Free Web NovelChapter 168: Ignis Lionheart
"A dragon?"
"Close enough," Orion answered calmly.
The beast sniffed the air before its glowing eyes landed directly on Isla.
Then surprisingly, it lowered its head further, almost as if it was giving a greeting to the kid.
"Hm?" Darius frowned, "he likes the kid?"
The dragon-lion let out a low rumble before suddenly nudging Isla gently with its snout.
The sleeping girl scrunched her face slightly before opening one eye sleepily.
"...big cat," she muttered.
The entire courtyard went silent at that.
A big cat? An S-rank beast capable of leveling the entire capital with ease, was being described as a big cat?
Orion looked impressed.
Meanwhile, the gigantic dragon beast simply let out another satisfied rumble before lying down beside Conan like an oversized pet.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Darius pointed at the beast with disbelief.
"EXCUSE ME!?" he shouted. "WHY DOES HE LIKE HER!?"
He had been trying all he could to get close to this damned creature and the beast always ignored him completely.
Well, probably because it sensed that the only reason Darius wanted to be friend it was to fight.
But still.
"Traitor!" Darius added immediately.
Orion sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"That’s Ignivar," he explained calmly to the group, "one of the guardian beasts of the Lionheart family."
Conan stared at the gigantic creature beside him, "One?"
"There are five of them," a voice came from the mansion’s entrance.
The group looked up immediately.
Standing at the top of the massive black stairs was a tall man with dark bronze skin and crimson eyes identical to the brothers.
His hair was also the same color as the two, but unlike Orion and Darius, however, the man’s presence felt overwhelmingly heavier.
Not because he was trying to intimidate them.
No.
It simply leaked from him naturally, even the fire spirits in the air were naturally attracted to him, as if he were fire mana itself.
The man wore loose black pants and an open-sleeved coat lined with crimson fur, exposing a heavily scarred chest.
The scars alone told countless stories.
Finally, there was a massive greatsword resting casually against his shoulder as though it weighed nothing.
Conan’s scanner immediately reacted violently.
{WARNING.}
{WARNING.}
{Target exceeds measurable parameters.}
{Threat Level: Catastrophic.}
{Recommended action: Survival is impossible.}
"..." Conan slowly turned the scanner off himself.
He didn’t need it anymore.
Meanwhile, Darius immediately frowned as he said, "Old man."
The man looked at him for a while before a grin instantly appeared on his face.
"Boy."
Despite the casual exchange, the pressure between the two immediately rose.
Orion sighed tiredly from the side.
"Can the two of you avoid starting a fight for at least five minutes?" He muttered, "We have guests."
The headmistress also let out a tired sigh.
"Grand Duke Ignis Lionheart," she greeted calmly.
The man immediately looked toward her before grinning wider.
"Evelina."
Unlike most people who addressed her with respect or caution, the Grand Duke spoke to her casually.
Well,
He was one of the few old monsters in Avera who actually could.
His eyes then slowly moved across the group before stopping on Renelle.
"Hm," he let out as if trying to recall where he had seen her before finally realizing, "Boreas’ kid?"
"It’s a pleasure to meet you Grand Duke Ignis," Renelle greeted respectfully.
"I see," Ignis nodded before saying, "My condolences on your mother’s death, we couldn’t attend because your stubborn father wouldn’t allow."
Renelle just nodded without saying anything, though deep down she had complicated feelings about the grand dukes.
In her past life, they were the cause of her father’s death, but the way Ignis was behaving currently, didn’t match the one who stood against her father.
Even Adrian was a bit surprised since, in the manhwa, the grand dukes were supposed to be actively against Boreas, but Ignis’ behavior proved otherwise.
This confirms the fact that the church had definitely done something to them in that timeline.
"I assume you will be representing your family this year?" Ignis asked.
"Yes," Renelle answered with a nod, "alongside my brother."
"Hoh?" Ignis raised an eyebrow before letting out a laugh, "So Boreas finally decided to stop hiding the boy."
It wasn’t exactly a secret among the older generation that Cedric Ardent rarely appeared publicly despite being the heir of the North.
Some thought he was weak whilst others believed he was sick.
And a few believed Boreas was simply overprotective.
Only people close to the situation understood the truth.
Ignis then looked toward Adrian.
"And what about you?" he asked casually, though his eyes felt as if they were trying to peel the boy apart layer by layer.
"The Academy’s representative?" he guessed.
"One of them," Adrian answered politely.
"Hm."
Ignis stared at him for a few seconds longer before his eyes narrowed slightly, his dragon seemed scared of the kid for some reason.
Something that should be impossible since his dragon spirit was one of the oldest.
"What type of monster are you, kid?" Ignis asked with a serious expression.
If he could see mana, his expression would’ve been a lot darker than it currently was.
The butler, however, remained perfectly polite as he answered, "The kind that’s only loyal to his lady."
The Grand Duke was silent for a while, a bit confused at that answer, but then he looked at Renelle before realizing that he had been receiving rumors about her butler who stood up against the prince during the ball.
Though he didn’t concern himself with such unnecessary gossip, he finally realized that this was the butler being spoken about.
The two silently looked at each other for a while, before the Grand Duke suddenly broke the silence with his laughter.
"Hahaha! Good answer!"
"The old man likes him," Darius let out a sigh as he said.
"Unfortunately," Orion muttered.
Ignis finally stopped laughing before resting the greatsword against his shoulder again.
"Any friend of my idiot son is welcome here," he declared before glancing toward Darius, "though I still don’t understand how someone as dumb as him managed to make competent friends." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"Say that again!" Darius immediately snapped.
"I said you’re dumb."
"YOU—"
Before Darius could launch himself at his father, Orion grabbed him by the back of his shirt effortlessly.
"Control yourself."
"LET ME GO!"
Ignoring the chaos entirely, Ignis looked back toward the others.
"The mansion prepared for the Academy is already ready," he explained, "though it’s technically impossible for guests to stay in the South without hearing noise from these idiots."
"Father," Orion sighed.
"What?" Ignis shrugged. "I’m telling the truth."
Conan looked at all this before letting out a sigh, the entire family truly was cut from the same cloth.
