"A dinner?" Emi raised her eyebrows, feeling that something was up.

  "Yup. My distant retives came to mess things up. They are coming over for dinner tonight." Ren repeated it, smiling at her.

  "And how does this concern me at… all?" She asked, raising her eyebrows even further, while she was submerged in the pool below the mansion, right up to her neck.

  "It's not like I commanded you to attend; it was a suggestion." Ren shrugged. "Only they come from the Kingdom, and we don't have the best retionship with them, to be honest. I would call it… votile."

  "So? It's none of my business." Emi replied immediately, but after a bit of silence, she continued, "The Kingdom… is it the other human empire?"

  "Yeah, my mother was born there, but ter got exiled before I was even born. I'd wanted to show them that we are not barbarians keeping demons as pets, unlike how they do it. Especially because they are here to cause some trouble. But, well, I can't order you to a dinner you don't want to attend!"

  "What did you just say?!" She stood up suddenly, her eyes twitching.

  "Huh? That I won't force you."

  "No, not that! About that Kingdom and us!" She shook her head, his hands balling up into a fist.

  "What? Keeping pets? I thought you knew, given how you were talking about us at first and everything. Niji never told you?"

  "Expin. Now." She said with an annoyed voice as she got an itch that Ren was just pying with her, yet she couldn't ignore it now.

  "He was snatched up when a little baby and raised there," Ren said as she shrugged her shoulders, "being a pet and entertainment. They keep demon folk as household pets and sve bor or something like that; I never went there myself, so it's only hearsay."

  "Those scum…!"

  "Easy there, you are still weak!" She chuckled, "Their group consists of almost a dozen experts; if you pick a fight, even we couldn't defend you in time."

  "..." Emi trembled a little because she knew Ren was speaking the truth... "You clearly have something pnned, or you wouldn't waste your words on me like this."

  "Nothing much, really." She smiled at Emi, "I just want you and Niji to attend."

  "To be… decorations?" Emi asked, slowly unfurling her fingers.

  "It's just a dinner."

  "I may be hot-tempered, but I am not stupid!"

  "Bait." Ren nodded, "You are going to be bait," she told her as she came clean.

  "You want to use us as bait?" She whispered, slowly sitting back down, watching Ren, who stood smilingly at the edge of the pool.

  "Yup. I want to know if they are here to make my marriage hard on me or if they are here for something else. If they are here for you and Niji, trying to maybe capture or kill you to throw my… Well, our pns, straight into the trash, then it will come out naturally if they see you two." Ren expined, walking around the pool's edge. "As we didn't introduce you to the masses, the st thing they will expect is that we would show your presence to foreign people, especially if those guests are clearly not on friendly terms with us. This will throw them into disarray; it will show if you are their target or not. Especially on that Yurik fellow's face," she chuckled, nibbling her thumb while speaking. "I enraged him enough that he wouldn't be able to control his feelings, and we can read their intentions through him. Do they want to py? Or not? Because either way, I'll flip the table on them!"

  "What if they attack on sight?"

  "It's a risk." She nodded, "But it is better than being a prey, to get targeted by something that we can't defend against or predict."

  "You are pying with my life here. But at least you are honest about it! Why were you bullshitting me from the start?" Emi asked, shaking her head.

  "Ehehe, you spent some time with Poli to pick up lines like that?" Ren giggled pyfully, but before Emi could spsh some water on her, she was already on her way out. "Wear something sexy; we want this to be effective!"

  "Such a… tsk…! After I recover, I'll mop the forest floor with her…." Emi grumbled, touching the long scar on her body, running her finger along it as Poli's determined face came up in her mind, holding his sword, "Hmph!" She shook her head, trying to chase his face out of her mind, and submerged herself in the water, trying to rex.

  …….…..

  "Being bait? Sure." Niji nodded immediately as she started to expin it to him.

  "That was fast!" Ren ughed, seeing his reaction.

  "I have no problems with it. I'm also interested in them; I never met with the Naulin royal bloodline, only heard about them. I really want to see their special eyes in action."

  "Special eyes?" Ren asked, tilting her head.

  "You don't know? I thought you did. Your mother did not tell you?" Niji leaned back in his chair, surprised.

  "We never talked about her family. Every time it came up, she had the expression of having a dagger twisted in her heart. I never asked because of it, nor did I ever care..."

  "I see. Well, it has something to do with a special affinity." Niji muttered, pursing his lips, "It is not clearly an elemental-based thing as it always acts as a second attribute, but more… mmm, how did she say… soul-based."

