Path to Transcendence

Chapter 337: Consider It Done

Lily POV

For the first time since the semester started, she had left Heston to visit home once again. It was the same as she remembered. Large, gorgeous, and had more people than she could count running around.

She took a deep breath as she walked by the garden her mother loved to tend to. The smell of the flowers from which she was named gently wafted to her nose. A very warming sense of mana and aura perfumed the entire area, reminding her of her days as a young girl.

Sometimes, this garden was one of the few areas where she could relax without being bombarded by the minds of other people. The days before she had control over her abilities.

Simpler days.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t stay around for long and had to leave the comforting embrace of the garden with reluctance.

She went over to Marcus, who was patiently waiting for her to finish up, and nodded at him. He then gently smiled and led her to the main house. Along the way, the staff and other people on the property all took note of her appearance. They gave polite and respectful bows whenever she passed by.

She didn’t notice any of the other children of the families on her way through. Usually, she would have spotted at least a few unruly children running throughout the property at this time. They should have been out of school at this time of day. Perhaps, their parents were getting them ready for dinner.

Still, she didn’t mind the peace their absence provided. She followed Marcus as they walked down the hallways of her home. She knew the way, but Marcus always insisted on being in front. He was like that.

Eventually, she stood in front of a pair of elegantly decorated doors that Marcus knocked on. A soft pulse of aura was felt from the other side, and Marcus opened the door, gesturing for her to enter first.

When she did, her eyes immediately focused on her father sitting at his desk, buried in a pile of papers. He looked good, the same as she remembered. There were the typical bags underneath his brilliant purple eyes, showing that he had been working too hard once again, but he still had the same soft smile when he stared at her walking in.

“You know it wouldn’t hurt your old man’s feelings if you came to visit home more often, right?” He said to her while getting up from his chair, walking over to her, and giving her a big hug.

He smelled of coffee and parchment. She leaned into his chest and squeezed him back.

“And you can always come and visit me in Heston. It would probably be helpful if you got away from your work from time to time,” she shot back.

Her father shooed her away. “Bah, you sound just like your mother. There’s just a lot that has been going on lately, and if I don’t stay on top of it, who else will?”

“I don’t know, maybe the hundreds of other retainers we have,” she said teasingly.

“They won’t know what to do,” he said dismissively.

She sighed. That was the problem with her father. He would rather do the work himself than to give it to someone who might mess it up. There were only a few people he trusted to do a good job. There was also the fact that he enjoyed it.

No matter how much he griped about being busy. She, including her entire family, knew that he secretly enjoyed staying busy and being productive. It was why, despite her father not holding the Count title, he was already sort of considered the man in charge of House Violet.

He did more of the actual duties of the presiding leader of the House than her grandfather did. It had been many years since her grandfather had passed over those responsibilities to him. At first, many of the elders and influential people questioned that decision, but after years of watching her father continue to work hard, those voices changed to ones of ardent support.

They even argued that he should already be made Count despite still being in Tier 5. Her grandfather certainly didn’t mind this, since he was one of the first people who supported the idea. But she had a feeling it was because he wanted to spend his time focusing on reaching Tier 7.

However, her father vehemently protested that until he reached Tier 6, he would not take up the mantle. Something that people understood despite their wishes against it. After all, power was everything in this world. There was no question that a Tier 6 would command more respect from other Houses than a Tier 5, especially if he had to negotiate with another Tier 6 from other families or organizations.

She took a seat in one of the comfortable chairs in the seating area. This chair had been used by many powerful individuals over the course of centuries, but despite its age, it was pristine and arguably more comfortable the older it got.

Her father took a seat in the chair in front of her and sagged into its soft embrace.

“So what do I owe the pleasure of my only daughter coming to visit poor old me?” He asked with a grin.

“Did you hear about the woman I had interrogated?” She asked.

“Of course I did. I’m sure you have your reasons, but did it really require you to ask Alice to come and help you?” He asked with a frown.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Did you know what we found out?”

“No, I haven’t read the report yet. Should I?” He asked curiously.

She didn’t respond and instead took out the report that she received last night. It was the reason why she had made this trip back home.

Her father sat up straight and took the report from her. He knew that she was being serious and should reciprocate in kind. It barely took him any time to finish reading. A simple glance was all it took. His Tier 5 mind and skills helped a lot with this.

“Okay, so what if Clan Genshen was the ones behind this? What does it have to do with why you’re here? You gotta fill me in on some things,” he said to her after placing the report on the table in front of him.

