Pheobe paled as soon as she heard Kyran mention leaving. She looked at him, wanting to speak her mind. But seeing the look of unmasked determination just from looking at his profile made her hesitate.
She had believed that once the matter of Kyran's identity was resolved, they could all live in peace in the Regis Estate again. Her strong belief was based on her understanding of his character.
The longest Kyran had been away from home was when he went to military school. Even then, after returning, he never left the estate. Now, after being away from the clan and experiencing life-and-death situations, he would surely not want a repeat of that.
Apparently, that was not the case.
Iulia had a different view of things. Thus, she asked, "Are you planning to help your father complete the formation and search for those missing people from the Conclave?"
She did not mention Euan because she knew the Conclave was the Regis Clan's allies. During the war, the Conclave had shrugged off their neutral status and finally chose a side. Although the Regis Clan never took side and had only wanted to protect their people, the fact that Emperor Euan asked their assistance and they agreed meant they were not fully a neutral faction.
But they were not part of the Royal Family also. After all, the war had been between the Emperor and the Crown Princess.
In any case, since the Regis Clan was allies with the Conclave, and the Head Master of the latter had gone missing along with the Emperor, it was clear why Iulia think Kyran would want to search for those 'missing people from the Conclave.'
"I'll help in completing the formation," Kyran admitted.
The two elders let out a sigh of relief at his answer. Pheobe's expression also relaxed. However, she still had a foreboding, and that feeling was confirmed by Kyran's next words.
"But I won't help them with the search. I'm sorry."
Iulia raised her brows, confused at why Kyran would apologize.
When Kyran saw this, he smiled bitterly and explained, "I'm sorry that I can't help find Emperor Euan."
"Oh?" Iulia replied in surprise. Her reaction was genuine because she did not expect Kyran to apologize. The Regis were not part of the Royal Family. Even if they were citizens of the empire and the latter could easily demand some of their best people to search the emperor as part of being the empire's citizen, Iulia did not think that.
She also knew Euan would not want her to force other factions to do something in the pretense of doing it for the 'Royal Family,' rulers of the Ylfaen Empire.
Seeing the surprised look on Iulia's face, Kyran was even more convinced that she was not a person who would take advantage of others because of her position. For this reason, he made a mental note to let his father and Nolan know of any news if he found traces of Euan and the others during his own search.
The reason he did not tell Iulia about this was to avoid giving her false expectations.
"Why?"
Kyran was pulled out of his thoughts after hearing Pheobe's question. He looked at her and sensed her conflicting emotions, which somehow made him guilty.
In the past, the only other person who would know more about his thoughts apart from his parents was Pheobe. To him, she was not only a cousin, but also a sister. He also considerd her his bestfriend, albeit he would not admit that because she was older than him.
But after saving the clan, and Kyran did not even ask about her, he was a little guilty. Even after the war and he woked up, Pheobe was one of the first two people he saw and yet he did not say anything.
Yes, there was a spoken gratitude, but somehow Kyran felt he inadvertently kept a distance. He did not know why, but somehow he felt it was something he had to.
Before Kyran could say anything, Pheobe shook her head, and waved her hands animatedly in front of her, "I only asked because its our first time hearing you had plans on leaving. Elder Abe and Elder Zeniff are probably surprised as well, a-am I right?"
She looked at them, while letting out an uneasy laugh.
Abe and Zeniff nodded their heads in response to her unspoken plea.
"That's right. I had thought our meeting today is to discuss the rumors circulating in the empire about the clan and the Royal Family, while also assuring Empress Iulia of Master Cade's plan in looking for Emperor Euna," Abe agreed.
Zeniff, who did not fully understand why Pheobe diverted the question to them, added, "Are you not leaving because you want to join the search team who will venture out of the plane?"
Kyran shook his head, "I am leaving the plane, yes. But I am not going to join the search team. I...," he paused, a little uncertain of how to explain things without causing any misunderstandings. "... am going to search for someone else."
As soon as they heard this, Abe and Zeniff realized who he was talking about and fell silent. Only a selected few knew what happened that led to the abrupt conclusion of the war.
Abe and Zeniff were elders of the Regis Clan, thus, they knew the truth. But to those who did not, only knew the other missing person apart from the emperor was the Crown Princess.
