"Arrogant!" The current emperor of the Orlando Empire snorted coldly at Muria's words. "Such wild boasts! Even I wouldn't dare say that! What makes you qualified?"
"Why are you lumping me together with yourself? You may not be qualified, but I am!" Muria confidently replied, showing no signs of backing down.
After all, the world's most powerful race was his own—the Titans. The Seraphim, only slightly weaker, were his wife's people. And the Metal Dragons? Also his kin! With such connections and backing, in the world of Erathia, Muria didn't see any reason why he should fear or avoid anyone.
"...Who are you, exactly? Name yourself!"
"Can't you guess?" Muria, who had crushed the bones in the emperor's hand with just a single grasp, asked with a playful smile.
The emperor remained silent for a moment. There wasn't much to guess. When Muria had crushed his hand with that unstoppable force, the answer had already become clear.
"I'm taking this man with me!" The emperor's now healed hand pointed at Aeolos, who was standing frozen in place.
"Still dreaming? If you want to dream, go back home!" Muria replied with a casual, mocking tone.
"I must take him!" the emperor insisted.
"Hmph!" Muria snorted disdainfully.
"He needs to answer for what he did to my sister!"
"What answer? I'll give you one on his behalf!" Muria's stance remained firm and unyielding.
"He touched my sister—he has to take responsibility!" The emperor's voice grew cold. Although Aeolos had been the passive party during the incident, in the end, he was the one who benefited.
Muria fell silent. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "When you say 'touched,' in what sense do you mean?"
"A young man full of vigor and a blossoming young woman—what do you think 'touched' means?" the emperor shot back.
Muria was silent again. "What's your sister's name?"
"Felicia Elmos Nino!"
Once more, Muria paused. That name sounded incredibly familiar. After a brief moment of reflection, he recalled the appearance of a certain blue-haired girl.
"Let me have a talk with him first." Without waiting for the emperor to respond, Muria swiftly grabbed Aeolos and left the scene.
"You…" The Orlando emperor was left in a frustrating situation. Although he had ascended to the throne, he was still only a successor and not a founder of the empire. Despite both being legendary figures, his power was vastly inferior to Muria's.
...
On the peak of a mountain range, Aeolos stood with a complicated expression as he faced the man in front of him, who was about the same height. Slowly, he called out, "Father!"
At this moment, Aeolos' feelings were mixed. After wandering the world for so many years, he naturally had thoughts about Muria sealing his bloodline. It would be impossible for him not to feel something about it.
Muria, standing atop the mountain and gazing at the sea of clouds below, turned toward his son with a complex expression after hearing him say "Father."
"Son, do you know how old that dragon princess is?" Muria asked.
"Uh!" Aeolos was taken aback by the question, then an awkward expression appeared on his face. "I don't know."
"Let me tell you then. When I was still adventuring in the world, I had already heard her name! In other words, she's about 600 years old! She's older than me! Why on earth would you be interested in an old woman like that?" Muria's expression turned grim as he looked at his son.
"The empire's Dragon Academy has plenty of lively, cute young girls, and you didn't choose any of them. Instead, you ended up entangled with someone five times your age! I remember raising you with pretty normal values, so how did your taste end up so skewed?"
"Hold on, Dad! What nonsense are you talking about?" Aeolos, who had been in a complicated emotional state moments ago, was now completely thrown off by Muria's barrage of questions. Only now did he realize that his father had completely misunderstood the situation.
"There's nothing wrong with my preferences! I don't like older women either!"
"Then why…?" Muria gave his son a skeptical look, as if trying to discern if Aeolos was hiding something.
"Ahem, well, I'm not blaming you. There's a human saying: 'It takes all kinds to make a world.' If you've developed this sort of taste, I won't criticize. After all, our lifespans are long, and a few hundred years' difference isn't a big deal. As long as you're happy, that's what matters. Whatever you do, your dad will support you!" Muria reassured him with a slightly amused tone.
"Dad!" Aeolos finally couldn't take it anymore and shouted, "Can you let me finish?"
"Go on!" Muria nodded, signaling for his son to continue.
"I was forced! I'm the victim here! The dragon princess was the one who initiated everything!" Aeolos shouted, feeling wronged and frustrated.
"Are you serious? You're not messing with me?" Muria gave his son a strange look.
"I'm serious!" Aeolos nodded emphatically.
"Shameful!" Muria muttered, turning away and gazing back at the clouds below. "How embarrassing! How did I end up with such a disgraceful son?"
"Her strength was far beyond mine! No matter how much I resisted, it was useless!" Aeolos protested, watching his father sigh in frustration.
"Shameful! My son was overpowered by a woman! If word gets out, I'll be laughed at!" Muria ignored Aeolos' explanation, continuing his lament. Though secretly, he was relieved—thankfully it had been his son. If it had been his daughter, he'd already be assembling a legion!
"Tell me how you met her. How did you end up entangled with her like this?" After a moment of sighing, Muria finally asked.
The world was vast, yet somehow Aeolos and the dragon princess had crossed paths and even ended up in such an intimate situation. It was almost fated.
"I met her on the outskirts of a duchy on the Ionian subcontinent…"
Aeolos began recounting the events that led to his encounter with Princess Felicia. As it turned out, the entire situation seemed to trace back to Muria.
According to Aeolos, the dragon princess had approached him of her own accord. After investigating him, she began making trouble for him, not letting him live in peace.
Muria thought for a moment. If he wasn't mistaken, Felicia's mother was a master in astrology and divination. It was likely that the princess had inherited some of those skills and detected something unusual about Aeolos.
Otherwise, there was no other reason to explain why a dragon princess would take an interest in a non-legendary dragonborn. Normally, their statuses wouldn't overlap at all.
...
"Got your hand broken and came back like this?" In the blue-diamond palace, the former emperor of the Orlando Empire roared in anger.
"He's the emperor of the Synapse Empire. I'm no match for him!" The young man, newly crowned and still fresh from his ascendancy, replied gloomily.
"If you can't beat him, you could have called me!"
"And what difference would that make?" The young emperor looked at his father. What good would calling him do? It would just mean another emperor getting beaten. "They have the Titans behind them!"
"So what? Titans are such a big deal?" The former emperor, fuming in his palace, shouted angrily.
"Yes, Titans are a very big deal!" Unfortunately, his wife didn't hesitate to shoot him down. "If you insist on going head-to-head with the Titans, the one who'll suffer in the end will be you!"
"You…" The middle-aged man's face flushed with anger, blue diamond scales appearing on his skin. After glaring at his wife for a few seconds, he angrily punched his chair.
"Fine! The Titans are powerful, but even they have to be reasonable! Their people messed with my daughter, and I deserve an explanation!"
"Explanation? If you're not afraid of getting beaten, go ask for one!" The elegant woman glared back at him. "Do you really not understand what happened?"
"But she's my daughter, and that's their son!"
"What do you want, then?"
"At the very least, I want my daughter to have a proper title!"
"Then go ahead and ask them for it. The exact location of Synapse's capital may be unclear, but you know where the Titan Isles are. Go on, no one's stopping you!"
"Fine, I'll go! Do you think I'm scared? Even Titans have to be reasonable!"
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