Chapter 540: Face to Face with a Celestial

"Please guide me."

The man in front of Lian lowered his head slightly and, without any extra explanation, turned toward the eastern part of the street.

The other five moved almost at the same time.

Not close enough to surround him and not far enough for their presence to be meaningless.

Their formation was too organized for them to simply be a group guiding a guest.

Pav said nothing about it.

If the Pendragon Patriarch really wanted to take him somewhere, it was probably not strange for his family to send six Awakened who had gone through at least two Evolutions.

The more important question was, why?

He had been in Verendal for less than half an hour.

He still had not seen Seris, Aurelia had not even answered his message.

And now, before all of them, one of the most powerful living men in the world wanted to speak with him personally.

Lian walked a few steps behind the commander.

Whatever it was, he was not worried, he doubted that his life was in danger, it was more likely that the man was curious to know who his daughter had spent so much time with.

As they moved away from the public part of Verendal, the crowd around the ceremony slowly disappeared as well.

There were fewer flags of the great families.

Official cars no longer passed beside them, and the guests who had been seen at almost every intersection only a few minutes ago were replaced by Pendragon forces.

The buildings also changed and were older and larger.

And unlike the outer part of the city where historical architecture was mixed with modern equipment, here the family seemed to have allowed even fewer things to change the original shape of the buildings.

Walls made of light gray stone, tall arches, and dragon statues were placed on the walls and in the gardens.

Trees whose trunks were so thick that it was clear some of them had been standing there long before several generations of the family had been born.

Almost ten minutes later, the group stopped in front of another wall, the wall was not as tall as Verendal’s outer wall and did not have many towers.

But with only one look, he noticed the difference, the difference was the guards here.

Four people stood on both sides of the gate, none of them wore heavy armor and their weapons were not hidden either.

But the presence of all four was heavier than all the forces he had seen beside the outer gate, these four had also gone through at least two Evolutions.

The commander of the group walked forward, showed something to one of the guards, and a few seconds later, the stone gate opened without a sound.

The man turned back to Lian.

"From here on, the Patriarch is waiting for you alone."

Lian gave a short look at the six people who had come with him.

None of them moved forward.

"I understand."

He passed through the gate.

The inside was almost the opposite of what he expected from the "heart of the property of one of the six great families."

There were huge palaces, buildings that were hundreds of years old, wide gardens, and fountains flowing among stone dragon statues.

But there was no excessive gold, precious stones on the walls, or pointless display of wealth.

The main feeling of the place was its age, everything seemed to have a reason for being there.

On one of the walls, old marks from impacts remained, and no one had tried to cover them with new stone.

A huge dragon statue stood in the central square, part of one of its wings was broken.

Even on the path, in some places, new stones had been placed among pieces that were several centuries old.

A servant was waiting at the end of the path, without needing an introduction, he lowered his head.

"Mr. Vorhelm. This way."

Lian followed him, they passed through two hallways, a small courtyard, and then the second floor of one of the main buildings.

The servant stopped in front of a wooden door.

"The Patriarch is waiting for you inside."

He placed his hand on the handle and the door opened.

The room looked more like a private library than the official meeting place of a Patriarch, and at the end of the room, there was a huge window through which a large part of Verendal could be seen.

A man was standing beside that same window, he had a white cup in his right hand.

He was wearing only simple dark clothes with a small Pendragon dragon symbol on his chest, and his silver hair covered both sides of his temples.

His face looked around fifty years old.

His body was tall and fit, but there was no exaggerated attempt to show physical strength in his appearance.

Hearing the door close, the man turned around, and gray eyes fell on Lian.

And at that exact moment, his body reacted before his mind, his body froze in place.

It was as if it was no longer even his body and it did not dare to listen to his consciousness, no matter how hard he tried, his body did not move at all.

His instinct also simply told him that trying was useless, if the man in front of him decided to kill him right now, he would die.

That was it.

The strangest part? His body did not even have any desire to resist, as if it had already accepted the result.

And no aura was coming from the man’s body at all, it was like standing in front of a completely ordinary human.

The man slightly raised his cup and a friendly smile appeared on his face.

"I finally get to see you in person, come in, I’m not going to interrogate you or hurt you."

After hearing the man’s words, the impossible pressure suddenly disappeared from him and his body could finally move again.

"This was not the start I expected." Lian walked a few steps forward, the speed of his steps did not change.

The man’s smile became deeper and his eyes moved to Lian’s posture for a moment.

"Don’t worry, if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t need to send six people after you, you would have died the moment you stepped into this city."

"That sentence usually doesn’t make people less worried."

There was silence for a moment, he knew those words were not a lie, the man in front of him had gone through five Evolutions.

He was a man who stood at the top of the world’s power, so powerful that it could not be described, their mere breath was enough to turn an entire mountain range into ash.

Their footsteps alone could cause earthquakes, and their gaze could make oceans evaporate.

A Celestial was standing in front of him!

Rhaenar Pendragon!

The man laughed... he really laughed.

"Good."

He placed his cup on the table.

"At least you’re not so afraid that you can’t speak in front of me."

He pointed toward the chair.

"Sit."

Lian sat down and the man sat across from him as well.

"Tea?" And without waiting for an answer, he placed a cup in front of him.

For a few seconds, the only sound in the room was the sound of tea being poured.

"Was your trip good?"

"To this city?"

"In general."

"It could have been more peaceful."

"When I read the reports about you, I also come to the conclusion that you are somehow a magnet for danger."

