The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 171: I’m your Master, not your mother’s.

The air around them grew unbearably tense.

But exactly opposite to what everyone had expected—

"You don’t learn, do you?

One day, I’ll hack that head off your shoulders if you continue talking to me like that."

Valentina spoke in the same mildly annoyed tone as before, causing another wave of shock to spread through the entire room.

Even Kanna—a woman who rarely ever showed the slightest change in expression—couldn’t help but feel her eyes widen.

None of them had expected that reaction, not even her own daughter, even though she had grown somewhat accustomed to the strange chemistry between this disciple and his master.

Lucian’s crimson eyes never left Valentina, silently staring at her.

For several long seconds, he didn’t speak.

And seeing him remain silent, both Seraphina and Lia unconsciously grew nervous.

He had already dodged a dangerous bullet once, but there was no telling what would happen if he pushed his luck any further.

Finally—

"You shouldn’t have spoken like that," he said casually, his voice much lighter than before.

The suffocating pressure surrounding him completely disappeared, and the atmosphere around him turned calm once again.

"What?

I was just telling you my opinion."

Valentina shrugged carelessly.

"I simply don’t like that cold expression.

It always feels like they’re looking down on everyone."

Hearing her words, Lucian’s expression turned completely deadpan as he stared at her face—more specifically... her eyes.

Feeling his gaze, Valentina frowned.

"What?"

Lucian finally spoke.

"Have you ever looked at your own expression in a mirror?"

Her frown deepened even further. The corner of her eye twitched ever so slightly.

Lucian didn’t try to explain either.

Instead—

"And you can say whatever you want," he said calmly.

"My mother is beautiful exactly the way she is."

Valentina raised an amused brow.

Not because of his words.

But because of the reactions happening behind him.

Seraphina’s eyes widened as she felt her pale cheeks gradually warm once again.

Meanwhile, Lia instantly frowned, tugging tightly at his arm with visible dissatisfaction.

"What about me?"

Her voice was filled with poorly suppressed jealousy.

Lucian’s lips twitched, but he simply shook his head before gently patting her head.

"You’re beautiful too."

Almost instantly, her expression relaxed.

Though... it didn’t completely soften, since he had said she was beautiful too, which meant she wasn’t the most beautiful, making her inwardly pout.

Lucian ignored the adorable, possessive look on her face, and—

"Tell me, why aren’t you coming with us?" he asked, returning to the previous topic.

"I want to become stronger."

Lucian tilted his head slightly, confused, but waited for her to continue.

"I know I’ll become stronger by clearing those dungeons..."

She paused briefly.

"But I feel like I’ll be able to learn much more here.

In Bloodveil.

More than I could on Earth."

Lucian slowly nodded.

He understood what she meant. Training over here—in a place meant for the Scarlett Family—it was the perfect environment for her.

Still...

"So you’ll be leaving me behind and staying here," he muttered quietly, his tone carrying an obvious hint of teasing.

But Lia’s eyes widened instantly.

"Wait—no—!"

She hurriedly tried to explain herself, but before another word could leave her mouth—

She was suddenly pulled back by Vivienne, who grabbed her by the shoulder, moved her behind herself, then stepped forward.

"Why are you forcing her?

She doesn’t want to be with you. Didn’t she make that clear?"

Lucian’s eyes twitched as he watched her interrupt them once again.

"Would you stop interrupting us?"

His voice came through slightly gritted teeth.

And seeing that annoyed expression...

Vivienne smirked.

"Oh?

You didn’t like hearing that?

If she wanted to stay with you... she would’ve already agreed to return to Earth.

But she isn’t."

"Delusional." Lucian rolled his eyes.

"She loves me. Not you."

The moment those words left his mouth, Lia’s face exploded into a light scarlet blush. Even her ears turned red.

"And how exactly do you know that?"

Vivienne folded her arms, emphasizing her breasts slightly.

"She’s staying here.

With her sister.

Instead of leaving with you, her brother turned lover."

Both of them glared at each other, their golden and crimson eyes locked onto one another, glowing brighter with tension.

The air around them grew intensely hotter, and standing between the two...

Lia could feel sweat forming across her body, her cheeks burning from both the heat and the embarrassment she was feeling.

Seraphina took a few steps backward.

Silently watching her son argue without even the slightest hesitation... against someone who was a thousand times stronger than him.

She genuinely didn’t know if she should feel proud... or deeply worried about her son’s reckless actions.

The invisible clash between Lucian and Vivienne intensified even further, and the atmosphere grew hotter and heavier with every passing second.

Then—

"Lia! Tell him who you want to go with?!"

"Lia! Tell her who you love more!"

Both of their voices rang out loudly almost at the same time as they abruptly turned toward the only person caught in the middle.

