Chapter 26

1

Ten minutes ago, Duke Qin idly turned on the video screen in his home, focusing on the preparations for the eve of the queen's ascension ceremony. It was the neighboring kingdom's prince who should step in to deal with the unruly behavior, as the queen had already excused the duke from attending and staying home to recover. Besides, someone would naturally step in to handle the prince's motives. Why would his daughter-in-law need to protect herself as the old master that he was? Rarely being excused from attending, he naturally wanted to be with his most beloved person.

"Nia, come sit here with me."

The duke lifted his wife, who had already turned eleven years old. It had been eleven years since his wife had reincarnated. In a few years, his wife, who was now in her prime, would reappear, and the thought excited him.

"In a few years, shall we have a daughter together?"

Though there were raging battles beyond the national walls, leisure time should also be spent doing something to lift the spirits. It was a joyous occasion when a new leader ascended, and Qin Liestong's situation was gradually being accepted. Moreover, there was no certainty that he would not wake up.

Nia sat on the duke's lap, picking up the cup of warm tea poured by the maids for her.

"Do you like daughters?" Nia's face bore no expression, and the duke did not see her face as she turned away from him.

"I quite like them. Now that our son is grown up, it'd be so much fun to have a daughter."

"Daughters, huh? It's quite nice, and even better if we have a beautiful daughter, isn't it, Your Grace?"

Duke Qin had already sunk into his fantasizing about having a daughter. In his mind, the appearance of his daughter varied greatly. Would she resemble the mother more, or the father? He kept on looking forward to the daily life with a daughter, pondering how to educate her into a young lady.

"Son is of Dragon lineage, what then shall our daughter be?"

"You have a sense in your heart. There might be a daughter too. By the way, what kind of child do you think Tesha, who came to our house before, is?"

"Elegant and graceful, but somewhat introverted. She looks like her mother, but her personality is calm and composed like mine. Her reserved manner and good spell-casting abilities make her feel quite nice. She may even write a distinctive Grimoire in the future."

Nia gulped down her tea, her fingernails turning inexplicably pale. The duke was still immersed in his own world, oblivious to any difference his wife might have.

"What if our daughter turns out like her?"

"Such things should be left to fate. Tesha grew up with her grandfather in a forest since she was young, so she may be more introverted."

"You know her quite well."

"Of course, having watched her grow up since she was young, I may not know everything, but I know quite a lot."

Nia's shoulders trembled slightly, and the maid's hand holding the tea cup also shook a bit. It was the first time the maid had seen the lady's facial expression like this, and she felt a bit afraid.

"Having watched her grow up since a young age, and have always taken care of her... Her mother is quite good, right?"

"What could be good or bad about raising a daughter alone? Her father passed away a few years ago, leaving just the two of them, and recently, there have been some conflicts between mother and daughter..."

"Let's have Tesha come live with us..."

"Alright, as a family..."

A series of glass vessels shattering in the room brought Duke Qin out of his reverie. His wife was no longer seated on his lap, but standing with hands on her hips and feet straddling his thighs. The tea in the maid's hands had spilled all over the floor, and she quickly tidied up, automatically leaving the room without managing to clean up the broken glass fragments.

"You've known who her mother is all along, haven't you?"

Duke Qin nodded blankly.

"How old is she?"

"She's two months older than our son..."

Nia's pupils contracted as she gazed down at her husband from a higher vantage point and asked, "Do you still remember what I told you before you went to battle?"

"Safe return?"

"Other than that!"

Duke Qin couldn't remember so much at that moment. The Angels were attacking at any time, the new main gun carrier was outside, the old main gun carrier was being refitted. It was fortunate enough to escape a life-threatening situation and return home, so how could he have the mind to remember his wife's words other than "safe return"?

"Don't remember? Are you thinking about someone else?"

"I'm thinking about the country!"

"Don't act high and mighty! I said that when you came back, I wanted to ask you something!"

Duke Qin pondered for a moment and vaguely recalled a particular phrase, but at that time, he didn't think it was anything important to ask him.

Nia's eyes were serious, but there was a strange smile on her lips.

"Qin Fenyu, I'm going to ask you a question now, and you have to answer honestly, or just nod or shake your head. But you only have one second to answer. Is Tesha related to you by blood?"

Duke Qin leaned back on the couch and nodded without thinking, as this was a fact he couldn't deny.

"She is Guffy's daughter, and she is also related to you by blood. I am so disappointed. After being married to you for over a decade, you actually lied to me. She's older than Qin Yang, but you're having a daughter together!"

Nia's merciless and cold feet stomped fiercely on Duke Qin's hot and contorted face, causing surprising cries in the room. The servants had already hidden away, discreetly ignoring the situation.

"N-Nia... Tesha... She's related to you... too!"

