[Bonus chapter for 400 golden tickets :)]
After returning to his section, Dyon greeted everyone with smiles. He sighed in relief seeing that Clara was doing well and even winked at Eli – he wouldn't mistake his good friend's glow as having anything to do with something not Delia related.
But, when he saw that Ri wasn't having so good of a time, he couldn't help but check on her. After all, they had a full day until the real World Tournament began.
"Ri?" Seeing Ri look up with a dead look in her eyes, Dyon felt his heart lurch. With a wave of his hand, the two of them disappeared from sight.
Clara seemed to have noticed this and looked over to Madeleine to find her smiling. Clara could tell that something had happened, but she had removed herself from the situation and didn't feel that it was right to ask. That said, she knew fully well that Dyon's personality was quite abrasive when it came to dealing with authority, so she had a pretty good idea of what had happened.
That said, her mind was easily distracted by the fighting she could see on the monitors. With her lack of cultivation, it was impossible to see what was going on from so far away. But, she was very thankful that the World Tournament organizers took this into account.
"Amazing…" She breathed out that word for what seemed like the millionth time.
"If you can believe it," Madeleine said while giggling. "This is about as weak as it gets."
Clara blinked. "Then what about you, Dyon and Ri, why aren't you three fighting?"
"Oh, that's because we've already qualified for the main round."
A sudden realization hit Clara. "My dad was always worried about how Dyon would take being at the bottom of the ladder for once… It seems he didn't spend a lot of time there." Clara pouted, she had wanted to make fun of him.
"Not many believe in him though…" Madeleine said softly, looking in the direction Ri and Dyon had disappeared.
"What happened?" Clara asked. But, the explanation she heard only made her angry. "Dyon is a lot of things but he never cheats!" Clara's cheeks puffed, clearly agitated.
Madeleine smiled. "Dyon is the type of person that would rather lose or die than to let someone think he didn't think he was better than they were… He would never cheat." Madeleine confirmed Clara's thoughts. "But, they've made a mistake."
Clara gave glance, understanding what she meant clearly. "They've made him angry…"
**
Ri sat facing Dyon, her head laying on his chest as tears streamed from her eyes. "I'm sorry Dyon. You shouldn't have had to go through that."
Dyon smiled, patting Ri's head. "What do you mean? Didn't you see how beautiful my mother in law is? I'm so lucky!"
Despite Ri's current state, she couldn't help but giggle at Dyon's words. "You know what I meant."
"Ah, don't think about that too much. Your dad loves you too much to get between me and you. And, regardless of what I say, I know he wouldn't have left without saying anything to you without a good reason. Just like he knows his daughter would never fall for a man who could cheat."
"Really?" Ri wiped her tears with her forearm, trying to compose herself before looking up.
"Of course," Dyon smiled, "It's definitely not a coincidence that they came back for the world tournament. This wasn't on a whim. Everything is planned. I just don't know what that plan is just yet. That said, I'm sure they'll tell us when the time is right.
"But, I'm still kicking the first prince's ass. He still thinks he's entitled to my Madeleine. Imagine thinking you could flirt with my woman in front of me." Dyon harrumphed, pulling Ri into his arms.
Ri giggled, kissing Dyon's cheek and enjoying the feeling of being in his arms until she fully calmed down.
"I know you'll prove them all wrong." Ri said softly.
**
About half an hour later, Ri's emotions had finally settled. But, in that time, she had thought of something odd about her father's actions. "Dyon?"
"Mm?"
"Shouldn't my father be able to tell whether you're lying about cheating or not? Why would he say something he should know is clearly false?"
Dyon smiled. "I remember that there was a point in time where I thought your father's disappearance had to do with the destruction of the Celestial Deer Sect. After seeing how being a True Empath could burden a person's psyche with Jade as a prime example, I thought your father might have left because he had lost the ability to cleanse his thoughts and protect his mental health."
Ri nodded. She remembered talking to Dyon about this too. But, the reason he wasn't a hundred percent sure about the theory was because of her mother. She too had disappeared.
"At that point in time, the large stone tome hadn't been used to cleanse True Empaths in millennia because its purpose had been forgotten."
"And because the Celestial Deer Sect was gone, there was no celestial energy to cure my father of his ailments."
"Right. But, you know what my grand teacher told me when I asked him why he didn't just read my mind at certain times?"
Ri shook her head.
Dyon laughed. "The old bastard said he was insulted to be put on the same level as those other True Empaths and he could turn his on and off at will."
A sudden realization hit Ri. "You mean?"
"I can't say for sure. But, I think your father likely reached a level of mastery that he unlocked the ability to turn his on and off. That said, it isn't a level of mastery that matches my grand teacher, so he likely keeps it off so that he can maintain his sanity for as long as possible. If he didn't do this, he would be at a loss for how to handle the influx of bad emotions."
Ri giggled. "You're so bad."
"I have no idea what you mean." Dyon grinned, lifting Ri's petite body up by her ass and gracing his lips with hers.
Ri's laughter, though, hadn't stopped. Lifting a finger, she placed it between her lips and Dyon's. "How long are you going to make my father suffer?"
"I dunno. My head is cloudy. I think I need a few more kisses from his daughter to clear my mind."
The truth was that during Uncle Acacia's recounting of the Elvin story, for the sake of brevity, he had skimmed over a lot of the details knowing that Queen Acacia was eager to see Ri. But, right now, with time on their side, he had just begun going into the full details of the matter.
The more King Acacia listened, the more his blood boiled. His face turned such a dense shade of red that Queen Acacia and King Belmont nearly had their sides splitting laughing at him.
The Son in Law he just dismissed as a cheater and commoner was the last disciple of his long-time allies?
He found their kingdom's next True Empath?
He had cleared out their ancient tomb?
He earned the three ancient texts?
He made their sentinels his body guards?
And worst yet…
He could cleanse True Empaths?
Queen Acacia rolled over on the couch laughing hysterically, clearly un-lady like. It was clear where Ri got much of her personality from.
"It seems," she wiped tears from her eyes, trying to catch her breath, "you're going to need to apologize to your son in law if you want his help."
Even Big Red was losing his serious demeanor, trying his best to withhold his laughter. However, he was failing terribly at that. His enormous, usually stoic figure, was practically bursting with giggles. It was the kind of thing one would have never expected to see from the Head of a Clan of assassins so many feared.
"You!" King Acacia turned his anger on his younger brother. "Why didn't you tell me about these things before!"
Uncle Acacia scratched the back of his head, "I told you that he had proved himself worthy. You should have believed in me."
King Belmont took a deep breath, finally stopping his laughing fit. "I warned you too, old friend. Didn't I say you'd come out on the losing end?"
