《A Time for Leisure》Chapter 10: Protect
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"Are you some kind of idiot or something?" Caz asked while he still had a lazy look on his face, the look made anyone who saw it want to give him a good beating.
"Hmm, perhaps. I just can't trust you at the moment, your motives aren't clear." Even the Queen was surprised that her husband wasn't fuming. The King calmly looked at Caz as if he hadn't heard the earlier remark.
"My motives, huh? To be honest, I don't really have any at the moment. I just want to experience something new, ya know?" Caz said sincerely. He truly hadn't thought of any goals, yet. He just wanted to escape the boring life in the Higher Realm, he didn't carefully think about his plans, he sort of just did it on a whim.
"I see. Though this does give me some relief, it still doesn't seem like you should be able to fight this assassin. By the look of things, you shouldn't be a day over 25. What is your cultivation, lad?" The King said with an oppressive aura towards the end of his sentence. He needed to make sure his daughter wasn't in danger while she was around this boy. It was quite clear that Amelia had certain feelings for the boy but this wasn't enough to just let her constantly stick to him.
The King was a Middle stage Heaven Defiance cultivator and even then, he couldn't see any cultivation aura around this boy. The only close thing that he could see that might have anything to do with cultivation would be his eyes. These eyes were simply abnormal. It wasn't rare for a cultivator's eyes to morph into something different compared to their natural ones if they practised certain techniques, but he had never seen any type of eye that even remotely resembled Caz's eyes.
The King was very curious about his eyes. What kind of technique could this boy have studied for his eyes to become like this? He would ask if it wasn't considered rude to ask a fellow cultivator about which technique they cultivated in.
"My cultivation? As I told your daughter earlier, somewhere beyond the Zenith realm. I haven't checked it in quite some time and I haven't felt the need to, still don't." Caz said honestly, even though he didn't quite like the King's attitude it was still reasonable for him to act this way since his daughter was on the line.
"Zenith Realm? Hmm, I do not think I've heard of this. Do you perhaps come from a different continent? I've heard that some continents have their own cultivation realm names," The King pondered over the name 'Zenith Realm', it sounded slightly familiar but nothing really came to mind.
"Ah yes, I do come from a different continent but I don't think that it has different names for cultivation realms," Caz said as he playfully smiled at Amelia who was playing with his tail.
"Which continent do you originate from, if you do not mind me asking?" (King)
Caz just smiled at the King and said nothing. The smile contained small amounts of sadness and nostalgia. His eyes seemed to lose focus for a bit before quickly returning to their natural terrifying hue.
The King simply nodded his head and once again turned his attention to the assassin. He slowly put his hand over the man's head and quietly said 'Soul Memory'. While others might not hear it, Caz did. 'Soul Memory' was an ability that allowed people to search through the memories of the victim. While not dangerous to the person using Soul Memory, it was very lethal to the person that they were using it on.
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At the very least, they would suffer from brain damage and become mentally unstable for their entire life. At the worst, their brain would explode the second Soul Memory was completed. The King did not care of this assassin died, interrogation was the least of his worries since he had Soul Memory to help him.
There was a slight problem while doing this, though. Someone had placed a seal on his memories, this wasn't very uncommon as many Assassin Organizations would use this to keep both the identity of the customer and the location of their Organization a secret from anyone that might soul search them.
The King would normally be able to instantly crack the seal but this time it seemed like the assassin had come prepared. He had used another seal for his soul, while memory and soul seals were normally quite easy for a powerful cultivator to break, once they were used together, this would only decrease the chance of being able to successfully complete the soul search.
While The King could break both of the seals, he would need at least 4 hours. Although he could easily use Soul Memory for that long, the assassin would be dead within the first hour from the intense invasion towards his brain and soul.
Caz noticed this and secretly a small invisible strand of Qi into the soul to drastically weaken it. The King instantly noticed that something strange had happened and sent a grateful glance at Caz. After only a minute the King had successfully completed his soul searching and immediately erupted into complete anger.
