Drinking tea while sitting in front of Varda, I watch as three children play around the garden. Seeing the kids having fun made me smile while drinking a tea that I still can't understand the taste of.

"Varda. Can you tell me how you people can enjoy tea?"

"I don't know. I just drink tea so people can see me as someone with dignity."

Placing the teacup on the table slowly, I stood up and approached Varda.

"Grandfather?"

Taking a deep breath as I grabbed his face, I threw him out to the garden.

"Wai- Grandfather stop!"

"You damn bastard of a grandson! If it was just us two, you should have brought out proper drinks instead of something that you just do to keep up your image!"

Noticing the ruckus, the children who were playing in the garden looked at us and started laughing as they saw Varda stand up with his face covered in dirt.

"I thought you were going to like it!"

Watching him spit dirt that got into his mouth, I stomped his head straight to the ground once again after hearing what he said.

Feeling extremely annoyed by his reason made me stomp his head on the ground a few more times. Raising him when he was a kid after his mother died and his father was too inexperienced, I taught him countless things to make him knowledgeable.

Through that, I was sure that he already knew what my likes and dislikes were as he was the one who always helped me make meals after each battle.

"Great Grandfather, you should stop. He might really die if you continue doing that."

"Uncle Grava!"

Hearing a voice behind me as the kids started running after calling out someone's name, I stopped stomping Varda as he struggled to pull his head out of the ground.

Turning behind me, I look at Grava, Hafran's father, as he fixes his glasses' position while approaching us. Having the same light purple hair that the royal family has, Grava's face looks handsome with his neatly combed short hair. Just seeing his face made me remember that he's the father of Hafran with how good-looking he is.

Lifting one of the children easily and patting the other two. He looks at me calmly without feeling bothered about the children circling him.

Having a slim body, he looks like someone who works in an office. However, he's one of the strongest people in the empire, second only to the emperor. Along with his serious face, he was also the most popular prince the ladies admired even when he was married.

"Oh Grava, it's been a long time since I last saw you."

"Forgive me for not visiting you even once for the last twenty years, Great Grandfather."

"Don't worry about that. I know that you've been focusing on reaching the third level of your concept."

"Thank you for your understanding."

Putting the child down on the ground, he bows his head for a bit before he looks at Varda as he successfully pulls his head out of the ground.

"Oh, Grava is here."

After ridding the dirt in his mouth, Varda looks at Grava as he stands up and gives him a bear hug.

Noticing a frown appear in Grava's face made me smile as he accepted the hug even while feeling uncomfortable. Turning his gaze on me with the look of asking for help, I approached the two of them and gave them a hug making Grava's face turn grim.

Laughing as me and Varda move away from Grava. He looks at us while frowning making me laugh harder with Varda.

"Father, I'll deal with you later."

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"Oh! Bring it on, you brat!"

Seeing Varda smile happily as if he found another opportunity to beat up Grava, I smile as I look at Grava's life force and body to notice that it is so much stronger compared to Varda's state. A sign that he became stronger than Varda in just a year.

"Great Grandfather, please have a spar with me."

"Sure. Lead the way to the training grounds, it's been a long time since I've been here and a lot of stuff already got added so I don't know where it is."

"Please follow me."

Looking around the palace, I still can't take the uncomfortable feeling of seeing the place so much differently compared to the days before. Portraits of the royal family are put up on the corridor making me feel amazed with how many there are.

With the lifespan of Varda's race, I knew that the royal family would become bigger but I didn't expect for there to be more than twenty. Seeing the familiar faces of Varda's children, I felt that it really has been so long since I went here.

The faces of Varda's children flashed through my memory as I looked at their smiles with their family in the portrait. Leaving the imperial city to live their lives and some of them even backing out of the succession just to live peacefully somewhere far away made me smile bitterly.

"Don't miss them so much, Grandfather."

"I know… it's just that I feel slightly lonely knowing that they have already grown up and have a happy family. I wish I visited the imperial city before instead of living peacefully away from politics."

