Chapter 436 Leah’s Suspicion
“You only have one chance, boy, so make it count.”
These words were spoken coldly, making Ethan understand that this was Leah’s ultimatum.
If he failed to convince Lily’s Mother that he was worthy of her daughter, then there was a chance that Leah would get in the way of their relationship.
Ethan had no intention of letting that happen. Not only was Lily his first lover, but she was also the one who saved him when he was feeling hopeless and helpless back in the Lands of Alastor.
He would not let her go no matter what.
But there was one thing that bugged him, and he made his opinion known.
“Mother, you ask me why you should allow Lily to stay by my side, but you never asked her why she wanted to stay by my side,” Ethan replied in a calm manner. “Have you asked her why she chose me as her lover?”
Professor Rinehart and Lyall gave Ethan a thumbs up in their hearts because he had the guts to talk back to Leah in this manner.
Even Conall couldn't help but smile after seeing the young man act the way he did.
Leah didn’t like that her question was answered by another question, making her arch her eyebrow. However, she had to applaud Ethan for having the guts to call her “Mother” despite the fact that she still hadn’t given him her approval.
“Teenagers often make mistakes, especially when they fall in love the first time,” Leah stated. “Lily might like you now, but there is no guarantee that she will continue to like you in the future.
“As her mother, I only want the best for her. So I want her to find a good boyfriend who will not only take care of her needs but would also allow our family’s bloodline to flourish. This will be the last time that I will allow you to question me, boy. There will be no next time, so answer my question now.”
Ethan nodded. “The answer to your question Mother is really simple. You will find no one better than me as your son-in-law.”
“… That’s it?” Leah eyed Ethan in disdain. “A Dud like you believes that I can’t find someone better than you?”
“Yes,” Ethan replied with confidence. “You won’t find someone better than me.”
“Just where is this confidence of yours coming from?”
“I’ve been through a lot, Mother. If you think this is a joke, I am willing to challenge Lily’s Father in a duel. Of course, since I am at a disadvantage, I will be the one to choose the location of our fight.”
Conall, who was leaning on the wall, couldn’t help but look at the young man with a solemn expression on his face.
He already knew the place where Ethan would fight his father because he had already experienced it firsthand.
“Ridiculous.” Leah scoffed. “It seems that you have no idea who my husband is, boy. If you knew, you would not dare to say such words.”
“Yes, you’re right, Mother,” Ethan replied. “Lily didn’t tell me much about her family. But you don’t know me as well. I am confident that even if your entire family fought me at the same time on the battlefield of my choosing, none of you would be able to beat me.”
Earlier, Ethan’s Other Half told him that when dealing with people who look down on him, he must not back down and even assert his arrogance over them.
Sebastian, who never shied away from trouble, agreed with his comrade and urged Ethan to challenge Lily’s Father in a duel. Of course, the battleground would be the sea. As long as the fight was in the sea, it wouldn't matter if they brought their entire family!
Ethan, who also understood the importance of taking the higher ground in a negotiation, borrowed his Other Half’s arrogance because he didn’t like the way Lily’s mother was looking at him.
It was the gaze of someone who was looking down on a person in their heart.
If the one facing off against Leah was Ethan before he was sent to the Lands of Alastor, the young man might have backed down and cowered under Leah’s sharp gaze.
But he was different from his past self.
He already had blood on his hands, and he was constantly fighting against strong individuals, allowing him to gain more battle experience.
He wouldn't shy away from fighting strong opponents because, from the very start, he was already expecting that he would have to fight some of his in-laws in order to gain their approval.
This was what he did with Luna’s family, and he would probably need to do the same with Lilian’s family as well.
Since that was the case, then he would not back down when it came to fighting Lily’s Father, whom he believed was several times stronger than Conall.
Even now, Ethan believed that he still couldn’t beat Lily’s older brother unless they were fighting near a body of water like Rivers, Lakes, and the Sea.
Still, if push came to shove, he would follow through on his challenge to Lily’s Father.
Lily had already mentioned in the past that, within her Tribe, they always looked up to the strong.
That was the tradition of their tribe, so even if Leah agreed to their relationship, Lily’s Father, Seff, would still challenge Ethan to a duel to prove his worth.
Even if the young man didn’t win, the fact that he was willing to face off against Seff was something that would give him a good impression of his future son-in-law.
But Leah was different.
She didn’t care if Ethan was really strong.
What she wanted to know was whether the young man would be able to strengthen Lily’s Bloodline, allowing her to give birth to powerful Wizards and Witches who would herald the magical Lineage of their family.
“I think I only wasted my time by coming here,” Leah said coldly. “You are not worthy of my daughter. I will not allow her to marry a Dud.”
Professor Rinehart, who had been listening to the exchange between the two, decided to interfere.
“Leah, how about you personally test Ethan to see whether he is really worthy of your daughter or not?” Professor Rinehart asked.
“Very well.” Leah nodded. “I’ve heard that you can cast a Partial Resonance. Since you think you have what it takes to beat my husband, I will put you to the test.
“Let’s have a magical duel. You are not allowed to use any weapons or artifacts. The only thing you will use is your wand. I want to see if you can back your arrogance.”
Leah believed that Ethan was only using a magical artifact that allowed him to fight on par against Wizards and Witches.
As long as he didn’t use any magical weapons to fight her, she was certain that she would be able to see his true colors.
The reason why she agreed to Professor Rinehart’s proposal was to let her daughter see that the young man was only strong due to the magical artifacts he possessed.
Without them, he was just a Dud whose magic power was mediocre at best.
“Very well, Mother,” Ethan replied. “Let’s have a magical duel. But before that, I need to talk to your daughter about something.”
“No,” Leah shook her head. “You are coming with me straight to the arena. I will not give you time to prepare your silly tricks. Do you really take me for a fool? I don’t know what cheap tricks you plan on preparing, but I will not have any of it.”
“Headmaster, please take us to the arena right now. Conall, make sure that he doesn’t run away. If he does something funny, restrain him.”
Lily, who knew the real reason why Ethan wanted to talk to her in private, decided to take a step forward in order to take the initiative to kiss him.
By doing so, she would supply her magic power to him. But, before she could even do anything, Leah pointed her wand in her direction and cast the spell, Impediendum, paralyzing her daughter completely.
Lyall caught Lily before she fell directly on the ground and supported her body.
Leah already had a suspicion that Ethan was using a trick in order to fight against Wizards and Witches.
Even after using her strong senses, she wasn’t able to detect any presence of magic in Ethan’s body.
Because of this, she wanted to know if Ethan was the real deal…
Allowing her to truly know if he was really a powerful Wizard or just a Dud who only knew several tricks that allowed him to overcome stronger opponents in magic duels.
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