Legacy of the Dark Sage

However, the members here did not represent the opinion of the rest of the members of each constituent. Yes, they were the acting leaders, but it was only during the events.

"You may be wondering why they would bother to assess the Conclave\'s \'reserves,\' and they should be assessing the Conclave\'s main talents. But, I know you already have an idea as to why that is," Kyran paused to let his words sink into the minds of each member.

"They already know the strength of the Conclave\'s main talents."

Though Kyran was not exactly asking them a question, Styx responded to his words.

Kyran nodded in agreement.

Emir leaned on his chair with a thoughtful expression, "As I thought... they also want to see how strong the \'reserves\' of the Conclave are..." he smiled wryly and looked at them, "I honestly did not like to be called a \'reserve,\' though."

"But why assess us?" Carol asked. "The Conclave is neutral, even if we show them what we can do, we will not be a threat to them."

Decan shook his head, "Knowing that the Conclave possessed a strength that can rival or even overwhelm theirs, is already a \'threat\' on its own."

"Well... you have a point..."

"Hold up!" Dante suddenly raised a hand as if to stop them from further jumping to conclusions. He then looked toward the council members, before looking at Kyran. He continued, "It\'s disrespectful to spout your personal thoughts when the Conclave Council Members are present."

"It is fine."

A feminine voice suddenly spoke from the door.

All of them— except for Kyran, turned toward the door.

"I-Impossible—!"

"This—!"

"How?"

"L-Lor—, w-why are you here?"

Noir, Malia, Vaness and Callan all exclaimed at the same time and stood up in shock.

Their reactions baffled the members but they also stood up, looking at the newcomer curiously.

"I told you not to move around," Kyran finally spoke, looking at none other than Stella.

"It\'s my first time leaving the Tower, and you want to hide me again?" Stella replied playfully.

"Who is this woman?"

Styx blurted while looking at Emir.

Stella was currenty wearing an Alchemist robe, so it was easy to mistake her as someone from the Alechemist Association. Not to mention, she had changed the color and style of her hair.

But even with that change, the council members still recognized her.

Emir shook his head in confusion while looking at Malia.

However, Malia, including the other three council members, were still gaping at Stella in shock and was unable to see Emir\'s questioning look.

Looking at the council members with an apologetic smile, Stella said, "I\'ll explain it later. Before that...," she turned to the rest and said, "It is nice to meet the five of you. I am Stella, the Lord of the Tower."

"Lord of the Tower?" They all asked in confusion.

"Ah, right. I suppose I should say Tower Family? Oh, you don\'t probably know my Family, so maybe I should say—."

"Lady Stella, you\'re interrupting us now, you know," Kyran could not help but say in exasperation.

Stella frowned slightly, "It\'s your fault for not returning immediately. You\'ve been gone for more than four hours."

Kyran sighed inwardly. While having Stella here would make it easier to convince them of the things he was about to say, her showing up too suddenly might be counterproductive.

"Lord of the Tower!"

Malia was the first one to recover. She approached and said, "W-Why are you here?"

The other three council members also snapped out of their initial shock and also looked at Stella with a mixture of fear and surprise.

Styx and the others who saw their expressions were even more confused.

Stella raised her hand to stop Malia and the other three from saying anything further before looking at Styx and the other members again.

"Let me introduce myself properly," she started.

This time Kyran did not try to stop her. The faster she told them her identity the better he could proceed.

"As I was saying, I am the Lord of the Tower, and the Lord of the Conclave."

This time, Styx and Dante could not help but choke in surprise while Carol, Decan and Emir gasped.

"Head Master Malek works for me, so I guess you can consider me the big boss of the Conclave?" Stella added in a very.

"L-Lord of the Tower!" Callan and Vaness tried to stop her from saying anything more but was too late.

Malia and Noir on the other hand could only sigh in exasperation.

Once again, Stella\'s willfulness was on full display.

"Please listen to what Disciple Tyr is about to tell you," Stella continue, suddenly turning serious. She then looked at the council members and added, "I agree to everything he is about to say. And don\'t worry, Malek also knows."

