The silence was loud.
Lady Rose's gold-like verve suppressed everyone from moving upon hearing Lidien's words.
Lidien felt his body being forcefully squeezed as if two large boulders were pressing him from both sides.
Lady Rose laughed, a sound that harmonized with the thunderous crackle of her verve.
"Vassal?"
She stood and walked slowly toward where Lidien was.
Every step she took made Lidien grunt from the pressure steadily rising.
As his nose bled from enduring it, Lady Rose abruptly stopped her gold-like verve from exuding, easing Lidien's pain.
As the pressure vanished, he stared into Lady Rose's eyes. To his shock, they were moist and red, while she bit her lips hard enough to make them bleed.
She blinked and her eyes turned back to normal, while her lips healed from the bleeding wound.
'Lily was right... Mother genuinely loves us.'
Though he said those words based on the available resources and power that he had as of now, Lidien was still thinking of a sureproof plan that would definitely revive Lily.
'I'll just use the Dark Wolf Clan to attack another settlement and use their blood to produce a Blood Essence.'
Lidien locked his eyes with Lady Rose, stern and steady.
"Trust me."
Two words, but with a deeper meaning... that only both of them understood.
Revive Lily.
Mother didn't care if the Dark Wolf Clan were wiped out or became a vassal; she only cared whether Lily would be revived using their blood, without anyone noticing it...
And once Lily was revived... she would surely be a Guardian, planting the Blood Rose Clan so deep that its roots would either conquer the whole Savage Expanse or become an Indestructible Clan within it.
Lady Rose turned her back and proceeded to her throne-like seat.
"Don't let me down, My Son."
Lidien heaved a sigh of relief before smiling toward Kyer, making him shiver down his spine.
"W-what? I haven't scammed you yet!"
Azer and Aria laughed at his reply while Rax only gripped his hands, changing the atmosphere back to its chaotic ambience.
Lidien pulled out a Thousand Merit Slip and put it on the table as he eyed Kyer, who was looking at the slip salivating.
"You know, being a merchant would bring you more gold than being a scammer... so, do you want me to invest in you?"
Kyer leaned on the table and scrutinized Lidien, thinking about what the child in front of him was yapping about, but glancing once again at the slip on the table he just helplessly shook his head.
Money speaks louder than words.
"Okay Lidien... tell me this brilliant plan of yours..."
Lidien laughed as his eyes shone brightly, pretending to be a child with a brilliant mind.
"Simple... we hoard all Xocoatl... and sell it overpriced..."
Then he glanced at Azer smiling as his eyes crescent.
"As we have our sure buyer here..."
Kyer gulped and looked at Azer who looked back at him.
"Damn Lidien... you're going to get me killed..."
Shaking his head another time, Kyer smiled and made a thumbs-up toward Lidien.
"But rich! I'm in!"
Happily getting the Thousand Merit Slip from Lidien, Kyer said his goodbye and immediately left the hall, leaving his Mother and siblings behind, stupefied.
"Don't forget to give me plenty of Xocoatl! I want to drink some of it!"
Lidien shouted, only to be replied with a waving hand gesture behind Kyer's back.
Aria shook her head and smiled at the still beaming Lidien.
"Why give him a chance to scam you?"
Lidien only sighed and tapped his table while staring at his ring.
"He would not, since I was the one who initiated it, not him... unlike a certain someone who easily believes in him."
Rax shook from anger, but couldn't face Lidien as he didn't drop his name... as his pride wouldn't let him be the "certain someone" even though he was sure Lidien was talking about him.
Aria and Azer laughed again, making Rax's face become red from anger, yet Lidien just continued to play with the tablecloth.
"Lidien... if you need money, you can surely ask for my assistance... I'll give you plenty of it," said Aria while glancing now and then at Mother.
"I'm okay... Lily gave me thousands of Merit slips... she made me rich..."
Lidien then pulled out tens of Thousand Merit Slips and gently waved them, fanning himself.
Aria bit her lips, but before she could get a Merit Slip in her space ring to present to Lidien she was stopped by Azer.
"Mother... I need to teach Lidien a lesson... to respect his older brother and sister..."
Azer grabbed Lidien's arm and pulled him out of the hall leaving everyone behind.
As they exited the hall, Azer flicked Lidien's forehead making him rub it from itchiness.
"You sly kid, you think Aria will let you escape if you accepted her Merit Slip... Never... her envy can only be controlled if Mother is present..."
Rubbing his forehead, Lidien laughed and walked toward the exit trying to escape Azer.
"See you brother! I need to read books in the Knowledge Spire!"
But failed when Azer grabbed his head and forcefully made Lidien stare at him.
"Let's go to the Training Hall, I'll teach you better techniques that would surely let you win against some warriors of the Dark Wolf Clan."
Lidien followed Azer; though it couldn't be seen, he was excited to learn from the General rather than going to the Knowledge Spire, since he knew that although knowledge could help someone survive, Martial Prowess was still the law that this world followed.
'The more I act like the old Lidien, the more I'm hating his personality...'
Lidien's plan to act like he lost his memories was gone when Lily died. However, his will to survive and get stronger was enhanced when he learned how to act and adapt depending on the situation.
Making trial and error doing scheme and politics with his life.
As Lidien and Azer got to the training hall, they immediately changed into training clothes; it was plain and simple, making both of them move without hindrances.
"Do you know how Humans... can compete with us Demons even though they don't have a Dreamflow like us?"