"I don't want to be her mother! Clearly, she already had a child back then, why did you choose me... two months? Our engagement banquet! You devil!"

As Nia raged against Duke Qin, she remembered the engagement banquet held before they got married, where Guffy was in attendance. Later that night, she disappeared, and that was when Fist Demon King Yu Zhaye and Hisa started fighting, with the Fire of Misfortune suppressing them, leaving a deep impression in her memory.

"Wait... listen to me..." The Duke felt his face was somewhat wet, likely Nia's tears.

"I won't listen! When I first saw Tesha, she reminded me of you, and it turns out... you lied to me for over a decade! What kind of daughter do you still want, when our daughters are already grown up! Liezong was right about you!"

"It's not... What? Liezong?" The Duke's heart was now torn between feeling sorry for his brother and wanting to rush to "whip the corpse"!

"We're getting a divorce!"

At that moment, a video broadcast announced their son's call to his daughters-in-law!

"Elena Brandt, Qin Ying, Nofis, Lin Wenxin, Zi Sirou, Hanya, Xiao Qiong, Xiao Yao, Guffy, Lilith Guer, Nana Guer, and today's protagonist, the new Empress Othrie—Zi Liliu!"

Duke Qin stood up and pointed at Guffy on the screen as if he had found a savior.

"She... her daughter is Qin Yang's!" The Duke's face had long been turned into a pig's head, not expecting her to be so fierce at such a young age. She, who was usually cute and sweet, was now terrifying!

Nia sat on the couch in shock. The answer was extremely complex and somewhat unacceptable!

"I said you were related to Tesha... I meant that you are her—grandmother!"

The word "grandmother" struck Nia like lightning. She seemed to have overlooked a detail twenty years ago when her son had a time-travel experience, only recently discovering that the person with the same name as her son was, in fact, her own child. How could she have realized she had such an adult son at the time when she was in her prime, and considering Qin Yang was the reincarnation of a Saint Demon Dragon, possessing strength and intelligence far beyond a normal teenager, she always thought he was someone extraordinary.

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I just realized it myself recently. When Qin Yang left, she asked me to take care of Guffy. I didn't understand the reason at first, until she gave birth to Tesha, I understood the meaning. I thought she was just the daughter of an old friend... but I never imagined that she would turn out to be my granddaughter. Qin Yang never explicitly stated it, and the conflict between Tesha and Guffy should be because of this."

Suddenly, Nia burst into uncontrollable laughter, completely forgetting her previous anger that had soared to the heavens. The extreme anger had quietly dissipated, leaving only excitement behind.

"What are you laughing at?"

"G... Guffy... Guffy is actually my daughter-in-law! Hahaha... I have a higher status than her... hahaha..."

Qin Fenyu could only helplessly join in the laughter. He could only blame himself for not telling Nia earlier, letting her speculate all along. Such things could easily drive a woman crazy. However, the culprit was the "former emperor" lying in bed, who had mentioned taking care of Guffy and her daughter but failed to explain clearly! He had no idea of the truth.

Qin Fenyu silently noted this in his heart, planning to settle the score when the Purple Liquescent Pine woke up, or let it be a lingering thought if it didn't.

After comforting Nia, Duke Qin returned to his office. He had been paying attention to the succession ceremony, but at this moment, he was more focused on the information on another screen – the battle on the other side of the ocean. With artificial elements, Othrie was the main force among humans. Due to supply issues, the two sides had temporarily ceased fire today, but Othrie had to be on guard even if they tried a solo advance to disrupt the important ceremony. As the Imperial God of War, such tasks required a lot of thought to accomplish. Today, the Human Alliance Army was to be established, and artificial elements were to be openly introduced to all humans. At the same time, The Human Realm Magic adept ranks had to be readjusted. Whether he could maintain his god-level status remained uncertain. Thinking carefully, rank was merely about face. In Qin Yang's words, a catastrophe was looming over the world, with the world's consciousness seeking to eliminate humans to maintain balance. While it sounded absurd, Magic itself had seemed absurd at the beginning. Furthermore, Qin Yang, a dragon who had lived longer than anyone else, had spoken about it. Dragons remained a mystery in the Three Realms. However, under this disaster, even the dragon race needed to save themselves, raising doubts and panic among humans, compelling them to unite and fight. The enemy to be defeated might not necessarily be the divine race. Only Qin Yang knew the answer. As a humble human, one could only choose to believe in the dragon race's words and defeat these fallen gods to bring a pure light of The Divine Realm.

"Hey, how much longer until the aircraft carrier in the military workshop is ready for refitting?"

The voice from the other end conveyed the urgent tone of working on the reformation of the old aircraft carrier. If successful, other countries could also refit their old carriers, boosting their military power without needing to build a new one.