140 Dinner with the Queen

After successfully breaking through 9th Layer Body Tempering Realm, he stabilized his cultivation, before entering the Worldspace to check on the growth of his herbs.

Having left some herbs in the Worldspace for some time now, some of them had leveled up to Tier-2 Spirit Herbs, while a few others were showing sign of reaching Tier-3 Spirit Herb.

However, it would still take about another 1-2 weeks. It's a pity that he was no longer training in a spirit energy-based cultivation technique, otherwise, he could make some Spirit Enhancing Pills for his cultivation. 

Hmm, no. Even if he doesn't need it, he could make some for those around him that may need it. He took out the necessary herbs and began refining some batches of tier 1 to tier 2 of the recovery pills and spirit enhancing pills.

After completing the batch of pills and storing them into pill bottles, he planted new herbs into the spirit soil area filled with life energy.

The Worldspace remained the same. Majority of the area was greyed out due to the deficiency of life energy. He really had no idea how to go about replenishing the Book of Life. He might be required to go on a journey to look for spirit veins or spirit-rich objects.

Afterwards, he visited the Whitespace and browsed some pill books, before returning to the real world and continue to comprehend the [Myriad Metal Compendium Vol.1] in his consciousness to pass the time.

He felt he was ready to form his Metalseed, but he wanted to completely comprehend the [Myriad Metal Compendium Vol.1] for a firm foundation first.

Night gradually arrived; dinner was just around the corner. Leon arrived back at the Guest Courtyard to pick up the girls. 

He shook his head as he could still hear them talking from inside the bedroom. Their talk was filled with giggles and laughter. 

He wondered how incredible it was for these two to get along so quickly. Although, this conformed with his wishes, he hadn't expect it to happen so quickly and so smoothly. 

Leon knocked on the door and said, "How are you girls still talking? My mother wishes for us to eat together over dinner tonight. Quickly get ready and come out."

Shortly after he said that, the giggles in the room died down as Lynne and Aria became stunned. They were going to meet the queen?

Just as men feared meeting fathers-in-law, women feared meeting mothers-in-law. The exact reasons differ, but in essence, it was all about acceptance and approval.

Aria had never met the queen in person. Although she stayed in the palace for some time and mentally prepared herself for the occasion, when the time came, she still finds herself panicky. 

"Hello? Why did you girls go silent? Come on out." Leon said with a puzzling expression. Are they trying to play a game of hide and seek with him?

Receiving no answer, he decided to open the steel door, but it was locked from the inside. 

Fine, he wasn't planning to do this soon without a solid foundation, but since his girls were giving him the silent treatment, he will do it. He can strengthen his foundation later. 

Leon sat down in front of the door and pulled out all the guns, ammunition and steel ingot that was lying about in his Worldspace and taking up space. 

In any case, the guns were poorly made, the ammunition was useless after the gunpowder got soaked in the water and the steel ingot brick was no longer required. 

Leon began to absorb all the metal essence from them and the surrounding atmosphere to form his Metalseed. 

Ten minutes later, the Metalseed was formed and the connection to Metal Laws was formed. The process proceeded far more smoothly than he had hoped and anticipated like his body was long ready for it. Or perhaps it was another benefit of his 5-Element Body.

After forming his Metalseed and receiving the baptism of metal, it brought no changes to his body due to his already higher body resistance to the elements. He continues to fill up the Metalseed and stabilize his 1st step metal-manipulation. 

The metal essence was completely exhausted from the items and got reduced to fine dust. 

Leon still had not received any replies from inside the room. He could hear whispers but not to a comprehensible level.

He opened his eyes and stood up after he was done, before he said excitedly, "Ladies, I'm coming in."

He wanted to use his newfound metal manipulation to undo the lock from inside, but before he could, the steel frame of the door seemed to have lost its support and fell with a bang. Unwittingly, he had also absorbed enough metal essence from the support, holding the door together and caused it to collapse.

Leon glanced inside the room and his eyes brightened at once. What a feast for the eyes. 

Lynne and Aria were camping over by the wardrobe, half naked and undecisive of what to wear. The wanted to look their best in front of the Queen, but they weren't sure what to wear. 

The moment the door slammed into the ground, they jumped with a start like cats getting their tail stepped on. 

When they saw Leon by the entrance ogling at their body, Aria covered herself with bashfulness, while Lynne glowed red with embarrassment. 

Since the door fell, Leon did not make excuse and just continued to burn the sight into his eyes bravely. 

Lynne became angry at once and roared, "Still dare to look?!"

"Ahem… I'll wait outside. Don't keep my mother waiting." Leon reluctantly teared his eyes away and said with some awkwardness. No matter how thick-skinned he was, it was still made of the flesh. 

He manipulated the door to stand back up and cover the open entrance.

Having heard his reminder, the Aria and Lynne was shocked and no longer cared about which attire to wear. Their choice of attire couldn't be more important than the Queen. If they were late and made the Queen wait, it could leave a bad impression.

