Kate's Drive

Since it was her birthday, Shui put away his dissatisfaction and changed into a white shirt along with a checkered grey vest and pants. This was one of his few formal outfits, one that was gifted to him by his mother before her passing.

When he arrived at Kate's house with his hand joined with hers, he was welcomed by disdainful eyes. The reason why he didn't want to stay with her in the day was because he would have to endure these gazes. Even so, ignoring them was an easy enough task to do for her on this day.

No matter who talked to her or where she went, Shui was always nearby. Yes, everywhere, even the bathroom unfortunately for Shui. He actually had to beg her not to bring him into the room itself but he still had to stay by the door. During this time, three boys walked up to him. Though both were bothersome in different ways, he would have rathered pretty 'big sisters' approaching him but he had no choice in the matter.

"Finally separated from her huh?"

The boy who talked to him was one of the 'geniuses' in the clan's younger generation and one of the potential suitors of Kate. As the number one rising genius in the clan, there was much talk for Kate to be tied by marriage to another of the clan's geniuses to ensure the talent remained with their borders.

However, though he might have been called a genius, he had just entered the third level in the Mortal Realm at the age of ten. In the clan's eyes this was a good seedling, but to Shui it was just so-so.

As Shui ignored the boy, the two lackeys that came along shouted at him.

"Oi! You dare act like that to Olly."

"Yeah, you're nothing but that disgrace's bastard."

In his head, Shui knew that they were merely echoing the words they heard from other adults, but it was still enough to make him upset.

"Say that again."

"Huh?"

"I'm telling you to say that one more time."

Shui turned to the second lackey and clenched his fist while slightly releasing his aura to pressure him. There might have only been a single level of difference between him and the lackey, but with Shui's control over his aura and energy, he could make him feel deep-rooted fear as if being glared by a predator, without anyone realising what he was doing.

"You, you, you you you..."

When Olly noticed the strange behaviour of his lackey, he reached out towards Shui but touched nothing. Shui could have easily dodged that hand, but he didn't because someone had intervened.

"Do you have something to discuss with my Shui?"

As soon as Kate saw Olly reaching for Shui the moment she exited the bathroom, she pulled him closer and sent a icy glare at Olly while fully unleashing her fourth level in the Mortal Realm aura. The psychological pressure that came with that aura caused cold sweat to drip down Olly's forehead.

"Uh, no, nothing."

WIthout another whimper, they quickly retreated. Once they were far from sight, Kate hugged Shui tighter and looked at his endearing face.

"Are you alright?"

"Um, yeah."

Only after a few more minutes of them sticking together, did she bring him back out to the yard where the rest of the clan gathered. After seeing her stick to Shui for the entire time her party was going on, Lilia sighed in relief. It seemed she didn't have to worry about her son-in-law getting snatched. Noticing Lilia's expression as she looked at the two, Bartos was also relieved.

'Looks like my punishment will be over soon.'

The morning portion of the day was mostly a bore in Kate's eyes. Only by keeping Shui close could she endure the troublesome ceremony. She worked so hard for his sake, but it was also because she was working so hard that there would be pests that bothered them. However, that didn't change what she planned on doing. If more pests would bother them because she got stronger, then she simply needed to get even stronger. She just needed to be so strong that the pests couldn't do anything.

Looking at the white bandages wrapped around the cute face by her side, Kate remembered her oath and reaffirmed it.

Before the visitors left from their house and the private party began, the Patriarch would speak with Kate. It would only be for a moment and she would still be in sight of her house, but Kate was reluctant to let go of Shui. The other members of the clan might have stuffed their complaints in before, but if she tried to bring him with her at this time then there would be serious opposition. Letting him go for a brief period should have been the obvious answer, anyone could tell that. Even so, Kate's hand didn't loosen despite the Patriarch being directly within her line of sight.

"Big sis, shouldn't you let go?"

"But..."

"I'll be fine."

They couldn't look into each other's eyes, but they could still communicate without words in their own space. Though Kate thought it was her duty to protect him, he was also determined to do the same. Neither of them wanted to be a burden to the other.

"Okay."

After hearing his words, Kate finally let go of his hand and walked towards Nalos. When Nalos saw the girl hesitate to let go of Shui, a familiar and discomforting feeling rose in his chest.

'Hmph, what do they see in this cripple?'

Both of the ones that came to mind were important figures. One to him personally and the other to the clan. And yet, both of them shared such a similarity.

"I bow my head before the Patriarch."

WIth her head lowered, Kate stood in front of Nalos. There was no fault he could pick out in her posture, but it still irked him. The knowledge that this action did not come out of respect or courtesy, but out of necessity. She only obeyed him because she wanted to finish this farce as quickly as possible. Even so, as the head of the clan, Nalos knew that he couldn't admonish her for no blatant reason.

"You've broken through to middle Mortal Realm, well done. I hope you continue to improve so that you do not disappoint your ancestors."

"I shall remember your kind words."

The short conversation seemed to have been done in peace and sophistication, however that was just the surface. Both of them knew the real words that were just exchanged.

'Don't be distracted by a cripple.'

'Mind your own business.'

And so the short exchange ended, with no one else aware of what really occurred.

During the private party, Bartos gave Kate a chestplate and a pair of gauntlets that functioned as defensive artifacts while Lilia gave her a cookbook; anyone would be able to tell which she liked more. Many members of the clan had given her gifts but compared to items from people who were virtually strangers to her despite being from the same clan, she only felt moved by these sorts of gifts.

As she tried on the armour from her father, Shui took out his gift. It was a blue-green bracelet made of mutated flora that released a relaxing scent. Though it was made of plants, the bracelet had the tensile strength of steel so it wouldn't tear or break easily. Once she saw the gift in Shui's hand, Kate stopped what she was doing and stared at it.

"What's that?"

"It's your gift. The smell can calm your mind so it makes it easier for you to cultivate."

"Oh, thanks."

After taking the bracelet, Kate first examined it closely before putting it on.

"Does it look good on me?"

"Of course."

While watching the two while imagining them to be a lovey dovey couple, Lilia put her hands to her chest and smiled. Bartos on the other hand, grew curious about where Shui got such knowledge about plants. Since Yur had already told him what happened, he knew that Shui only went to one place in Cyrus so he had obviously made the bracelet himself, but where did he learn of the effects of mutated flora? The more he learnt about the kid, the more secrets he found out. He really wondered how many more surprises he had for him.

After the gift exchange and a birthday feast, Kate went to her room and came out with a dark blue dress. At first, he wondered why she came out with it instead of putting it on, but when he noticed the look in her eyes, he immediately backed away in fear.

"Kkkkate, why are you bringing that out?"

"Oh this, I got it as a gift but I don't think it suits me."

"The, then, are you gonna throw it away?"

"What? Of course not, I just thought it might suit you more."

"No, no,no, I'm good."

Shui attempted to run through the door but Lilia had already reached his back and grabbed him.

"Now, now, you don't have to be embarrassed."

"No, no, no, I very much have to be embarrassed."

With Lilia holding onto him, and Kate approaching from his front, Shui looked towards his last hope.

"Un, uncle Bartos,"

However he was already long gone. No one would stop the creation of another page of his dark history. He might have resisted more if it wasn't Kate's birthday or if Lilia wasn't holding him, but that didn't matter. Against his will, he was stripped to his underwear and then put into a dress.

"Mhmm, it's even better than last time."

"Yes, my lil' sis is really cute when she acts shy like this."

As what happened next, let it just be said that there were more items in the fashion catalogue.