Chapter 993: Tower of the Ancients
One of Leif’s people greeted them upon their arrival. Afterward, her guests were escorted to the grand hall while Leif and Kyran went to the patio leading to the villa’s side garden.
Shaiha could not help but snort inelegantly when she noticed Leif’s familiarity around the villa.
[For someone who hasn’t explored her newly bought villa, she looks very at home and familiar with it.]
Kyran’s brow twitched inwardly at Shaiha’s remark. He did not understand why she had to say her thoughts aloud inside his sea of consciousness.
True Void would rant in his head, yes, but he rarely shared his internal monologue.
It made Kyran wonder if Shaiha was doing it on purpose to spite him or something.
Leif’s people had already prepared the villa’s patio. A tea set was placed on top of a round marble table that could seat four people.
Two female mages, acting as servants, helped Leif in her seat while the other prepared the tea. All the while, they gave furtive glances over to Kyran. Unlike Leif’s guests, her people knew why she approached him.
Putting aside Leif’s interest in Kyran as a person, she also wanted something from him. Unfortunately, the only way to get it was to win him over to her side.
Kyran remained standing even after Leif’s servants left.
“There is no need to act reserved,” Leif laughed softly while looking at him. She reached for her cup and took a small sip of her tea before saying, “You may sit down.”
“I don’t see the others.”
“Like I said, they will not be joining us.”
“I don’t mean your friends.”
Leif paused midway through, placing her cup down. Her eyes flickered slightly at Kyran’s words before she smiled and replied, “Do I look like I will be friends with them?”
Kyran furrowed his brows but did not respond. He did not like how Leif sounded just now. Since meeting her, she had sounded friendly and looked very amiable. But just then, there was a hint of coldness in her tone, and the slight flicker in her sea-green eyes looked like ridicule. Even her smile looked like a sneer.
Leif’s smile widened, and this time, she looked to be her friendly self once more.
“My bad,” she said. “They are not my friends. However, they are the scions of the families directly under my father. You… do know who my father is, right?”
“Overlord Oceanus.”
Leif nodded, “It is good to know you are aware of it.”
“He only has one daughter he dotes on,” Kyran responded. “I don’t think there is anyone in Ogen who doesn’t know you.”
“Well, that’s true,” Leif agreed. “But you’re new here, so…”
“Would anyone dare use the same title as Overlord Oceanus’s daughter? I don’t think so.”
Leif raised her brows in amusement. She only said what she did to see how Kyran would react to her, knowing he was new in Ogen. Seeing how calm he was, it seemed she had to change her approach.
Apparently, using scare tactics by telling him that she knew everything about him might not work.
“You mentioned others wanting to know me. Where are they?” Kyran might have decided to accept her invitation, but that did not mean he would follow her lead.
That was not to say that he was prepared to go against Overlord Oceanus if he ever pissed her off because he wanted to avoid that as much as possible.
It had only been over a month since Kyran arrived at the Higher Realm. He did not want to gain an enemy this early in the game. Even if Oceanus’s side was neutral, he was still an Overlord. He had enough influence to get Kyran in trouble if he made an enemy out of him.
Anyhow, when the worst-case scenario happened, Kyran would just follow Shaiha’s advice and reveal his identity as the Void Master. In fact, his decision to choose the name ‘Null’ was both to confuse others about his true identity and to hint at it.
“It seems I was wrong about you… You are not concerned about my identity, are you? Rather, you don’t care at all.”
“I may not care, but I would not recklessly piss you off by turning down your invitation.”
Leif chuckled, “A wise decision.”
“Now that we got that out of the way, can we start discussing what you want from me?”
Leif fell silent as she studied Kyran for a moment. After a short pause, she waved her hand as a light blue tablet the size of a hand appeared before her. A series of runes appeared on its surface before a projection of a man wearing a gradient blue and green robe and possessing almost the same features as Leif, except his face was chiseled, and his eyes were the same shade of blue as the sky.
[Alas…]
Shaiha took a sharp breath as she stared at the projection of the man in the tablet through Kyran’s eyes.
[…That is Overlord Oceanus.]
“A good day to you, young friend. I am Oceanus,” the man greeted as soon as Leif’s tablet connected through his own. “I hope you do not mind that my daughter and I are interested in getting to know you.”
“Rather than not minding… I am surprised both of you would even be interested in someone like me.”
Even as Kyran said this, his mind was already going through all the things he had done over the past month that brought about this development. However, no matter how much he racked his brain, he only remembered visiting the city’s library and nothing more.
Could it be because he only frequented the library that they grew suspicious of him?
That could not be the reason, right?
Putting aside why Leif was interested in him, it would have been impossible to catch Oceanus’s attention when he was on the other side of the country.
The city Kyran went to was not the capital of the lone country in Ogen. It was considered one of the big cities, but it was located to the south, and the city Oceanus resides was at the north.
The only way for Oceanus to know about Kyran was through Leif. But even then, would Oceanus be interested in someone Leif fancies?
Kyran recalled the things Shaiha told him and could not help but inwardly give her a blank expression. Shaiha made it sound like Leif was only interested in Kyran because of his ‘looks.’ Although he thought otherwise, she sounded so certain that he almost believed her.
Kyran took note never to trust Shaiha’s judgment when it involved the opposite sex.
“Well… there is the matter of you not registering in the plane’s Embassy even if you are a visitor,” Oceanus started to say.
Kyran narrowed his eyes. The meaning behind Oceanus’s statement did not go unnoticed by him. They knew about his entry to Ogen and were waiting to see if he would register at the Embassy.
“As the plane’s owner, my father has ways of sensing if a visitor has entered Ogen,” Leif explained upon seeing Kyran’s silence. “Thus, he knows if that visitor will register or not. If not, then so be it. He just has to stay vigilant and keep an eye on any anomaly in the plane.”
“However, after entering the plane, not only did you not show up in the Embassy, but you also did not appear in my senses,” Oceanus continued after his daughter.
Kyran did not react. But inwardly, he was already had a bad feeling.
[Calm down. My concealment might be the reason Oceanus failed to sense your presence, but that does not mean he will suspect that you have the Heart of the Cosmos.]
Kyran retained an indifferent expression as he looked at Oceanus’s projection.
“I admit to planning to sweep over the plane to look for you because I do not want to risk my people if you are up to no good,” Oceanus continued. “Fortunately, my daughter chanced upon you and learned about your rare ability.
“The ability to hide one’s presence— concealment.”
Kyran raised his brows in surprise. It appeared they only thought Shaiha’s concealment was an innate ability.
[I told you. There are other mages in the Higher Realm who possess concealment ability, albeit they are few. Those mages can be an asset to any faction. Thus, many Overlords would fight over one.]
‘Don’t you think that is something you should have told me first?’
[I didn’t think it was important.]
‘…’
“… You are interested in my ability.”
“That is correct.”
“I would want to ask why, but I don’t know if you will tell me.”
“If you agree to lend us your assistance, then we will.”
“I don’t even know why you’re interested, and you want me to agree first?”
Oceanus gave a wry smile.
“Our conversation will not go anywhere at this rate.”
“The Tower of the Ancients.”
Oceanus’s eyes widened as he looked over to his daughter, “Leif.”
Leif smiled sweetly at him and replied, “He is right, father. If we want his help, telling him the truth is better.”
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