Chapter 83
Queen Ashley Villanova the Fifth.
"You see what I meant," she said to Lucas, her voice calm, yet carrying the undeniable authority of a queen who had navigated countless political storms.
Lucas chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that didn't reach his eyes. He took a final, deliberate sip of his tea, the jasmine aroma momentarily overpowered by the faint, electric charge in the air.
Setting the cup aside, he met her gaze.
Queen Ashley leaned forward slightly, a single, perfectly shaped eyebrow arching.
"So, little one," she began, the term of endearment laced with a playful challenge, "why did you call for me?"
Lucas held her gaze for a moment longer before his eyes drifted away. "I am curious," he admitted, his voice low.
"I know the rules as well as anyone. The five Hidden Cities maintain a stranglehold on the five true Cultivation techniques. No outside kingdom is meant to possess one. Yet, you do. So, my question is simple: what did you trade with the Hidden City of Sky to get your hands on it?"
Ashley didn't answer right away. The silence stretched, filled only by the gentle burble of a nearby fountain and the distant chirp of crickets.
Elizabeth, seated a little apart, watched her mother with a soft, encouraging smile, even as her own brow furrowed in confusion at the sudden turn in the conversation.
The peaceful garden scene felt like a painted veil over something far more dangerous.
Finally, the Queen spoke, her voice taking on the cadence of a storyteller recounting an ancient legend. "A long time back," she began,
"a queen, the one who had ended the line of kings, declared that there would be no more Kings, only a ruling Queen. The methods she used for cultivation were... crude. What you would call poor. But she was a genius of a different sort. She created the first of our Sealing techniques. She learned Runes that the scholars in the Hidden City of Sky had never even dreamed of."
She paused, letting the information sink in. "So, when the Hidden City of Sky learned of this, they came with an offer. They would give us their proper cultivation technique, not out of charity, but to gain access to her knowledge.
But to maximize their benefit, they added a condition. That only the royal family can use it. We wanted their help when the demons eventually attacked our lands.
And, they were fascinated by the spells and strange power the demons wielded. For a long, long time, those attacks had yielded nothing new, and their interest had begun to wane.
Our Sealing techniques, which were designed specifically to counter demonic energy, were a new source of data for them."
She looked directly at Lucas, her violet eyes glittering. "So, she offered them everything. Every sealing technique she had devised, every new Rune she had discovered.
The agreement also came with an unspoken guarantee: if anyone ever tried to remove us from this throne, the Hidden City of Sky would be forced to get involved.
And that is not a winning battle for any kingdom not backed by a Hidden City."
She leaned back, a faint, knowing smile playing on her lips. "So. Is that what you wanted to know?"
Lucas looked back at her, and for the first time, a visible change occurred. His eyes, usually a calm, unreadable grey, began to shine with a faint, blue luster, as if a light had been kindled deep within them.
"That's interesting," he said, his voice now carrying an undercurrent of power.
"But I doubt, in all this time, with your family's documented talent for Seals and Runes—the proof of which is etched all over your very walls—that you simply stopped."
He tilted his head, and Elizabeth felt a shiver run down her spine. It was as if Lucas wasn't just looking at her mother, but through her.
She could sense her mother's own power, a Golden Stage Mana Core so dense it could likely defeat a nine-star cultivator. But Lucas seemed to be seeing something else entirely.
"You have discovered other Runes," Lucas stated, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "You've created even more Seals. Some of them are linked to your bloodline alone, aren't they? I want you to teach me all of them."
Ashley didn't respond verbally. Instead, the very air in the garden changed. The scent of jasmine was swept away by a sudden, pressure-laden stillness.
The cheerful burble of the fountain seemed to mute. "You are so sure of yourself," she said, her voice dangerously soft.
In response, Lucas seemed to relax even further, slouching slightly in his chair. "I am sure," he said calmly, "because I study Runes. From my research, I've concluded there should be one hundred original Runes in existence.
Yet, only eighty-four are known to the world at large. The only explanation is that the other Hidden Cities are keeping the rest a secret."
Ashley's eyes narrowed, a flicker of surprise crossing her features before she mastered it. "That's... interesting. So you've discovered that much. But why do you assume I know the remaining sixteen?"
Lucas met her gaze, his own blue-lit eyes unwavering. "Not the original sixteen. No. But I believe you have created new ones."
Before Ashley could form a reply, a wave of invisible force erupted from her, a physical pressure that slammed into Lucas and would have driven a lesser man to his knees. "Why would you want to make this so hard on yourself?" she asked, her voice a low growl.
Lucas didn't even flinch. The pressure washed over him like wind over a mountain. "Because," he said simply, "I need you. And you need me."
A short, incredulous laugh burst from Ashley. "And why, exactly, would a Queen need you?"
Lucas allowed a slow, confident smirk to spread across his face. "You need me because I can create a proper cultivation technique. One your people can actually use to their fullest potential.
I can make this kingdom unimaginably rich. And," he added, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "I possess the power to push all five Hidden Cities away, should they ever become a problem."
The effect was immediate. Ashley shook her head, not in denial, but as if to physically cast off his words. A powerful gust of wind exploded from her in all directions, tearing through the garden.
Flowers were ripped from their stems, leaves swirled in a violent cyclone, and the very pillars of the open house groaned under the strain of the shockwave.
When the wind died, the garden was a mess of scattered petals and debris. The Queen stood, her eyes blazing with power, her presence filling the pavilion.
"Don't make me laugh," she said, her voice sharp as a blade. "And don't act stupid. I know you aren't. So you will explain yourself very carefully. Because if I don't like what I hear, I will be calling your King, Arthur, to tell him you are dead."