Aether teleported to Aria’s house… Meanwhile, back in the Ebon Stone,
The women stared at each other. There was a small but undeniable awkwardness in the group, as if unspoken words lingered in the silence.
Aria’s gaze shifted between Raven and Thalia, her lips parting slightly before closing again. She wanted to say something, but hesitation held her back. Meanwhile, Thalia and Raven exchanged glances, both silently questioning what was going on and why Aria seemed so tense.
Liora sighed, immediately sensing the strange and tense atmosphere. She decided to break the silence before it stretched any longer. Moving toward the Ebon Stone, she gestured slightly before sitting down and calmly saying, “Can we sit and talk?”
The others glanced at her before following suit, one by one settling on the circular stone slab.
Still, Aria remained silent.
Liora exhaled through her mouth, realizing that if no one else was going to speak, she needed to step in. Whether as a mediator or just someone who could push things forward, she wasn’t about to sit here in awkward silence.
Liora smiled softly, her voice taking on a relaxed but firm tone,
“You see… I was born in a wolf tribe where the only thing that mattered was strength. If you wanted food, you had to fight. If you needed water, you had to fight. If you wanted to survive, the answer was always the same—fight! Every decision, every right, and every privilege was determined by battle. However, that only applied to men.
Women were expected to obey, follow, and submit. That was the rule, the spoken law of our tribe.”
She paused for a moment, her gaze darkening slightly before she continued, “But unlike other women, I didn’t obey.
I refused to accept their rules.
I didn’t want to fight for food or for survival—I just wanted to fight, nothing more, nothing less.
It was who I was, who I am… But because I was born a woman, my tribe and my own parents disapproved of me. Many opposed me, many tried to break me, and some even tried to tame me.
I felt like the entire world was against me. And it wasn’t just me. I saw how other women were treated.
They weren’t warriors.
They weren’t equals.
They were either used as breeding stock or forced into submission, made to take care of children and households like slaves. In the eyes of men, we were nothing.”
“The fuck…” Thalia muttered under her breath, her brows furrowing deeply, “I can’t believe your people actually treated women like that… like they were worth nothing. That’s beyond disgusting.”
Liora chuckled, “It wasn’t just my tribe,” she said before pointing at Aria. “Her tribe, too, suffered the same fate”
Aria sighed at those words, her expression showing both frustration and resignation. “It’s true… It’s not just our tribe. Every single part of this empire followed the same old rules, the same twisted traditions. And you know how long elves live, right? The longer they live, the more they cling to their outdated laws, refusing to change.”
Raven and Thalia exchanged glances, their initial anger morphing into something heavier, something closer to pity.
Thalia leaned back slightly, crossing her arms over her chest before smirking. “I suppose taking out those old bastards wouldn’t be such a bad idea, then,” she said with an amused grin, as if already imagining how satisfying it would be to wipe them out.
Liora raised a brow at that, watching Thalia with keen interest. She found this girl… interesting. There was something about her attitude that she genuinely liked.
Aria, however, quickly shook her head, “No! Killing those bastards would only lead to war. Right now, we don’t have the authority to handle something that huge.”
But Thalia just scoffed, shaking her head in disagreement, “I’m telling you, killing them is way easier than trying to deal with them the proper way. You know that’s exactly how Aether got our entire empire under his control, right?” She grinned as she spoke, her voice filled with amusement and undeniable pride.
Aria blinked. She understood what Thalia was implying, but executing the old bastards after everything had already been handled?
That was an entirely different issue.
“W-Wait… We already spoke to them. The talks are over. It’s all in the past now. Everything is fin—”
“My sister has the perfect idea!” Thalia declared, her excitement growing. She turned to Raven, who immediately nodded before speaking with a serious expression.
“First plan—poison them all.” Raven’s voice was cold, practical, as if she had already calculated the best way to get it done… glancing at Liora for that!
They weren’t listening to her at all!!
“B-But that won’t—” Aria tried to protest, only to be interrupted.
“Not a fan of poisoning? Fine, then. Plan two—we cut off their heads.” Thalia casually motioned with her hand, slicing through the air as if demonstrating a beheading. “And then we dump their bodies outside the empire. No one will ever find them.” She smirked as if the thought alone entertained her.
“First, listen to me! There’s no need for—”
Once again, Aria was completely ignored.
They weren’t listening to her at all.
“If you’re not on board with that, then… Raven,” Thalia called, growing annoyed that Aria wasn’t agreeing to their wonderful plans. Raven, without hesitation, pulled out a map of the Zephyra Empire, unfolding it across the stone slab.
