Chapter 99: A Casual Chat

Everyone sat around the coffee table, eating and chatting casually.

​At first, the atmosphere remained somewhat awkward due to the quiet, imposing presence of the elderly tutor.

However, it didn’t take long before conversation naturally began to flow.

​Mr. Atlas, in particular, kept sending Louis strange glances. The more he looked at the old man, the more suspicious he became.

​Atlas couldn’t quite explain it. The supposed history tutor simply possessed a certain aura, an indescribable, commanding presence that made people instinctively want to straighten their posture and offer him respect.

​At first, Atlas attributed it to the man’s age and life experience, yet the subtle pressure never truly disappeared.

Still, after speaking with Louis for a short while, he found the old man surprisingly agreeable.

​They shared similar hobbies. Both enjoyed reading, both liked discussing ancient history, and both had strong opinions regarding proper, disciplined education.

​Of course, what Atlas didn’t realize was that Louis Ferdinand wasn’t simply finding common ground with him, the Overseer was reading him like an open book.

​As the absolute ruler of an entire dominion, Louis had negotiated with planetary governors, ancient noble clans, High Lords, and diplomatic representatives from interstellar civilizations.

Understanding a mundane middle-aged man with a transparent crush was hardly a challenge.

​Not just Atlas, either, the others also found themselves gradually taking a liking to the old man.

Even Mrs. Diana occasionally shot him curious, appreciative glances during the conversation.

​Cassian watched the entire surreal scene unfold while silently chewing on his food. At one point, his gaze drifted from Louis to Atlas, and finally to his mother.

​’What in the world is actually happening in my house?’

​The situation felt so inherently absurd that he had long since given up trying to make sense of it.

​Eventually, the informal gathering came to an end. Atlas, Wayne, Parker, and Diana all had daily responsibilities to attend to, and after exchanging warm farewells, they left the apartment one after another.

​Soon, only three people remained in the living room: Cassian Voss, Louis Ferdinand, and Seraphina Voss.

​The moment the front door clicked shut behind the last guest, the atmosphere shifted instantly.

The casual domestic warmth vanished, replaced by a subtle, heavy tension that settled over the room.

​Seraphina calmly took a sip of her tea before looking at her son. "Cassian."

​Her voice was gentle, far too gentle that ​Cassian immediately knew what was coming.

​"You still haven’t answered my question."

​Cassian sighed. As expected, his mother had no intention of letting the matter slide, not that he had been planning to keep secrets from her anyway.

​Beside them, Louis also straightened slightly in his seat. The Overseer had originally rushed here due to the terrifying wave of primordial death mana he had sensed, so naturally, he was equally desperate for an explanation.

​Cassian glanced between the two before answering with complete honesty. "I just advanced my territory to Tier III."

​The words caused Louis’s eyebrow to twitch violently.

"And since the safety barrier is still active, I can’t continue expanding for now. So, I came back to handle a few things while waiting for it to drop."

​Silence. Absolute, breathless silence.

​Louis stared at him. Cassian stared back.

​For several long seconds, neither man uttered a sound.

​Then—

​Crack!

​The ceramic tea cup in Louis’s hand shattered into fine porcelain fragments.

​No one paid attention to the mess. The old man’s face had completely frozen, a faint blue vein throbbing on his forehead as though reality itself had just personally offended him.

​Finally, he spoke, his voice far too calm for comfort. "You... came back... because your territory is already Tier III?"

​Cassian nodded plainly. "Yes."

​Louis felt something deep within his soul wither and die.

​A newly awakened Lord, who had been gone for less than three full days, had already conquered an entire region, advanced his territory to Tier III, and was now casually complaining that the system’s safety barrier was slowing his progress down.

​The Overseer suddenly recalled his own first integration a century ago. He had nearly died six times, lost more than eighty percent of his starting forces, spent months desperately trying to survive, and had considered himself an generational genius afterward.

​Looking at Cassian now, Louis felt an overwhelming urge to question every single accomplishment of his youth.

​Meanwhile, Seraphina merely offered a light nod. "Oh."

​Cassian blinked. "Oh? That’s your reaction?"

​Seraphina looked genuinely confused. "What else am I supposed to say?"

​Cassian opened his mouth, then closed it again.

​Fair enough. The only entity in the entire dominion more terrifying than the Overseer of the Astral Dominion was, apparently, his own mother.

​Across the table, Louis stared silently at the wooden grain of the coffee table, seriously contemplating early retirement.

After several moments of silent contemplation, Louis finally managed to calm himself down.

At least outwardly.

Internally, however, his worldview was still recovering from being repeatedly assaulted over the last few minutes.

The Overseer slowly turned toward Seraphina.

There was a questioning look in his eyes.

A silent request for permission to proceed.

Seraphina noticed immediately.

She raised an eyebrow.

"What are you looking at me for?"

Her tone carried unmistakable sarcasm.

"I’m not the one you crossed several planets to meet."

Louis felt his eye twitch.

The way she phrased it made him sound like some obsessed stalker.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t even argue.

Because that was exactly what had happened.

He had sensed the death mana.

Panicked.

Then teleported across multiple planets without warning.

The facts were not on his side.

Fortunately, Seraphina didn’t press the matter further.

Instead, she leaned back comfortably.

"However, if my son doesn’t want to answer anything, you’ll leave it at that."

The statement sounded casual.

Yet Louis somehow felt a tremendous amount of pressure behind it.

The Overseer swallowed audibly.

"Of course."

Only after receiving what passed for permission did he turn toward Cassian.

This time his expression became serious.

The playful atmosphere from earlier vanished.

After all, the reason he came here was still unresolved.

The amount of death mana he sensed earlier wasn’t something that could be ignored.

Not even by the Overseer of the Astral Dominion.

Louis carefully observed the young man sitting before him.

Then he finally asked.

"What was the source of that tremendous amount of death mana?"

....

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