1349 Respite

Two weeks passed without any alarming issues. After the recent chaos, Varian finally found a sense of stability in training and rest.

As an old saying went, in the whole cosmos, homeland was sublime and home divine.

So he enjoyed the paradise.

The little chatters in the morning, the snack breaks in the afternoon, the playful fights in the evening and the quiet gazes at night.

Sia enjoyed watching him gorge down the food she cooked, Sarah enjoyed evening walks with him, Enigma enjoyed snuggling him into his arms in the quiet of the night.

Isadora interacted with him frequently but spent most of her time training or…with Sonya and the maid Reina.

Reina had a fanatic reverence toward Isadoara and followed her everywhere until she was told not to.

"Your Highness, this is your favorite dessert~"

"No."

"Please open your mouth~"

"I'm not hungry."

"It tastes best when it's still cold~"

"…"

Reluctant yet expectant, Isadora parted her lips and the dessert came flying in.

"Hmm~"

A pleasant sensation exploded in her mouth, bringing her both nostalgia and joy.

"How is it?"

"Pack it."

"Huh?"

"Pack a bunch of these. When I bragged about my favorite dessert, I was ridiculed. They didn't believe me."

"How dare they?!" Reina trembled in anger and she viciously cut the dessert with her knife, her hands turned into afterimages. "We'll show them, Your Highness. We'll show them!"

"It includes that bastard too. He doesn't believe me at all." Isadora gnashed her teeth.

Reina's hand froze before her fingers started shivering. "Y-Yes?"

Varian's eyes flashed in her mind and an overwhelming fear enveloped her being.

"On second thought, this isn't my best. I'll try it again!" Reina said with a strong expression and pulled back the dessert that Isadora was about to grab.

"…"

Isadora bit her lip in frustration and slapped in the back.

"Ouch!"

Sonya who was trying to steal her sister's dessert was caught red handed and backed off with a bitter expression. Shaking her red wrist, she looked on with an aggrieved expression, as if she was treated in an unjust manner.

"You had your share already."

"But I want yours!"

"And why?"

"My sister's tastes the best." She gave the habitual answer.

Isadora turned around and narrowed her eyes.

Sonya was a tall woman. With long pink hair and light pink skin, she's hailed as a great beauty across the kingdom.

But…

"Be careful with what you say," Isadora rubbed her forehead. "These two are already discussing how to 'end' you."

"Which two?"

"My dear 'sisters'." Isadora parted her lips and sighed. "They came up with 31 plans as of now. The least painful one involves a hundred sword cuts."

"They're crazy!"

"Never said they weren't. So be careful with what you say."

Sonya pursed her lips and nodded with a depressed expression.

What could she, a pure, cute and helpless princess do in front of these tyrranical women?

And why would they ever assume she's mentally deranged enough to love that tyrant of a man?

*** *** *** ***

"Should I send you to your kid's kindergarten? You look like you belong there!"

Boom!

With a muffled sound, a sword spun in the air and lodged into the ground.

"No, I'll send you to infant care! You infantile bastard! Why is your grip weaker than a child's? Pick it up! Go fucking pick it back up!"

With bleeding hands, the newly promoted rank 4 Adept picked the sword with a determined expression.

It was as if he would die than surrender.

But—

"What is that? Swing it properly! That's a sword, not a gauntlet! Put more force! Use your full body! Full damn body!"

Boom!

Coughing out blood, the man crashed into an invisible barrier before sliding down. There wasn't a sliver of aura left in his body.

"Not bad, he's now able to use 5% of a rank 4's power." Varian nodded in satisfaction and left for the next.

On the Pluto planetoid, there were many such spherical barriers and many pained groans.

But the man responsible for the misery couldn't stop smiling. Their cries must've sounded like music to his ears.

"Had training others ever been so satisfying?" Varian muttered as he raised his foot.

With the first step, he moved out of the planetoid and reached Uranus. With the next step, he reached Earth.

The training of the celestial warriors continued without stop.

— — — — —

"Just a bit more."

"Almost, almost there!"

"Yes! Yes!"

Varian's and Sarah's intense voices rang in a practice room. Their breathings ragged and their tones weak.

With a dumbfounded expression, Isadora walked to the door and stopped 'These shameless couple! Sarah even invited me here! What is she thinking?'

To Isadora, Sarah had long stopped being a 'bug' she could dismiss. Now, this woman was an annoyance she couldn't rid of.

And she's unlike Sia or Enigma. They at least pretended to listen to her words sometimes. But she? She seemed to take pleasure in actively opposing her.

"Ah, it broke!" Sarah's exclamation rang.

'W-What? It broke? What broke?' Sia's panicked voice rang in Isadora's head and for a moment, her body was controlled.

Before she knew it, Isadora pushed the door open and stepped in.

Unlike her active imagination, Varian and Sarah were fully clothed, seated cross-legged in the air, facing each other. And a click was heard from Sarah right when she saw them.

And then, as if flood gates were open, Sarah's aura began to skyrocket.

Varian and Isadora were blasted back like trees blown away by a tornado. As they pulled themselves back up, Isadora grabbed Varian's collar. "You broke the legacy?"

Varian pinched her cheeks and pulled them apart to make a funny face.

"Lees goww?"

"Let go of the collar and I'll let go of your face."

"…"

Isadora removed her hand from his collar and turned to the side.

"S-Sorry, too e-excited." She whispered quieter than an ant's walk but Varian managed to hear it.

"Well, I'm just worried you'll revert back to your stupidly arrogant princess persona." Varian said with a sincere expression.

Isadora rolled her eyes and asked again. "Did you crack the legacy?"

"A tiny, tiny crack. Enough to leak an estimated 0.5% energy." Varian grinned.

Sarah's aura continued to climb. She had already hit high rank 7 and was racing towards peak of the rank.

Even though she was currently enveloped in a bright golden light, Isadora could see her sky blue eyes staring at her with a teasing smile.

'Get ready to bow your head. You aren't going to be the top dog anymore.'

Isadora felt a strong sense of crisis.

She could partially accept losing to Varian but losing to his wife? No fricking way!

"I-I have almost healed my injuries caused by your two crazy lovers!" Isadora looked at him with a vengeful expression and said. "You hear me? I am almost recovered. Now my rank is going to skyrocket. Rank 8? Huh! I will be rank 9 sooner or later!"

In the golden light cocoon, a dismissive snort was heard.

"I will rub the ground with you!" Isadora was talking to Sarah but her eyes were on Varian.

"Err, sure?" Varian rubbed the back of his head.

The seal was going to invalid sooner or later. But he had some basic trust in Isadora.

That even if she might beat him up, she wouldn't kill him.

Nonsense.

He just thought this woman was too vengeful to kill him simply if she's stronger.

Eitherway, he's going to be okay.

Probably.