"Do not make me your enemy, or only destruction awaits." —Nero Adams
°°°
"Fufufu! Let's discuss this calmly. You wouldn't want to make an enemy of the clan, would you?" Elysia asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously behind her smile. Nero felt an invisible pressure weigh on him, but his response remained unchanged.
"I don't mind."
Time seemed to stop at that sentence.
For the first time, the nearly perfect mask of the future matriarch of the Raizen clan—the first woman to lead them—cracked slightly. But she quickly regained her composure and smiled again.
"Is that so? Tell me, little brother… what are you relying on to talk so boldly? What makes you so fearless? I'm curious."
At the end of her sentence, she placed her hands on the table, tilting her head to the side as she observed Nero's reaction with her bottomless golden eyes.
Nero stared directly into them as he responded.
"Nothing other than myself."
