First, she was called the ‘truest heir.’ And now, it was the ‘chieftess.’
Astoria felt a little speechless.
Still, the doubt in her heart grew along with the desire for the missing knowledge regarding the Golden Dragon Bloodline. As such, she became a little impatient with their secrecy.
“It seems you don’t know why I addressed you as the Chieftess or anything related to your bloodline, for that matter, Your Imperial Highness,” Wilbert mentioned.
“That’s right,” Astoria admitted with furrowed brows.
Wilbert immediately noticed the impatience in her eyes. Thus, he did not dare to continue with idle chatter; he decided to start explaining everything to dispel her doubts.
“Your Golden Dragon Bloodline is something that runs through the veins of every direct member of the Braveheart family and my Elderwatch family. Our two families and several others used to be part of a very ancient and powerful tribe called the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe, which once ruled as the absolute hegemon of this world.”
“However, time is the bane of existence; everything rises and falls with time. Our Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe was no exception. Our noble Golden Dragon Bloodline thinned, and bloodline awakening became difficult following the passage of time.”
“Eventually, awakening the Golden Dragon Bloodline became nothing more than an impossible dream to achieve. Unfortunately, this also led to the dissolution of our Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe and the separation of the five great families—but not without setting a condition for their return.”
“Whoever succeeded in awakening the Golden Dragon Bloodline would have the allegiance of the five great families; they would unite and help the person rebuild the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe anew.”
“Your Imperial Highness, you are the first person in a hundred thousand years since the dissolution of the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe to have awakened the Golden Dragon Bloodline. Naturally, you have become the chieftess of our once great Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe.”
“The Elderwatch family is willing to follow you, Your Imperial Highness—No, Chieftess. You have the Elderwatch family’s allegiance,” Wilbert stated with heartfelt relief.
The Elderwatch family had longed for the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe’s revival. And today, their wish was finally realized.
After Astoria finished listening, her furrowed brows did not relax. On the contrary, her frown deepened instead.
Only a fool would believe everything they are told without leaving room for doubt, especially if it was such an unbelievable story as this one.
“I can sense your sincerity, and I want to believe you; I really do, Sir Wilbert,” Astoria said as she helped the old legion commander stand back up on his feet. “However, I still have some doubts.”
“First of all, there are hardly any records of history dating back several thousand years, let alone ten thousand years. How do you know there haven’t been any successful awakeners of this bloodline in the last hundred thousand years?” Astoria asked doubtfully.
“Furthermore, if it was all true, why do you keep it a secret from the public? Why aren’t there any records of the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe and the Golden Dragon Bloodline? Is it related to the real reason behind the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe’s decline and dissolution?”
“Finally, from what I understood, your Elderwatch family should also be one of the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe’s five great families. Why did your Elderwatch family choose to support my Braveheart family all these years?” Astoria added with a sharp look.
She had felt it just now when she helped the Imperial Legion’s commander stand up.
This old man, who was nearing three hundred years and possessed the vigorous breath of a Peak-level Rank 4 being, was actually suppressing his true vigorous breath as a High-level Rank 5 being!
In other words, his physical strength was most likely not inferior to the late emperor! And this was without aura cultivation! Just pure physical power from the body!
Astoria was alarmed by the discovery and subconsciously put up her guard.
Although she mostly guessed Wilbert’s true strength based on the feeling she sensed, she didn’t think she was far off.
Nevertheless, Wilbert didn’t have the slightest intention to harm her; he simply smiled after realizing his true strength was exposed. Hiding his power had just been a means of self-preservation.
After all, the tallest trees always experience the strongest winds.
Astoria’s reaction was normal; anyone else in her shoes would have reacted the same way. Wilbert didn’t have any reason to be offended by it, nor would he.
It was a trivial matter.
Nevertheless, Wilbert’s smile shortly disappeared, replaced by a solemn expression as he faced Astoria’s questions.
“It’s just as you suspect, Chieftess. The inability to awaken the Golden Dragon Bloodline wouldn’t be enough to cause a hegemon power like the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe to decline and dissolve,” Wilbert admitted.
