âOld Bastard. Letâs talk.â
The Wind Emperor smiled and nodded. âSure.â
âAlea, Ana, Yuri, follow me. The rest will take care of the garden.â The Empress stated as she went to the mansion.
The Wind Emperor signaled Levina and Lyovkin to follow him.
They complied as they walked right behind him.
While pushing the wheelchair, Lyovkin thought, âSo, Theo has only been a clone until now. Doesnât this mean all of us were defeated by a clone? What if Theo was here and fought all of us together with his cloneâ¦â
He sucked a cold breath as he could imagine Theo bullying them.
âAs expected of my idol. Heâs going to be my only idol from now on.â Levina smiled inwardly, aspiring to be someone like Theo.
Meanwhile, the Empressâ side wasnât that happy when they realized Theo was a clone. This was clearly an insult to tell them that they were not strong enough to even defeat his clone.
Ana clenched her fists and muttered inwardly, âThat Theo⦠Heâs already this strong with only his clone⦠What if heâs actually using that Ascension Step while his clone attacks me? Itâs a sure win. No wonder itâs called a trump card.â
Alea only looked down with a frown, not thinking anything.
Yuri, on the other hand, bit her lips, remembering this humiliation.
While leading them inside, the Empress glanced at Alea and said with a cold tone. âAlea. Whatâs the deal with your lousy performance?â
âEh?â Alea was surprised, thinking she had fought to the best of her ability.
Seeing the confusion on her face, the Empress said, âIâm not talking about your fighting ability. Iâm talking about all other things. Why did you not say anything when you lost? Were you sad because he defeated you? Was that why you didnât even look at him in the face?â
âThatâsâ¦â Alea opened her mouth but no words came out. She couldnât explain herself.
âWhat? Donât make sh*tty excuses by telling me that you were trying to look more mature.â The Empress snorted, glaring at her.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
She didnât mind bashing her disciple in front of everyone, let alone the Wind Emperor. After all, she knew the Wind Emperor had told Levina to seduce him or something.
So, she didnât hold back even when they were walking in the hall.
âWhat? Did you think by becoming more calm and silent, you have become more mature? Did you confuse battle state and everyday state? Huh? Your grandmother told me that you had been sheltered this whole time and tried to grow up. But if this was what you meant by growing up, Iâm going to beat the sh*t out of you right now.â The Empress said with a menacing tone.
âI⦠I donât know.â Alea shook her head helplessly. âI felt like I lost something after he defeated me. I thought I had prepared for this, butâ¦â
âThatâs bullsh*t.â The Empress snorted. âJust tell me that you are jealous of that so-called worldâs most beautiful woman! Just tell me that you want to be like her, calm and collected.â
Alea looked down, having no words to refute her.
âWhat you did earlier is nothing but utter bullsh*t. Why the heck did you even want to be someone else?â The Empress shook her head. âIf you want to be calm and collected, just go to a shop or something and become a receptionist.
âIâm not degrading them. Iâm telling you that even they can become calm and collected when dealing with customers. However, when you actually become a customer of the shop, you will instantly forget that thereâs a receptionist like that. After all, you have seen this type of person everywhere.
âImagine you go to that brat Theo as a calm and collected person. Thereâs no way youâre going to make an impression. He knows you for who you are⦠not who youâre trying to be.
âIf you continue like this, youâre just going to be a âWoman Aâ in his mind, not Alea Eilric.
âIâm not telling you that you canât be a calm person. Iâm telling you to bring your personality more. Werenât you always the energetic and positive girl this whole time? I bet that heâs thinking of you as that kind of person.
âThatâs your unique impression. If it was the past you, you would have accepted the defeat with a smile on your face. You admitted that he had gotten stronger than you and told him that you wouldnât lose in the future.
âYou would have talked to him more instead of feeling dejected or whatsoever. On the other hand, what you did today was tell him that you were not yourself anymore. Donât confuse this sentence with you were not who you used to be.
âThere is absolutely a character development in the latter. Meanwhile, what you did right now is a character change.
âYou even made that guy console you by telling you it was a great fight. If I were Agata Mota, I would have slapped you in the face.
âIâm telling you this because you said you like him. You told me that you wanted to grow up. Mature is not about becoming calm and composed. Itâs about your thoughts.
âYou start thinking about how others feel and their well-being. Have you forgotten when Agata Mota said youâre not worthy of him? Thatâs because she can understand him and his struggle.
âWhat you did earlier is not that. Instead, you actually wanted to show him that you were not the Alea Eilric he knew. You were someone else, so he didnât need to contact you anymore.â The Empress shook her head helplessly. âSeriously, what should I do to youâ¦â
Listening to her words, Alea clenched her fists until her palms started bleeding. She realized that she had made a huge mistake.
âI⦠What should I doâ¦â Alea asked with a hoarse tone.
âThatâs not something I can answer. If itâs the past you, what will you do?â The Empress asked back.
Alea looked at her as her body started shaking. She gritted her teeth and said, âI⦠Pleaseâ.â
Before she finished her words, the Empress said, âGo. Just do what you need to do.â
Alea immediately turned around and started running as she knew what she was supposed to do.
She hurriedly returned to her room and grabbed her Skylink.
However, before she could even contact him, she was the first one to receive a call, albeit it wasnât from Theo.
[God of Fortitude wants to meet you.]