  "They… have an affinity for… souls?" Ren asked, thinking about it, holding her small chin.

  "Something like that, I don't know the specifics. I could be wrong!" he shrugged, "All I know is that it has something to do with the eyes. That's what separates main family members from the branch, how much they have of it. Can they use it or not..."

  "Only those who can use it count as important?"

  "Yes, it's something to do with the eye color; it is the base telling sign." Niji added, "It represents the capability of learning the skill. It works like… hypnosis? I'm not sure; my previous owner never expined it clearly, as it is the royal family's secret. We only know that it can manipute and dominate others' minds, and the only ones seen using it were all purple-eyed, royal family members, just like you."

  "So I could learn it?" Ren asked, suddenly her eyes fshing, "Mmm, intriguing. Now I am really interested... Maybe if they stir up some trouble, I should capture some of them and extract the information from their minds." She smiled like a fox.

  "You pn on capturing them? Wouldn't it cause some trouble?"

  "Hm? Who says they disappeared here?" She asked innocently, "They were on their way home; who knows if a dangerous bandit group jumped on them or something. The roads are unsafe, especially now, as I heard some small kingdoms are having a hissy fit at the borders. Usually, it happens when a new Emperor gets elected, and different interest groups fight to pledge allegiance or switch sides~!" Ren giggled dangerously, licking her lips. "They could've gone missing somewhere, gotten into trouble; the possibilities are endless!"

  "You are… something else." Niji shook his head, unable to stop himself from ughing.

  "Ahaha~ I was always told that. Some even called me mad."

  "Close. If you think this is a good idea, I'm up for it."

  "No worries, it will be fine. We will py with them!" Ren leaned back in her chair, stretching, "Today, I only want to enrage them as much as possible so they make a mistake that we can capitalize on. Sentios looked calm and collected, but that Uncle of mine is an idiot. I'll push him to the limit~! It's going to be fun!"

  "Well… now I also look forward to today's dinner."

  …….…..

  "I hope you will control your temper now," Sentios said as they neared the General's house.

  Only Sentios, Yurik, Astair, and two other Naulin experts came for dinner, as the rest were hiding in the shadows, ready to use the night's cover to sneak around and find clues about the possible whereabouts of the demons. While everyone is entertaining the main group, they could move in and out without being noticed... at least, that was the pn.

  "I will hold back, rex," Yurik responded in a calm voice.

  "What do we know about the prince's strength?" Astair asked suddenly.

  "What we could gather is limited." Sentios replied, "He started young, younger than you did. He won a competition a few years back... In the final match, he matched up against Ren."

  "He is stronger than her?" He asked back, surprised.

  "Back then, they were close in strength; since then, the girl skyrocketed." Sentios shrugged, shaking his head, "Sadly, that news never reached us! I will have to see why, but... Yes. I scanned the prince; he was not at the Harmony Realm, but I felt a strong aura, so he must be close."

  "You say he is stronger than me? How old is he? Twenty?" Astair scoffed, feeling stifled.

  "Eighteen."

  "Nonsense! I can't believe it!" He harrumphed, biting his lips angrily.

  "It is hard to believe, I agree. Still, better to be safe; you are still young and have years ahead of you to catch up." Sentios tried to calm him down. "Act naturally..."

  That was when they arrived, and Hal greeted them at the main entrance.

  "I welcome you all. Please, follow me to the dining room; we have already prepared everything." He said, his voice calm as he led them on.

  "So my sister is not even here to welcome us?" Yurik smirked, but as soon as the words came out between his lips, the rest were stuck in his throat. The reason was simple: when they walked in, they were greeted by a long table full of delicacies, but the most shocking thing was the giant chimpanzee sitting next to a fox girl, already eating.

  Their brains suddenly couldn't process the scenery, and it was Sentios who recovered the fastest, coming in without a change in expression, aside from his pupils being smaller than ever before. Yurik swallowed back everything he had pnned to say, following his example, trying to maintain a calm look as he sat down where he had been shown to sit. The st guest, Astair, immediately locked onto Ren, ignoring the beasts. Of course, she was zily sitting in Leinor's p, enjoying his hand on her stomach while he fed her, like two lovebirds stuck in their own little world.

  "Where are the General and the Madam?" Sentios asked, looking around as neither Xendar nor Anya was there.

  "Mm?" Ren looked at him smilingly, "They won't be coming, especially my mother; she doesn't want to meet with you. Also, my Father is afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself and kill you."

