TAKE CARE

Leonel strolled into a familiar courtroom. The first time he had been here, he had been in a pair of silk boxers and robes. One would think that he would be better prepared this time, and

unfortunately, that was only technically true... the best kind of true...

He still wasn't wearing any shoes or any shirt. But he was at least wearing pants this time. A comfortable pair of sweatpants that made him feel nice and cozy.

Once again, he was the center of attention. But this time, the atmosphere was much less... inviting, if it could be said to ever have been.

The pressure was powerful, especially from Emperor Fawkes himself. The difference might as well have been night and day. As expected and as he had deduced, his grandfather was no longer in a joking sort of mood.

This matter would decide the fate of the Empire and whether the Human Race would be washed away or rise to the top once again.

Gervaise simply didn't have the patience for Leonel's antics right now, and Leonel didn't really blame him.

It was just that for these things... they would be standing on opposite sides of history. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less.

So, his smile remained just the same. And when he noticed that his grandmother wasn't present, he realized what sort of choice she had made as well.

She wanted nothing to do with this.

Leonel eventually found a scat and partially reclined, waiting for the meeting to start.

He could already feel several gazes on him, likely infuriated that he hadn't shown at least some sort of decorum before his grandfather and the Emperor, but he didn't mind it. It was as though he couldn't sense anything but the beautiful dreams in his own thoughts.

Dreams that would likely be coming crumbling down very soon.

And that they did.

The actual meeting was a blur. Gervaise didn't allow anyone else to speak and simply handed out. order after order.

This took aback even several officials. Usually, there would be some discussion, and only in rare instances would Gervaise step in to make the final decision for them all, and that would usually be when they couldn't decide on their own. But now, it seemed that he wasn't allowing any room for dissent.

Everyone realized this and remained silent.

Leonel left the Imperial Court with an expected result. For now, he had been assigned to work in the Crafting Factories.Content provided by .

That was objectively the smart choice. But he also knew that it was a temporary one.

That was because, quite frankly speaking, he was the best of the Fawkes younger generation. Honestly, he was saying that with maybe too much confidence because he simply hadn't met many of his cousins. Maybe there were some of them that were truly amazing.

But the reason he said it was because he was doubtful if even the Pluto had anyone who could face

him right now.

Then again, the Pluto were on the decline, so it was natural that their younger generation was a bit weaker.

As for their Ancestors and the pillars that held their Race up? Well... they spoke for themselves. Leonel's steps came to a pause. He looked up to see Noah standing before him with a weapon on his back. Well, it was only a weapon because Leonel recognized it. At first glance to practically anyone else, it would have looked more like a flat blue tower shield.

This "shield" was, of course, Noah's saber. Due to his Ability Index, Noah had always been fond of the obscenely large weapon.

Unlike Leonel, Noah had been assigned to be among those of the Fawkes younger generation that went out to challenge the others.

The actions of the Pluto had caused many Races to begin large-scale skirmishes on a "small" scale. This might sound contradictory, but all it really meant was that there was a free-for-all between the youths of various Races for now, and everyone was trying to kill everyone else.

The Ancestors clashed in the dark, and the youths clashed in the light.

Honestly speaking, Leonel believed that his grandfather was practically sending Noah out to die.

Noah had always been more a part of the Ascension Empire than Leonel had ever been, so after Leonel disappeared for three years due to his coma, Noah had ingratiated himself back into Ascension Empire life quite easily.

He took up his former duties, got married to the young heiress of the Grand Prime Minister family, and was now quite well known as an Imperial Prince.

But he was behind the eight ball, and he could only be considered to be a mid-ranged talent among this third generation of Fawkes.

He wasn't necessarily wrong or right to leave Leonel's side, and as far as Leonel was concerned, he was his one true cousin, so he wouldn't hold any sort of petty grudge about such a thing.

How could he expect a grown man to put his life on pause for him? That would be ridiculous.

Noah smiled when he saw Leonel.

"I'm glad you're alright!"

Leonel chuckled. "You make it sound like I was terminally ill.

"You were worse than terminally ill," Noah replied seriously.

Leonel couldn't help but laugh harder. This cousin of his wasn't much of a joker. He was a lot like Arnold or Allan in that respect.

But he was right. Dead was technically worse than terminally ill.

Leonel hesitated for a moment before he shook his head.

"Take care of yourself, Noah!

Noah's gaze flickered, and he seemed to hesitate as well.

"Honestly, I would prefer to follow you. I realized long ago that I had to temper my ambitions. Life doesn't always go like you want it to."

The two cousins looked into one another's eyes for a moment in silence before they both nodded and went their separate ways.

Leonel looked into the skies, suddenly feeling like life was a bit too fragile and meaningless.