Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away, in the Rong Empire, a beautiful girl, lovely and bright as the moon, was performing a sword dance which seemed mesmerizing and beautiful like music at the same time.
If Damien had seen her now, he would be a bit surprised to see how her beauty and elegance had refined noticeably.
Her angel-like face and figure were even more impeccably flawless, with her skin emanating a pure radiance that made her look holy and sacred.
She was draped in simple white training robes, but still, it only heightened her poetic beauty.
Her countenance coupled together with her sword dance was enough to spellbind children, men, and women alike.
It was nighttime, and thus the moonlight that came in through the inner courtyard perfectly highlighted her dance, and one could see a pure white light radiating from her sword as she performed her dreamy movements.
Her sword dance seemed mystical, and even the flowers in the garden around her seemed to swing left and right as if enjoying and dancing to her rhythm.
The ethereal aura emanating from her and her sword seemed to magically fuse with each other though not completely.
Surprisingly, the aura that was emanating from her was nowhere the same as when Damien last saw her. Even Damien would be astonished at the progress she had made while getting dazed at her angelic figure.
Soon, she slowed down her movements as her sword dance came to an errorless stop.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Grandpa, how was it?" She asked with a beatific smile as she turned around and looked at the middle-aged man sitting on a wooden garden chair.
If Damien saw this man, he would be surprised to know that this same person was the Rong Ancestor who once looked so thin and fragile with a wan face.
But now, as the man got up and came into the natural light, his body no longer looked weak but firm and strong as iron; his eyes as sharp as an eagle's; his beard and hair no longer completely white but mostly black with little shades of grey here and there.
Most importantly, his skin had a metallic sheen, making him look stronger and younger.
*Clap! Clap!*
The Rong Ancestor clapped with a proud light in his eyes as he said, "Wah! How beautiful! Did he really teach you to perform this sword dance?"
Lily radiantly smiled, hearing his compliment, and said, "He did not teach me this sword dance, but if he hadn't taught me true sword mastery, I would never have been able to come up with this dance on my own. His teachings were truly enlightening and profound, making me feel as if not even any senior experts from the Lancaster Empire can match him. This was the same feeling I had about him from the day I saw him fight."
The Rong Ancestor let out a relieved sigh and said, "It's truly puzzling. I really wonder about the true origins of this boy. Is he really from the small-sized Ward Family? What I am sure of is that there is more to him than meets the eye."
Lily said with a glazed stare, "I don't really care about his origins anymore. I love him just as the person he is right now. Oh no…" Lily realized she accidentally slipped up something she wasn't planning to tell for now.
"Love?" The Rong Ancestor raised his brows and asked, "Did I hear that right? Is my granddaughter finally admitting love for a boy? And here I thought you only considered him as a close friend. Isn't that what you always say to me?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Lily's expression became abashed, and she indeed did not want to admit to the Rong Ancestor that Damien was her lover yet not knowing whether he would be okay with it.
After all, Damien was not a prince, nor was he coming from an influential family. Since the Rong Ancestor basically looked after the entire empire, she felt that even if he doted on her, he might not like a nobody like Damien marrying her in front of the entire empire.
After all, it could raise many questions among the people and become a cause for the empire's enemies to deal a blow to the empire using politics. Lily thought that as the Ancestor of the Rong Empire, he would surely feel responsible for all this.
That's why Lily decided to break the news after Damien had made a name for himself and made others realize his greatness and potential, including her ancestor, who was protective of her and had always told her that she deserves only the best man in the world.
Of course, these things could only hold true if Damien was able to pull out Lily from the difficult situation that laid ahead in the future.
"I-I...grandpa...I am sorry...I wanted to—-"
"Don't say anymore," The Rong Ancestor said with a disappointed sigh, making Lily worry, thinking whether he was disappointed in her.
She was concerned since she cared very much about her ancestor since he was a grandfather figure to her and the one who took care of her after her father's death.
She also knew that without him, she wouldn't be here right now and might have been married away as a political asset to some other empire.
The Rong Ancestor continued in a disappointed tone, "Lily, I never thought that you would be like this. Do you really don't consider me as your grandfather?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Lily panicked as her heart filled with unease, "No, Grandpa! I-I didn't mean to hide it...I really...really love him. I can't ever love anyone else...you have to believe me. I would rather—-"
"Hohoho!" The Rong Ancestor laughed aloud, hearing Lily's serious and determined words.
Lily, who was about to pour out her true thoughts felt nonplussed seeing him laugh and wondered if she said something funny.
Ancestor Rong stopped laughing and looked at Lily with a warm smile, "Silly girl, when did I ever tell you not to love Damien? What I felt disappointed about was that you didn't tell me this before. Don't you have faith in me, or when have I ever failed you before when it came to your happiness? Lily, even if you have not said anything, I would have been the one to ask you first whether you would like to marry Damien because that boy is the only one who seemed to deserve your hand."
"Grandpa…" Lily's heart stirred and felt bad for misunderstanding him and also for not telling him beforehand.
But at the same time, she felt as if a weight was taken off her heart, making her feel even more relieved knowing that she had the complete support of the most powerful person in the Rong Empire and one of the people whose opinions she cared about the most.
Now she had no uneasiness or worries left knowing that she had his support and that he was happy with the person she had chosen as her life partner.
"Don't tell me you were worried that I would oppose, especially my benefactor who healed me to my present state? I owe him my life, and I have already seen the way you look at him and talk with him. How could I not know the feelings of my granddaughter? Don't worry. I will always support you both, no matter what. Leave all the boring political stuff to Damien and me. We men will take care of them," Ancestor Rong said with shining eyes.
Lily's eyes welled up as she hugged him, "Thank you, grandpa."
"Haha, no need for all that," Ancestor Rong smiled as he patted her head and continued, "It seems like the sudden increase in your strength, and everything is also because of him, right?"
Lily slowly looked up at him and nodded, "But he told me to not—-"
"Of course, I understand. We men always like to be secretive... makes us look more mysterious. You have to be careful with that lad...he seems like the kind of person who could get popular with girls."
Lily blushed and felt that there might be some truth to his words.
Suddenly, they heard the air whistling, and they both looked up to see it was a letter enclosed in an envelope.
Lily's eyes lit up seeing the letter, and she rushed forward to grab it with an ecstatic smile.
"Your lover really is a romanticist...sending love letters..." Ancestor Rong chuckled while shaking his head while reminiscing his younger days.
Lily's cheeks reddened hearing his comment but her hands eagerly opened the letter to see what her lover had written to her this time.
——-
Meanwhile, in the Xeton Empire, a sapphire-haired girl with picturesque beauty was sitting on the balcony of her residence in the Xeton Ethereal Foundation, looking at the letter in her hands.
"What are you up to, Damien? Leaving without my permission..." Reva mumbled as she lifted her head and looked at the distant full moon.
She wondered what he was doing in the Gale Empire and why he had asked for an indefinite leave. Without her knowing, she was feeling lonely after reading the letter, making her breathtaking countenance look a bit sullen.
But no one knew if it was because she had no one to talk to and discuss her favorite subject with or because of something more.
