The contrast was brutal.
The man was thin and wiry, like a dried branch that refused to snap. His blond hair was pulled back tightly, exposing sharp, narrow features that could only be described as ugly, and even that felt generous.
His nose was crooked, while his lips were thin, and his eyes were cold and sunken.
And yet, the pressure leaking from him filled the carriage with ease. If one were able to look inside him, his mana core burned brightly, deeply, and terrifyingly.
Peak Saint rank.
To put that into perspective, Patriarch Taur himself was only an early Saint.
If purifying the body with mana was supposed to improve one's appearance, then one could only imagine how horrifying this man must have looked in his youth.
The silence between them was thick. Finally, the young man spoke, breaking it with a lazy tone.
"So," he said, smirking slightly, "this is the famous Clan Taur."
The father didn't look at him. "Hmph."
The young man clicked his tongue. "You could at least pretend to be impressed. We traveled all this way to see your old friend, father."
"You talk too much, you think I forgot how you were begging me to come here as soon as possible, our ancestors are tossing in their graves. An Orion Clan Heir throwing his pride aside for a woman," the man replied coldly.
The young man shrugged with a wry smile on his face. He knew his father well; he might act salty now, but he would never support him like this if he didn't agree with his choice.
The pair were actually quite close, as close as a father and son could be. Even though the disparity in appearance and presence had always followed them like a shadow.
Rumors followed everywhere they went. It didn't help that while the young man had red hair, his father had blonde hair, and his mother had long black hair.
He doesn't look like his father at all.
Are they really even related?
His mother must have—
Things like that. The timing didn't help either.
The young man had been born during the war.
A war his father had fought in relentlessly.
He had been away for months on end. One time, he was even away for a year before the war finally ended, and when he came back, his wife had given birth to a son.
People connected the dots however they pleased. The wiry man knew the rumors. The young man knew them too. Neither spoke of it.
The wiry man was known as Troy Orion, Patriarch of the Orion Clan, and a very powerful man, while his son was known as Qinlan Orion, a talented young man who was more well known for his accomplishments in academics than his strength.
Not to say he was weak, but he leaned more toward his mother's lineage.
The Orion clan's inheritance and techniques were known to shine on the battlefield, and for its charisma, while his mother's clan, the Virgo Clan, was more well known for their intelligence and aptitude for secondary professions.
At last, the father turned his head seriously.
"Qinlan," he said.
The young man straightened a bit. "Yes, Father?"
"Today, we are simply guests here," the man said flatly. "Do not embarrass the Orion clan."
Qinlan smiled. He knew why his father would give him such a warning. Men in love tended to act like fools, and he was no different, not that he was proud of it, but sometimes, you had to act like a fool to get what you want.
Especially if said something was such a beauty.
"I wouldn't dream of it."
The carriage came to a slow stop.
One might wonder why such an unusual pair from the Orion Clan had come all the way to Clan Taur.
The answer was simple really.
Opportunity.
There was a time, not so long ago, when the Taur Clan stood on equal footing with the Orion Clan. Back then, Patriarch Taur could afford pride. He could afford to reject proposals, to sneer at alliances he deemed unworthy.
That time was gone.
The Taur Clan had fallen. Slowly at first, then all at once.
So far, in fact, that Patriarch Taur had done the unthinkable. He had accepted a marriage proposal he once openly mocked in public.
How could Troy Orion not take advantage of that? After all, the proposed bride was Ariana Taur. An untouchable flower of the Lumen Kingdom.
Eighteen years old, and already a silver-rank mage!
That alone was absurd!
Only the emperor's own children could boast such mana cultivation at that age—and that was with endless resources, tutors, and treasures poured into them since birth.
Ariana had none of that. She came from the mid-ranked Taur Clan.
And yet, her talent eclipsed nearly every youth of her generation.
It was no exaggeration to say she stood alone.
Which was exactly why Patriarch Taur had once rejected the Orion Clan's proposal without hesitation.
Because he knew bigger fish would come looking for Ariana's hand in no time. Ariana had many suitors all over the kingdom.
But Troy fancied their chances; among the mid-ranked clans, the Orion clan boasted the most resources and finances, enough to even rival some of the high-ranked clans.
What irked was that this was not the first time they were coming here for this same issue, but at least this time, it was on the other party's request.
Just like this time, at the time, the proposed groom had been Qinlan Orion, who had been twenty years old at the time. His talent could be called above-average. He was an early silver-rank mage at the time.
Impressive by normal standards, but not enough. Not for Ariana Taur. Qinlan, however, had fallen for her instantly.
Or rather, he'd fallen hard for the idea of having an untouchable flower that everyone wanted for himself. He had fallen for the idea of her pure, pristine image beneath his thumb and under his mercy.
The first time he saw her, three years ago at an event in the capital, she had been only fourteen.
She had been calm, cold, and bright beyond reason. Her lithe body wrapped in those flowing robes that hinted at the developing curves beneath, and her silver hair cascading like moonlight, and her eyes sharp enough to cut through steel.
He had bedded other women with that image of her for months afterward, imagining pinning her down, spreading those slender legs, taking her virginity for himself, and ravaging her until she screamed his name.