“Emelia~~ come on! My sisters and brothers are already at the table!” Kalene pulled Emelia to the dining room which had been festively decorated. Around the table sat 2 of Kalene’s brothers and her 2 sisters.

As soon as they saw Kalene the oldest exclaimed. “Now they have another sister! Ai, why is life so hard for us brothers.” Leo and Agor were twins, Leo being born earlier than Agor making him the heir to the dukedom. Though they acted immature, they are both 24 years old.

Kalene glared at him and hastily brought Emelia to a more mature, beautiful version of Kalene, her sister Isabella. Beside Isabella sat Kornela who only looked around 10 years of age, a large contract with the 20 year old Isabella.

“Sister! Meet Emelia! She saved me from the poison of the Baneum and she's really nice.” Isabella stood up and walked around Emelia with a curious look. “So you’re Emelia.. What rank are you? There’s no aura around you. You can’t be a normal mortal.”

Emelia nodded and an orange light quickly suppressed Isabella’s own aura. Colour drained from Isabella's face. She quietly apologized and sat down in her seat, no longer looking at Emelia.

“Sorry about sister, she’s very protective about us and she was just curious.” Kalene whispered to her and Emelia only smiled lightly.

As soon as the servants brought out a few more plates of food and left, Duke Kar stood up. “I’d like to toast towards Miss Emelia. She saved Kalene from certain death, the culprit being a Baneum flower. For saving my daughter, you, Miss Emelia, have earned my favour. I hope you use it wisely.” Duke Kar lifted his shot glass and quickly downed the drink.

Emelia did the same and everyone started chatting and catching up on how they were. It was rare for all the siblings to get together.

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Night fell quickly and the party only started getting more lively. As he saw his children having fun he smiled and looked towards Emelia. Emelia felt his eyes and quickly looked back at him. He made a motion and left back towards his study room. Emelia stood up and excused herself to follow him.

As she approached the door to the study the guards opened the door and let her enter.

She looked around and saw him sitting, writing a letter. He motioned towards the seat in front of the desk as he continued.

Emelia sat down and made herself comfortable. “Is there a reason for Duke Kar to want me here?”

Duke Kar finally looked up at her. “Are you a spy from Dylarr, or some other country?” He questioned her seriously. “You just so happened to come across my daughter and Gorden, just as Kalene had been poisoned by the Baneum flower, which is known to be extremely toxic. You also just happened to have the cure. So you must understand if I am curious.”

He continued slowly. “I won’t do anything if you are a spy. I’m no longer a general. I have no reason to cause a ruckus.” He looked at Emelia’s smile which only got larger.

They stared at each other for a couple of minutes. Emelia nodded as she continued staring at him. “I am indeed from a different country.”

Duke Kar’s eyes turned serious, he was only questioning her because he thought that Emelia was someone who only wanted some glory or a favour from him.

“But. I’m not from a country that you know of. My Empire can consume this entire world and not even spit it’s bones out. If we wanted to, there would be chaos, fire and murder everywhere. And now, since you know this, there can only be one choice for you, Duke Kar, join my Empire and become my vanguard.” Emelia stood up. Behind her black wings appeared, spreading out. On her head a purple halo emanating light like the sun.

“The consequence of not accepting this proposal is that you, and your whole family shall be exterminated. Then, when my true vanguard appears, this world will be set on fire, leaving no one.” Light distorting around Emelia, this was her combining her Light and Dark magic. In a way, she was letting out dark light, which just consumed all light.

She smiled towards Duke Kar. “Which will it be. General Kar, or Martyr Kar?”

Duke Kar by this point had begun sweating. He couldn’t move. The distortion effect had him paralyzed, it was like he was blind. He could see, yet he felt like he had no eyes. Blood began to flow from his eyes and ears.

Emelia released some of the pressure and Duke Kar instantly fell from the chair he was sitting on, kneeling down and nearly started shouting.

“This Duke Kar accepts my lords proposal, I shall better myself and become the vanguard for my lords army. I shall never desert and will always be loyal.”