"Ck. You’re all too much, aren’t you? She wants to test her future brother-in-law. Why do we have to be cold towards our little Ariel? Come here and let your father hug you~."

A click of the tongue escaped Ariel’s mouth. After seeing that no one apart from her father was supporting her, Ariel decided to walk away from the living room and return to her room.

Ariel’s departure from the living room did not create any changes in the living room. Even Lilith and Lucius could only reveal lazy expressions after seeing their youngest daughter walk away to her room. Even though they felt guilty for the treatment they gave Ariel, they hoped Ariel could learn from her mistakes and would not behave condescendingly towards the people she would meet in the future.

"Sorry. I shouldn’t have paid attention to the insults she gave me. I knew she only wanted to test me as Athena’s lover."

"Humph. This is what she needs for now. If we don’t teach her some manners, I’m afraid she will die at the hands of people who pretend to be weak in the future."

Listening to the words that came out of Lilith’s mouth made me unable to hold back my coughing. I felt as if Lilith was speaking about me in just a few words. For an expert like Lilith, seeing the true power of a living being was the easiest thing she could do.

The strength displayed by me right now could easily allow me to defeat experts below the Great Dragon King stage. And Ariel’s current strength was only at the Dragon King stage. Therefore, Lilith hoped that her youngest daughter could realize her mistakes and hoped that she could change her impudent attitude.

"Cough. So what’s the reason my mother-in-law wanted me to come back much sooner than the promised time? I think it’s better if I train a little more before the three days pass. This will probably increase my chances of winning this fight even more."

After remaining silent for a while, Lilith decided to reveal what she had learned from the spies she had sent within the empire. Charles’s breakthrough to the Great Dragon King stage had already become known to Lilith and Lucius.

They were very worried that I might be defeated by Charles because of the huge difference in strength between us. If I lost the fight against Charles, it would be no different from making Athena Charles’s wife. Of course, neither Lilith nor Lucius wanted their precious eldest daughter to become part of the Vermillion family at all.

"Charles... the guy who will be your opponent has already broken through and reached the Great Dragon King stage. You probably won’t be able to defeat him. I just hope that you can retreat if you want."

My previously calm face turned serious. From what Lilith said about Charles’s increase in power, I assumed that my opponent had successfully reached the Great Dragon King stage. If I remembered what had happened during this half year, it wouldn’t be strange at all if my opponent could increase his strength as much as I did.

Although I was surprised by Charles’s significant increase in strength, I didn’t feel afraid or worried at all, even after learning of his breakthrough to the Great Dragon King stage. Instead of accepting Lilith’s proposal and taking the opportunity to withdraw from the battle, I didn’t care at all and still wanted to continue with the match, which would take place in three days.

"Heh... so what if he managed to break through? Why are you all so worried that I can’t defeat someone who is two levels above me? Let me try to fight with all my strength. I will win this battle and bring Athena back by my side!"

An embarrassed look appeared on Athena’s face. The serious and arrogant attitude shown by me did not seem arrogant at all from my point of view. Since the beginning, I had gone through hellish torture several times while training by Elize’s side. For a man who had experienced countless torments, fighting against a dragon like Charles was a piece of cake.

There were still many skills that I hadn’t shown while dealing with Liz before. This was also the reason why I was very confident when facing an opponent with unreasonable strength. No matter what, I would always win, even if my opponent was two levels above my current strength.

"I understand. Since you have spoken so confidently, your father-in-law and I will not ask any further questions. I wish you the best."

The current problems had completely ended. I also understood what my father-in-law and mother-in-law wanted to talk about in front of me. Being able to fight against a Great Dragon King stage dragon while at the Great Dragon stage was simply not something that made sense to the husband and wife. That was also the reason why Lilith and Lucius had started to worry about my defeat when facing Charles. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Losing against Charles would be no different from giving Athena away to the other party. There was no way Lilith and Lucius would let me lose against Charles, who was trying to keep Athena away from them. Even so, the two of them still had doubts about my victory when facing Charles in three days.

"Athena, you can take Lady Elize and Lucien to their rooms. Let them rest first. If they don’t want to go to their rooms, you can take them for a walk around the castle."

Standing up from her seat, Athena bowed her head in front of Lilith and then led Elize and me out of the living room. Instead of following us as we walked away from the living room, Shelia remained where she was and could only stay silent beside her parents.

"You should just stay here with your sister. It wouldn’t be good if you disturbed their relationship."

"Okay..."

The palace courtyard was filled with various green and refreshing gardens that I had visited several times in the past. One of my hands now approached a green tree that had a unique aroma. For some reason, I felt that the tree in front of me was emitting an unusually strong aura.

Previously, it had been impossible for me to sense the usefulness of every plant in the castle grounds. But because my current strength had surpassed what it was half a year ago, I could now easily understand the benefits of every plant in the castle’s main courtyard.

***

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