"Davis. You cannot blame her as she was influenced by the will of the heavens."
Ellia floated up as she headed towards them, landing on the ground quickly.
"This only happened because I tried to stop her from going to your heavenly tribulation. Besides, I recovered already, so it's like it never happened, alright?"
She tried to smoothen things over, causing Davis to close his eyes before he stared at her.
"Would you say the same thing if you were pregnant with my child and you got stabbed?"
"…"
Ellia's expression froze.
"Husband. That's going too far."
Evelynn's voice rose, causing Davis to turn to look at her.
"What if you had tried to stop Clara?"
Evelynn's expression flickered, "Then I..."
She was about to retort but found that she was at a loss for words as she felt like she would've adopted the same method as Ellia to calm Clara, but if she did that, then…
Evelynn gritted her teeth, "You're exaggerating matters. That didn't happen."
"Indeed. I don't want that to happen ever again."
Davis nodded coldly, "But the matter stands that my heavenly tribulation caused Clara to be influenced, which caused harm to befall our family. Instead of being bent on revenge, I should've taken some precautions."
"Stop it. No one is omnipotent." Mingzhi narrowed her brows.
But Davis shook his head.
"I'm sorry. There are mistakes that one should never make, and this is one of them."
He raised his hand, jade-crimson annihilative heavenly wind forming at the edge of his palm as he turned to look at Clara, whose pupils dilated.
"You- wait!"
Evelynn, Isabella, and Ellia instantly appeared before Clara, shielding her, but their expressions froze.
*Puchi~*
Davis cut down his left hand, causing it to drop to the floor as blood splashed to the side.
"As I said, this is not my little sister's fault. It is mine, so I will pay the price."
His firm words made the expressions of the others reel in disbelief.
"You-!"
Ellia fumed as she took a step forward and picked up his severed arm, setting it closer as she tried to heal it with her powers. Life energy stemmed from her palm, and even Everlight appeared by the side as she began to heal him.
However, both of their energy seemed to be of no use as blood still kept pouring out in copious amounts.
Ellia glared at him, doing nothing before she tore a part of her robe and wrapped it around his severed hand.
"This time, Clara was influenced because of me, so I will take responsibility for it, but in this household, no one harms the other. You can spar, injure each other and have a laugh about it but never inflict wounds with a hateful look or a wicked ulterior motive. Understand?"
"We understand, so heal yourself already! Do you want to make me cry!?"
Ellia bit her lips and sniffled, her nose turning red.
But Davis remained unshaken, "This is better than giving a chance for Myria to punish my little sister, no?"
"…" Ellia became stunned.
Davis flicked his hand, causing his severed arm to be thrown towards a white-robed lady who subconsciously caught it, looking stunned.
"Yotan, deliver my arm as an apology to Myria. Tell her that I failed to look after Ellia properly and harmed her as a result."
Davis took a deep breath after he spoke, his lips moving one last time, "And don't forget to tell her that I won't seal my little sister's cultivation but that she also has my word that it wouldn't happen again."
Yotan was stunned speechless, not knowing what to do as she turned to look at Evelynn. However, everyone, including Evelynn, was too stunned to articulate.
"Brother…"
However, Clara's gaze gleamed with tears. Why was he going this far for her?
"Davis, why is there a need for us to answer Myria? I don't like this…"
Isabella protested with a low voice, but Davis shook his head.
"Isabella, don't you think I'm answerable to your father, Mark Ruth, if something happened to you?"
"That is…" Isabella's expression sank, "I… I understand."
Myria was Ellia's mother, so most of the others who were aware also quickly understood.
"If you thought I did this because I want to court her, then you're wrong. I did this because I made a promise but failed to uphold it. I talked big that my little sister wouldn't harm anyone, but she did exactly did that, harming Ellia in the process even if it was not her fault. Tell me if I should pay for this mess or not?"
Davis spread his hands, although his severed hand didn't seem to reach wide.
"We understand. So heal your hand already! If not, I would also cut off my hand."
"You-"
Davis's expression flared as he saw Evelynn use one of her arachnid leg scythes as she brought it toward her left arm that was stretched out.
"I will too."
"This responsibility also lies with us!"
"Clara is not wrong, and neither are you two!"
Natalya, Isabella, and Shirley also raised their hands as they summoned their powers to cut off their own arms following Evelynn, causing Davis's expression to reel.
"How does it feel to hold your own self hostage now in front of your loved ones?"
Mingzhi grinned as she made a cutting motion over her hand.
"Fine, stop! I will heal my hand!"
Before the others could start threatening him, Davis clenched his teeth and began healing his left arm. He intended to be one-armed at least for a day to make an example out of himself, but it failed. His arm quickly grew back like a plant, but his body was lacking about ten percent blood essence since it was cut off in his severed hand.
