Matthew wasn't offended by Henry's blunt refusal—after all, rejection was the expected response. Life-extending treasures were the kind of thing no one would trade away unless absolutely desperate.
Given Matthew's status, even he had never managed to acquire such a treasure. Nor had he ever consumed one himself.
"Where did you get this treasure? At least tell me the source," Matthew pressed.
He didn't expect Henry to actually answer him, but to his surprise, Henry really did.
"It really is my nephew who got it for me. So you can just give up that idea."
Henry looked at Matthew with unmistakable pride.
Julian's very existence had truly become the Walker family's pride.
"It was obtained from the newly discovered Top-tier Secret Realm. There's none left now."
Facing Matthew's longing gaze, Julian added casually.
"That Top-tier secret realm, huh… I see." Matthew nodded in sudden understanding.
A newly emerged Top-tier secret realm was indeed one of the few places where life-extending treasures might appear.
That particular secret realm had caused quite a stir last time—with all the elite talents led by Celestria perishing inside.
And chances were, the seemingly mild-mannered young man sitting before him was likely responsible for it.
Not only that, but Julian had also gained control of the entire secret realm. It now sat right here in Lake City, co-developed by the government and the Walker family—with the Walkers holding the lion's share.
Rumors said that John and Jake had recently captured new Steel-type Pokémon from that secret realm.
Moreover, the secret realm even contained regional variant Pokémon, making its resources unimaginably rich.
As long as the Walker family held that secret realm, it would be practically impossible for them to decline—just that secret realm alone was enough to keep them invincible.
Because of this, the number of families wanting to collaborate with or attach themselves to the Walkers had suddenly multiplied.
"Lily, why aren't you saying anything? Don't you really like Julian? Aren't you the president of the King Julian Fan Club's in our city?"
Matthew noticed his daughter stealing glances at Julian, her face occasionally flushing shyly, and sighed inwardly.
The 'King Julian Fan Club' existed in almost every major city, and Julian was well aware of its presence.
"Julian, Lily is a freshman in the Steel-type class at Imperial University. The semester starts in a few days—could you take her along with you?"
"She's a bit shy, and I'm usually too busy. So I can only ask you for this favor." Matthew spoke earnestly.
Under Lily's hopeful gaze, Julian could only nod in agreement.
He had to give his uncle face after all.
Now he also understood why his uncle had invited him to dinner—it was all because of Lily.
Alliances through marriage were extremely common among major families.
Whether it was Julian's grandmother or his own mother, both had come from prestigious lineages.
"It is because she admires you that Lily chose Steel-type Pokémon."
"Oh? What's her starter Pokémon?" Julian asked curiously.
"A Beldum. It's already evolved into a Metang now," Lily said softly.
The Silver-White Metagross was unique to the Walker family, but regular-colored Metagross were still fairly common, both in Drakoria and worldwide. Metagross itself wasn't the Walker family's symbol—the Silver-White variant was.
So she really is my little fan—even her starter Pokémon is the same as mine.
Seeing Lily looking at him with those shy, starry eyes, Julian felt a slight headache coming on.
For the rest of the meal, Julian quietly focused on eating while Henry and Matthew chatted away happily.
The two of them didn't even talk about business—they were just chatting about everything under the sun.
About an hour later, the dinner finally concluded, and Matthew left with a somewhat reluctant Lily in tow.
"So, what do you think?" Henry asked.
"The food's great."
Julian, still stuffing his face, replied absentmindedly.
"I meant Lily!"
Henry shot him an exasperated look.
This nephew of his had been eating the whole time—didn't he notice how that young lady looked at him? Couldn't he at least chat with her a bit?
"I have a girlfriend," Julian said calmly, setting down his chopsticks.
"You mean Nicole?" Henry asked.
He'd heard about Nicole too.
"Mhm."
Though they hadn't officially defined their relationship, given how close they'd gotten, it was practically an unspoken understanding.
"Is an alliance with the Cross family really that important?" Julian asked.
"Not really. It's just Matthew trying to set you up with his daughter. Our corporation and Penguin Group have a lot of business dealings, so I couldn't outright refuse."
"But it's up to you. Given the Walker family's current status and power, we don't need political marriages anymore. Even if you married some random girl off the streets, it wouldn't matter."
Henry's tone was brimming with confidence.
And why wouldn't it be?
John Walker was a Champion.
James Walker was the Fifth Elder.
Jake Walker was the top on the Elite ranking, poised to become a Champion in a few years.
And Julian? He was practically guaranteed to be a future Champion too.
On top of all that, the Walker family now controlled a Top-tier secret realm.
Put together, the Walkers were easily Drakoria's number one family—even if their numbers were a bit lacking.
"If you like them both, just have them. Let them have kids for you."
Henry was starting to sound downright shameless. But to him though, the idea really didn't seem so bad.
After all, what man wouldn't want multiple wives? And as the heir tasked with expanding the Walker bloodline, what harm could a few more women do?
"If I actually did that, Champion Duke would come knocking first. I doubt even Grandpa could stop him."
"What's the big deal? If Nicole got pregnant with your child, would Champion Duke really kill you? Same goes for Lily."
Henry waved it off like it was nothing.
Julian: "..."
'Uncle, your moral compass is seriously skewed.'
"Let me become a Champion first. Women will only slow me down."
Julian finally remembered his original life motto.
Sure enough, they were nothing but obstacles on the path to greatness.
"You brat—would you dare say that at home?"
Henry didn't know whether to praise Julian for his determination or facepalm at his naivety.
"I'll just say you taught me this," Julian replied shamelessly.
"Don't you dare!" Henry jumped in alarm.
"Your grandfather would beat me half to death."
John was a firm believer in discipline through the stick, and both Henry and Jake had gotten plenty of beatings when they were young. Even now that they were grown, if they really ticked John off, they'd still get a beating.
No matter what status they held now—in front of John, they were still just his kids.
When it came to Julian, though, Jake had once tried to use the stick too—wanting to pass on the Walker family's "fine" tradition of strict discipline—only to get beaten up by John instead.
The favoritism toward grandchildren couldn't have been clearer.
Jake was extremely jealous of Julian's privilege. His second-biggest dream in life was probably to smack Julian right in front of John—just to prove that he was the father, and fathers disciplining sons was only natural.
As for his biggest dream?
Catching Kyogre with a fishing rod—the ultimate goal of every hardcore angler.
*****
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