"It's okay that you left. With how long you've been traveling around, taking a long proper rest is something that you should do."

"… Maybe…"

Arriving at the training grounds, I was surprised to see Falta, Varda's other son, covered in sweat.

"STOP SLACKING OFF AND MOVE FASTER!"

Unlike Grava who is slim, Falta looks muscular as he exudes a wild feeling. Shouting at the knight as he stands while holding a wooden sword on his shoulder, he combed his hair with his other hand making it glisten from sweat.

"Varda, just how much did your genes get defeated that your children are so different compared to you? The only thing that they inherited from you is your bountiful light purple hair."

"… Why must you insult me about this, Grandfather?"

Ignoring his hurt voice, Falta turned around and saw us.

"ALL OF YOU STOP! SALUTE!"

Hearing Falta's command, all of the knights stop their training as they turn towards us they clench their right fist and pump their chest.

"Welcome to the training grounds, Your Majesty!"

Waving his hand as an acknowledgment, the knights stopped their salute as they stood up in a line.

"Grava and Grandfather are going to spar so ask them to make some space, Falta."

Falta's eyes opened wide before he smiled as he started commanding the soldiers to make some for our spar.

Throwing his wooden sword to Grava, he looks excitedly as moves beside Varda to watch.

"Shall we make this a short spar, Grava?"

"Don't worry, Grandfather. I'll make sure that this won't be a short spar."

Just as I was about to stretch my body, Grava suddenly dashed towards me without any warning as he brandished his sword towards me.

Moving my left hand to deflect him, a sense of danger suddenly crawled into my heart as I jumped away to dodge instead. Looking at his wooden sword, I notice a slight purplish glow covering it.

"Grava you brat. I never expected you to use your third-level concept to cover your wooden sword, that's one precise control you have."

"That's why I said that this spar won't be a short one, Great Grandfather."

Sneaking a peak in Varda's direction, I can't help but smirk as I see him looking at Grava in shock as his face slowly goes pale.

"Please focus on the match, Great Grandfather."

Hearing his voice near me, I look in front to see Grava swinging his sword down to slash at me.

Life force suddenly floods my body as I control it to strengthen my body and cover my arms as I deflect his sword with a swing of my hand while stepping away to gain distance.

Pain shot through my arms as I look at my hand to see a slash wound recovering.

Grava's concept of protection, the Auro Family's concept that they got enlightened from Authority of Protection, being used as an attack-type concept made me smile as he really is a one-of-a-kind genius.

Not letting me take a breather, he followed as he continued slashing while I deflected and dodged most of his attacks. Using more of my life force, I dodged his attack and punched his side only for it to get blocked by a purple barrier.

'This brat.'

Countering me with a slash, I move away from him. Looking at his movement made me realize that not only was he able to stabilize his level, he was able to further his raw fighting style.

Seeing that made my heart start beating with excitement. The thought of fighting him with everything that he got made me stop limiting myself for a bit.

As he was about to charge at me once again, I used more life force as I moved towards him faster than before. Calmly changing his movement, he swings his sword towards me.

Deflecting the sword, I gather my force on my arm and punch out only for it to get blocked by the purple barrier again. Instead of completely stopping it, he was sent flying along with his barrier.

As he rolls on the ground, I jump towards him I raise my leg and swing it down with more strength.

Stabilizing himself after rolling, he looks up at me in shock as he rolls once again to dodge me making my foot hit the ground and destroying it.

Without letting him take a breather this time, I immediately move as I follow his life force outside of the dust that my attack made. Reaching him instantly I look at his eyes with amusement as he looks at me in disbelief not expecting me to be stronger than he thought.

"Grit your teeth, Grava!"

As soon as I said those words, a helmet materialized in his head as I threw a punch with all my strength. Feeling my fist touch his helmet, Grava got sent flying and rolled on the ground.

Seeing him get sent in their direction, the knights start moving as they try to avoid Grava. As they successfully avoided Grava, he rolled on the ground a few times before finally stopping.

"Ah. I overdid it, my bad."