  "Preposterous!" Yurik smmed his hand on the table. "You are making a mockery out of the official envoys of the Kingdom!"

  "Oh? I thought this was a family dinner… Uncle." Ren leaned forward, got hold of a cup, and sipped some wine before leaning back in Leinor's p while Emi and Niji just continued having their dinner, ignoring them. "I'm more surprised you asked about my mother and not about my guests. Have you already met?"

  "Nope." Niji looked up first, focusing his eyes on Yurik. "I never met any of them."

  "Emi?"

  "No." She replied with a short, cold answer, not even looking at anyone.

  "We are used to seeing demons." Sentios answered, signaling with his eyes to Yurik to calm down, "The Kingdom is no stranger to demon folk, unlike the Empire. We have a long-standing connection with them."

  "You mean the kidnappings?" Emi grumbled, folding her metal fork in two, looking at them sideways with murderous eyes.

  "We do not kidnap," Sentios answered diplomatically, "But yes, we defend ourselves from the demonic attacks that periodically happen. I'd call them… prisoners of war."

  "Sure." Emi grabbed another fork, ignoring them once again.

  "I see." Ren nodded, humming to herself, "Well, there are no prisoners here but friends. Let me introduce them to you! She is Emi, emissary of Lady Rumira, leader of the fox tribes. Also, Lady Rumira is a lovely, friendly, and smart leader; you should meet with her sometime." She kept going on, surprising Emi, but she made sure not to show it. "It was very beneficial to have her meet with the Emperor; she is incredibly strong, and I could only guess that she must be at the level of the Third Harmony realm! Emi here is like a daughter to her~!" Ren added with a giggle, spinning the little nonsense she made up, which almost made Emi choke on the chunk of meat she was chewing. "Niji here is the leader of another demon folk city. Yep, an entire city! It's a union of multiple tribes and their separate leaders, all strong fighters, commanding a horde of lesser demons. It's great to have friends like this." She smiled as Niji went with her little story.

  "Please," He nodded at Ren, "Putting aside our differences, we found a lot of common interests, and we are happy to work together."

  On the other hand, Sentios just listened calmly, yet deep inside, he was cursing, looking at Ren, who bravely met his eyes, smiling innocently. He couldn't tell if it was real or not... but he had hunches. But those are not enough. What if she isn't lying?! Damn it... Damn that child! "We need to go… we walked into a trap." Sentios groaned deep inside, transmitting his voice to the rest.

  "You are sowing alliances with… demons?" Yurik gritted his teeth, ignoring Sentios's warning.

  "Mmm? What? You just said you have a long history with demon folk." Leinor snorted, finally speaking up.

  "I'm not talking to you, boy! Don't you feel ashamed?" Yurik spat everywhere, watching the two lovebirds, not giving them any face at all. He felt like being spped every minute he had to watch them act like this. "I see my sister raised a whore of a creature! Like a mother, like a daughter!"

  Surprisingly, Ren did not react, just smiled, taking a bite from the slice of fruitcake Leinor put before her mouth.

  "She is my wife. This is a family dinner. I see nothing wrong here." Leinor answered while Ren was gently sucking on his fingers, licking them clean, making even Emi blush, averting her eyes.

  "Family dinner? This is a farce!" Yurik smirked.

  "I agree." Astair also nodded, followed by how Sentios sighed as he knew they had miscalcuted things... They never expected Ren would go against any rational thinking or tradition, forsaking any unwritten rules of nobles to adhere to and just do what she wanted. And the fact that Xendar and Anya were not here... was another warning bell. They walked into a trap.

  "This is just a dinner; what are you so upset about? You didn't even take a bite yet." Ren snorted at them, "You are the rude one here, refusing to eat the food we carefully prepared for you!" she added, pouting, "What? Is our food too mundane for your taste? We are sorry, we are just a small noble family and not royalty here; we can't please the fancy needs of someone who was spoiled since childhood!"

  "Nobles? You act like an uneducated commoner, a cheap whore at a brothel!" Yurik continued, now completely loosening his lips.

  "I heard that before!" Ren rolled her eyes, looking up at Leinor. "Say, LeiLei, what do you think? Was he hit on the head a bit too much when he was a child? Maybe that's why he repeats himself so often."

  "That is a probability. His face too… It looks deformed; maybe it's a birth defect." Leinor pondered, watching Yurik's face change colors multiple times.

