Chapter 626: A night to discuss interlude

Inside the luxurious room, Aera sat still, her posture straight, her expression unreadable.

The faint aroma of jasmine drifted from the teacup at her side.

She reached for it, lifted it delicately, and took a slow sip.

The warmth did nothing to soften the emptiness in her gaze.

Silence filled the room.

Not the comfortable kind — the kind that stretched, hollow and heavy, until even the smallest sound felt intrusive.

“…This is rather vexing…” she murmured quietly to no one in particular. Her voice barely broke the still air.

She had already known her meeting with Riley wouldn’t go smoothly.

Still, to walk away with nothing but one simple, stubborn refusal—it irritated her more than she cared to admit.

She set the cup down with a soft click, eyes narrowing at the rippling surface of the tea.

How does someone like him survive in this world for so long? she wondered. So young, yet so… unbending.

Then again, perhaps that’s exactly why.

Power respects power. Strength always wins.

Aera had always believed that. It was one of the few truths she never questioned.

She leaned back slightly, her mind running through the information she’d gathered before their meeting—reports, habits, personality notes, everything she could find.

She had thought she understood him well enough to corner him with something tempting, something that would make him yield.

But now, she wasn’t sure.

Had she underestimated his will?

Or perhaps she simply didn’t understand the man at all.

“…How bothersome,” she sighed, brushing a lock of hair from her face.

“Bom,” she called softly.

In the next moment, a shadow rippled at the edge of the room. From it, a figure appeared — a young woman with calm, unblinking eyes, emerging through a faint veil of dark smoke. She knelt respectfully.

“Yes, Mother?”

“Cancel the plan,” Aera said flatly.

Bom’s eyes flickered in surprise. “Cancel… the plan?” she repeated carefully.

“Yes. All of it.”

The younger woman hesitated. “But—cancelling everything now would be—”

“It’s fine,” Aera cut in, her tone firm but not harsh. “The risk isn’t worth it.”

She reached for her cup again, swirling the remaining tea absently as her reflection wavered in the liquid’s surface.

“Although he didn’t say much,” she added quietly, “his warning was clear.”

Bom stayed silent, watching her mother’s face.

There was no anger there, only contemplation — and perhaps, just a trace of something that looked like unease.

“I understand… but what about Hajey?”

The question hung in the air for a moment. Aera’s fingers paused against the rim of her teacup. Her expression didn’t change, but a faint flicker of thought crossed her gaze.

She leaned back slightly, exhaling a slow breath.

“Just let him be,” she said at last, her voice calm but laced with quiet disdain.

“For all his useless and disappointing antics, at least the unnecessary trouble he stirs will prove… somewhat worthwhile.”

Bom didn’t respond immediately.

The faint rustle of her clothes as she shifted slightly was the only sound that filled the room.

She felt a brief pang of pity for her little brother — but it faded quickly.

Sometimes, a harsh fall was the only way someone truly learned to give up.

Still, she couldn’t help but feel a small, tired ache somewhere deep inside. Hajey wasn’t evil — just naïve, spoiled, and desperate for recognition that would never come from their mother.

“…Understood,” Bom said quietly.

Aera gave no further reply, her gaze already distant — lost in quiet calculation, in thoughts that belonged to no one else.

For Bom, however, there was something like relief washing through her chest.

Relief that her mother had chosen to withdraw for once.

Because if there was one thing Bom understood better than anyone else, it was how dangerous that young man truly was.

Riley.

Even in her calmest assessment, the boy was absurd.

His strength wasn’t just raw power; it was presence — something heavy and alive that bent the air around him. A being like that wasn’t meant to be made an enemy.

Not by her.

Not by their clan.

The very idea made her stomach twist.

’With him around… even Mother’s reach has its limits.’

Her lips curved faintly — not in mockery, but in quiet admiration.

She had to admit it: Seo was lucky.

No — more than that — Bom was proud of her.

Her dear little sister, born from sin and shame, had somehow managed to capture the heart of a man like that. A man who could shake even their mother’s will.

’You’ve grown, Seo,’ she thought softly. ’And you’ve chosen well.’

Bom had once made her own contingency plans — subtle, unseen threads she had intended to pull if her mother ever went too far. But now, those plans no longer seemed necessary.

Riley’s presence had already rewritten the board.

The pieces had moved, the tide had shifted — and Aera’s power, for all its weight and cunning, no longer controlled the game.

Her sharp eyes glanced at her mother’s still silhouette one last time before she turned to leave.

