"Early Core Formation stage."

Rant Valo replied.

"T-That high!? And I can't sense your cultivation stage!"

Duke Brandi looked at Rant Valo in shock. He never even dreamed that his daughter's man would be like this.

"Well… Stuff happened."

Rant Valo scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He couldn't tell them how he reached the Core Formation stage.

"You must have eaten a lot of Heavenly Treasure, huh?"

Duke Brandi smiled knowingly at Rant Valo.

"Y-Yeah."

Rant Valo nodded his head with a wry smile.

"Thank you for accepting my daughter!"

Duke Brandi used both of his hands to hold Rant Valo's hand. He looked at him sincerely.

"Don't sweat it."

Rant Valo smiled back.

"That's a relief."

Duke Brandi sighed after hearing Rant Valo's words.

"Why?"

Rant Valo asked in confusion.

"I thought no one would accept my daughter now that she had amnesia."

Duke Brandi replied to him.

"Ah. You shouldn't have worried in the first place. Your daughter is quite beautiful."

Rant Valo said to him.

"A good son-in-law."

Duke Brandi looked at Rant Valo in satisfaction.

"S-Son-in-law??"

Rant Valo looked at Duke Brandi in shock.

"Yes. Why? Aren't you one already?"

Duke Brandi looked at Rant Valo with a teasing grin.

"Y-Yeah. I guess."

Rant Valo didn't feel comfortable being teased by an old man like him.

"Boy, I want to at least see my grandkid before I pass away."

Veia's mother interrupted them and said to Rant Valo.

"M-Mother!"

Veia's face turned red in embarrassment hearing her mother's words.

"What are you getting embarrassed for? Didn't the two of you do it already?"

Veia's mother matter-of-factly looked at her.

"Mother!"

Veia covered her mother's mouth in embarrassment.

"Don't tell me, the two of you didn't do it already?"

Duke Brandi looked at the two of them in disbelief.

"A-Actually, we don't plan on doing it anytime soon."

Rant Valo replied to Duke Brandi.

"I-I see. That's a shame."

Duke Brandi lowered his head in sadness.

"???"

Rant Valo looked at Duke Brandi in confusion. Is that really something to be sad about?

"A-Anyway, please enter our home."

Duke Brandi raised his head and urged Rant Valo's group inside.

"Thank you."

Rant Valo nodded his head at him.

"T-Thank you."

Floriana Sabina stuttered as she imitated Rant Valo.

"Mm."

Duke Brandi nodded his head in satisfaction. Such a respectful man. He could rest assured about his daughter's future with him.

The group then entered the castle-like mansion.

"Uhh... Pardon me, but what is your name?"

Rant Valo asked Duke Brandi as they walked inside side-by-side.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Where are my manners? I'm Duke Brandi Cresa. I rule over the whole dukedom of Cresa."

Duke Brandi introduced himself with a smile.

"I'll also introduce myself. I'm Rant Valo. Recently, I was just a villager, but my master changed that, so here I am."

Rant Valo introduced himself confidently.

"That's surprising. I expected you to have come from a noble background."

Duke Brandi said to him.

"Is that really your impression of me?"

Rant Valo asked in incredulity.

"Yes. It is rare that a villager could become so powerful."

Duke Brandi praised Rant Valo.

"Thank you. I would have to repeat it that it's thanks to my master."

Rant Valo thanked him, and he glanced towards Floriana Sabina at the end of his words.

"Hmph. You don't have to thank me."

Floriana Sabina snorted seeing Rant Valo look her way.

"Ahahaha…"

Rant Valo laughed awkwardly.

"How long have you been cultivating?"

Duke Brandi asked Rant Valo.

"Actually, I've only been cultivating for almost two months."

Rant Valo replied to Duke Brandi.

"T-Two months!?"

Duke Brandi looked at Rant Valo in shock. He never thought that someone could cultivate to the Early Core Formations stage this fast.

"Don't tell me that you used medicinal pill!?"

Duke Brandi looked at Rant Valo with disbelief on his face. It would make sense why he couldn't see Rant Valo's cultivation stage as consuming medicinal pills to increase your cultivation has huge side effects.

"No, no, no. I never took such a thing. It's just my master's great guidance."

Rant Valo waved his hands at Duke Brandi.

"Disciple, when are you gonna keep using the same lie again and again?"

Floriana Sabina glanced at Rant Valo in annoyance.

"Ah, we're here."

Duke Brandi interrupted them. They had already been through a lot of doors. Currently, they were inside a dining hall.

"Please sit."

Duke Brandi said to them before he sat on the master's seat.

Rant Valo, Veia, and Floriana Sabina followed his words and sat on one side of the table. As for Veia's mother, she sat on the opposite side of the table and near Duke Brandi.

"You must have a lot of explaining to give us. You can tell everything or not if you want."

Duke Brandi said to them magnanimously. His priority right now was that his daughter was already found. There was no need to fuss over the other details.

"I-I'll tell you everything."

Veia said to them with a nervous stutter. She then explained what happened. That included the fact that she was already a Vampire-Succubus hybrid and also the reason for it.

"My daughter…"

Veia's mother went over the table and held Veia's hand as tears welled up in her eyes.

"T-That bastard! And you said that he's still alive!?"

Duke Brandi gritted his teeth in anger. His fist was clenched very tightly as he brimmed in anger.

"Yes. But father, I'll be the one to kill him."

Veia said to him.

"No! We'll go there and kill him right now."

Duke Brandi stood up and urged them.

"Father-in-law, I think Veia should do it herself."

Rant Valo opened his mouth and spoke to Duke Brandi.

"Huh? Why?"

Duke Brandi was taken aback when Rant Valo called him 'father-in-law', but he quickly recovered.

"That's because Veia is independent now. She doesn't need to be protected anymore. She's stronger than before."

Rant Valo explained to him with a smile. He then glanced at Veia warmly.