Father

When Raion left the Forest of Wailing, the Flowers who lived outside the Castle of Blood went to work. Every movement of the familiar head had to be presented as a welcome to the Duke who was returning from his excursion for the first time in 4 years.

"All Flower Knights are to assemble at Castle Blood, except those on missions or working on imperial orders."

The order of the Dahlia Flower spread throughout the Solar Empire. The knights of the family who worked in the Empire of Night, the Kingdom of Austria, the Kingdom of the Divine Tree, the Duchy of Lions, etc., quickly gathered at the Castle of Blood.

"What is it? The young master's selection ritual ended years ago, so why is the Duke coming to Blood Castle?"

The third knight, Edward Venonity, had returned from the northern region of the continent, where he had been fighting monsters in search of treasure.

"Did the guardian knights at Castle Blood mention anything?"

The fourth knight, Gemini Purity had to call off an assassination task commissioned by a bigwig of the Duchy of Lions to return.

His client would be displeased and resentful, but with no choice. Unfortunately for him, the Duchy of Lions did not compare at all to the Duchy Flower and would not compensate his knights for interrupting their ongoing missions to respond to his summons.

"No, nothing has been mentioned. It seems to be a confidential matter since no one is talking. Well, I am not surprised. Even the Duke himself is coming personally..."

The ninth knight, Ocean Blue. She had been dueling and defeating powerful warriors in the southern region of the continent.

And so, seven of the best knights of the Flower Duchy had gathered at the Castle of Blood, along with over 200 knights and attendants who had been assisting them.

With this number of Knights, this thousand-year-old family could destroy an average city in just 30 minutes, and an average country in a single day. Such a mighty power was what ensured the Duke's dominance in the Empire.

As the news that Flower had begun to move spread around the world, various rumors began to spread within the ruling class. Some generated fear in the weaker countries near the Duchy while others said that they would go and marry a Legendary beast in the wailing forest.

'Why is Flower making a move, didn't he say he wouldn't leave the Wailing Forest for another 10 years?'

"Are the Flowers finally planning to dominate the Empire?"

"Did the Zilphen family or the Fire family show any reaction to this?"

The only true quasi-God of the most powerful Empire, Raion.

More than half of the best Knights of Imperium, the Knights of the Blood.

The ripple effect of these names was enormous and even the Imperial family was notified urgently.

The Knights of the Blood and the central knights of the family stood in two rows on both sides of the stairs leading to the Castle of the Blood. Under the heavy wind and rain, everyone's gaze was serious.

They all looked determined as if they were about to go to war to bring misfortune to some unfortunate country that crossed their path.

"Greetings to the Duke!"

"Greetings to the Duke!"

When Raion arrived at the entrance of Blood Castle, they simultaneously raised their swords in the air and the mountaintop shook with their resounding voices as if earthquakes were going to occur everywhere.

"Mhm."

With a slight nod by way of greeting, Raion began to climb the stairs leading up to the castle.

"The Duke's mood is strange, is something extremely important about to happen?" he asked.

The Knights exchanged glances, sharing their thoughts without any words. When Raion passed by them, they slowly followed his footsteps with serious expressions. The blood knights stayed behind and guarded the gates of Blood Castle.

However, none of them were aware of the truth.

The reason Raion had come to Castle Blood was simply to see his eldest son.

***

"Shin, Masamune."

"Yes, father."

Raion summoned the twins first. The ailing siblings knelt before their father as their snotty noses made the snot echo in the castle hall.

"What a mistake you both made."

Raimon waited inside his room with Reineza, so he couldn't hear the conversation.

The twins hesitated to answer. As the seconds passed, Raion's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"I asked them to say what mistake they made."

"Th-That's..."

Being little the twins were only 4 year old brats so they were very scared.

They were at the age when their strict father terrified them. Besides, the word "strict" couldn't do the Duke justice.

Not only that, the Duke had asked for his mistake.

Their older brother had beaten them. If they had to blame anything or anyone, it was Raimon.

The twins seemed to have forgotten how they had bullied their brother before.

Coming to this conclusion, the twins made up their minds.

"We haven't made any mistakes.

Shin plucked up his courage and replied. Raion rested his chin on his hand, as if waiting for his son to finish speaking.

"Raimon used some unknown power to beat Masamune and me."

"That's right. He used a power other than blood aura."

Masamune interjected as he emphasized the second part of his sentence.

'A power that wasn't blood aura'. In this world, there could only be one answer when it came to a power that was not blood aura.

Powers related to nature, called natural.

If 6-year-old Raimon had used blood aura to defeat them, he would have been praised by everyone. However, it was a different case if it was natural power.

A child with Flower blood using natural power was unheard of.

Therefore, the twins were trying to convey the fact that Raimon had used natural power to defeat them.

"My children."

Raion's voice resounded a soft tone.

"Yes, father!"

The twins responded cheerfully, as if they were criminals who had found a loophole to take advantage of. Realizing that their father's voice was soft, they thought they had a chance to seize victory. However, Raion completely ignored the twins' excuse and spoke in a calm voice.

"I will give you a piece of advice that you should engrave in your hearts. If you continue to behave like this... you will never survive within this Empire and world."

"Ah..."

"We apologize, father."

"Go call Raimon for me."