Lian looked at him and Rhaenar smiled.

"You thought I would summon you without knowing who you are?"

"Of course not."

"Good."

The man took a sip of his tea.

"The academy, your sister’s birthday event, the events in the Special Area, your growth over the past few months, and even the final exams, I’ve heard about all of it."

"Then I don’t need to explain much about myself." The young Vorhelm did not touch his cup.

"No."

Rhaenar casually raised his shoulder slightly.

"Most of the things I could learn by asking, I’ve already read about."

"Then can I ask why I’m here?" Lian thought for a moment.

This time, the Patriarch looked at him for a few seconds.

"Because reports don’t answer questions, people do."

He understood what he meant, this man had not been looking for information from the beginning, he was watching him, the way he sat, his answers, and the things he chose to say and the things he intentionally did not say.

Rhaenar picked up his cup again.

"One year ago, no one knew the name Lian Vorhelm, and anyone who did know you called you a loser."

He calmly drank his tea.

"Now, for some people, the question is whether your father will put your name at the top of the heir list when he returns."

"Our family news spreads quickly." Lian did not change his expression.

"When the name Vorhelm is on it, it is no longer family news."

It was logical.

Choosing the heir of one of the six great families did not only affect the people of that family.

Business partners, alliances, enemies, associations, and even the Federation’s decisions, everyone had to include it in their calculations.

The man looked at him for a few more moments and then calmly said.

"But there is one thing about you that does not match the reports."

"Which part?"

"I still haven’t figured it out." The man smiled.

Lian was silent for a moment.

It was a simple sentence.

But coming from someone like Rhaenar, it was not that simple.

The man continued.

"None of the things I read explain why someone who was a loser changed this much in such a short time."

His gaze slowly moved across Lian’s face.

"But I’m not in a hurry to figure it out." Then he added in a completely normal tone.

"Maybe that’s what made my daughter interested in you."

The young Vorhelm paused for a few seconds, the subject had finally appeared.

The Patriarch placed his cup on the table, the soft sound of porcelain touching wood spread through the room, and then he calmly said in the same tone.

"Stay away from Seris."

He looked at him for a few seconds, there was no change in the man’s mood, as if he had only suggested closing the window.

As if he was only stating something simple.

"The reason?"

The man’s eyebrows rose slightly.

"I thought you would first ask what would happen if I didn’t."

"If you intended to threaten me, you would probably say it directly."

The man’s smile became slightly deeper and he leaned back against the chair.

"Alright, you want a reason? In the next few weeks, the Vorhelm Family may enter one of the biggest succession conflicts of the recent generation."

"Your stepmothers, your brothers, the family branches, the council members, the supporters of each faction... and at the head of all of them, that madman who is finally going to return after all these years and choose one name."

Lian was now certain that Damian was not the only one who knew what was going to happen.

Probably almost all the great powers of the world were watching.

Rhaenar continued.

"You are in the middle of that chaos.

It doesn’t matter if you chose to enter it or not, you should know that the Vorhelms will never leave you alone, no matter how much you want to stay away from them, it is impossible."

"I know."

"No, I think you’re only starting to understand, and Seris is not an ordinary member of the Pendragon Family either."

"Tomorrow, part of our new generation will stand before the First Dragon’s Crest, most of the important people gathered here expect Seris to receive the highest crest."

He picked up his cup again.

"And then the official heir of the next generation of the family will be announced, and the result is already clear."

"I have no problem with danger, the children of this family grow up with danger from childhood."

He paused for a moment.

"But it is different when my daughter decides to enter a war herself, or when she is pulled into the middle of it because of another person."

"I don’t want my daughter to become involved with you crazy Vorhelms." Then he added in a much quieter tone that only he could hear, "I don’t want what happened to my sister... to happen to her."

Lian thought for a few seconds, from the view of a father, and even more, from the view of the Patriarch of a family, this concern was completely reasonable.

If he entered the Vorhelm succession war, anyone close to him would become a possible point of pressure.

And if that person was the future heir of the Pendragon Family, the situation would go beyond an internal family conflict and could become much bigger.

This man wanted his daughter to focus on nothing except becoming stronger and did not want her to waste time, especially because of a Vorhelm.

"That makes sense."

Rhaenar looked at him for a moment, probably expecting a different continuation.

And that continuation came.

"But the choice is not mine or yours, has Seris herself said that she wants to stay away from me?"

"No."

"Then my answer is no too."

This time, the silence lasted a little longer.

Lian held the man’s gaze, he was aware of his danger, even more than enough, his body was still instinctively recording every movement Rhaenar made.

But the man’s power was not the subject of the discussion, he was not afraid of anyone, he was not even afraid of his own father, and it should be understood that the entire world was afraid of that man.

If Seris herself ever said that she no longer wanted to see him, the decision would be simple.

But her father? Even if he was one of the most powerful humans in the world, he still could not make that decision for her.

Rhaenar remained still for a few seconds and then laughed, the sound of his laughter was louder this time than before.

"It has been years since someone said no to me this easily."

"Your request was not exactly easy either." the young Vorhelm added.

"True."

The Patriarch was still smiling and there was no anger on his face.

No pressure filled the room either, and strangely, this very thing made his authority even more noticeable.

Someone who truly stood in his position did not need to use his power to remind the young man in front of him who he was.

They both already knew.

Rhaenar looked at his tea for a moment and then asked another question.

"Do you love her?"