  "Luckily, Mother didn't inherit the same looks..." Ren agreed, sighing sadly, looking at him with pity in her eyes.

  "Some monkeys carry the same face structure; I saw their skulls at Shaman's pce," Niji added, while Emi just lowered her head, trembling, holding back her ughter as this was the first time she was part of something this… childish yet… fun.

  "Oh, you're right; they did say they have a long history with demons… maybe they really love them!" Leinor nodded with an expression showing realization. "Can a demon and a human make kids?"

  That was when Yurik lost his composure and simply tried to assault Leinor with his aura, expecting to overpower him as he had the lowest cultivation level here besides Astair. Yet, the moment his aura hit them at the other end of the table, it just dispersed like nothing, as Ren continued speaking.

  "Did you feel that?" Ren looked around, sitting in Leinor's p.

  "Mmm? I don't feel anything." Leinor answered, shrugging.

  "Exactly." She giggled before turning to Sentios. "Your boyfriend here doesn't like the food... If it's not to your taste either, maybe you should go."

  "You are pying with fire," Sentios answered, speaking calmly, surprising Ren a little. But... only a little.

  "Do I?" Ren asked, tilting her head sideways. "You are in for a rude awakening if you think that. I don't know who fed you the idea to come here and mess with my marriage or do something shady, underhanded, vile thing. But you are in over your head if you think the number of people you brought is enough," she threatened him openly. "Keep this up, and you never leave."

  "I don't know what you are talking about." Sentios stood up, pushing Yurik's words back into his throat, keeping his hand on him. "But you just insulted the official envoys of a different country. Don't you think you are untouchable? We came because the King wishes to meet with his offspring and welcome you back into the royal bloodline, giving you the title of Princess… and you act like this. You bring shame on everybody around you!"

  "Insulted? You dare to use that word?" Ren giggled, still looking rexed. "I have not done that yet. Also… I'm already a Princess~!" She said as she caressed Leinor's face, then gave him a deep kiss in front of everyone. "I couldn't care less about your Kingdom's titles and rules as I am the Princess of the Empire of Aerthus." She climbed out of his p, standing on the table so she was at eye level with Sentios. "But what would a dog like you know? You were spared by your brother and my Father, and you joined another country's royal family as a hound. You lost any respect you had for yourself right then and there. You came here parading around and acting like you were still royalty... Yet you are nothing but just unwanted guests who came for my wedding. No?"

  "..." Sentios still looked calm, not leaking out any aura, yet his eyes were cold and turning even more freezing by the minute.

  "Or you came for something else?" Ren smiled at him. "If not, then honestly… I feel you should leave and return to your own country."

  "We came-" Astair stood up, holding the King's order, but then a thundering boom resonated in the room, and Ren was already before him, lifting him up by the neck, holding the paper in her other hand, turning it into scraps.

  "Another word, and I will break your neck," She whispered as by then everyone stood, and their different auras cshed violently, yet Ren alone overpowered the group, drawing their attention to only herself.

  "Release him," Sentios spoke first, his voice calm and unbothered.

  "Sure." Ren tossed Astair to him with a sneer, "Now I am ready to start insulting you. Gather your shit and leave! You are no longer invited to my wedding, not that you were in the first pce. Bring my message to your King, and rey it word by word..." She looked them in their eyes, fshing a grin at them, "If you have something to say, come by yourself and ask for forgiveness from my mother first. Then we'll talk."

  "I will rey it. Just as you said." Sentios answered with a monotone voice before taking a st look at everyone and leaving, literally grabbing onto Yurik and dragging him away. At the same time, Astair followed them with a lowered head, rubbing his throat, trying not to choke.

  "That was fun!" Ren cpped as they left, while another door opened, and Xendar walked out with a smile, followed by Hal closely behind him.

  "I'm gd you had a fun night, but go cheer up your mother after this! She is still not feeling well."

  "I'll do it." Ren nodded immediately, then looked at the two questioningly. "How's the haul?"

  "We got one. He is down in the basement." Xendar smiled at her, "You will be able to interrogate him tomorrow... Your mother comes first!"

  "Mm. Thanks, Dad! Uncle Hal!"

  "Ahaha, take it as a present from your daddy~" Xendar finally ughed happily, hugging his daughter and showering her with kisses, making Ren ugh like a child.

  "Humans are weird," Emi murmured, watching them act like this.

  "I agree." Niji nodded, sighing at the same time as her... but he enjoyed it. And enjoyed it a lot.