That was the last thing they wanted. They just picked randomly from the wardrobe that was filled with beautiful dresses made by the Royal Palace's chief dressmaker.

Each piece of dress was intricately interwoven and had visually stunning designs. They were unordinary and unique. It wasn't a surprise for the Aria and Lynne to have a hard time picking.

A few minutes later, Aria and Lynne came out in a gorgeous red and white dress.

Lynne did a short spin in front of Leon and said, "How do I look?"

Leon's eyes glowed with appreciation and praised, "Very pretty."

It was a simple compliment, but it was straight from his heart. Lynne was easily content, but then she angrily pinched his waist, twist it and pouted, "Don't think I will forget what you just did! Hmph hmph!"

"Ow, ow…" Leon played along and whispered, "It's not like I haven't seen it." At the same time, he thought, 'Why do girls like to pinch that area?'

Lynne immediately flushed red and pounded his shoulder, "So hateful!"

Aria tugged on his sleeve and said quietly, "W-What about me?"

Leon rubbed his chin and mused, "Hmm… Very nice, but something seems to be missing."

Aria thought for a moment, before removing her hair cover briefly in understanding and asked again with bashfulness, "What about now?"

"Too perfect." Leon's lips rose into a wide smile. Aria smiled with pure joy and shyness. Sometimes happiness comes from the simplest of things. 

"Alright, time to go meet my mother." Leon urged.

...

They soon arrived at the Dining Hall, where the Queen was seen seated in waiting. 

"Sorry we are late, mother." Leon apologized, while Lynne and Aria bowed guiltily in greeting, "Your majesty."

"There's no need for such formalities among us." Elizabeth gestured for them to be at ease warmly, before saying, "Come, let me see my daughters-in-law." 

Aria immediately glowed with happiness upon hearing the Queen's words. It showed her approval and recognition.

Elizabeth had seen Lynne earlier in the day. After a brief interaction and praise, she strode over to Aria. 

"Hmm? My girl, why do you hide your face?" Elizabeth asked curiously with a gentle tone. Right now, she was not the cold-blooded ruler of the kingdom, but a loving mother of her son.

However, when Aria heard the Queen's question, she was immediately shocked and thought her face cover could be seen in a disrespectful manner. She quickly removed her fair cover and showed off her pristine beauty. 

At the same time, Leon took the initiative to recount Aria's backstory and reason to his mother for her. 

After Elizabeth finish listening to her son's explanation, she began to sympathize with Aria. 

"It's been hard on you. My son was fortunate to have met you." Elizabeth said sympathetically. 

Leon thought he heard wrong. With a dubious expression, he asked, "Uh... mother? Don't you mean Aria is fortunate to have met me?"

Unexpectedly, Elizabeth harshly rebuked, "Nonsense! If it wasn't for her peculiar difficulties, did you think you could have win the heart of such a peerless beauty so easily with that face of yours!? Fortunately, you still have half my good genes." 

Leon's jaw dropped in surprise. Was this still his loving and doting mother? What did his face has to do with anything? And did his mother just admit his father looked like a pig?

"Real men don't depend on their faces to put the bread of the table and win hearts." Leon said with a perplexed expression. 

"Mm, that's the right way of thinking, just like your father." Elizabeth nodded in agreement and no longer paid attention to him. 

Leon didn't know whether laugh or cry. Even if his father was a handsome, he didn't need to depend on his face to begin with. As the king, he was born with everything. Leon shook his head quietly as his mother seem to favor her daughter-in-law very much. 

Elizabeth face Aria with stern expression, making the latter shaken, before she lectured dominantly, "You are wasting heaven's gift to not show off such supreme beauty! I can understand why you hid your face before, but now, you are this Queen's daughter-in-law!"

"If someone harasses you, spare the nonsense and kill him! If ten more harasses you, kill them all! Keep your head held high and show your face proudly. Don't let others dictate your actions!" 

The Queen's words resonated with Aria. Even Lynne was affected as they both felt their blood boiling. This is how a strong woman should be!

"Yes, mother." Aria nodded determinedly and no longer hid her face. 

Leon scratched his temples wryly as he watched this scene unfold. It seems that his position in his mother's heart had been replaced as the mother-in-law and daughters-in-law bonded over dinner.

They chatted over their meal heartily for hours, while he was seemingly abandoned. No one bothered to talk to him during this time. 

Afterwards, his mother allowed them to stay in the Inner Palace and have their own room to stay the night. 

Leon retired to his room by himself to rest. Half an hour later, a figure snuck into his room and crawled into his bed. 

"What's wrong? Not used to the sleeping quarters of the Inner Palace?" He teased.

With her heart pounding and flushed face, Lynne said, "You know... what I want." 

No longer able to cope with her daring actions and embarrassing words, she buried her face in his chest.