Shout out to Yam_Van_5538 for gifting a Pizza to this novel.
"Adam, it seems you have gotten uglier." The first word that came out of Duke Campbell's mouth was the mocking words that Adam had gotten used.
"Old man, it seems you have lost a few of your teethes. Are you sure you don't want to lay on the bed and announce your retirement?" Adam did not understand why this old man insisted on working as the Duke when his son was one of the best and top geniuses on the continent. Adam felt the old man should just retire and pass things to the next generation.
"Hmph! This old man's body is still stronger than yours. I can take on multiple women at the same time which you can never do." The old man mocked him back fully knowing that this was Adam's weakest point. Since Adam loved Sophie, he devoted himself to a single woman.
No one on the Empire or on the continent has heard of Adam sleeping with another woman besides his own wife. The man was extremely loyal to this wife which was extremely rare as most noble men considered it to be normal to sleep around with multiple women.
Adam's right eye twitched hearing the old man's words. "Unlike you whose one foot is already in the grave, I am still young and full of energy. My d**k is not cheap as yours. It's only available for one person."
"What did you say?" The old man finally lost this anger and hissed at Adam like a snake.
Lucian "___"
Meanwhile, Lucian and others could watch the scene in silence. Both of them were adults yet they were arguing with each other like some children. The guards and the soldiers were having a hard time holding back their laughter.
'Sleeping with multiple women....? My foot. Old man, you can't even handle a single woman.' Lucian secretly mocked his old man for bragging about such nonsense. He wondered if he should expose his old man. But considering that his old man was his father, Lucian decided to remain quiet and not meddle in the two Duke's conversations which sounded more like an argument.
"Anyway, I will head inside for now. For now, I don't have the time to argue with you." Feeling that Campbell was going to lose the argument he quickly decided to enter the castle not wanting to embarrass himself in front of the guests.
"What a coward!" Adam snorted as he resumed welcoming the guests as if nothing happened. But he was to admit deep down Adam was finally feeling a little better after winning the argument.
Another one or two minutes later, three golden carriages stopped. Adam narrowed his eyes as the coldness in his eyes increased. Compared to this man, Duke Campbell was a straightforward man and Adam liked and also admired Campbell's personality. But this man was the total opposite of Duke Campbell. He was cunning, sly as a fox, and venous as a snake. In the public, this man would put the face of gentlemen. Only a rare few knew what face was hidden behind that gentle and happy mask.
If possible Adam wouldn't have even invited this man to this party but he had no choice as technically both of them were still allies. But soon this was going to change as Adam was planning on stopping all types of trade and friendly relations with this man in the future. Adam already had found a replacement who has a 100 times better personality than this man.
When the gate of the carriage was opened, a man wearing decorative, luxurious clothes stepped out of the carriage and stopped in front of Adam. The man was also 6 feet tall in height. He had short blond hair with bangs covering his forehead. He had a handsome face that could charm most ladies' hearts with a single smile.
"Good evening Lord Adam. I hope I am not late for the birthday party." The man had a gentle smile on his face. But Adam knew that this smile was anything but gentle.
The man stretched out his right hand for a handshake. "Good evening Lord Addison." Addison, the Duke of a neighboring Empire sensed the coldness in Adam's voice. He pretended to not notice the coldness and shook hands with Adam.
"Lord Adam, my condolences to all your fallen soldiers who died in the goblin invasion." The way this man spoke as it was as if he was the most innocent man on the planet. Addison had a sad smile on his face when he said those words. Deep Down Adam knew this sad face was nothing but an illusion. Unfortunately, The wild lion already had seen through this illusion a long time ago. But for now, Adam decided to play along with Addison.
"It was thanks to my son-in-law that we were able to avoid a big causality." Knowing Aditya was the reason why Addison came here tonight, Adam did not hesitate to rub salt on Duke Addison's wounds by talking about Aditya especially referring to him as his son-in-law. As expected, Addison's face turned ugly which remained for only a brief second. But that small second was more than enough to make Adam feel satisfied.
"Lord Adam, regarding the goblin invasion, I deeply apologize. I wanted to send an army to help you out in his Invasion but recently a group of bandits has been causing trouble in my territory. I had to put my attention on the bandits." Everyone here knew that Addison was lying. There was another hidden meaning in Addison's words. Addison cared more about taking care of bandits than sending reinforcement to help out his ally Adam in fighting the goblins.
"Lord Addison, there is no need for you to apologize. If I was in your position then I would have done the same thing." Indirectly Adam was also replying to Addison back. Adam was telling him that he also wouldn't have sent reinforcement.
At this point, both Dukes knew deep down in their hearts that the alliance that once was envied by many nobles and dukes has been broken.
'I was planning on getting my son married to Julia but my plans have failed.' When the news of Julia coming back home reached Addison's ears, he was planning on sending his son to the Onard castle to meet Julia. But his plans were forced to be stopped when a strange rumor of Adam selecting his son-in-law started going circulating in the noble circle.
After a bit of research, Addison was furious to find out about the boy with whom Julia went on a date. It was at that moment that Addison decided to not help the Onard family during the goblin invasion.
The Addison family was expecting Adam to die in this invasion given how many millions of goblins he had to face. When Adam died, Addison was planning on kidnapping Julia and Sophie easily. But his plans once again failed as an unexpected factor emerged during the goblin invasion.
Addison was one of those people who secretly was watching the whole battle. He was eagerly waiting for the moment when Adam would fall. But instead of seeing Adam fall, Addison saw something that made him feel threatened. It was that small, pathetic, and weak man whom he thought he can crush at any given moment who emerged as the most powerful and most brutal warrior on the battlefield.
Addison and his son felt as if their entire views of the world has been changed when that man whom he had underestimated turned out to be a dragon. Not just any, dragon it was Divine Dragon. Addison has watched the whole battle with his very own eyes. He saw how a mere Peak 2nd-order slaughtered hundreds of Peak 4th-orders. This was completely against the law of this world. That dragon kept on defying the laws of this world and kept on killing without showing any exhaustion.
When that man revealed his bloodline, Addison nearly died of a heart attack. What he saw next almost shook his very own soul. Right after that man reached beginner 3rd-order, he used a very powerful attack which severely injured a 5th-order monster like the goblin king who stood at the top of all goblins. This was beyond the logic of this world. After this great battle, Addison began having nightmares.
He felt regret for not helping the Onard family. Addison is not sure from where Adam found someone Like Aditya but he was sure that with both the goddess of alchemy and a dragon with a divine bloodline, the Onard family will become untouchable.
Right now Addison had come to this party not because he wanted his son to seek an opportunity with the goddess. It was because he felt threatened and fearful of the unknown dragon that slaughtered millions of goblins alone. Addison right now had one goal in his mind and that was to know more about Aditya. If possible he wanted to eliminate Aditya so that his son could have a chance with Julia but he felt a divine dragon would have big background. If he carelessly messed with someone out of his reach, this would only mean the end of this family.
"Lord Addison, why don't you head inside? The party is going to start in a few more minutes." Addison gloomily nodded his head and walked inside the castle. Meanwhile watching him walk back, Adam viciously smiled. The Wild Lion wasn't going to let a big threat like Duke Addison remain much longer. Sooner or later, Adam was going to take care of that man.
Really Thank you very much to all those who sends support with valuable golden tickets. I hope we can keep it up!!!