“Even without the power granted from bloodline awakening, our dormant Golden Dragon Bloodline still blessed our tribesmen with superior physiques and talents compared to ordinary humans. So given our already solid foundation, we would have continued our reign over Pangea for a very long time.”
“Unfortunately, our Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe have extremely powerful enemies; they would never let us grow and threaten their positions among the stars. If they knew we still existed in today’s age, they would immediately descend and slaughter us to extinction,” Wilbert sighed disappointedly.
“There aren’t any records of the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe and its history because it has only been passed down by word of mouth from the family heads to the next generation of family heads, Chieftess.”
“Of course, our Elderwatch family had decided to do things a little differently. Every direct member of our family will learn our history once they reach adulthood. This is to guarantee the knowledge would never be lost to time,” Wilbert mentioned.
“As to why we, the Elderwatch family, decided to support the Braveheart family despite being of equal standing in the tribe, that’s because the Braveheart family had produced the most bloodline awakeners in history.”
“We believed if any family had a chance at producing another bloodline awakener, it would be your Braveheart family, Chieftess. And as it turns out, we weren’t wrong,” Wilbert smiled.
The Elderwatch family had also been the weakest among the five great families of the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe, having produced the least bloodline awakeners.
However, there was no need for Wilbert to bring this up matter unless Astoria asked him about it.
After all, it was a little embarrassing and shameful.
Nevertheless, after Astoria understood the story for the most part, she couldn’t help but feel shocked.
Even without aura, Wilbert Elderwatch could reach the late stage of the transcendent rank in strength with just the physical might of his body.
How much stronger would he become if he awakened his dormant Golden Dragon Bloodline?
Astoria couldn’t be certain.
However, she felt like she had found a way to strengthen humanity significantly and raise their chance of resisting the seven Great Devils of Gehenna.
“Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Sir Wilbert. It was very informative,” Astoria expressed her gratitude before adding, “However, if you don’t mind me asking, there’s still one more matter I wish to hear about if you know anything.”
Wilbert never made it clear who were the powerful enemies that brought the downfall of the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe, only that they came from beyond the sky.
However, Astoria understood Wilbert probably didn’t know much about these enemies either. Otherwise, he would have explained it.
What she wanted to learn about was something else.
“I know what you wish to ask, Chieftess. However, I purposely saved it last for someone else to explain to you,” Wilbert said with a smile before instructing, “Please follow me.”
“Alright,” Astoria readily agreed.
At first, she thought Wilbert intended for his grandson, Perrin, to explain the last matter to her. But since they were leaving the reception hall, that didn’t seem to be the case.
As such, she thought of Gregorio and felt rising anticipation for their meeting.
The courtyard was enormous and filled with a variety of growing, healthy, and colorful plants and herbs neatly arranged in a spiral-like pattern.
It almost seemed like a natural magic formation deployed to enhance cultivation and growth.
Evidently, someone was taking great care of the plants and herbs in the courtyard, and that someone was most likely Gregorio Elderwatch.
However, Astoria didn’t see the person in the courtyard.
As Wilbert led her toward the bedroom at the end, she suddenly thought about Gregorio’s possible state due to his old age, and fear gripped her heart.
Time was unkind to mortals.
Fortunately, Astoria’s imagination wasn’t realized; the person wasn’t so weak that he was bedridden.
When Astoria and Wilbert entered the room, the elderly man was found reading a book by the open window like a retired sage. The soft breeze caused his long white hair and beard to flutter in the wind.
The environment was very serene and peaceful.
Nevertheless, the sudden noise caused by their entry prompted Gregorio to glance over to the entrance.
In that moment, his expression brightened warmly with relief and joy.
“Hahaha, how wonderful! I didn’t believe it when I heard you were still alive a few days ago. Glad I was wrong! It’s good to see you alive and well, Astoria lass! You still look the same after all these years,” Gregorio heartily rejoiced with a soft chuckle while stroking his long beard.
He would have walked over to receive Astoria, who was like a niece to him, with open arms, but simply chuckling joy already sapped all the energy out of him.
“I’m also happy to see you alive and well, Uncle Gregorio,” Astoria replied honestly, slightly tearing up with emotion.
Gregorio Elderwatch was likely the only living person left from the old Holy Knight Kingdom that was close to her.