Chapter 560: Reinera’s Family

Reinera POV

“If we don’t take care of this now, Father, it will be too late,” she heard her brother exclaim.

Usually, he would never say something like this so directly, but there were only four of them in the room at the moment. The other person in the room was her uncle, so that wasn’t an issue either.

“The moment we decide to take action is the exact moment we will be fully committed. It is not a decision to make lightly. I would rather we were safe than sorry, considering the limited information we have,” her father, the Emperor, noted calmly to his son.

“We both know that Corvus and the Alliance of the Morning Sun are working together to cripple the Empire. I don’t know why you are so hesitant to act,” Jaxson stated with a scoff.

“We haven’t been able to find any hard evidence of that. An emperor doesn’t make decisions that affect the entire empire because of a gut feeling. It is our responsibility to act with reason and logic. I thought I taught you better than that,” her father said reproachingly, some impatience slipping into his tone.

“It’s not just a gut feeling. We already know that the Conclave is actively receiving support from both countries. We also know that they have been poking around the tournament. The odds that at least one of them, if not both of them, were involved in the recent theft in the secret realm are extremely high,” her brother stated firmly.

Her father stood up and paced the room, a fierce scowl on his face.

“Just because the people involved are from Corvus and the Alliance of the Morning Sun does not mean the country itself is responsible. There are always independent actors trying to influence continent-wide events. The Conclave is clearly behind most of it, but we can’t go to war with two other countries because one specific group is using them.”

“You make it sound like either of them wouldn’t gladly see us fall on our own swords,” Jaxson retorted.

“Enough.” A sharp voice cut interrupted them. “You guys can have this discussion later. This tournament is supposed to be a time to relax and enjoy ourselves. You guys are arguing more than ever,” her uncle said with an annoyed sigh from his spot on the couch.

“Plus, you are disturbing Reinera; she probably wants to watch her friend’s fight in peace, if you two don’t mind,” he said with a short nod toward her.

Her uncle was completely spread out on the sofa, eating snacks with his legs kicked up, but there was still an air of authority about him, and they all quieted down quickly after his reprimand.

She smiled gratefully at him and got a wink in return. She rolled her eyes.

Uncle Cassian was always the unpredictable one in her family. He was an eccentric individual who did what he wanted. He didn’t care for politics or that nonsense.

Her father, Lucerius Luminous, was the firstborn and ultimately the one who inherited the crown. Despite this, many people tried to raise Cassian to replace her father as Crown Prince when she was younger.

There was a good reason for this. Cassian was talented. Unbelievably talented.

Even without the privileges of being a Crown Prince. Uncle Cassian had reached Tier 5 before her father, despite a ten-year gap between them. It wasn’t even that her father wasn’t talented himself.

However, Cassian had no ambition to wear the crown. He wanted to enjoy his life at his own pace without the responsibilities weighing him down. It was both a blessing and a curse.

A blessing because it meant that with Cassian’s support, her father’s ascension to emperor had been a relatively peaceful affair. However, it was a curse because the man was just so damn lazy when it came to things that he didn’t care about.

If it had anything to do with crafting or fighting, then Uncle Cassian would move heaven and earth to accomplish what he wanted. However, if he had to attend a party of an influential noble, he would do everything in his power to avoid going.

There was one particular example in which Cassian orchestrated a minor plague in the region he was exploring just to have an excuse not to come home and avoid attending a distant relative’s birthday party. That was only one example too. There were plenty more.

With that being said, she couldn’t help but admit that of all her family, Uncle Cassian was her favorite. He had always been there when she needed a person to talk to or a shoulder to cry on. He didn’t treat her like a princess or someone who had a responsibility to the Empire like her other family did.

As much as she loved Amelia, she knew she couldn’t rely on her for stuff like that. At the end of the day, Amelia was her protector.

Speaking of Amelia, Reinera wondered how she was handling her training. Amelia was supposed to be training in preparation for her advancement, but it wasn’t a sure thing.

She brushed those thoughts aside for the moment and was finally able to focus back on the fight unfolding before her now that her brother and father were no longer arguing.

Just another reason to be grateful for her uncle, because it was shaping up to be an exciting fight.

She watched as Julius threw his insanely powerful spikes at the eagle flying in the sky. She remembered Liam Abrams, but she didn’t think he would have improved this much. That eagle wasn’t just a simple construct. It was like he had breathed life into the construct.

It had to be a powerful epic-ranked skill. Of that she had no doubt.

Her eyes narrowed, and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud when she saw Julius summon a pair of the most extravagant and grandiose wings she had ever seen from a Tier 3. Liam’s eagle was impressive, but it was likely more due to a skill rather than any manual manipulation.

However, she knew Julius and his skills. She was aware that he had a general construct creation skill, but all of the details she spotted on these wings were manually woven together—a monstrous feat.

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She could have likely done something similar. But she had already advanced to Tier 4, and the improvements to her body and, more importantly, to her mind, were insane.

Her bloodline only further increased these benefits. Her light mana had never felt more malleable and potent. It was no wonder her father wanted her to advance the moment he thought that she was ready. The difference was unbelievable. Due to her advancement, she had been able to level up many of her skills that had been progressing slowly.

To her curiosity, her uncle had swiveled himself into a sitting position as he watched the fight unfold. A fight that had quickly devolved into a magical brawl. Large swaths of flame and ice were thrown back and forth.

With that being said, it was quickly becoming a one-sided battle. Reinera already knew what the result would be. She watched as Liam was pushed to the brink of defeat. Nothing the older boy did worked. Julius brute-forced through every trick and skill Liam threw at him.

She could only shake her head as she watched Julius slam fist after fist into Liam’s battered figure. To the Abrams Scion’s credit, he didn’t give up.

“Fascinating,” her uncle commented out loud. To her shock, he even placed his bowl of snacks to the side and leaned forward with both of his elbows on his knees.

He must have spotted Julius’s level of control as well.

In all honesty, he probably saw more than she did. He was always so damn perceptive. It was a skill he had honed to help his crafting. He likely saw through more of Julius’s techniques than she did, and she already knew what kind of skills he had.

Her brother, who was distractedly reading something, looked up. “What is fascinating?” He also knew that their uncle wouldn’t call something fascinating unless he thought it was worth his time.

Her uncle didn’t bother to answer him. However, Jaxson didn’t take offense, knowing how their uncle was, and shrugged, returning his attention to the tablet in his hands.

“What skill does he have? Is it some advanced evolution of [Mana Manipulation]? Or is it perhaps an evolution of a different but similar skill?” To her surprise, his question was directed towards her.

“Umm, I don’t know. But also, even if I knew, you know, I can’t tell you that,” she said slowly.

He laughed. “Of course, of course.”

She said that, but she saw a weird glint in his eyes.