CHAPTER 327: CHAPTER 327: A DAUGHTER’S TRAUMA

"What is it?" Pagast asked, seeing his daughter momentarily distracted by the golden screen that flashed in front of her face.

"Nothing," Alora said, mentally swiping away the private message hurriedly, not even reading it to see what it was about.

She sent a referral to her father in front of her, causing a golden screen to appear in front of his face.

This was the second time Pagast was seeing this semi-transparent golden screen. The first time he saw it was when Exalon had sent a referral to everyone at King Larvis’s pyramid at the same time.

At that time, he just ignored it, he wasn’t the type to rashly accept anything, even if it was from the Primordial Lion himself.

Now that he was seeing it again, he hesitated. The look on Alora’s face a few moments ago was in his mind.

Clearly, Alora had seen something that shocked her greatly. Something that was more relevant to her than her own father...apparently.

’Hmm,’ Once Pagast’s train of thought reached his level, it couldn’t be helped anymore. It remained stuck in his mind. He was curious, what was more interesting than his presence at this moment?

Pagast was not delusional to think that he was the most important person in anyone’s life, nor did he think everyone would grovel at his feet.

But this was his daughter, some of the behaviors she exhibited were because of the trauma he had instilled in her as she grew. She might despise and fear him, but it also meant that he should be the most influential entity in her life.

It was okay if she got distracted once in a while, but her subconscious would eventually turn around to revolve around his actions, directly or indirectly.

If she were far from him, it was understandable. But he was standing right in front of her. Whatever she had seen had enough influence for her to forget about maintaining her composure in front of him.

Pagast liked it that some lions and lionesses, including Alora, subconsciously maintained a certain level of elegance and decorum when he was around them. It reminded him of the power he had over their subconsciousness.

But Alora had lost this composure. His mind churned fast, calculating different possibilities within a few seconds.

Could it be that someone else was imprinting heavily on her mind? Pagast thought.

He and Alora might share slightly similar Narcissistic spectrums but what differentiated him from her was that he was a covert manipulator. He loved instilling trauma into people to make them intertwined with his ego.

Alora couldn’t be bothered about such things like mind games. She was more direct and less covert. Sure, she could play the mind games, but not unless it served her goal of achieving a supreme sense of self.

She wanted to be strong and powerful, she wanted to prove to everyone including her father that she wasn’t a pushover. She didn’t know that even her goals revolved around the traumatic experiences her father had orchestrated.

Father and daughter were trying to gain control in their own ways.

Why else would she be excessively power hungry and have a desire to control everything, including her friends?

The reason stood before her, her father, Pagast.

"Hope there’s no trouble?" Pagast asked, his face devolving into a colder expression. He wasn’t going to take losing control very likely.

"Nothing, it’s just the new feature update on the Lion System, that’s all," Alora said. She realized that she had lost her composure in front of her father because of Kael’s message.

This caused her heart to beat fast as she thought of something. Could Kael really have such an effect on her?

Of course not, she told herself. It was obvious that she had not expected Kael to ask for the obedience debt so soon. Her mind constantly wondered what he would ask for this time.

She also noticed that she was still too thoughtful of what her father thought of her and it annoyed her deeply. It was a reminder that he still had some sort of influence over her mind.

"I see," Pagast said. He had no way of confirming if she was lying or not. This was the territory of the Fanged Flower Alliance, he couldn’t do anything here.

Alora had chosen to meet him alone because she knew that in this place, she was never truly alone. The moment Pagast actually made a move, he would be attacked by dozens of powerful Lion Queens.

After all, one of the reasons she went for the expedition in the first place was to get away from his controlling hand.

Perhaps, if Pagast had known that a variable like the Primordial Lion would exist at this time, he might not have let her go.

Now, she had used the events that occurred in that world to start securing her own independence.

Pagast imagined what Alora would do once she got the power she wanted.

Surely, he would be the first to suffer.

They both knew this. Alora’s determination to get stronger disturbed him greatly.

"I won’t make it easy for you, you know that right?" Pagast said as he turned his back on his daughter.

Alora stared at the braid back of her father, one she had once hoped to protect but ended up crushing her into what she was today.

She should have just been an average extremely narcissistic lioness, but her upbringing made her way worse.

As she looked at him, her eyes held zero traces of warmth, just a cold gaze that was uncertain of something.

"I know," she said.

There was no way that Pagast, a narcissist and paranoid tyrant who wore the mask of a calm leader, would allow an element like Alora to grow in peace.

He was never going to trust in her ability to forgive. Did she even have the ability to forgive?

Pagast accepted the referral request. His eyes were exposed to all the features and guidelines that the Lion System presented.

"Thank you," he said. Whatever he had come to do, he had accomplished it by talking with Alora.

A long black magic shuttle with white designs flew over from the mini planet that had many magic shuttles parked on it. This particular magic shuttle flew over and stopped above the father and daughter pair.

Alora stood up from the ground, stylishly dusting her dress in a way that didn’t diminish her noble poise.

She recognized the shuttle very well as she had flown in it multiple times growing up.

"When will I see you next?" Alora asked as the hatches of the shuttle opened up below.

The question sounded like it was from a caring daughter but the intent behind it was ill.

"I don’t know, why would I tell you?" Pagast asked, not turning back, "You want to anticipate the problems I would give you?"

"Actually, that’s what I want to do. And Pagast..." Alora raised her voice.

Pagast nearly choked on his own saliva. His hearing was superb so he was sure he didn’t hear her wrong.

Alora had just called him by his name. Not Your Majesty, not Father, not any honorary term. She had addressed him in a raw and crude manner.

He turned around swiftly, stirring up a torrent of wind, causing his fur cloak to billow upward.

His bright blue eyes focused intensely on Alora. If he wasn’t sure before, he was sure now. He was losing control over his daughter.

"...Wait for me, one day, you and I will sit down as equals. On that day, I will show you something," Alora said, looking straight into her father’s eyes.

The air froze over as their aura clashed. Pagast was hundreds of times more powerful than her but at his moment, Alora seems to be possessed by the spirit of pride.

Pagast stared at her solemnly. He sensed the rising auras of different Lion Queens in the distance. They had detected his rising aura.

Pagast sighed, he took a deep breath in and a deep breath out. He returned his mental state to one of calmness, he wouldn’t allow his daughter to upset him. Not here, not now.

"Till we meet again, daughter," Pagast said before leaping skyward.

The ground cracked and sank a few inches down. Alora was balanced, the shattered ground didn’t affect her standing.

Pagast shot into the magic shuttle, which promptly flew away.

Alora sighed, seeing the magic shuttle shrinking in the distance.

She didn’t like how even in his absence, he was still on her mind. So she summoned the golden screen to take her mind off it.

She returned to Kael’s private chat to check what he had sent to her.

...

Kael: Hello Alora, I hope you are well.

You must have seen the new feature update on the Lionhood Bar, what I want you to do is somewhat related to that.

I want you to cause a rebellion among the vassals of those who have joined the Lion System.

Consider this one slot from the obedience debt.