Chapter 441: The Perfect Scapegoat
When he arrived, Leah and Conall were waiting inside a room prepared for the guests of the academy.
Ethan scanned the room and didn\'t see Lily.
\'It seems that whatever we are going to discuss is for our ears only,\' Ethan thought as he sat on the chair in front of Leah.
Lyall, who had done her work, stood behind one of her mothers, and looked at Ethan with a sweet smile on her face.
\'Ethan, remember this, don\'t touch crazies,\' Sebastian commented. \'That girl is one of them.\'
\'Even I, who wants you to multiply your bloodline, have to agree with Sebastian on this one,\' Ethan\'s Other Half said. \'Don\'t stick it inside the crazies.\'
Ethan had no idea what the two were talking about, so he decided to ignore them and focus his attention on Lily\'s Mother, who was eyeing him with an appraising gaze.
"I recognize that you are strong." Leah decided to stop wasting time and get their talk over with. "Also, I will no longer get in the way of your relationship with my daughter. But, you have one more hurdle to face.
"Since I have acknowledged you as Lily\'s fiance, you must now convince my husband, Seff, that you are worthy of her. I didn\'t know if she told you about this, but the Tribes in Southshire only recognize the strong.
"You don\'t necessarily have to beat my husband. But, it is important that you make a good impression on him. The men in our family can do whatever they want, but our daughters only deserve the best.
"This is why you must get my husband\'s approval if you really want to be together with Lily. So, once this school year ends, you must visit us in Southshire. If you don\'t, my husband will come to you. Do you understand?"
Ethan nodded. However, he, too, had something to say to Lily\'s Mother.
"There is a place that I need to go after this school year ends," Ethan replied. "Mother, can you please tell Father to wait for me until I finish my affairs in Midgard?"
Leah arched her eyebrow after hearing the young man\'s words. Lily told her yesterday that there was a possibility that Ethan was from a noble family in Midgard.
But, since this was just mere speculation, she didn\'t pay too much attention to it.
"May I know why you are going to Midgard?" Leah asked. "If you tell me the reason, I will explain it properly to my husband."
Ethan held Leah\'s gaze for a few seconds before nodding his head.
"There are two reasons why I need to go to Midgard after the school year ends," Ethan replied. "The first one is to take the Coming of Age Ceremony. It seems that I am duty bound to participate in this trial."
Conall nodded his head in understanding.
The Southern Tribes had a similar custom in which the teenage boys, and girls, who had come of age must undertake the Coming Of Age Ceremony in order to awaken the power of their bloodline.
"And the second?" Leah asked.
With Ethan\'s first reason alone, she believed that her husband would agree to wait for him until he finished his trial.
After all, Seff didn\'t want to fight a boy.
He wanted to fight a man.
The Coming of Age Ceremony was an important tradition that even the Tribe Leaders needed to experience once in their lifetime.
"The second is to find out my real identity," Ethan replied. "Someone told me that after I finish my trials in Midgard, I will finally know who I really am. This is why I have to go to Midgard, no matter what."
Before Leah could even nod her head to acknowledge Ethan\'s reasons, Lyall immediately spoke up and raised her hand.
"Can I come with you!" Lyall asked. "I promise I\'ll help you with your Coming of Age Ceremony!"
The young lady\'s face was a little red, which made Ethan wonder if she was feeling unwell.
Sebastian, and Ethan\'s Other Half shuddered because they had a feeling that Lyall had a different idea about how to turn Ethan into a real man, using the Coming of Age Ceremony as an excuse.
\'Crazy!\'
\'Yep. This one should be put on the blacklist. I don\'t want her tainting the Family Tree.\'
Ethan pretended not to hear Lyall\'s proposal, and kept his gaze locked onto Lily\'s Mother.
"Understood." Leah nodded. "I will relay your message to my husband. If you are unable to make it to Southshire before the school term starts, we will send a commission to the Mission Hall, delegating you to personally visit us in Southshire to handle important matters."
"Thank you, Mother, for understanding," Ethan replied.
"Now, I have one more question," Leah said before resting her hands on the armrest of her chair. "How are you able to use powerful Magic even though you are a Dud?"
Ethan smiled faintly because he had already anticipated that Leah would ask him this question.
He, Sebastian, and his Other Half had brainstormed together in order to come up with this answer.
The safest route that they had all agreed upon was to put all the blame on a Legacy.
Legacies were mysterious powers that no one could fully explain.
No one could confidently say that they understood how Legacies worked, making it the perfect scapegoat for any questions that were magic related!
"I am able to use Magic because I am a Legacy Holder," Ethan replied.
"I knew it." Leah sighed. "Understood. Thank you for answering my questions. Please take good care of Lily."
"I will Mother. I look forward to seeing you again, and Father, in Southshire."
"Just make sure you come prepared. My husband is at least ten times stronger than Conall."
"… Seriously?" Ethan was truly surprised about this revelation.
The current him was still unable to beat Conall unless they were fighting in the Sea. If Lily\'s Father was at least ten times stronger than him…
\'That\'s it!\' Ethan\'s Other Half commented. \'We have no choice but to get you and Lilian to do it, so you can summon a Thunderstorm on land! There is no other choice!\'
\'Wow!\' Sebastian chuckled. \'Your inner thoughts are really leaking. You\'ve been pushing for this for a long time now.\'
\'Of course I am! All he needs to do is pin Lilian down and it is already a done deal!\'
\'Okay, calm down and take deep breaths…\'
Ethan sighed and rubbed his forehead.
Leah, Conall, and Lyall, thought that he was feeling troubled because he was intimidated by how strong their Father was.
However, what they didn\'t know was that the reason why Ethan was rubbing his forehead was because his Other Half was being unreasonable inside his Sea of Consciousness.
A few minutes later, he bid goodbye to Leah, Conall, and Lyall before heading back to Dud Manor.
Now that the issue with Lily\'s family had been temporarily dealt with, he could now focus his attention on the upcoming ballroom party, where he would be forced to rub shoulders with all the Noble Families within the Eastshire Kingdom.