'Hehe, do you think it is that easy?' A mocking voice echoed in Charles's head.
'Find a way to survive from this Divine's schemes and then try to reach the realm of Legendary. As for the omnipotence realm, none reached that realm. Maybe the Creator of the universe reached that Rank. But no one really knows.'
Upon hearing the artifact's words, Charles went silent.
'I'll survive.' That's all he could say.
Then, he entered the nearby alley, cast [Flame Teleportation] spell, and enveloped his body in a crimson flame.
A moment later, he reappeared in the underground basement hall and changed his appearance into an old man.
After that, he changed his clothes and walked out of the basement while holding a black cane for support.
He then released his wisdom power, checked the surroundings, and soon raised his eyebrows.
'Hmm, it seems Jessie, and Destiny Lady went to attend the special auction. Oswald and Rachel are the only ones guarding the puppet Damian, while Rhea and the other two are staying in their rooms.'
He retracted his wisdom power and started walking on the lone corridor.
At that moment, he heard Ashley's scolding voice echoed from the kitchen and chuckled.
Soon, he reached the reception hall, sat on the chesterfield sofa, and saw a black-haired woman was walking towards him from the kitchen.
Her long hair was combed neatly and formed into a bundle, and her brown eyes shone in the lamplight. She had an oval face, trimmed eyebrows, and looked around 30 to 35 years old.
She wore an ordinary black gown and a white apron and looked more like a professional maid.
"You seem to have aged a lot, Ashley," Charles said with a smile.
"Unlike Mystics, we, mortals, ages too fast, My Lord," Ashley responded with a forced smile on her face and greeted him.
Charles smiled instead of responding and asked.
"How is the preparation for today's banquet going?"
"I'm planning to make 75 types of dishes, My Lord. Although it won't be as grand as Royal Banquets, I will try my best and surprise everyone." A confident look appeared on her face as she said those words.
Charles nodded his head and spoke.
"Tell someone to go and bring Rhea. I've something important to talk to her."
"Yes, My Lord. I will send someone." Ashley said with a nod and hurriedly moved to the kitchen.
In the meantime, Charles lazily leaned his back on the sofa, took out the Books of Secrets, and started doing divination.
...
Meanwhile, Rhea stood in her room and gazed at her reflection with a frown on her forehead.
Currently, she wore a regular brown gown and looked more like a mature woman.
Her black hair appeared a little bit messier and remained uncombed.
Her eyes darted towards her well-grown chest and soon moved towards her right hand.
Four types of unique rings appeared in her fingers.
'The Ruler's Ring...' She couldn't help but show a curious look.
A few days ago, Emilia and her teammates came to the mansion and gave the other three rings to Rhea.
'But they didn't ask anything in return. That's where the problem lies.' She couldn't figure out their motive at all.
'Maybe they are afraid of offending our Teacher?' She thought that was the most acceptable answer.
But what made her feel frustrated was that she couldn't contact the other spirits at all!
Shaking those thoughts, she moved towards the wardrobe, opened it, and looked at the new dresses she brought for the banquet.
'Which one should I wear for the banquet?' Just when she was about to take a dress, a knocking sound came from outside.
"Who is it?" She asked in a soft tone.
"Lord Mage is waiting for you at the reception hall, Your Highness." A male voice came from outside.
Meanwhile, a flash of surprise appeared on Rhea's face.
Without any hesitation, she closed the wardrobe, adjusted her gown, wore a pair of leather shoes, and walked out of her room.
Then, she walked on the corridor, stopped in front of the nearby room, knocked it twice, and asked.
"Noel, are you there?"
"Yes." A matured male's voice came from the other side, and soon the door opened with a click.
A handsome young man in his casual wear opened the door and looked at Rhea in confusion.
He had blonde hair, a muscular body, and looked taller than Rhea.
"What happened?" Noel asked.
Meanwhile, Rhea suddenly extended her hand, grabbed his hand, and pulled him out of his room.
"Come on. We are going to meet our Teacher." She held her grip tighter and started walking on the corridor.
"W-Wait! Oliver said that Teacher only called you to talk about something important-"
He suddenly froze for a moment and soon widened his eyes.
Before he could open his mouth, Rhea closed his room door and spoke.
"I'm a little bit nervous to talk to our Teacher. Keep me company."
A helpless sigh leaked out of Noel's mouth as he raised his other hand in surrender.
In truth, he, too, sometimes feels anxious to talk to their teacher. So, he wasn't surprised by Rhea's behavior at all.
"Let go of my hand. I'll come." He said in a solemn tone and started walking beside her.
Just as they walked past the next room, Noel stopped his footsteps, shifted his attention to the nearby door, and smiled.
At that moment, Rhea also smiled widely and nodded her head.
'It's always a pleasure to drag your best friend into your own misfortune.' She couldn't help but mutter inwardly.
A few moments later, Rhea and Noel dragged Titus out of his room and started walking downstairs while suppressing their laughter.
"Did Teacher really ask you guys to bring me?" Upon seeing their sneak behavior, Titus gave them a suspicious look and asked.
"Yes. Our Teacher said that he has something important to discuss with you." Noel's words were abnormally serious.
At that moment, the trio reached the red-carpeted bifurcated staircase and started moving downstairs.
While stepping downward, all three of them shifted their gazes and looked at the white-haired old man, who was seated on the chesterfield sofa.
Currently, he held a strange black-covered book and seemed to be in the middle of writing something.
Within a few minutes, they reached the ground floor, went towards the center, and soon arrived in front of Charles.
"Good Morning, Teacher." All of them greeted him in unison.
Meanwhile, Charles stopped writing, closed the Book of Secrets, nodded his head, and turned his gaze towards Rhea.
"I want you to do a speech. Can you do it?" He asked.
"Speech?" Rhea started to get nervous all of a sudden.
"Yes. Once the banquet starts, I want you to talk about your childhood hardship, memory loss, how you guys met me at Chester City, how we met Ashley at Helm Ville and found out about your past, and so on. Then, talk about why you want to become a Queen of Iron Kingdom, the discrimination between two castes, and also about the current situation of the kingdom." Charles spoke solemnly.