When Ina woke up, it was late in the evening. Slowly sitting up on the bed, she quickly realized she was not in her own room, but she did not find it strange. Surprisingly, she felt pleasantly rested, her head clear of any confusing thoughts or worries.
"Good evening." a female voice welcomed her, and when she looked for its source and saw the silver-haired young girl looking at her with violet eyes, her body immediately tensed up. "Don't be afraid. My name is Ren." she stepped closer with a smile, and when standing next to the bed, Ren just placed her hand on her chest, bowing towards her. "I believe I owe you more than a simple sorry for what you have been through… but for now, please accept my apologies on behalf of the Naulin bloodline."
"Your Majesty-!" Daryan tried to step forward as he was also in the room, but he was pulled back by Ariana. The fact that Ren was asking for forgiveness was unbelievable, not just for Daryan but also for Ina. A Lord of one of the Spires? A pureblood Naulin? A powerful cultivator? Asking for forgiveness? It never happened, not even as a mocking joke. Ever.
"I… I…” Ina stuttered, raising her hand and flinching as she saw it as less of a bony, sick-looking limb than before. Even the bruises were gone.
"Don't worry, I'll tell the same to your family in person soon." Ren held her hand, patting the top of it. "I'll leave you with your son now. Some servants will bring you food, and you are going to be under our care until you feel better. You have time to catch up, don't worry!" She chuckled, walking away, patting Daryan's shoulders, and leading Ariana out of the room.
As soon as they closed the door, they could easily hear crying coming from inside, drawing a soft smile onto both of their faces. Ren walked away with a pleased expression, followed by her disciple, arriving at another room that served as a conference room in the past. Inside, Sentios was already entertaining a guest while maids served up some light snacks and wine, yet all of it was untouched. Opening the door and walking inside, Ren's eyes already met with Ooda, who arrived hours ago, led inside by Sentios. Just as he saw Ren coming in, he quickly averted his gaze, instinctively thinking about the power of the silver-haired bloodline's eye powers.
Ooda, as soon as he learned of what happened and that his granddaughter left their courtyard, heading towards the Spire of Ren, it brought wave after wave of fear, anxiety, anger, and desperation onto him. He felt like reliving everything that happened with his family once again, yet he never hesitated. Not even for a moment. He came straight to the Spire in person, demanding to see his granddaughter or the Lord of the Spire. He knew this could easily warrant his own head. He was also aware that when Sentios led him inside, he may never come out through the front gate again. At least, not still alive and well. Even though he accompanied Sentios, listened to him, and patiently waited in the room, he refused to drink, eat or even sit down. He was only answering briefly if Sentios asked any questions.
"Finally! I felt like speaking to a brick wall for hours!" Sentios sighed when he saw Ren arrive.
"Crybaby." Ariana chuckled, drawing a smile onto her Master's face.
Ooda frowned a bit, watching the back and forth as he rarely saw something like this in Rozex. It was irrefutable that the short, petite girl before him was someone with power who could do almost anything in Rozex if she so wished. Yet acting like this casually with her servants was unheard of. Especially amongst the purebloods, as Nobles called the ruling spires.
"Did I miss something?" Rabout opened a different door as he walked in with Milly in tow, making Ooda ball up his fists with fear and anxiety. Seeing a second pureblood arrive was the worst possible news. He knew he had just walked into a tiger's den, but now he was sure he was going to die here. His face did not betray his thoughts, though. Even his eyes remained cold and firm, but before Ariana, he could not mask his real emotions.
"You don't need to be afraid. You won't be harmed. This is also true for Ina. She is with Daryan right now. We are letting them enjoy a long talk that they truly deserve!" Ariana said, cupping her hands towards Ooda as she led Ren to the table.
"If it is true…." Ooda said, watching Rabout also come close, sitting down, starting to unceremoniously munch on the chocolate cookies on one of the plates.
"Hey, these are good!" He exclaimed with a mouth full of food while Milly just sighed, standing behind him, looking apologetically at the rest.
"It is my mother's recipe. Glad you like it!" Ren replied with a happy smile, "Please, sit and have a taste!" She signaled toward Ooda, finally persuading him to sit down with them.
"I'd like to see my granddaughter." Ooda opened his mouth, getting straight to the point after a few seconds of silence. His voice was calm, without any tremble, perfectly masking his nervousness.