He couldn't just cut off his hand and say that it was a punishment unless he truly lost something, right?
Davis felt his face burn as he felt his harem council was too much. They had absolute power from another kind of perspective. However, he calmed, turning to look at Clara as he held her shoulders.
"No one thinks it's your fault, so don't ever feel guilty about it, alright? I'm mad, not at you but at myself. Anything worse could've happened, all because I failed to see the dangers properly. Will you forgive this senseless brother of yours, Clara?"
Clara bit her lips as her gaze moved about his face to see if he hated her. Her lips moved, trying to say something, but she felt her throat feel sore and heavy.
"... Forgive me… brother…"
Her apologetic voice echoed as tears flooded her eyes before she lowered her head, causing drops to fall to the floor.
"…"
Davis instantly took a step closer and embraced her, patting her head. He wanted her to stop crying, but the second he embraced her, she held him tight and cried with her body trembling, and at that moment, he felt it even if he didn't want it to.
The amount of guilt she was carrying was enormous.
Although his beauties tried to hide this matter, the guilt for stabbing Ellia was still buried within Clara as she was a woman who didn't wish to harm any of her family. No one blamed her, nor did they address it, so it grew like a mountain in her which she now had released.
"Ah- I forgive you."
Davis finally realized what he should've said to Clara than taking responsibility for this matter. Perhaps, Clara was waiting to hear these words from him all this time, but he focused on how to make things right.
Once he realized it, he kept whispering that he forgave her until her trembling stopped.
Only then did she leave his embrace but still had her head lowered as though she was embarrassed to have cried in front of everyone. She nodded and turned around, looking like she was about to leave, but her wrist was suddenly captured.
"Don't go~ There's a feast coming up~"
Shirley comforted Clara, causing her to blink.
Was this really a time for a feast? But Shirley's lips curled into a wicked smile.
"Are you glad your brother forgave you? Let's celebrate this by eating our hateful enemy up to its very bones~"
"…"
Clara's expression twitched, but the moment her nostrils picked up an aromatic scent that melted her mind, the embarrassment left, replacing it with desire, causing her to nod lightly.
"Perfect!"
Shirley ran up to Davis and slapped his shoulder, "You ruined the atmosphere, so repair it yourself while I place the dishes."
As she complained, the soul bodies of Shirley, Lea, and Zestria walked in with massive plates carrying sumptuous dishes on top of it.
There was the signature dish: Fried Chicken.
But other than that, there were many other bright and vivacious dishes, causing everyone's mind to change.
"This is Golden Crispy Phoenix, a succulent combination of thighs and wings, coated in a seasoned flour blend and deep-fried to perfection."
Shirley started introducing "Exquisite Phoenix Palace~ A regal dish featuring tender bone-in phoenix pieces simmered in a fragrant curry sauce infused with a harmonious blend of spices. Grilled Avian Delight, broiled boneless phoenix breast, meticulously marinated in a tantalizing sweet and savory grilled sauce, resulting in a succulent masterpiece."
"That's not all, there is…"
She continued to explain in a way that caused their mouths to drool, that they started forgetting the matter before. No, they wanted to move on as it was dealt with, causing them to all go back to their seats and enjoy the feast.
By this time, Davis was the only one standing. He instructed Yotan to make the delivery first before coming and joining them, which caused her to awkwardly smile and leave as she didn't want to deliver his arm, which felt like treason to her.
Regardless, she fulfilled his wishes and delivered them, coming back only to see half the feast over already. She quickly got onto it, which caused waves of laughter to echo in the hall.
However, she saw Davis not eating as he went around, bothering everyone as he made them blush with flirtatious words, and it wasn't long before he was even upon her, causing her to freeze with a piece of phoenix wing in her mouth.
=========
Myria was seated in her mansion.
She had entered seclusion, but for some reason, she was unable to focus. A while later, Yotan came and naturally delivered an explanation and Davis's apology to her in person, causing her eyes to narrow deeply as anger flashed past her eyes.
She was already suspicious that his little sister caused Ellia's cultivation to regress as the timing matched between his tribulation and her return. It turned out to be true.
However, looking at the jade container, she reluctantly accepted the apology and told Yotan to leave.
Now, she sat in front of the jade container for a minute before finally opening it, causing her brows to twitch.
"You stole my hand and now send yours? What kind of self-inflicted punishment is this…?"
Looking at his severed arm that carried a large amount of his blood essence, Myria's eyes glazed over.
"Idiot… is harming yourself the only answer you know…?
She bit her lips, taking the arm as she stared at it with numerous emotions swelling in her eyes.
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