"You are making an enemy of the Empire!"
Brandish's gaze turned cold as the magic power around her began to surge, ripples spreading out and blowing away everything in the vicinity.
"Quite impressive magic power..."
Irene looked relaxed as she gazed at Brandish and said with a smile, "Come, if you want to avenge him, I would also like to see the power of the Spriggan 12."
Suddenly, everything became calm. Brandish withdrew her magic power and said with a lazy expression, "Forget it, if he's dead, so be it. That guy wasn't exactly a good person anyway."
She started walking back, leaving without looking behind. "I'm only half a Spriggan 12. It's only because old man August saw potential in me that he gave me the title in advance. The strength of the other Spriggan 12 is far beyond mine."
Three years ago, she met the Empire's strongest Mage, August. After their meeting, August took notice of her aptitude and taught her diligently, which is why she possesses her current strength.
It's just that His Majesty returned recently and even said that old man August is his son, which she found a bit confusing.
Looking at their appearances, August felt like he was from the same generation as His Majesty's grandfather.
And old man August didn't object; instead, he burst into tears and wouldn't let go of His Majesty.
Irene took a step and appeared in front of Brandish the next moment. She took out a treat from her bag of sweets and handed it over, saying, "Take me to find your Emperor."
Brandish looked surprised and happily took it, saying, "Thank you, but I can't take you to see His Majesty. You don't look like a good person. What if you're an assassin?"
Irene's face darkened as she reached out. "Give it back!"
Brandish stuffed the sweet into her mouth in a second and said with her cheeks bulging, "I've already eaten it!"
Once sweets reached her hands, there was no way she would return them, not even if she were killed.
"To think you'd act like a brat with your big sister..."
Irene reached out and pinched Brandish's fair and tender cheek, which was soft and elastic. Seeing Brandish's dazed and cute look, she said with a chuckle, "You really are quite like little Lucy."
"Lucy?"
Brandish was suddenly startled and hurriedly asked, "Do you know the young miss, Lucy Heartfilia?"
"Of course..."
Irene hadn't expected Lucy to have such a wide circle of friends, that even in the Western Continent, someone would call her 'young miss'. She reached out to reveal her Fairy Tail guild mark. "We are in the same guild."
"Eh, it's Fairy Tail. It seems I wasn't mistaken..."
Brandish thought for a moment and told Irene about her identity and her relationship with Lucy.
Her mother was Grammi, who used to be a servant to Lucy's mother, Layla. She had been in charge of the Aquarius Key. Brandish had played with Lucy and Aquarius since she was a child. Later, she and her mother came to the Western Continent and settled here.
They had returned once in between to return the key of Aquarius, but it was a bit late; Lady Layla had already finished opening the Eclipse Gate.
However, after seeing that Lady Layla was fine, her mother left the Aquarius Key behind and brought her back to the Western Continent. Later, they met old man August and joined the Alvarez Empire.
Brandish asked with sparkling eyes, "Is the young miss Lucy doing well?"
Irene thought of the Lucy who was noisy every day and smiled. "She's fine, but in terms of magic, she's far behind you."
As the young miss, Lucy had been surpassed by the daughter of a servant; Irene wondered if she would feel embarrassed.
She felt that, in all probability, she wouldn't. With Lucy's personality, she might even excitedly hug Brandish's leg.
Brandish hurriedly waved her hands. "I only reached this level because I was taught by the Empire's strongest Mage. If it were the young miss Lucy, she would definitely have far surpassed me."
Since childhood, her mother had taught her that no matter what happened in the future, the Heartfilia Family would always be her primary house, and Lucy would always be the young miss of their family.
Although the young miss Lucy didn't care about such things and always treated her like a sister, she had to keep it firmly in her heart.
Irene nodded and got straight to the point. "Since you know Lucy, then you should know I'm not a bad person. Take me to see your Emperor."
After hesitating, Brandish nodded. "Then come with me."
An hour later, under Brandish's lead, they finally arrived at a luxurious palace. Due to her status as one of the Spriggan 12, the two of them passed through without any obstacles.
The Imperial Palace was also the tallest palace in Alvarez, a symbol of power and glory.
Its interior was dominated by pure white tones, with various carvings full of mystery and nobility. Not only that, the entire palace was filled with magical fluctuations—Defensive Magic Circles capable of resisting the magic of the Spriggan 12.
Zeref was sitting on the throne, flipping through various reports of the kingdom. Beside him, August and Larcade were busy attending to him, serving tea, pouring water, peeling fruit, and massaging his shoulders.
A smile appeared on his face. "You two, stop being so busy. Sit down and rest for a while!"
Larcade immediately said, "Father, I'm not tired at all. Let August go rest."
Although he was a created demon, he had always called Jellal 'father'. He had already made up his mind to dedicate everything to his father.
In this world, besides Uncle Natsu, he was the person closest to his father.
He had always thought so, but to his utter surprise, that silent August was actually his father's biological son, and his own status had suddenly dropped significantly.
To him, this was like a bolt from the blue, a fall from heaven to hell.
Since August was his father's biological son, what did that make him, the adopted son?
Didn't that mean he was useless?
Fortunately, he was thick-skinned enough to continue calling His Majesty 'father' in front of August, and August was too embarrassed to stop him.
His father had also become gentler than in the past. When he returned that day, he was incredibly happy and allowed him to continue being an adopted son, which put his mind at ease.
However, he had to become more considerate and powerful than before so that he wouldn't be abandoned by his father.
"I'm not tired. For so many years, my greatest wish has been to serve by your side as your son."
August felt very displeased in his heart, but he didn't show it.
He was His Majesty's biological son. Larcade, this fake son, had called him 'father' for so many years in front of him, the real son. Hadn't he had enough?
They had already recognized each other as father and son, yet this guy could still shamelessly call him that. His thick skin was truly unparalleled.
Zeref was moved by what he heard. "August, you've suffered all these years. I've truly been an incompetent father."
Although he had kept August by his side since he was a child, he hadn't raised him properly and only recognized him now. He was filled with immense regret.
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