Novel Full Chapter 715 - Taming the Fifth Year - Truth - 2
Chapter 715: Chapter 715 – Taming the Fifth Year – Truth – 2
Klein was still meeting his eyes. Refusing to look away even though every instinct screamed to break eye contact.
“She needs to recover her artifact at all costs… That’s the biggest one. She told me that even with my help she couldn’t negotiate yet because what her uncle Orion wanted, ’giving her the star’, but to ’use on the front lines’, couldn’t happen in any way. That’s why she hadn’t chosen anything yet. And she also wanted to wait to have her rewards secured to negotiate properly.”
“Use the star?” Ren interrupted, confusion breaking through anger. “I don’t fully understand all this about having it but not using it, and why is it so important?”
The question was genuine. Not rhetorical or aggressive. Real incomprehension about what made an artifact, even if an important family heirloom, worth this level of desperation and political maneuvering.
“I asked her something similar…” Klein’s voice softened. “Basically… It’s somehow her mother’s crystallized heart.”
He let that sink in for a moment. Watched comprehension dawn in Ren’s expression.
“Luna’s uncles have it. That Starweaver family relic, one of the Twin Stars. And apparently they used it to repel the large mutant attack on the city before…”
Ren’s expression transformed.
The image of Sirius crystallized arriving in his mind. ’Maybe…’ he didn’t say it to Klein, but he thought he understood something deeper there.
But then… shock, comprehension, and finally pure fury crossing his features in rapid succession.
“They used her mother’s heart as…”
“A weapon,” Klein completed. “And Luna was devastated by that. Because according to what she told me, her father Sirius said the star depletes with each use. It’s apparently minimal depletion, it would have thousands of uses before exhausting completely… but for Luna not even one of the previous uses is acceptable. Much less using it more.”
The words hung heavy between them.
Thousands of uses sounded like plenty…
But Klein understood, had seen it in her eyes during that conversation. This wasn’t about the math of depletion rates or strategic value of powerful artifacts.
This was about her mother.
About the last physical remnant of the person who’d loved her being gradually consumed for other people’s political games.
Ren closed his eyes for a moment, processing. ’Based on Sirius’ situation… Was it truly the last remnant of her mother?’
When he opened his eyes, determination burned there. Hot, fierce and absolute.
“Then she needs to recover it. Before they use it more…”
“Exactly.” Klein continued, relieved that Ren understood without needing lengthy explanation. “And she intended to negotiate with my help and the things she obtains after the exams… her rewards.”
He paused, remembering Luna’s expression when she’d delivered this particular warning. The cold certainty that suggested she wasn’t making idle threats.
“Though she warned me that if I thought even minimally like Leonel Ashenway or her uncles, she’d kill me.”
“Leonel Ashenway?” Ren frowned. “One of Selphira’s grandsons?”
The name was vaguely familiar. Someone that might have been mentioned somewhere. A noble connected to the most powerful family in the kingdom but not prominent enough to be commonly discussed…
“Adopted son apparently…” Klein explained. “Selphira tried to help Luna years ago at Liora’s request with him as base. They planned to do an adoption trick on paper, like Selphira has done sometimes when adopting children for political protection.”
The strategy made sense. Adoption into House Ashenway would give Luna their protection and more political resources. Clean, simple and an elegant solution to the vulnerable noble girl problems.
“The problem then was that Leonel claimed he didn’t want an adopted daughter before a real wife… And if he was doing it to acquire territory, he wanted to win things for himself… he wasn’t someone who’d cede power. That attitude didn’t serve Luna from the beginning since she wasn’t going to cede to those “dirty demands” either. Neither she nor Selphira were looking for something like an unwelcomed arranged marriage like that either…”
Klein’s voice carried traces of disgust. The kind of contempt that came from recognizing his own past behavior reflected in someone else’s actions.
“So they decided to wait until her adult age to support her some other way. Militarily or politically…”
“Then what did you…” Ren began.
“I assured her I had no problem faking whatever was necessary.” Klein’s voice strengthened. This part he was proud of. The choice that defined whether he’d learned anything from his mistakes or remained the same arrogant fool. “Adoptions on paper, empty marriages of only empty documents, whatever her uncles wanted to at least get to the point when she has the heart in her hands. I wouldn’t ask for commissions, wouldn’t seek power.”
He breathed deep.
“And then Luna explained a bit more about her plan.”
Klein paused, choosing his words carefully.
This part was delicate. Required precision to convey Luna’s meaning without misrepresenting her intentions or making the situation sound worse than it was.
So Klein used her exact words…
“She finally told me in her words that the price her uncles are asking till that point is… ’almost manageable’. That if they let her fake certain things, barely. That if they didn’t ask for heirs. That if she closed her eyes to certain realities. That if she ignored certain implications. That if she convinced herself the end justified the means… Then…”
Ren’s expression darkened dangerously.
And his mana…
Everyone felt it.
The surroundings became oppressive. Mana pressure so dense it felt like something was pressing down from above. Ears popping from sudden atmospheric change. Bodies freezing mid-motion as if everyone’s survival instincts recognized an apex predator and demanded absolute stillness.
Students stopped celebrating. Even the experienced adults froze, professional composure cracking under the weight of power that had no business existing in a fourteen-year-old student.
“In the end it’s the same damned… They’re forcing her to marry…? To have children with…?”
The words were barely recognizable… More growl than language.
“NO!” Klein raised his hands as quickly as he could, facing the terrible sensation pressing down on him.
His own beast was screaming warnings. Telling him to run, to submit, to do anything except stay in the presence of whatever Ren was becoming in this moment.
But he stood his ground.
“No, listen. It’s not what you think, and Luna was trying to avoid specifically this from you. Please don’t suddenly grow wings and go flying to attack… Remember they shouldn’t use the heart… And it’s not what you believe… That’s what I thought at first too, but it’s not that!”
The pressure didn’t lessen. If anything it intensified. Reality itself seeming to groan under the weight of Ren’s barely-contained rage.
“THEN WHAT IS IT?!”