CHAPTER 381: CHAPTER 381: NO LONGER BETROTHED

"Ozia, what do you want to report?" Kael asked with a stern expression.

Hearing the question, the other children also tensed up.

They secretly hurled insults at Ozia. He was the one who always brought the most attention to them, especially when they would have preferred to stay low.

Reporting their failure to their father as inevitable but they would have preferred to stall for a much longer time before anything.

"Mother," Jeremiah exclaimed when he saw his mother walking out of the wooden pyramid with Ruda and Olivia beside her.

The three of them seemed a bit tired with their eyelids lower than usual.

When Priya saw them, she instantly understood what had happened and could not help but wear a knowing smirk on her lips.

Nalii was stunned to hear Jeremiah’s voice. Ruda and Olivia also raised eyebrows, they didn’t know the children were going to be here.

"Jeremiah," Nalii called with a smile, "Aren’t you all meant to be with Auntie Katari?" She asked.

This question caused Ozia and the others to send death stares at Jeremiah. Ozia’s blunder was bad enough, now Nalii had reminded Kael of the situation.

Jeremiah shrank his head sheepishly and his green tail wrapped around one of his legs.

"Indeed, they were supposed to be training with Katari," Kael said with a look of understanding.

Truthfully, he never forgot that they were supposed to be with Katari, that was just the children’s assumption due to their lack of understanding of how terrifying Kael’s memory was.

Even if Kael wanted to forget something, it would be incredibly taxing.

"How was the training? Wei, you’re the oldest, speak up," Kael said.

Wei shrank back, her blue skin looking a little pale.

As of now, he wasn’t a future consort, she was the King’s niece and she was going to be held accountable for being older than the rest.

Technically, Ozia and the other children were her cousins.

The way Kael looked at her was stiff, with discipline edging his eyes. Like an uncle who was known for disciplining his brother’s children.

Wei could sense that something bad would happen today, something that would just not affect her but a lot of people.

"We...we were training with Aunt Katari. Uhm... Our objective..." Wei struggled to voice her thoughts under Kael’s domineering presence.

"Speak up!" Kael commanded.

The children flinched at Kael’s sudden low shout. Priya frowned and Silas hid behind his mother.

Kael wasn’t angry, he just didn’t like how Wei couldn’t stand up and face him. It irked him that this was the entity that was the source of his Water Powers.

Wei immediately straightened her back and regained the firm composure that she always had when with others.

"We were training with Aunt Katari, Your Majesty. Our objective was to take down a tier 4 equivalent rebel elephant in under five minutes.

And we failed."

Wei spoke up, raising her voice slightly.

"And what were Katari’s remarks?" Kael asked.

"She said we would be dead if she weren’t there to supervise us. We were asked to report ourselves before resuming punishment with Auntie Katari."

When Nalii, Ruda, and Olivia heard the last part, their expressions changed.

Punishment?

Katari’s definition of punishment was different from the standard definition of Punishment.

What did Wei mean by punishment? Surely it wasn’t something that any of them could imagine for themselves.

"Hmm, I’m sure she would find a befitting punishment. I’ll ask her to be a bit lenient since it is your first time," Kael lied.

He was just trying to seem like the good guy temporarily, all for the sake of his future Returns On Investments.

As expected, the children breathed a sigh of relief.

"I’d like to add another thing," Kael said as he looked directly at Wei.

Wei felt a lump in her throat as Kael stared at her.

Priya frowned, also sensing that something might be wrong. Not just Priya, every lioness who had a contract with Kael felt a disturbance.

Kael’s golden irises glowed with a harsh light, "From this moment on, Wei shall no longer be bound to the future consort contract.

She is no longer obligated to be loyal and no longer obligated to serve as a source of power.

She is hereby relieved of her position from this moment on,"

Kael’s words were like the thunderous drums to the ears of all the consorts.

A golden paper appeared in front of Kael. This paper was the physical manifestation of the betrothal contract between Kael and Wei.

Suddenly, the contract paper exploded into countless moats of light, attracting the attention of the caste members.

They were curious as to what was going on.

Burdo, who was at the far back, saw this and opened his eyes wide. What has happened?

He quickly ran over, crossing the distance within a second and transforming into his humanoid form at the same time.

He barged into the group, pushing Wei away and falling to his knees in front of Kael.

His blue knees smashed into the ground, causing cracks and a soft tremor.

He looked up, showing his pleading blue face to his brother. He looked a bit like Kael with some missing details, like the lack of beards, rounder face, flatter nose, and the obvious blue skin.

"Your Majesty," He greeted, "Your Majesty, please, show mercy on Wei. Please, she might have offended you but please show mercy," Burdo pleaded.

It was weird for Wei. Her father who was usually distant and detached toward her was here, kneeling and begging the king on her behalf.

"She didn’t offend me," Kael said, shifting his gaze to Priya who was looking at him in shock.

She had never expected that Kael would do such a thing.

"Kael, why?" Nalii asked, equally confused and stunned.

This was the first time that Kael was openly breaking a contract.

Kael couldn’t just end a contract. Not only would it cause him a sharp sensation of pain, but he would also be losing power.

"You’re Majesty, don’t forget, you named her?" Burdo pleaded, trying to use another tactic.

Kael shook his head, not even registering what Burdo was trying to do, "That’s especially why I am breaking the contract.

I gave her the name she bears, I gave her my Conquering Essence, I gave her status, I gave her opportunity.

Now that I think about it, I wasn’t as I am now when I asked for that betrothal contract.

I have given Wei far more than I have given my own children. Just because her father gave her away in return for his freedom and safety?

I was not stupid back then, but I probably wasn’t as focused as I am now.

I choose my consorts based on functionality. I’ve asked myself in what way Wei is functional to me.

Even if I focus a lot of resources on training her, so what? She might not still prove to be useful.

You can say that I am doing this for her sake but I’m also doing it for myself and my peace of mind.

It would pain me dearly if she later becomes an official consort but can’t even match up to the others. I wouldn’t be able to have a peaceful sleep, not when other options are lying around."

Kael’s words sounded both reasonable and unreasonable. From one angle, it looked like an impulsive decision, from another perspective, it was completely reasonable.

Indeed, by giving Wei Conquering Essence before she was born, he had practically given her more than anything he had given his children.

Kael had seen it before. When they were young, they were nice and polite.

But as they grew older, they would get a strong feeling of entitlement, something that Kael would not tolerate.

The entitlement that he had seen from the rich kids of his bosses did not start from birth, it was inculcated into them over the years when everything was handed to them as they asked.

Kael was also being a bit hypocritical. His children were bound to develop this sense of entitlement. In fact, Ozia was already developing it, the others were just not yet aware of how much power they held in their little hands.

But that was his children, Kael had his control mechanisms for them.

But his consort? That was someone who was supposed to be competent and capable of meeting his elite needs.

Unfortunately, an early sense of entitlement had a tendency of breeding incompetency.

This didn’t mean that Kael had completely abandoned Wei, the one he named.

This very action of his, denouncing her of a position she didn’t even know of in front of everyone, would leave a trauma scar in her mind.

Kael knew this.

This whole drama was Kael’s first investment in Wei’s life.

"But...you’ll lose your water-based abilities..." Priya muttered. She didn’t understand how Kael could willingly give up power like that.

Unplanned and unpredictable.

Even if he didn’t care about Wei again, he would have still kept her around for the power.

"Wei is not out of hope," Kael said as a mischievous light flashed in his eyes.

Burdo looked on with anticipation as Wei stood behind him, muted.

Kael continued speaking, "Wei would have to compete with other lionesses in some trials,"

The king finally revealed the true scheme.