Pheobe seemed to have realized this as well and her heart sank. She had always been there for Kyran and knew of his real kindness. Because of this, she had been protective of him in her own way. Her only fear was for someone to take advantage of his kindness and leave him to suffer.
Alas, it seemed in that short span of time Kyran was forced to venture in the outside world alone, he did meet someone and that someone was the root of everything that had happened.
Seemingly understanding the train of thought of the other three, Iulia's expression turned solemn as she asked, "Why do you have to look for... that person?"
Although she had asked this question softly, and there was no animosity in it, her stiff expression was enough to know her feelings toward the Crown Princess was not on a good note.
They could not blame her. Iulia did not know the truth and also felt guilty because she did not even realize Haylee harbored negative and even dark emotions toward Euan.
Instead of answering Iulia's question, Kyran turned his attention up ahead and continued to walk.
He said, "I'll explain everything once we get inside that tower."
Left with no choice, as Kyran had already gone ahead, the four followed in silence. All of whom were deep in their own thoughts.
After almost five minutes of walking, they finally arrived in front of the tower.
When they first arrived, they did not think the tower was big. Now that they were standing up close, they were surprised at how big it was. It was not particularly tall, but its diameter was large enough to house a brigade.
While looking at the purple rune writings hovering around the tower, they noticed there was no door that led inside.
They looked at Kyran and saw him step inside a two meter wide circular array also written in beautiful purple rune writings at the presumed 'front entrance' of the tower.
After that, he turned and gestured for them to step into the array.
The four followed unhesitatingly and as soon as they did, in a blink of an eye, they were once more transported to a different location.
Judging by where they were transported, they guessed it was inside the tower. Different from their expectations that the tower was fully furnished, apart from several chairs and a huge round table, there was nothing much inside.
Another thing they took note of was that they were not the only ones inside.
There were several people standing and seemingly awaiting for their arrival.
Before any of them could register how these people managed to get here, seven of them step forward and knelt before Kyran.
"Master, we have gathered as you ordered."
The one who had spoken was Tritus, which nearly gave Iulia a fright. She might not be involved much in the matters pertaining to the empire, but she at least knew the faces of every leader of the different factions in it.
"Commander Tritus?"
Kyran was surprised he was the one who led the greeting. He had expected it to be Byron.
As Kyran thought this, he looked at the latter and found him scowling. Upon seeing his look however, Byron immediately brighten and said, "Master! I may not be the one with the highest rank here but I am your most loyal subject!"
Kyran ignored him.
In any case, he finally understood why Tritus was the one who was on the lead. Among his Sigils, he had the highest rank both in mage level and position— with the latter being his title as the commander of the Templar Code.
"Stand up, will you? I don't want you guys kneeling in front of me like that."
"Humph."
A snort came from behind while Tritus and the rest straightened. Then Zephyr, in his human form, jumped down from who knew where and approached them.
"I told you he would not like that display," he refuted in a pompous manner. "Master is not someone who likes people trying to get on his good side."
Then he looked at Kyran and said, "By the way, I did not join them because my ranking is the weakest, alright? As you know, everything about me can't be measured by human standards, not because my ranking is the weakest!"
'I heard you the first time,' Kyran could not help but smile wryly at Zephyr. He found that among his Sigils, Zephyr was quite endearing— like a little brother you could not help but dote on.
He never would have thought a time would come he would think this way. After all, the first time they met, Zephyr sounded like a middle-aged man in a huge Quilin body.
Iulia was speechless after hearing the exchange between them. She was aware what a Sigil meant to the Regis Family. But as far as she remembered, sigils were only used on beasts!
More importantly, she was shocked to find not one, but four of the 'Sigils' familiar.
The first was Tritus. Then there were two more from his faction, Reuben and Max.
And finally, the last person she recognized was none other than Disciple Tyr!
Seeing him shocked her more than seeing Tritus because she had thought Kyran was Disciple Tyr.
Sensing Iulia looking at Neo, Kyran could more or less guess what she was thinking.
With a slight shake of his head, "Neo, you know you're scaring her with that face."
Neo looked innocently at Kyran and said, "This face grew on me, master. What can I do?"
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