Aurora sat with one leg draped over the other. Gorgeous and elegant as always, yet her expression carried worry, annoyance, and perhaps even a trace of anger. Across from her, Justin looked far less composed. More accurately, he had no idea how to get rid of the awkward smile plastered across his face.
He knew he was in deep shit.
Aurora finally broke the silence with a heavy breath. "Justin... where is he?"
Justin immediately felt relieved since she was no longer just silently staring at him. At least she wasn't furious anymore. Placing his hands together, he answered, "He's in Dark Elf territory."
Aurora's frown deepened. "How did he even get there? We both know how dangerous that place is. He's only fifteen, Justin."
Justin smiled, looking considerably more relaxed. "He teleported there. Not through any conventional method used by spatial users either. That's about all I know regarding how he got there."
Aurora sighed. The fact that this idiot wasn't panicking told her he already knew exactly what was going on or at the very least , that Dante wasn't in trouble or danger.
"Can you stop pretending you don't know what I'm trying to ask? Why is he there? Why are you doing nothing? Moreover, why is he still here? Shouldn't he already be attending the academy? And what exactly are his abilities?"
Justin chuckled and leaned back in his chair. After thinking for a moment, he finally answered.
"Dante... is an anomaly. A truly absurd anomaly."
His expression slowly became serious.
"One who has attracted the attention of beings at your level. Even some at Ryan's level. My brothers' level. My father's level. My grandfather's level. Even mine. Do you need me to continue?"
Aurora's heartbeat quickened. At some point, she had unconsciously clenched the fabric of her robe. Her son had attracted the attention of such beings? How? What had he done? How had she failed to notice he was that special? What exactly had she given birth to?
Yet as she gradually calmed down, it also made sense. Her husband was a Sovereign. Not merely a Sovereign, but a being past even the Ancient Sovereign level. She herself stood only a step away from attaining that golden title of a Sovereign. Perhaps the child born from such beings had never been destined to be ordinary.
"Then what exactly does that mean?" she asked. "Is he exceptionally powerful? What made beings at even your level pay attention to him?"
Justin's expression became serious for a brief moment before he gave a sheepish chuckle.
"That child, before even reaching your level, managed to attract the attention of the Will of the World. You remember it, don't you? A few years ago. The whispers that spread throughout the world."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"The whispers about a 'Vile Creature.'"
Aurora's hand trembled.
Her mind was in complete disarray. Fear, excitement, worry, pride—everything mixed together.
"Dante was responsible for that?" she asked in disbelief. "But he was just a child back then. What could he possibly have done?"
Justin chuckled. He rolled his chair back, opened a drawer, and retrieved several documents. Returning to his desk, he handed them to her.
"Do you remember this incident?"
Aurora accepted the papers and began reading. After several moments, she paused before covering her face.
"That explains where Vexion came from. Those nobles had enemies everywhere. To think they would provoke the wrath of a thirteen-year-old child."
As she continued reading, understanding slowly dawned on her. The deaths of a few Archdukes weren't particularly important, nor were the Dukes. Most of them had already been sowing discord throughout the empire. What mattered was what the investigation uncovered afterward.
Illegal slave trafficking.
The selling of their own people.
Disgusting creatures.
And apparently, the hidden hero responsible for exposing it all had been Dante.
Aurora chuckled softly, her heart stirring with emotion. At the same time, she felt annoyed that her son insisted on doing everything in secret.
He had always been like that.
A warm smile appeared on her face as old memories resurfaced. She still remembered him climbing out of bed in the middle of the night when he was only two years old. Tiny, sleepy, and adorable, he would waddle of and back on the bed in her room demanding that she read stories to him.
Back then, when she had been devastated by the circumstances that forced her to deny him publicly, Dante had stood before her with tears in his eyes and his little fists clenched tightly. He had declared that the Duke responsible would pay for what he had done.
At the time, she thought it was merely the stubborn outrage of a child who loved his mother.
Now she knew better.
Dante could never have known about the slave operation hidden beneath everything. Yet somehow, he had acted anyway.
That little boy had done all of that for her.
Warmth spread through Aurora's chest. There had never been a moment when Dante was truly normal.
Looking up, she caught Justin staring shamelessly at her cleavage.