"H-Huh...?"

Lia flinched.

Her voice came out shaky as she looked back and forth between them, her already flushed face turning into an even more confused mess.

"I... I don’t know?! Both of you are confusing me!"

She shouted in embarrassment before glaring at both of them.

Both Lucian and Vivienne instantly fell silent, their eyes briefly shifting toward each other.

"Hmph...!" Vivienne snorted.

"Tsk."

Lucian clicked his tongue in annoyance before completely ignoring her.

His attention returned to Lia, who didn’t even know what to say.

Did she want to go back with him?

Of course she did!

But...

She wanted to become as strong as she could.

She wanted to master her flames much more proficiently than now so that she could stand beside him properly.

And for that... she needed to be here.

Vivienne was an exceptional fire user, and there were also several powerful maids within the Scarlett Castle who could teach her many things.

Yet... looking at her brother’s face, her expression became complicated.

If he truly wanted her to return with him...

"I... I’ll go wi—"

"You can stay."

Lucian interrupted her before she could finish.

Lia’s parted lips froze. She blinked a few times, unsure if she had heard him clearly.

"...Really?"

Seeing the uncertainty written all over her face, Lucian couldn’t help but chuckle.

"You can.

I was just teasing you."

His gaze briefly shifted toward the younger redhead, a faint, amused curl appearing on his lips.

Vivienne narrowed her eyes.

She had tried to argue with him for Lia, and seemingly, she had just been playing right into his game. And to top it all off, Lia was more concerned about him than her.

"Fucker."

Lucian ignored her curse entirely before turning toward Seraphina.

"Mom... do you want to stay too?" he asked, though there was a slight narrowing in his eyes—almost as if he didn’t want to let her stay behind either.

Seraphina shook her head.

"I cannot learn much here."

Seeing his slightly confused expression, she elaborated.

"They mainly use fire here, and even though I tried to learn in a similar way... ice and fire are not fundamentally the same."

Her gaze lowered toward her pale white palm, faint snowflakes flickering gently through the air above it.

"I tried to teach her..." Vivienne suddenly spoke, drawing Lucian’s attention once again.

"...but it’s difficult for me too.

We don’t really have any techniques or skills meant for ice affinity users here."

That was also one of the biggest reasons Seraphina had spent most of her time inside the library.

Of course, reading had always been one of her hobbies, but that wasn’t the only reason anymore.

She had also been searching through countless books, hoping to find anything related to her affinity while learning more about the vampire world.

But that didn’t mean she hadn’t made any progress.

She certainly had.

But it couldn’t even come close to the progress Lia had made.

Lucian’s brows furrowed thoughtfully.

"Valentina, what about this Everforst Duchy?

Don’t they have any ice skills?"

Valentina paused for a brief moment before slowly nodding.

"They do."

"Then...

Can you look for some skills?

For my mother?"

He asked in a slightly more serious voice.

Valentina blinked once.

"You want me to search through another Duchy... for your mother?"

Even repeating those words sounded ridiculous to her, and each word leaving her lips caused the surrounding air itself to tremble violently.

Everyone else immediately stiffened.

Cold sweat formed across Lia’s forehead as she tightly grabbed her brother’s arm.

Vivienne appeared beside Seraphina almost instantly, pulling her a step backward.

"Does that guy have some kind of dying kink...?

Or is he just a masochist?"

Seraphina pressed her lips into a thin line.

She genuinely didn’t know what to answer... or even how to answer.

Especially when simply standing in the room made her legs tremble beneath the overwhelming pressure radiating from Valentina.

Her cold eyes quietly remained on the Duchess, wondering if she would attack her son now.

Though...

That seemed very unlikely.

Because, from what she had learned... the red-haired woman didn’t even need to move to kill every single person standing here inside the room.

"Lucian..." Valentina finally spoke, her voice eerily calm if not for her golden eyes turning crimson red.

"I’m your Master.

Not your mother’s."

Her words caused a small frown to appear between his brows, but as he looked into her eyes and saw the unbearable seriousness in her expression...

He understood something.

He was getting too arrogant.

Maybe it was because of the training and the casual banter he had shared with the strongest vampire over the past two months... he had gotten far too arrogant.

It wasn’t entirely his fault either.

Ever since becoming a vampire... or perhaps even before that...

An overwhelming sense of pride had slowly taken hold of him, something that had come to him almost instinctively.

Finally, he gave a slow nod.

"I’ll look into it myself."

Hearing his answer, and seeing both the acceptance and the faintly dissatisfied look on his face that he couldn’t hide from her—

Valentina’s lips slowly curled into a wide, yet undeniably beautiful smile.

"Good."

She nodded, satisfied.

For just a brief moment...

Even Lucian found himself entranced by that smile.