitely better than many of the nobles or scions he’d come across over the years.

He took a deep breath, though, and looked over at his daughter. Despite her limitations and curse, she hadn’t stopped her training and was still quite a powerful Tier 2. This spirit wouldn’t simply help her get around her Shackled Vessel problem, but it would also allow her to utilize the spirit in ways that nobody would typically be able to. If she were able to control it, then her power would take a drastic leap, and he knew that she was thinking the same thing. She wanted to get stronger, and honestly, he wanted her to as well.

He finally closed his eyes and nodded. “Fine, let’s do it.”