Preparations & Family Grades

Roderick household,

Near the palace, a large hall about 400 meters in length and over 200 meters in width was built. Its walls are decorated with paintings, art and floral work. The floor is completely covered in red carpet with hundreds of tables and chairs, which are white.

Atop the tables were silver wares, plates and other miscellaneous items. Each one of these was made using magic, in fact including this hall itself.

Right now, the whole place is empty, but within a few hours, it will be brimming with people. People who have the power to dictate the life of any ordinary men and women of this Empire.

There, you can also see a girl with blonde hair and purple eyes sneakily stealing sweets. It's none other than Joey, Jayce's cousin.

From a distance, a boy and a lady are watching this entire theft activity. That boy has a smile on his face.

It's Jayce and his aunt Samantha. Jayce, one of the stars of this celebration, is layered with a white shirt black vest and a white trench coat with Roderick family's insignia atop them along with a black pant and shoes.

Samantha is wearing a red one piece matching with her lipstick and an emerald embedded necklace that matches with her striking blue eyes.

She's now gritting her teeth over her daughter's stealing activity. This is not the first time something like this has happened. Ever since Joey was little, she has been doing this.

For a chatterbox like her, it's given that she has a lot of friends. And every one of her friends who knew of this only said a single line.

'Your daughter is just like you!'

It's true, Joey inherited this from her confectionery queen of mother. Samantha, who couldn't handle it any longer, shouted,

"JOE!"

*hick*

Joey stumped at his mother's voice and hastily stuffed all the sweets into her mouth.

"You-You...You're stealing sweets again? Why? Did I not buy it just yesterday?"

"I bibnd swweel ennudhyn."

"Oh, really? What's in your mouth then?"

"Vaadh u meem? ids mmdy." Joey answered with sweets in her mouth.

At that time, Leo, who came back, saw them bickering.

'Sigh, they are at it again. How come two people so similar fight so often? Anyway, I should help my daughter out of-' (Leo)

He was about to step in to try to solve the issue but stopped when he heard Samantha's voice as she pointed her hands towards him,

"REALLY? You want me to believe that? Go tell that to that purple-haired guy over there, he may believe you! I will not!"

'...or not.' (Leo)

Joey made a puppy face trying to get Leo to save her. But to her misery, Leo just melded into the surroundings while ignoring his daughter's pleading gaze.

Jayce, amidst all this chaos, is just looking around this place with a scrutinizing gaze.

'Mm... I should say the hall is... too bright?'

It's his own assertion, his liking towards the dim environment that led him to this. It's actually quite the classy setup in this world.

After a round of scolding and advising, Samantha finally let Joey go.

"Were you the one who snitched?" Joey asked with suspicion.

"Nope, it's a coincidence."

Joey didn't seem to believe a word he said. She just shrugged and congratulated him on his birthday, once again.

As the two were chatting between them, a maid came to them and asked them to assemble at the family dinner hall, since the celebration was imminent.

----

In the dinner hall, three figures were standing: Clara, Samantha and Leonard. Leonard asked,

"Sam, where are Scot and Sera?"

Samantha's eyes narrowed,

"They must be on their way, but what did you call me again?"

Leonard's brows twitched. Clara sighed as she thought.

'Here we go again.'

"How many times have I told you not to call me Sam but Samantha? Does this lady look 'Sam' to you?"

"I mean, sorry, it's a tongue slip."

"You better not call me that when I'm in front of all those people. Otherwise, I will color your purple head RED."

Samantha, after being called a man's name 'Sam' by her friends in her younger days because of her flat chest, is extremely sensitive towards it.

As they were bickering, Scot and Sera arrive there together. Seeing them arguing, Scot made a mischievous grin.

"Ah! SAM, Leo, you two are already here.'

Samantha's face darkened. She knew this brother of hers, deliberately pressed her name while asking that question. She shot him a deadly glare.

But, Scot avoided that entirety as he continued to tease,

"What is it, SAM? You don't look good today-" (Scot)

"At least, I don't look good ONLY today" (Samantha)

"Oh, I-" (Scot)

"They are here!" (Sera)

Before they could continue with their argument, Sera exclaimed at the incoming duo of cousins.

"Hmph"

Both of them snorted in dissatisfaction. Hearing that, Sera could only shake her head wryly.

As they arrived, Samantha, as if she had forgotten everything that had happened just now. Started pestering those about their clothing and how they should behave like that and that resulted in the duo looking at each other with a forced smile.

Joey is already 14 years old, and she has attended functions like these quite a few times. So, the family made her the caretaker for Jayce, much to her dissatisfaction.

...

As time for the celebration closed in , the sky was filled with chariots that had all kinds of designs, shapes and their respective family insignia.

On a certain carriage which carried the insignia of the Klassen family, tiger claw marks.

A middle-aged man with green hair along with two children, one boy and one girl were sitting in the luxurious leather seats.

The boy had light green hair which was neatly combed with dark green eyes, adorned in a black suit, his name was Kenneth and the girl had light pink hair, blood-red eyes, graced in a lavish red gown, her name being Elisa.

She is curiously looking at the window. Even as their chariot traveled at the speed of sound, the atmosphere was utter silence.

The one who broke the silence was Kenn,

"Are Ben and her highness definitely coming to the ceremony?"

He asked. Elisa, who was looking at the window, also turned and looked at the man with curiosity,

"Yes, that's what they've informed us about. It's not just any birthday celebration but the 500th year anniversary of the Roderick family. Hope you two can maintain the corundum of the Klassen and Alverin families. Even tho-"

"So, Mia is coming for sure?!!"

Elisa asked again in a high-pitched voice.

"Yes, but you should try to address her formally in a publi-"

"Yeah, yeah. I understand."

She waved her hand at the man.

"..."

'I'm sure as hell you did.'

The man shrugged and stopped speaking. The trio traveled in silence thereafter.

....

Other than the Roderick family, the Asper Empire has a total of 4 Paragon ranked families.

Let me just give a quick overview regarding grades.

'Grade 3: have given birth to a grandmaster in the last century.'

'Grade 2: have given birth to a King/Queen in the last 300 years.'

'Grade 1: have given birth to a Monarch in the last 500 years.'

'Paragon families are the ones that have given birth to a Transcendent at least once in the current era.'

An era is not calculated by the years but rather by the changes in power scaling among humans. The current era is the Transcendence Era, which began after the birth of the first human transcendent.

The era before this was called the 'Emperor's age' with Monarch realm experts as the peak of the power scale.

The Asper royal family's name is Hazelwood, normally mentioned as the Royal Hazelwood. Their insignia, or rather the royal insignia, is 'a lone wolf howling towards the moon'.

The oldest one is the Klassen family, with their history going beyond 800 years. Their family is normally known for their knights and martial artists. They are especially proficient in mind-related techniques. Their insignia is the 'tiger claw mark'.

Following it is the Rodericks, who have just completed their 500 years. They are known for their magicians and martial artists. Illusion magic being their trump card. Their insignia being 'the lone brown stone throne'.

The third one being Alverin. It's the family that pink-haired girl Elisa belongs to. This is a family of Magic knights. They are known for their use of long swords and their renowned willow swordplay. Their insignia is a 'willow tree with long swords replacing the tree leaves.'

And the final paragon family, the one that rose in power in the last 300 years, is the Te...

Well, that's a small surprise for some other chapter.

----

A.N:

Hello!

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