"I understand, and I am going to walk you there personally. Please believe me if I say that she is not harmed. I speak the truth!" Ren sighed loudly. "Before anything else, let me say something important!" she stood back up, and Ooda's body, by reflex, also shot up. He wasn't ready to go down without a fight, however futile it may be. Rabout only laughed at the scene, making Ooda feel like he was being mocked until he saw Ren bow towards him respectfully. "I'd like to ask for your family's forgiveness in the name of my ancestor Rudrick and in the name of my family's bloodline. I know it could not be swept off the table just like that, but this is something that needs to be said."
Ooda was watching Ren, focusing on her with all of his senses, wanting to see through her if she was just playing around or if this was real. When she finished speaking, his eyes wandered towards Rabout, who just looked on with a friendly smile and an exciting light dancing inside his eyes.
"You are not joking…." Ooda murmured, his voice shaking for the first time, directly watching Ren's eyes. He was not even afraid if she was going to manipulate his mind or not.
"No, I'm not," Ren replied, stretching her hand out, and Ariana gave her a stack of papers, all signed and stamped by Ren. "This is my apology in written form. It is going to be published through Rozex, so everyone knows my official stand on the matter."
"Why are you doing this?" Ooda asked, looking at the papers, hesitantly picking them up, and glancing through them.
"Because it is the right thing to do. I think you would agree with me on this, no?" Ren said as she sat back, without any frustration in her voice, "I'm not like my relatives. Not anything like Rudrick. Maybe you did not hear it yet, but it was me who killed him." she explained with a slight smirk, and Ooda almost tore the paper into two in his hands. "He had it coming as he tried to kill my disciple and ended up killing my husband. At least you still have your granddaughter and her son. Your great-grandson. Or am I mistaken?"
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"N-no…" He lowered his head, falling silent for minutes before looking back up, after finally recollecting himself. "You are not."
"Let's talk about something more light-hearted!" Rabout chuckled, and Ren just nodded while Ariana filled everyone's cups with coffee.
"I want to establish a cooperative operation with your family." Ren leaned forward, drawing Ooda's full attention to herself once again. "As you may know, every Spire has their own little place to produce goods for the family."
"Yes. As an outsider, I only know what I heard." Oda nodded. "They are usually done by the subordinate branch families. Noble families who are involved with that usually have very close ties to the Spire they work for."
"Honestly, I don't care about how the other spires handle their work. Ariana, please!" Ren shook her head.
"Yes, Master!" She was already bringing forward a booklet, placing it in front of Ooda. Still, before he could open it, Ariana kept her fingers on the cover, making it impossible for Ooda to lift it even for a millimeter. He was utterly shocked by it, realizing that the beautiful, young maid he had only looked at a few times was someone way stronger than he was. "This document has confidential information inside," Ariana said, looking deep into Ooda's eyes. "Secrets of my Master. What you are going to read about can not be said to anybody else. Please know this; after reading it and refusing our offer, my Master has to wipe your memories about it."
"My memories…?" He furrowed his brows, listening to her, then looking at Ren and Rabout. To his surprise, Rabout was the first one to speak up.
"I don't think, after reading it, he would refuse it!" He licked his lips. "You also easily bought me with even less, girl!" Rabout grinned, looking at Ren sideways, who just returned his gaze with a deadpan expression.
"There goes the Supreme Grandpa title right out of the window!" Ren clapped, playfully mocking Rabout.
"Oh, no, no, no! I take it back, my dear! I like that! I really like that, Milly, hurry! Note it down, Supreme Grandpa! That is a great title!" He laughed loudly while his little attendant just twitched her mouth.
"Your Majesty Ren… please, don't feed his ego like this… it is hard enough to keep track of his ideas day by day!" Milly pleaded with a tired voice.
"Ahaha, okay, okay~ Back to business!" Ren chuckled as she shook her head. Ariana slowly lifted her finger from the booklet, stepping back a little, letting Ooda decide if he still had the courage to open it.
In the end, he took a deep breath and flipped it open, reading through the first few pages. It contained descriptions and pictures of pills, formations, artifacts, and spells. Just reading the first few of them made his eyes almost pop out from their sockets, and seeing his reactions, Rabout laughed out again.
"Sorry, the section about the pills has already been claimed by me!" He added proudly.
"You are working together?" Ooda raised his head as he heard him. They acknowledged with a nod that the two Spire Lords were working together, which had never happened before in the history of Rozex.