Even now, there was still a faint tension in the air — like a coil ready to strike if disturbed. But the edge had dulled; the decision had been made.

And so, she bowed slightly. “Then I’ll see to it everything is dissolved quietly.”

Aera gave a small nod, not looking at her. “Do so.”

Bom turned to go, her footsteps light and silent against the polished floor.

As she reached the door, she paused briefly, her hand hovering above the handle.

She hesitated — not out of fear, but contemplation.

’Maybe this is how it ends,’ she thought. ’Mother losing interest, and me… finally being free from cleaning up her shadows.’

“Then I’ll prepare to see through it right away—”

“Before you go…” Aera’s voice stopped her. It was soft, but it carried that distinct tone Bom knew too well — the one that meant she’d already made up her mind about something.

“I want you to tell me more about him.”

Bom blinked, taken aback. “…Pardon?”

“The information you gave me last time was rather insufficient,” Aera continued, her gaze drifting toward the window, though her tone sharpened slightly. “I need more.”

Bom hesitated. Her fingers twitched slightly at her side.

“But…” she started, but the rest of her words caught in her throat. I already gave you everything I know about him was what she wanted to say — but the words never left her lips.

Because the smile her mother wore… wasn’t a pleasant one.

It was small, graceful, and utterly unnerving.

The kind that made Bom’s stomach tighten even though she’d grown up seeing it all her life.

“I understand that your interactions with him are rather limited,” Aera said, tilting her head, her tone deceptively calm. “And that the same goes for the information you can gather. Still, I’m sure there are bits and pieces floating around… correct?”

She raised her cup, letting the steam rise between them. “I don’t care if they’re rumors. I want every little thing you can find. Anything about him — his habits, his demeanor…”

Aera’s lips curved higher, her gaze flicking toward Bom. “…and most importantly, how he managed to capture the hearts of his current fiancées.”

“…”

Bom stayed quiet. Her expression didn’t change, but something cold ran through her veins.

Her mother’s eyes gleamed — sharp, greedy, and calculating. The same look she always had when she found something new to play with.

And for the first time in a long while, Bom felt worried…

She exhaled quietly, trying to keep her composure. Inside, though, her mind was racing. She couldn’t shake the unease settling deep in her chest.

That smile her mother wore… it wasn’t curiosity anymore. It was interest.

The dangerous kind.

’Maybe I should’ve stopped her…’ Bom thought bitterly.

Maybe she should’ve forced her mother not to meet Riley in the first place.

Because now, it wasn’t just about Seo anymore.

Whatever Aera was planning next, Bom could already tell — this wouldn’t end quietly.

As she bowed and turned to leave, a heavy silence filled the room.

The air itself felt thick, charged with her mother’s unspoken intent.

The quiet hum of the building faded as Bom stepped outside, leaving Aera behind to sip her tea in the dim light.

“Riley Hell…”

Meanwhile—

High above the academy, at the very center of its sprawling grounds, the massive newly rebuilt clocktower stood tall.

Its mechanical heartbeat echoed faintly through the air — steady, precise, and timeless.

On its upper roof, a man stood alone, hands resting lazily behind his back.

The wind tugged at his long dark coat, his dark hair fluttering lightly as his crimson eyes scanned the view below.

Beon.

His ageless face — too young for the years he had lived — carried a faint smile, one that deepened as he gazed down at the academy.

The view was calm, serene even.

Students moved about like ants, magic lights flickering through windows, the night sky painted with the faint glow of the academy barrier.

But Beon’s gaze wasn’t on the view.

It was fixed on a single figure — a young man darting through the streets below, his movement so fast it left faint blurs in the air.

Riley.

The boy’s expression was calm, but the mana surrounding him rippled violently — too much for someone so young.

Beon’s crimson eyes shifted slightly, glowing faintly before morphing into a deep violet hue.

Tiny arcs of purple lightning crackled along his iris, tracing outward like living veins of energy.

In that moment, the world sharpened — and Riley’s form became clear in his vision.

He could see every step, every subtle shift in his mana flow, the natural synchronization between body and energy that shouldn’t have been possible for someone at his stage.

Beon chuckled softly, his lips parting into a grin filled with both pride and disbelief.

“Just how absurd have you become, my disciple…” he murmured.

The wind carried his voice into the night, swallowed by the hum of the city below.

It had only been months since he last trained Riley, but even from this distance, Beon could tell — the boy had long surpassed what any normal human should be capable of.

Power like that wasn’t just talent.

It was ascension….

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