Immortal Kingdoms

Wine cellar.

The tinkling of glass filled the dimly lit room as Kieran carried a box full of wine bottles to Leonardo, Sitri, and Miko who sat on wooden chairs in a random formation.

There were no hassles like distinguishing status from the arrangements of their seats. As a matter of fact, Miko had his chair tossed in some corner as he sat on the floor, stretched his legs, and leaned against a heavy wine barrel with a full bottle in his right hand.

"Fucking aye boss, you scared the shit out of me back there! You were convulsing like some bitch on cloud nine— forget that, make it cloud nine thousand! Except you didn't look like you were enjoying it…" As he spoke, Miko chugged down half the bottle in one breath, some of the drink washing down his chin and chest.

"Are you calling me a bitch, you fool?" Leonardo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This follower of his didn't have a filter on his mouth or language, and it only gets worse when he's drunk.

Kieran poured down a glass for Leonardo and Sitri each, his eyes lingering curiously on Sitri's bandaged hands and face, as he never got to see what this person looked like underneath those wraps.

"Good kid, pour yourself something as well," Leonardo clicked glasses with Sitri before gulping down his drink, feeling refreshed as the alcohol stimulated his body and mind.

"I'm not 16 yet, Godfather," Kieran replied while shaking his head. "Auntie Juvia said only adults at the age of 16 and above are allowed to drink alcohol."

"Who cares about that? Just listen to your daddy over there!" Miko tossed his half bottle of wine to Kieran with a wicked grin on his face, "Don't wait until these people or this life make a man out of you. If you leave it to them, there'll be a price to pay, and that price will never be cheap."

There was a hint of pain in Miko's eyes as he muttered, "Life will always teach you lessons, but the value of these lessons is proportional to their prices! Thus, take your father's lessons while you can, at least it's not you who paid to learn them, eh?"

"Holy fuck," Sitri muttered, "Now that's some deep shit!"

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"I know right?" Leonardo wholeheartedly agreed, "Too deep for a 15-year-old child actually. But hey, it's the thought that counts anyway,"

Leonardo had actually caught the bottle of wine that Miko tossed over, sternly pushing it into Kieran's chest as he said in a deep voice, "You're a man, aren't you? Men only take advice from men, unless the woman in question is your mother; don't listen to them."

"Come, go ahead and drink. While you're at it, tell me about our wooden figurines, anything great lately?"

Kieran was truly confused by Miko's advice, but that went to the back of his head as soon as Leonardo mentioned the wooden figurines. He sat down next to Leonardo and began to talk about his craftsmanship for the past few months.

"Oh yeah, Kieran's eyes are practically a gift from heaven, especially when it comes to appraisals! Instead of wasting this on wood and stuff, why not have him appraise women's fine assets instead?" Miko suddenly sat up and spoke in a dignified, serious manner.

He added, "I know a very good place in my district, the women are out of this world too… How about we take little Kieran there and make him a man?"

Kieran frowned. However, seeing Leonardo act as though he heard nothing and continued to chug down his wine, Kieran decided to take matters into his own hands, "I'm not interested in women for now, cultivation is most important."

"Aren't you a virgin, Miko?" Sitri suddenly asked.

Miko, who was drinking wine like a wise sage, suddenly began to cough violently, his bottle dropping from his hand.

"Anyway," Miko decided to smoothly change the topic, "Are you really okay now, boss?"

"I'm alright," Leonardo swayed his empty wine cup in his hand, his expression unreadable, "Lucas must be getting comfortable in some church about now, find Pandora later and ask her to find that kid and pay a special visit to the Elven Domain,"

"What happened to Godfather?" Kieran asked, puzzled.

Sitri and Miko exchanged a look, seeing that Leonardo had no comment about it, Miko took to the stage, "Since your Godfather brought you down here to listen, it naturally means you're already qualified as a man. You see, some guys that live in the trees got very comfortable, and their big boss wants to stretch his claws here and take your auntie Juvia away,"

"That bad big boss doesn't know that he fucked up, and fucked up badly, and it seems your Godfather decided to change his plans a little bit," Sitri added while sipping his wine.

"Can I go as well?" Kieran asked expectantly, having been cooped up in the palace for too long already.

Leonardo patted his head, "Not yet you can't, I want you to focus on cultivation for now. There will be plenty of opportunities to play in the future, you might even start wishing for these days of comfort to come back by then,"

Leonardo then looked back at Sitri and said, "You can come by my study later to receive a special gift, just have Pandora deliver it to Lucas and have him implant it directly into their Vein of Eternal Spring, that should keep them a little occupied."

Leonardo smiled coldly, "For now though, let us enjoy a fine drink!"

…

Juvia's private chamber.

Juvia, Pandora, Azalea, Misaka, Veronica, Queen Adeline, and Valeria sat under the cozy breeze of the sunset on the spacious terrace.

Juvia was applying ointment on Valeria's fair arms tenderly, while everyone else was engaged in their own brief or elaborate conversations.

"So you knew his background from the very beginning, and you wanted to forcibly take him as your subordinate?" Valeria didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her daughter's foolishness. However, she also felt like commending her daughter for being so decisive back then, but perhaps it was so because she had no other paths to survival.

"Weren't you worried that he might hand you over to your uncle in exchange for a good relationship with the Elven Royal Family?" Valeria was curious.

"Ah, I haven't thought that far actually… I don't know, he didn't give me any dangerous feelings. Even though I was defenseless back then, he didn't even bother with me and instead opted to set me free so I thought he'd be a good person… I guess?"

"Good person? Do you know how many people were killed for this good person? The entire Forbidden Domain was tossed into absolute chaos for this good person, the relationships between the three ruling powers, House Erudite, and the Elven Domain hang by a thread for this good person, and the geopolitical structure of the the entire planet is about to undergo a massive shift in power for this good person, which of the aforementioned are clauses of a good person?"

Queen Adeline rolled her eyes, Veronica, to the side stifling a laugh because she knew her aunt was sulking. After all, Leonardo actually slapped her face.

How could she possibly think of him as a good person?

"Anyway, good person or bad person, are you planning to leave here without leaving behind a seed for the future generation? You know that you're our only child from the main bloodline, and you need to sire an heir before you ascend the higher realms, right?" Valeria suddenly interjected.

"That…" Juvia blushed, not knowing how to respond.

"It's not easy to get pregnant because their conditions and talents are too far apart, her body can't possibly fertilize Leonardo's seeds properly,"

"In the best case scenario, after giving birth, she'll lose her cultivation. Worst case scenario, she will die trying to nourish the baby," Aria's voice drifted over from a place unknown, wanting to stop this madness before it gets out of hand.

"Is there really such a thing?" Both Queen Adeline and Valeria were shocked, never mind everyone else.

Hearing that, Juvia felt dejected, but she quickly put up a faint smile.

"That can't be possible! You can't allow our main bloodline to end here just like that!" Valeria's expression was solemn.

"If it's about nourishing the fetus, the World Tree can do that instead, you only need to serve as the carrier and the medium, let the World Tree invest its energy in the baby!" Valeria quickly thought about the crux of the problem and instantly thought up a solution.

Aria snorted, "So you want to deliver Juvia back to Richard on a silver plate just like that? You couldn't protect your own husband, let alone a defenseless and pregnant woman!"

"I-…" Valeria got tongue-tied, not knowing how to retort. She was speechless.

As expected, she was too preoccupied with the matters of succession to think about that disgusting brother-in-law.