"Of course we are! I am The Supreme Grandpa!" Rabout slapped his chest Rabout proudly. "Finally, an interesting child rose up from our bloodline! I lived through long, long years, Ooda! I can tell you when change is coming, and it is now the time to decide if you are going to be part of it or not!" He explained to him with a serious voice.
"..." Ooda silently looked back at the booklet, reading it once again, tapping on the table quicker and quicker before his index finger stopped. "What would be my role in this cooperation?"
"A few simple things." Ren put down her cup. "First, I need skilled manpower to operate the manufacturers inside the courtyard. I leave the selections and hirings to you and Daryan. Of course, be aware, please, that the people you send here are under obligation to not leak information of any kind about what they work on. I won't place any restrictions on them mentally or physically, but if something ever leaks, our cooperation ends, and I'll wipe their minds alongside with yours."
"..." Ooda gulped a few times before nodding, finding it logical and as outrageous as he expected it to be. "Secondly?"
"Secondly, you would be a source of resources and tasked with redistributing the goods. Sugargramps here, and I have a lot of things stocked up, but that is a different thing. I want to involve the whole city through you."
"Involve… Rozex?" Ooda furrowed his brow. "Redistribution… wait, you mean you are going to sell them?!"
"Yeah. You would be responsible for gathering materials. I read up about you, and I like your personality. It is trustworthy! You have morals and a backbone, even going as far as assassinating someone who was related to a Naulin bloodline!"
"I-" He tried to refute it by reflex, but Ren just continued.
"I wholeheartedly agree with you. No need to make excuses!" She said with a solid and firm voice, not giving Ooda a place to speak, "This is why I would let you rope in other noble or merchant families you trust. They can provide what we need through you! It would bring revenue for everyone. Secondly, what we are going to produce is not just for my own courtyard. It is for yours too."
"This is the hook, Ooda." Rabout cut in. "I myself bit onto it; hell, I even swallowed it with line and all!"
"Drama Queen!" Ren scoffed as she rolled her eyes, making Milly gulp back a laugh, standing behind her Lord. "This would be an opportunity to raise your family's wealth and strength. Plus, I promise you, I am going to raise you to the 9th stage of the Body Refinement realm and then into Harmony. By the end of the year."
"What?! Impossible!" Ooda stood up before falling back onto his chair in a second.
"It is not," Ariana interjected as she shook her head. "My Master can do it! She is at the same level as Zelig." Her words at first did not even register in Ooda's mind, and when they did, his face switched between expressions so many times it was like he had a seizure.
"I'm not done yet." Ren continued. "There will be more than your family can consume, use or store. So I want to open up a huge shop with an integrated auction house. We are going to sell everything we make. EVERYTHING. Of course, the top-quality items will only be available at auction. Your family can establish the auction house with one condition."
"That… is?" He asked, his voice dry, his hands trembling, same with his lips.
"It is going to be led by a joint leadership. Two members from the Nelvis family, two from the Spire of Rabout, and two from the Spire of Ren. At all times. The council members, when meeting, can discuss the workings of the shop and auction house, and they are to remain anonymous! Even when meeting! Plus, their strengths can't be in the Harmony Realm or lower than the 6th stage of Body Refinement. If they advance, they need to be replaced."
"Anonymous?" Ooda scratched his throat but quickly caught on to why.
"Yes. That way, none of the Naulins can have the chance to use their eyes." she nodded at him. "It is to ensure there are no chances to influence someone's mind by force." Ren smiled, finishing her speech.
"This… this is insane…" Ooda laughed for the first time, and in the end, he needed a few minutes to recollect himself. After rubbing his face until it turned completely red, masking the fact he even had tears in his eyes, he closed the booklet. Looking at Rabout, then Ren, he was chewing his own lips. "After seeing my granddaughter, we can finalize a contract."
"Sure!" Ren smiled happily, standing up, walking before him, and stretching out her hand. "I think we are going to get along just fine!"
Ooda looked at her fair fingers before he let out a long, tired sigh as his body relaxed completely, grabbing onto her tiny hand with an honest smile.
"I just hope the future generations won't call me mad agreeing to this!" He added.
"Ahaha~" Ren laughed. "Let us leave it up to them and to Supreme Grandpa here as he is the historian!"
"Sure!" Rabout joined in. "I'll send you two a letter, measuring the people's thoughts about it after 200 years!"
"He really will," Milly added with a serious tone, finally filling the room with the laughs of everyone present, ending an important night in Rozex's history in a joyful mood that the outside world had no knowledge of yet.