She gave a brief explanation of what had happened. Her father already knew about Julius and her friendship with him. He had to, after all, she had used many of the family’s resources to find him. He also knew that Julius was the one behind the incident in the plains and the reason why they were still trying to interrogate the Tier 5.

“Why would they want him dead? Did the Conclave somehow find out that he was the one responsible?” He asked her after she explained.

“We weren’t able to find out why they hired her. For all we know, it could be for a totally different reason.” She avoided telling her father about Julius’s past, and that it could be for that. It wasn’t her secret to tell.

“What happened to the woman?”

“She died after we got as much information as we could from her mind. She managed to activate her soul contract purposefully and crushed her soul before we could stop her,” she told him while simultaneously cursing the people who had been responsible for the interrogation.

She had emphasized to make sure they didn’t push it too far. However, it would seem they had forgotten her words and let the woman take her own life. She would have to have a talk with them before they messed something else up again.

“That’s unfortunate,” her father said with a frown.

“Yeah, but we also got enough out of her.”

“What are you planning to do with this information, though? I suspect that is the reason why you are here,” her father said with narrowed eyes.

She avoided his eyes and fiddled with her fingers. She didn’t know what to expect. It wasn’t like what she was asking for was something small. It was selfish and some might say, immature, but she still wanted to ask.

After a few long seconds, she looked over at Marcus who was still standing right next to the doorway and he was staring right back. However, she noticed he was giving her an encouraging nod, prompting her to steel her nerves and take a soothing breath.

“I wanted permission,” she finally admitted and looked her father directly in the eyes.

He frowned. “Permission for what?”

“Permission to contact Clan Genshen,” she said gravely.

He gave her a questioning look before he leaned back in his chair to study her for a few moments. She let him because she knew exactly what he was doing. He was testing how serious she was being with this request and whether he should actually entertain her idea.

However, she was very serious and she knew he would realise this as well.

“All for a boy you met not even a year ago?” He asked her while shifting his jaw as if the idea was preposterous.

“For my friend,” she corrected him.

He looked away from her and gave Marcus a quick glance. The other man, to his credit, didn’t break eye contact. Her father started to drum his fingers on the armrest of the chair, his aura pulsing out strongly in rhythm with his fingers as he did so.

She didn’t know if he was doing it as an intimidation tactic or if he was actually contemplating her request.

“What are you trying to achieve?” He eventually asked.

She clenched her fists. “That they can’t just try to kill someone I care about just because they feel like it. To let them know that they are overextending their influence.”

“So what? Pride?”

“Yes,” she said firmly, her honest answer seemingly surprising her father. She knew that honesty would be her best tool in this situation. “However, that is not the only reason.”

“What are the other reasons then?” He asked curiously.

She gritted her teeth. “You once told me that power is merely a tool. That, without a purpose, it is as worthless as a sword collecting dust in a cabinet. That someday I would need to use my power to protect the things I care about.”

“And you think that this is that day? You care enough about this boy that you would ask me to jeopardize our House’s own interests to protect him?” He asked her with a look of disbelief.

“Absolutely,” she said, feeling more confident in that answer than any other she had given to her father yet.

He continued to stare at her for a while, but eventually she saw his frown morph into a small grin.

“Okay.”

She was stunned. “Okay?” She asked, not believing what she was hearing. It was much too easy.

He got up out of his chair, walked over, and kneeled down on one knee in front of her.

“Just like I taught you, there are times when you need to look at the big picture of the House. You have to take into consideration the magnitude of your actions and weigh them against what you want versus what the family needs. However, there are also times when you need to follow your heart. Rationality can only get you so far. Some of the best decisions I have ever made weren’t the ones I made because I thought them through. The best decisions were the ones where I followed my heart. Such as the day I decided to court your mother,” he explained to her with a loving smile.

“But it’s selfish,” she muttered, not expecting this outcome.

“Who cares? You have done this House a massive service for someone your age. You deserve to be selfish sometimes,” he told her firmly.

“But…”

He put out a hand to stop her from talking. “You didn’t come here to ask permission, Lily. You came here to ask me to convince you not to ask for it.”

She looked down ashamedly. He had seen right through her. That was exactly what she had been doing. She knew what she wanted was emotional and irrational, but was hoping that her father would be able to convince her of a better option. He had always been so logical and smart.

“Do you truly care for him?” He asked her with a meaningful stare.

“Yes.”

“Do you consider him family?”

“Yes,” she insisted unflinchingly.

He nodded at her confident answer and smiled, his purple irises glowed fiercely. “And you remember what I taught you about family, right?”

She couldn’t help but grin. “I do.”

He stood up proudly and grinned alongside her. ”Then consider it done.”