"How dare he do this to me! I have treated his family with nothing but respect since they came to live under my name, and he repays me with this?!" The King was bright red with anger, you could almost see smoke coming out of his ears.
"Dear, what's wrong? Who are you talking about?" The Queen was no fool, she knew that her husband had use Soul Search and had found out who the perpetrator was.
"Duke Qoe! That traitorous bastard was the one who ordered the assassin to murder my daughter! He figured that when she was out of the picture, it would be one less royalty to worry about," The King had a murderous expression on his face when he said these words. He still couldn't believe that one of his most trusted allies would stab him in the back like this.
The King's emotions were out of control, he was depressed, vengeful and angry, but none of these could make him feel any less betrayed. Duke Qoe was one of his most personal friends, he never thought that there would be a day like this.
"Duke Qoe?!" The Queen was equally surprised and angry, she and her husband had always thought of Duke Qoe to be like an older brother that they never had, all of that family love had instantly flushed itself down the drain when she heard that the Duke had wanted her own daughter to be murdered. She would make the Duke regret being born. 'No one will touch a single hair on my daughter's head.'
Amelia was surprised that her own Uncle Qoe would want her to be murdered, he always doted on Amelia when he stopped by, giving her presents, sweets and toys. She was heartbroken to hear that one of her only uncles had wanted her to die simply because she might be a liability in the future.
Tears started forming near the corners of her eyes as she stood there. Her mother noticed this and quickly ran over and embraced her. Amelia quietly sobbed while her head was on her mother's shoulder, even while all this was happening, she still had her hand on the tail of a young devil close to her. For some reason, this tail gave her a sense of security and comfort.
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Caz just sighed and let her do whatever she wanted, it wouldn't be right for him to ignore her in her time of need. He too had felt the intensity of betrayal once, it's a very painful experience to even think about. How could this girl who is barely 20 withstand the emotional abuse she was going through without any type of love or care from others?
His tail gently wrapped itself around her hand like a tiny snake climbing a tree. He watched as the King started talking to Patriarch Mountain about his daughter's situation. He asked if it was possible to hold her in the sect for the time being, at least until he fixed this whole thing.
Luckily, it wouldn't take more than a few days at most. While Duke Qoe was a power cultivator with a private army of over 2000 men, this meant nothing to the King and his own personal army. He would completely wipe Duke Qoe from existence for this little stunt he pulled.
Walking over to his wife and daughter, he gently started to pat her head as he listened to the sobs of his youngest princess. While the heartbreak from the betrayal of his closest friend was immense, his heart felt like it was wrangled by a wolf as he saw his little girl crying. Duke Qoe would no longer mean anything in the Kingdom after today.
"Sweetie, listen. Your mother and I are going to take care of this, immediately. Please be obedient and stay within the grounds of the sect for a few days until this blows over, okay?" The King had tried his best to sound as gentle as possible to avoid any further heartbreak from his daughter. It probably hurt him and his wife more to see their children cry than anything else they could think of.
Amelia didn't reply immediately but slowly nodded her head as she wiped the tear stains from her cheek. She knew that she was probably safer to stay here than to go back to the palace. Even though the Elders hadn't detected the assassin, this was because they had never experienced something like this before. No one dared to attack someone within the sect before, so they didn't have any caution towards these types of things.
Now, however, they would constantly be alert. In the coming days, the elders seemed like completely different people as they guarded certain areas like their lives depended on it. They would not let something this idiotic happen again.
"Lad, please protect my daughter while she is here. I know that you're stronger than you look, you might be even stronger than me. I just can't let a single thing happen to my daughter, I can't let another mistake happen," The King seemed almost melancholic as he said these words to Caz.
"Please honey, if you can't do this for us, do it for my little girl. I can tell that she has a place within your heart already, so I don't think any more words of encouragement are needed," The Queen added in as well. What mother would she be if she didn't want her daughter to be safe?
