the beginning after the end perfect duo

CHAPTER 27

**Lady Myre POV**

"Lady Myre, Lord Indrath is asking for your attendance as soon as possible," Winsdom said after a deep bow.

"Tell him that I shall be there in a few minutes, Winsdom," I commanded with authority.

"At your command, Lady Myre," he replied.

Finally, a change would start soon.

The sound of my steps echoed in the long, empty hallway as I approached the entrance to my husband's throne room.

A throne he had sat on for a long time.

---

**Tom's POV**

"So, what exactly were you after back in the auction house?" I asked joyfully.

"None of your business, brat. Just wait till they find out about my absence. They will kill you and your entire poor family, kid," the imprisoned man sneered.

"What was your name again?" I asked.

"It's Sebastian, you fool. How don't you even remember the name of the greatest head of royal guards that Sapin has ever seen?" Sebastian retorted.

"Yet, a mere 9-year-old got you here," I said.

"I don't understand what kind of magic you used. I couldn't even sense it. Now get me out of here!" he shouted.

"Not until you answer every question of mine," I insisted.

"What do you want?" he finally stopped shouting.

"What were you after?" I asked, knowing full well the answer, but enjoying his predicament after all he did in canon.

"I was after the beast of that other kid," he admitted.

"Well, at least you aren't lying," I said.

"So you knew all along?" he asked.

"Of course I did. I just wanted to mess with you," I said joyfully.

"You kid, I will kill you," he shouted again.

"You know you can't use mana, right?" I reminded him.

"I don't need mana to kill your kind, brat," he spat.

"You're making this boring, but at least you have a good reserve of mana in your core. It should be enough for me to advance a few stages," I thought.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? AHHHH!" he screamed.

"Can you just be quiet while I absorb your mana?" I asked.

After a few minutes, I was done with him.

"Be glad you're still alive right now, and you have food too," I said.

"They will find you," he said in desperation.

"Nah, not really," I replied.

I made a clone just like him again.

"Not with my buddies in there," I said calmly as I left, the door closing behind me.

"But how are you doing that? It's not possible," his voice grew weaker until it was no longer audible.

"Just give him three meals a day and keep him as healthy as possible, okay? We might need him later on," I instructed.

I didn't think he would be at the dark orange level. His mana didn't do much in my process to reach the solid silver stage.

But anyway, I'll better keep him alive. I don't want my hands full of the blood of someone as unworthy as he is.

"Tom, how about a friendly spar?" asked one of my clones.

"Nah, too much damage would be done to the base. See you guys later," I said, leaving the base.

I used earth attribute mana to swim through the earth, straight to my room.

"Wake up, Tom. Lilia's training starts today," Arthur said, smashing my door.

"Oh, you're up already. Let's go get some breakfast then," he said.

"Is she up, though?" I asked.

"Mom, where is my training suit?" a voice rang out.

"What do you think?" he asked.

We hurried to the table. Father and Vincent were still there.

"Make sure my daughter doesn't get harmed, okay?" Mr. Vincent said.

"She's still our precious cute little one. We don't want to lose her," he added.

"That's a top priority, Mr. Vincent," Arthur and I said in unison.

We started eating breakfast, just like usual.

"Time flies by, doesn't it, Tabitha? Just yesterday, Lilia was a small infant, and now she's all grown up, ready to go into the outside world on her own little adventure," Vincent said.

"Remember when she said her first words? She was so cute," he continued.

Oh, I know where this is going.

"Or when she had her first imaginary friend and used to play with him all day," Vincent added.

Mom and Dad laughed, and Lilia turned red with embarrassment.

"Mom, Dad, stop. You're embarrassing me," she said, her face flushed.

"It's not like you're the only child who did this. It was the same for Arthur and Tom too, isn't it, Alice?" Tabitha asked.

"I know it might sound weird, but Arthur and Tom were very mature since childhood. We don't really remember these kinds of things from them," Mom said.

Tabitha seemed eager to continue talking, so we had to cut it short.

And just like that, breakfast time was over.

"We have to start training now, don't we, Arthur?" I said.

"Yup, let's go, Lilia," he replied.

"We're leaving, Mom. I found the suit, by the way."

We left.

"Alright, the hard part starts now," I said.

"Take my hand," I instructed.

Lilia and Arthur did.

And so we dived down into the soil until we reached my base.

We landed in the physical training field.

"Alright, for your training, Lilia, we're going to focus on two main things: improving your mana manipulation and enhancing your physical strength with mana boosting."

"I will be your mentor for the first part, and don't expect me to go easy on you," I said.

"And I'll be your teacher for the second part, and don't lower your expectations for me either," Arthur added.

"Let the training begin."