The room grew silent, as even the sniffling Ori got quiet when she heard her brother speak up against her father.
The duchess looked shocked and Lucius seemed like he was about to burst with anger. The duke on the other hand was cold like he was contemplating his next set of words to say.
Trevain himself was surprised at his outburst. He didn't think he had it in him, especially not in front of the duke he so feared. However, seeing both Saphandra and Ning talk to their father with no fear, gave him the courage to speak his heart.
"I will give you one chance to apologize," the duke said with no emotion in his voice.
Trevain shuddered. He had used up his courage in an impulse to tell off his father, but now he was feeling like a deflated balloon.
'What should I do?' he thought. But then, he saw Ning smile to the side and remembered what he had said back the boat. 'I should stand up for myself.'
His resolve strengthened and he looked directly at the Duke's eyes. "I don't want to marry a clearly retarded girl. She's 36 and needs to be supported by her family to do even the most basic of things. Why would I ever want to marry a girl like that?" he spoke up.
"So you will not only not apologize for what you said, but you still want to go against me?" the Duke said. "Fine, then I make a decree here that you will marry this girl."
"No!" Trevain said. "Get your other sons to marry her if you want. Lucius seems to be fine with any girl he gets, just make him marry her then. Or better yet, isn't Lanley in First Bond school too? Why don't you have him marry her then if you want to become family with the vice headmaster?"
"Both Lanley and Lucius are loyal and respectful. Also they aren't a coward like you who runs off at the smallest sign of struggle," the Duke said. "Why would I want to ruin their lives when I have you?"
"Coward? I was 14. You beat me when I couldn't summon a Rank 5 beast when I was 14. I have scars that still burn at night from the time you beat me and you dare say I was a coward?" Trevain asked. "If running away from an abuser was cowardice then I hope everyone in this family was a coward too. You do not deserve any one of us around you."
The air grew solemn as no one dared speak after that. The duchess fidgeted around not knowing if she should speak or not. She knew her husband was in the wrong, but she also knew his temper. If someone really pushed him to the limit where he snapped, she wouldn't know how she could protect her sons.
"Say whatever you want," the Duke didn't care what Trevain thought. "I have already made my choice and no one can change it."
The duke's decree wasn't something anyone could just go against. Now that he was adamant on it, Trevain had no chance at all. He doubted he could even run away now that everyone would be on the lookout for it.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." Ning shook his head. "You couldn't do anything yourself, so now you need your son's help. And somehow you still have the gall to say that you are a duke and everything you say goes."
"Shut your mouth," the Duke said. "You have no place or right to talk to a duke like this and just even going against me is punishable by death. The only reason I'm keeping you alive is because you are a guest and I don't treat my guests unfairly. So, eat your food, take a nap, and leave in the morning."
Ning was a little surprised that the duke was so angry, but it made sense. He continued smiling and said, "You're right. I don't have the right or authority to make you do anything. I should fix that."
Suddenly, Ning vanished.
The duke jumped out of his seat immediately, and prepared for counter attack. Lightning flared around Lucius as he too got ready to attack Ning when he appeared next to his father. However, Ning was truly nowhere to be seen.
3 seconds later, Ning reappeared back on his seat. And next to him, on the seat closest to Trevain was an old man with gray hair, that was scared, surprised, shocked, and confused all at the same time.
"Whe-where am I?" the old man shouted.
The duke's eyes went wide and he shouted. "You bastard? What is this? Some sort of illusion?"
"Illusion? Of course not. You said I didn't have the right or place, so I brought someone who does," Ning said.
"Grecain? What's going on? Where did you bring me?" the old man shouted rather angrily.
"Your majesty, I did not bring you here. It was that bastard," the duke pointed to Ning. With his word, everyone in the room immediately realized who Ning had brought back home.
"Your majesty," everyone but Saphandra collectively stood up and bowed towards the old man, for he was the Emperor of the Taminghall empire.
"You brought me here? Why? Who are you?" the Emperor asked Ning, ignoring the others who were bowing to him.
"Well, to be truthful with you, you don't know who I am, and I don't know who you are. The duke said that I wasn't allowed to debate with him because it wasn't my place. So I needed your help to tell him that I can," Ning said. "You will, right?"
The Emperor could clearly hear the hidden threat in Ning's words and quickly nodded. "Grecain, let the young man talk."
"Thank you, your majesty," Ning said and turned to the duke. "So, let us converse on why it is a bad thing to try and force your son to marry someone that is nearly twice his age just so you can have a bit more influence."
