Esme's golden pupils were fixed on the woman with visible confusion as she inquired of the woman seated on the throne, "Aren't you the troublesome friend Grandma always referred to?"
'.....' Drishti's eyes turned towards the golden-eyed woman standing beside the young man, causing her narrowed gaze to relax, which reflected a blurred image of the woman's face. "No, you might have mistaken me for someone else."
Naturally, with her strength, a small push could make Drishti see through the young woman's face, but that small push would also break her first seal, revealing her own locked charm.
So, there isn't a need to create a hassle for herself while moving around this world.
"...I see," Esme nodded, but her blank expression gave away her mind's state, not fully trusting the words of the woman lazily lying on the throne with folded legs and hand supporting chin resting on armrest.
Now, Esme turned her eyes towards another figure standing beside the woman seated on the throne, looking back at her with the same orange hues in her eyes.
Wearing a half masquerade mask covering one eye, with both eyes visible, and dressed in military attire, which wasn't common to see.
'It's relieving,' Esme felt slightly relieved that neither of the women were romantically interested in the young man beside her.
Of course, she didn't use her mind attack to know this, because there was no need to use it to begin with.
After all, it was a woman's instinct, a special ability present inside every woman, that made them detect the true meaning hidden inside others' gazes—envy, lust, hatred, and even other emotions. These things weren't much harder for any woman to guess.
tap tap
Esme's eyes narrowed as she saw the woman wearing a military uniform descending from the throne platform and approaching her, even those men standing on the corners of the hall room also knelt in their positions.
"My Liege, I hope your journey was fruitful," Regina stated in a knelt position, sensing a slight hint of calmness in the young man's aura whom she had taken an oath to serve.
But it was clear that if the waves were calm, it didn't mean they couldn't drown oneself.
"Yes, it was," Ryuk replied with his eyes fixed ahead, looking at the old man averting his gaze from him while standing beside Drishti and fanning her.
That man appeared as an average male with a white beard and mustache, but the issue was the tattered clothes.
'Show me his status,' Ryuk concluded three things.
First, observing the way the clothes on the man's body were torn from some places with a subtle hint of stretching instead of sharp blade cuts made him conclude that the man had transformed into a more muscular form.
Secondly, the long white beard with white hairs, though revealing him to be an old man, yet his eyes seemed much more alive, suggesting they had seen battles and fights throughout their life and survived each one.
Yes, human eyes are complicated, and no one can see through them—despite the myth that eyes reflect the soul, which is only true of animals, not for a complex creature like humans.
However, it is also true that eyes can tell the story of one's past. For example, a murderer will not blink upon seeing blood, or a person in pain whose tears have dried will not allow any moisture to form in their eyes.
Indeed, eyes reveal one's past, and Ryuk could see that the old man's eyes held the depth of wars.
Thirdly, the old man was not fanning Drishti of his own will; he was clearly under the influence of The Authority, leading Ryuk to understand that the man held a far higher rank than anyone here.
Though there was a probability that Drishti didn't want to waste her time fighting him, so she used The Authority— who knows?
DING!
╔─━━━━━━━━━░★░━━━━━━━━━─╗
'No,' somehow, Ryuk rejected the possibility of this all being just part of fun.
Though there were chances that Drishti orchestrated everything for her own amusement, knowing her until now, one thing was clear about her.
She would sacrifice small fun things for big ones.
Meaning, this was all her plan for him to get his hands on the Thesis, which had already proven its worth after he trained using it.
And now that it came from someone as strong as Valhale, getting his hands on it would have been a hassle, making her plan all this so he could manipulate this girl into obtaining things. 'It could have been a good plan, only if...'
[ Only if, Hunter hasn't fallen for the prey ^__^ ]
'.....' Ryuk couldn't deny, though Drishti had indeed allowed him to obtain the Thesis, and now using Esme he could easily blackmail the old man into getting complete Thesis.
Of course, he wasn't going to hurt Esme, but who said he couldn't use her for some assistance?
"Esme, don't go away, stand beside me," Ryuk said, looking at the old man whose eyes had just widened upon hearing his words. This prompted a small smile to form on Ryuk's face as he glanced at Esme before holding her hand and adding, "It will not be good for our both lovely twins."
'!?!'
WHOOOSH
"You darn human!" Valhale cried out as the aura around him burst out, instantly filling the room with intense pressure caused by the sheer force emanating from his body.
He glared at the hands that dared to lay upon his granddaughter, which now needed to be cut off.
'...Was that it?' Ryuk had expected Valhale to be suppressed by Drishti to some extent, but seeing how he was only able to turn his head using force and even let his aura burst out, yet still unable to move.
It all proved how strong Drishti's ability really was.
"Grandpa?" Esme had noticed the man fanning that woman but due to a big change in demeanor, she wasn't able to instantly recognize him until she heard his voice.
"Ahem, you should keep your distance from that man, Esme," Valhale composed himself, realizing he shouldn't let the situation get the better of him, despite all that had occurred since he challenged this woman.
"But he is your grandson-in-law?" Esme stated, paying attention to the woman seated on the throne; the situation in this whole place seemed overwhelming to her.
Naturally, her mana guided the others in surrounding to form illusions, but there was indeed some amount of energy cost to her too, even though it was minimal.
The larger and denser the mana surrounding her, the more her own mana would be consumed to guide it.
And right now, this whole place was appearing like a dense mist due to mana density, meaning creating illusions here would cost her more energy than normal.
"""Huh?"""
"What?"
First it was Valhale, Regina, and the men present inside the hall, and second were the twins themselves, who didn't exactly understand when both Esme and Ryuk married.
Of course, it doesn't end here.
Ryuk glanced at the young woman who came forward, trying to understand things, as he exclaimed,
"Sorry?"