“Point out those old bastards’ locations,” Thalia ordered, her voice sharp with determination.
Liora’s lips curled into a small smile, watching all of this unfold with genuine interest. She actually liked Thalia and Raven’s approach. It was brutal, direct, and completely different from what Aria had in mind.
“Wait! You guys, what the hell are you doing?” Aria muttered, rubbing her temples as she felt a headache creeping in. But her frustration only grew when she noticed Liora marking every elder’s location with complete accuracy. Her eyes widened slightly, her mind struggling to process what she was seeing.
‘How the hell does she know all of this?’ Aria thought, mildly shocked.
After all, Liora’s initial plan had always been to eliminate every last one of them. She had already prepared everything necessary to begin her hunt.
The only reason she was holding back was because of Aether and Maelona. If not for them, she would have gone through with it long ago without a second thought.
After carefully marking down each location,
Thalia and Raven leaned in close, whispering into each other’s ears with mischievous grins. Their hushed voices sent a small shiver down Aria’s spine. Her ears twitched as she tried to pick up what they were saying, but before she could even ask—
“Okay.”
“What ‘Okay’?” Aria frowned, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Raven smirked as she met Aria’s gaze. “We have everything ready. Just say the word, and we’ll take care of it.”
Aria blinked rapidly, her throat going dry as she gulped. “Take care of what exactly?” she asked, feeling an uneasy knot forming in her stomach.
Thalia leaned down slightly, her grin widening as she whispered, “We’re going to blast them all.”
BOOOOM!!
She made a dramatic motion with her hands, mimicking an explosion.
Aria’s face drained of color, her expression shifting to sheer horror. “A-All of them?!” she stammered, staring at them in disbelief.
“Yeah!” Both Raven and Thalia nodded furiously, looking far too excited for her comfort. They noticed her reaction and mistook it for enthusiasm, their grins growing wider.
‘Maybe she likes grand endings or something,’ they both thought, assuming Aria had a secret love for massive, flashy destruction.
But Aria wasn’t excited.
No, she was horrified. Her gaze slowly dropped to the markings on the map, and that’s when reality hit her like a brick wall. There weren’t just a handful of targets. There were hundreds of them.
Blasting them all?
That was practically destroying the entire empire!
“THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT—” she started to yell, panic rising in her voice,
“THIS IS DEFINITELY A GOOD PLAN!” Liora suddenly cut in, her voice filled with unexpected excitement.
Aria snapped her head toward her, completely dumbfounded.
Liora’s eyes sparkled with amusement as a wide grin spread across her face. “Why didn’t I think of this before?” she mused aloud, seemingly delighted by the idea.
Blasting them all?
It was the easiest way to wipe them out without even getting her hands dirty!
Her tail swayed behind her as her lips curled into a sly smirk. “If one person does it, it’s wrong. But if many do it, it’s right!” she said, her tone brimming with amusement.
What she really meant was—if she acted alone, Aether would beat the crap out of her. But if they all did it together, then he wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it!
Liora gave Raven and Thalia an approving nod before flashing them a thumbs-up.
“I like your idea,” she declared.
Raven and Thalia, pleased with the unexpected support, grinned and returned the thumbs-up without hesitation.
Meanwhile—
‘Oh my god… What is happening?! Are they serious?! Wait—M-My husband… My husband will be fine, right?!’
Aria’s mind spiraled into full-blown panic as she looked at the trio of absolute lunatics in front of her. They were completely oblivious to the chaos they were about to cause! If things got out of hand, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Why were Aether’s targets… so weird?!
If this was how they were now… how the hell was she supposed to handle them in the future?!
Her future… It was turning bleak.
Would Aether be fine? How he going to handle this shit?!!
She could already see it slipping away in a fiery explosion of reckless destruction.
Just then—
“We’re just kidding~”
Hearing the teasing lilt in Thalia’s voice, Aria snapped out of her daze and stared at them.
They had a smirking and teasing face… as if they were enjoying this!
Aria’s face turned red before her lips curled into a small, disbelieving smile. A soft chuckle escaped her. “I… ahaha… I can’t believe you guys… ahaha…” she laughed, shaking her head.
But then—
“I’m serious, though,” Raven said flatly, her expression dead serious.
“…”
“…”
“…”
A heavy silence fell over them.
Then—
“Hahaha!”
“Haha…”
“Hahaha! That’s my big sis… ahaha!”
The tension broke into laughter, though whether it was from relief or sheer insanity, Aria wasn’t quite sure anymore.
But she started to like this…