The Deceitful One



As Bryan saw Claudia panic intensely, he couldn't help but smile mischievously, "What makes you think we aren't in an illusion still?"

Claudia's eyes widened in disbelief. She couldn't stop her body from trembling as she looked around the study room in absolute horror.

"Impossible! No, this can't be! I-Is this real?" She carefully observed everything around her as she mumbled under her breath.

She looked at Bryan and pointed her trembling finger at him, "T-Tell me… I-Is this real?"

Bryan got up to his feet and chuckled, "Guess."

Claudia was instantly sent into a daze. Now, she didn't know what was real or an illusion. The fight earlier that had taken place felt so real to her.

Even the wound she had sustained on her elbow felt real. She looked at the area where her elbow was broken, and unsurprisingly enough, she saw that it was completely intact.

"H-How is this possible!?" In the fight, everything from sight, smell, touch, and even hearing felt absolutely real to her. She couldn't believe that someone could be actually so good at illusions.

Bryan's illusion techniques were so profound that it was no different from reality. He was able to create an entire battle simulation and even use illusion techniques inside that simulation!

"An illusion within an illusion…" She muttered under her breath as she looked at Bryan incredulously. She had never met such a formidable Transcendent—at the same power level—before.

He could essentially end the fight without even lifting a finger. He could cast an illusion without the opponent even knowing that they were in it.

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When she thought this through, she realized that Bryan could have easily killed her at any moment. She didn't even know when she had been trapped in his illusion!

Claudia took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She was an experienced Transcendent who had gone through rigorous training after all. The only reason she was so shocked was that she had never experienced such an otherworldly illusion technique before!

This caused her to lose her composure. A few moments later, after having calmed her nerves, she released her spiritual sense to the maximum output. She continued to observe herself and her surroundings for a few minutes.

And during this time, Bryan did not disturb her at all. Instead, he calmly walked towards the floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the scenery outside.

The next moment, Claudia withdrew her spiritual sense and then looked at Bryan's back with mixed emotions. She had just confirmed that she was no longer in an illusion.

Earlier, she could have confirmed this as well had she been calm-minded enough. But then again, she didn't know when she had been trapped inside Bryan's illusion. If she didn't know that she was inside of an illusion, then how could she even think of breaking out of it?

This was the true terror of covert illusion techniques!

She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Bryan speak, "You are no longer in an illusion."

Claudia would have never believed Bryan's words had she not confirmed it for herself. She was about to reply but the words got stuck in her mouth.

Thinking back to their earlier 'battle' where she, in a fit of rage and frustration, had hinted at Bryan that she had once fallen for a man who sought to use her for his gain, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Bryan knew what she was thinking. Hence, he added, "Rest assured, I have no ill will toward Grace. If anything, I truly consider her my friend."

Claudia bit her lower lip and clenched her fists. She didn't know how to reply. And now, she even felt embarrassed about talking to Bryan. Not only had she suffered a great loss from his hands but she also ended up divulging some personal things about her life.

Bryan continued, "Grace feels that she has no one in her family to depend on. Although I don't know exactly what happened in your family, I can tell you that Grace is very lonely.

"And I know it isn't my place to say this, but perhaps you could show a bit of your true feelings to Grace? After all, those twin bastards surely don't care for Grace as much as you do."

Claudia was once again taken aback, "Did Grace tell you about our twin brothers?"

Bryan didn't reply. After all, he couldn't tell her that he found out about all this in Grace's dream.

"It doesn't matter." Bryan replied without turning back, "Think of what I said to you. The relationship between you and Grace can still be mended. Only if both of you are willing to give it a try."

Claudia's lips quivered, "But… will she even give me a chance after how coldly I've behaved with her all her life?"

Bryan scoffed internally, 'You idiot! Then why did you behave like that? It's truly difficult to understand you women.'

However, on the surface, he replied calmly, "I shall speak to her. Now leave before the guests start gossiping about us. I'm sure you wouldn't want that now, would you?"

Claudia was taken aback. Indeed it had been more than ten minutes since they had entered the study. And one thing that people—especially of the high class—loved to do, was gossip.

She intently stared at Bryan's back for a few moments and then turned around to leave. Just as she was about to open the door, she turned to look in his direction and muttered softly, "I'm sorry… and thank you."

With that said, she exited the room and closed the door behind her. Just as she shut the door, Bryan collapsed on the floor and began to pant heavily. Drops of blood continued to fall on the floor. He was profusely bleeding from both his eyes!

Bryan wiped the blood streaming from his eyes and muttered weakly, "This ability is really powerful… and I haven't even used its true powers yet! But I'm afraid I can't use it much."

The only reason he had decided to even use his ocular ability in the first place was because of his curiosity. But now, he was suffering from the brunt of it.

His eyes had turned bloodshot and were still continuing to leak blood. The pain in his eyes traveled all the way to his brain and now Bryan was feeling a splitting headache.

"Uggghh!!" He grimaced in pain. It took him another ten minutes for his eyes to finally stop bleeding. He gasped large mouthfuls of air and muttered, "The consequences are really dire."

He realized that he had now lost his vision! Although it wasn't completely gone, everything still appeared extremely blurry to him.

'I can't use this in battle. Otherwise, I'll really be in trouble.' He wiped his eyes and face with his napkin and then got to his feet. He put on his sunglasses again and then extended his spiritual sense.

If he didn't, then he would stumble onto objects every few steps. After observing that his clothes weren't ruined by his own blood, he took a few deep breaths and then walked out of the study room.

In order to not provide the guests downstairs any reason to gossip, he cast an illusion on himself and camouflaged himself. He had technically become invisible. However, this was only in the eyes of the regular people.

He maneuvered his way through the crowd and left his mansion from the back exit. After canceling his spell, he walked around the house and then entered back again from the entrance by the garden.

This way, it would appear to the guests that Claudia and Bryan had just come out from different places, or at least that's what he hoped. On his way, he put up a friendly smile and greeted the guests.

The guests in the mansion were much more enthusiastic in their approach toward Bryan now. After all, why wouldn't they be? They had already seen two daughters from the famous Wilson household at his reception.

This spoke volumes about Bryan's connection in the city already. Just knowing one of the family members from the Wilson household was equivalent to having formed a relationship with all the guests present.

Although the Wilson Family only had the Count title, their influence reached far and wide. And the amount of wealth that the family had amassed need not even be mentioned. They were richer than nobles that were of even higher standing!

Naturally, all of this could be accredited to Count Robert Wilson himself. He had single-handedly brought the family to its current position. Count Wilson had so much influence that he was even able to visit the Royal Palace on a weekly basis and meet up with the King!

So, when the guests present at the reception saw the youngest and eldest granddaughter of Count Wilson here, they saw Bryan in a new light. This was not to say that they viewed him negatively before.

Their first impression of Bryan was a positive one. However, after they realized that he was friends with Grace and Claudia Wilson, they were beginning to have thoughts of fawning over him. Nobles and high-class people cared more about influence than they did about money, after all.

Bryan was also slightly taken aback seeing this sudden change in behavior from all the guests. But he soon realized that this was all because of the presence of Grace and Claudia.

Some of the guests even went up to strike up a conversation with them, hoping to leave a good impression and possibly gain the favor of the Wilson Family.

Seeing this, Bryan couldn't help but sigh and think, 'Money is a tool, but influence… that is a gift.'