'To think this fool possesses such a powerful bloodline.'
None of his children were normal.
Jeremiah, the Second Prince, was apparently somewhere running from True Sages despite only being an Ascended Saint. How he had managed to anger them, nobody knew.
The First Princess wasn't much better. She had reportedly beheaded the child of an Enlightened Sage.
As for the Crown Prince, he was practically a younger version of Justin—a monstrous genius. Rumors claimed he was already Level 3 or even Level 4 within the Mythical tier despite being only thirty years old.
Aurora sighed inwardly.
'It took me centuries to reach Level 4.'
Interrupting Justin's staring, she asked, "Then how strong is Dante exactly?"
Justin coughed awkwardly before meeting her gaze again.
"I'm honestly not sure."
Aurora blinked.
Justin spread his hands helplessly.
"Just because I'm a hundred times stronger than someone doesn't mean I automatically understand everything about them. I can crush an ant without effort, but that doesn't mean I know its lifespan, habits, or biological structure."
He tapped the desk lightly.
"What I do know is that Dante possesses at least one skill capable of interfering with appraisals and detection abilities. He also has a skill directly connected to spatial manipulation. Those are the only ones I'm reasonably confident about."
His expression became thoughtful.
"Realistically, he has at least three skills, possibly more. Unless I call in a favor from someone whose appraisal abilities have reached the Mythical tier and higher, we won't know the full extent of what he's hiding."
Justin chuckled.
"And judging by his personality, I don't think he's particularly interested in telling us."
Aurora nodded, her pride only growing.
Justin, meanwhile, had reached the same conclusion years ago. It wasn't difficult to connect the dots. Dante had disappeared that night and returned with a young girl who had clearly spent years as a slave.
The culprit behind the massacre had never been found.
The rescued girls remembered nothing.
Not the face of their savior.
Not his voice.
Not even his appearance.
Nothing.
The investigation teams had searched extensively. Two Legendary-tier investigators with skills above Level 20 had personally examined the case and still found nothing.
Only one person fit all the clues.
Dante.
And Justin couldn't have been more proud.
'My children are royalty. I will protect them, if necessary, but it is good for them to possess strength of their own. Unless they ask for help, there is no need for me to interfere in their growth.'
Aurora finally continued.
"The reason I asked was because Haven contacted me. He asked whether I knew of a recently appeared Mythical Being, one who has a spatial manipulation skill"
For a second, Justin stared blankly.
Then he burst into laughter.
Aurora could only give a wry smile.
"That's what that bastard gets," Justin laughed. "He spent tens of thousands of years trying to evolve his Epic-tier skill into a Mythical one instead of just focusing on evolving his Legendary tier skill into the Mythical tier, he could have been at your level, look at him now."
He wiped away a tear.
"Now he's getting bullied by our son? Hahaha!"
Aurora couldn't help but laugh as well. Memories surfaced of ancient battlefields and old enemies. Very few from that era were still alive. Fewer still had managed to surpass their natural lifespans.
"In his defense," Aurora said with a small chuckle, "he wasn't born with a Mythical skill like we were. He only possessed one Epic-tier skill and one Legendary-tier skill."
Justin nodded.
"True."
His smile faded slightly.
"I think I'll need to talk to Dante."
Aurora raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"He might be strong, but I don't think he fully understands just how dangerous Haven really is."
Justin rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Though I am curious. Haven's abilities shouldn't have failed so completely. His appraisal skill isn't specialized for that singular purpose, but it's still powerful. The fact that he couldn't learn anything about Dante is strange."
Justin chuckled.
"Then again, Dante's concealment skill appears to be passive. He doesn't even need experience to keep people from appraising him."
Aurora nodded.
Whatever the case, it was clear.
Dante possessed extraordinarily powerful abilities.
"None of your children are normal," she said again.
Justin grinned proudly.
"Indeed. It was worth waiting all this time to have them."
Aurora smiled before asking one final question.
"Will you explain why Dante hasn't been sent to the academy yet?"
Justin's grin immediately faded. He scratched the back of his ear awkwardly.
"It's probably better if I explain that to both you and Dante at the same time."
Aurora immediately sensed something troublesome was involved. Still, she simply nodded before leaving him to his work.