Caz sighed and nodded. While Caz didn't say anything, he would never let anyone hurt Amelia. Even though they had only met the previous day, he felt a special bond with this girl. Although she might be a bit possessive and a bit terrifying at times, she was just a spoiled little princess.
"Let's go, we need to settle this before the situation becomes something more disastrous. Once again lad, please protect my daughter," The King had grabbed his wife after hugging Amelia and quickly leaving through the Teleportation Device.
Patriarch Mountain just quietly sighed as he looked at Amelia. 'This poor little girl, already experiencing betrayal at such a young age. Hah~, at least she will have to rely on this devil boy for the moment.'
"Alright, you're all dismissed. Amelia, stay with this young man for a few days, he will be able to protect you. I'll also assign a few elders to secretly guard the residence for extra protection, though hopefully, you won't need it."
Elder Diaz didn't walk them back as the Patriarch asked for him to stay. "Keep an eye on Caz for a while, we still do not know of his history. He doesn't seem like a threat towards Amelia but for all we know, this could be an act."
"Yes, sir. Would it be possible for me to state my opinion on the matter?" Elder Diaz was very humble and respectful while in the presence of the Patriarch, the complete opposite of his carefree nature on the outside.
"Of course, Diaz. I keep telling you that you do not need permission for such petty things." (Patriarch Mountain)
"Thank you, sir. While the others might be suspicious of the young man, Caz, I for one do not feel any hostility or malice from him. And, on the assassin matter, I feel like it's almost impossible for him to be an accomplice. While I cannot feel any cultivator aura on him, for some reason, whenever he stares at me, my Qi turns completely docile, as if it would be useless to even attempt to fight back. With that said, the princess also apparently slept within his residence yesterday, he could have murdered her at any given time, but he didn't," Elder Diaz politely explained his reasoning as to why he trusted Caz.
Patriarch Mountain nodded as he thought about what Elder Diaz had said. He was about to reply to him about the matter when he recalled that Elder Diaz said that Amelia stayed in Caz's room yesterday.
"She did WHAT?!"
Patriarch Mountain's roar could be heard all the way throughout the hall of his chambers.
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Caz and Amelia were silently walking towards back towards the residence. Amelia was still holding onto his tail as she walked a bit behind him.
"I'm sorry," Amelia suddenly said while her voice sounded hoarse, probably from all the sobbing she had recently done.
"Hm? Sorry for what?" Caz was momentarily confused.
"I'm sorry for dragging you into my own troubles, but please, you're the only one I can rely on at the moment," Amelia's voice was getting even harsher as she talked. Tears threatened to appear once more as she tightened her grip on his tail.
Caz sighed and suddenly walked towards Amelia and gently embraced her. She was a bit surprised but almost immediately returned the hug with an even tighter one.
The young girl felt extremely exhausted from all of the sudden announcements today. She woke up to an assassin attempting to take her life, found out that her uncle was the one who ordered her assassination and then learned that she was to stay within the grounds of the sect until the matter was finished. She wasn't stupid, she knew that her parents would exterminate Duke Qoe and any of his accomplices.
She suddenly felt very sleepy as she dozed off while she was embracing Caz. The latter was quick in his movements as he gently picked Amelia up and slowly walked towards his room.
After a few minutes of walking down the old dirt road did Caz finally see the residence. Quickly walking inside and ignoring the curious gaze of the manager, he opened his door and walked towards his bed.
Caz slowly sat Amelia onto the bed and wrapped her within a blanket.
He was about to go sit on the couch to relax when an arm suddenly grabbed his sleeve. He turned and looked at the sleep-deprived Amelia who had a frantic expression. "Don't leave me...please."
Caz gently sighed as he sat on the bed while Amelia started to tightly hold his sleeve as she closed her eyes once more. A little smile slowly found it's way onto her lips as she quickly found herself back in the dream world.
The young man slowly started to find a comfortable position for himself before looking at the sky through the window in his room.
He just quietly watched the clouds flow by as the little princess beside him peacefully slept.
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