She walked to an empty seat adjacent to Kyran\'s and sat before gesturing for him to continue, "Disciple Tyr, you may resume."

They all returned to their seats and looked at Kyran.

However, Styx, Dante, Carol, Emir and Decan kept stealing glances at Stella\'s way. They still had trouble believing her identity. The only reason why they were forced to accept it was how the council members treated her.

Err... they all recalled how \'Tyr\' responded to her earlier, and wondered just how \'arrogant\' could he be?

Then again, he did not even flinch in front of the Ylfaen\'s emperor so maybe they should not be that surprise.

"Going back to our discussion," Kyran started as soon as they have seated. "Decan is right. Just the mere fact that the Conclave has the power to rival the Royal Family or the Three Noble Families is a threat on its own. Being a neutral faction will protect the Conclave, yes, but not in the long run. Especially now."

Kyran\'s eyes narrowed, remembering his conversation with the empress.

Going back a few hours ago, after their conversation, he left the Courtenay Family\'s land, and warped back to the Tower of Conclave.

To be honest, he initially wanted to sort his thoughts by going back to the cottage and maybe talked to his godmother. But given the time difference, he knew she was still in the hospice.

Cyneah and Zephyr might be the only ones there and he did not want them to worry unnecessarily by showing up there again.

Kyran decided to speak with Stella and Malek, in the end.

What the empress told him about the emperor wanting to save the Regis Clan shook him. It did not align to what he understood of the situation.

There was a good chance the empress was lying, of course. But there was no signs that she did, and she did not have any reason to lie.

Maybe if the empress was talking to \'Kyran\' and not \'Tyr,\' then it was really possible.

But Kyran was there as \'Tyr.\' And \'he\' had no relation with the Regis. Why would the empress lie about the emperor\'s desire to save the Regis Clan? To convince him, by showing he had good intentions of recruiting him? \'Tyr\' did not know the Regis Can in a personal level, so why would he care?

Because of this, Kyran could only listen to the empress as she vaguely tell him the circumstances that prompted the predicament the Regis Clan was in.

Apparently, there were \'outsiders\' that appeared and took the Regis Clan hostage.

The whole Regis Estate was enclosed in an unknown array the Royal Army Research Division failed to decipher.

Because the Royal Army attempted to decipher the array, one of the leaders of the outsiders appeared and almost killed everyone in the Research Division.

If not for the timely arrival of the emperor and the crown princess, an all-out war against these outsiders would have happened.

Emperor Euan negotiated with the \'outsiders,\' and let them think they were on the same side. It had only been possible because the Regis Clan\'s young master was currently missing, and the outsiders wanted him.

Now, the emperor and the crown princess was doing everything they could to unite all factions to prepare for the worse. Of course, they were doing this in secret. Apart from this, they were trying to locate the missing Regis Young Master.

Kyran did not respond to the empress\'s plea, even after she told him what she knew. Because at that moment, his mind was in turmoil.

Somehow, his assumptions coincide with the empress\'s story.

Except for the part that the emperor was only pretending to work with the outsiders.

But because of this, Kyran had an idea why the Crown Princess wanted to control them using Soul Magic.

It would take more time to convince every faction in the empire to work together.

The situation of the Regis Clan might be getting worse, prompting the emperor to make such a drastic move.

It did not matter how he unite all the factions in the empire. If it would mean they could drive back the outsiders and save the Regis Clan.

But there was no guarantee that the outsiders would not try to get the other factions on their side, as well.

Still, if the emperor succeed in saving the Regis Clan, the latter would be more open to the idea of uniting both families through marriage, to change the empire.

Nevertheless, Kyran felt something was amiss. He could not place his finger on it, but his desire of ensuring the Conclave would not fall in the hands of the Royal Family became stronger.

That was why, though his mind was in turmoil by hearing news about his clan, Kyran decided to meet with Stella and Malek at once.

Kyran wanted to convince them to prepare for the worse.

"Something big will happen," Kyran said, "And if the rest of the members of the Conclave remained complacent, we\'ll fall in the hands of the other factions."