There was a grand banquet in the evening at White Hall, and Frank sought out Aria.
"I won't hold you accountable for what you did," he said. "You can keep everything | gave you, but | have one request—once we return to Riverton, you'll tell Winter that nothing ever happened between us." Aria was taken aback. "I-I can keep your presents? You're not upset?" Noting her disbelief, Frank nodded. "I had lost myself that night, or that wouldn't have happened at all. Don't worry—I'm not upset, but no more dirty tricks like these, okay?" Aria nodded repeatedly as she saw the clear warning in Frank's eyes. "Oh, are you going for a tourney tomorrow?" "es." "Then..." Aria appeared to be at a loss, but soon resolved herself and picked up the glass on the table and poured in wine. "Thank you for forgiving me, Frank. Cheers." Frank sighed in turn—while Aria had clearly made a mistake, he was responsible too.
It was the first tin a long while since he passed out drunk, and he really should be more careful from now on.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtWith that in mind, he took the glass from Aria and chugged it.
When he was done, he said, "I hope you'll clear the air with Jean and Winter, so that you'll still be friends." "Yeah, sure." Aria quickly nodded, having been staring wide-eyed as Frank finished the glass of wine.
She breathed a clear sigh of relief when he was done before turning toward Eron.
Seeing his nod of approval, she flashed a smug smile.
"Thank you for staying in White Hall, Mr. Lawrence. It's [« kd of a lifetime," Eron said, quickly toasting Frank while cursing Aria under his breath.
She was so ignorant that she did not know enough to hide her reactions—it would be all over if Frank caught on! If his family did not contribute, Sage Lake Sect would never agree to betrothing his daughter to the sect chief's son! "You're acting strangely today, Dad." On the other hand, Kim found her father's fawning over Frank bizarre.
After all, he had been badmouthing Frank endlessly after Frank took the Earthen Dragonheart and only stopped when the Yaffes vanished without a trace.
There was no telling who destroyed the Yaffes, but Eron felt threatened since they were clearly made an example of.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHe was constantly being eaten by his own insecurities, and since Kim was his only trump card, he needed to get her a better husband.
Since he could not count on the Yaffes now, the only candidate that caught his eye was Maron Ocean, the son of Sage Lake Sect's chief.
It was alleged he recently reached Birthright rank, and Elon himself was especially sure.
After all, there was that freak thunderstorm he and his daughter witnessed before—the omen that Maron had ascended, even though he was only in his twenties.
To cause such omen, it went without saying how profound the man's talent was.
That was why he was bootlicking Sage Lake Sect so hard—as long as they had Maron's favor, the White family would inevitably becthe top family of Southstream! That was why he volunteered to lure Frank over to his house without Kim's knowledge.
"Haha! Frank Lawrence... You asked for it!" Eron could laugh right then.