Distar

Upon returning home, Leon was hounded by Tista and Trion, eager for the results of his latest endeavor. The next day, Leon invited them to the woods to witness the newly evolved Kings of the Forest. This time, Tista and the others felt no fear, but rather admiration, as the once intimidating beasts now appeared strikingly impressive. Lifebringer, with its horse-like body covered in dazzling blue scales, drew particular admiration for its majestic appearance.

Lith, having interacted with the evolved beasts, grew to trust them, especially Protector. Tista formed a bond with Lifebringer, while Trion connected with Reaper. 

After a whole week when Leon felt the cub going to come out, he brought the blood cocoon for everyone to see it.

Protector eagerly anticipated the emergence of the cub Leon had taken from him.

As the blood cocoon began to crack open, everyone watched with bated breath. Emerging from it was a magnificent Dreadborne Wolf, it's starry sky fur along with purple shades made it look beautiful and majestic. 

Together with its small body it made it look even more cute. 

It glanced around and then ran to Leon and bug him with his tiny muzzle. 

Leon once agin rubber his head causing it to squeal in joy, while rubbing him leon also checked his condition and finds he is already awakened.

Leon presented the newly evolved cub to Protector, who stared in astonishment. "I can hardly believe this is the same cub I entrusted to you. I thought for sure he would die, but you've performed another miracle," Protector said with a chuckle as the exhausted cub climbed onto his back and fell asleep.

"He's probably worn out from the evolution," Leon noted.

Protector inquired about the cub's new identity. Leon replied, "I can guarantee he is a new species. How about calling him Dreadmane Wolf?"

Protector agreed, and the name Dreadmane Wolf was officially given. Lifebringer and Reaper, eager to evolve their own cubs, were disappointed when Leon informed them that he could no longer assist them as he no longer possessed any bloodline. They accepted this with reluctance, grumbling about their misfortune.

Four years later, Lith and Leon were now ten years old, while Tista and Trion were twelve. Count Lark, seeing their progress, tried to convince them to join the academy. They agreed to attend together, along with Lith and Leon. Knowing that they would be directly admitted into the fourth year—reserved for students typically around fourteen years of age—Count Laek didn't press further, accepting the two-year wait.

Rena their big sister attended the Maidan contest this year and wins it by windfall, With Leon beauty treatment and cloths from count Lark there were hardly any competition for her.

she soon began to hang out with youngsters until she finds one suitable for her, Senton, the child of village blacksmith. 

After a year of dating they were now ready to Marry. 

And next year they got married, with Rena moving out of thier house to Senton, and Senton receiving lots of friendly advice from all her siblings. 

****

Now, all four siblings are dressed luxuriously as they are invited to meet an important person according to Count Lark.

They have also prepared a gift , which is just Chess, with king and queen roles reversed as in this world women are more talented then men in terms of magic, giving them edge over males in all important positions.

Marchioness Distar revealed to be really important to Count Lark, to the point that he arranged their meeting privately in his quarters, while the party was taking place in the ballroom.

"Thank you so much for coming, dear Marchioness. You have no idea what it means for me having the possibility to share such a happy moment in your company."

"The pleasure is all mine, dear Lark, I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world." Her lips were smiling, but her eyes didn't.

Lith's instinct could tell that she was actually quite bored, and that she was there only because the Count must had persevered relentlessly to make her attend. He knew from experience how stubborn he could be.

As for others they are mostly bored especially Leon, he never liked licking any one ass but here Court Lark is doing it openly.

Based on what the Count had told them, Marchioness Distar should be a woman in her late thirties, but even with the little make up she wore, it was hard to imagine her a day older than thirty.

She had a beautiful face with great proportions, eyes brimming with intelligence and curiosity. She wore her waist-long straight hair down, with no hairpin or barrette to adorn them.

She had dark brown hair, with shades of blue all over it. It was almost hypnotic to look when she shook her head.

Her evening dress was of a pale blue, with no neckline, covering even her shoulders. In contrast to all the other noble dames, the Marchioness wore evening gloves, and there were no gemstones embroidered in her attire.

She had clearly chosen a plain dress, hoping to either go unnoticed or leave early.

"These are the kids I talked you about so much." The Count laughed. "They are incredibly skilled, wise beyond thier age and according to Lady Nerea, Lith he is blessed by the light and Leon here is blessed by Magic"

"Really?" The Marchioness didn't believe a word, but ruffled thier hair nonetheless.

Lith could feel that such gesture of intimacy was out of place, coming from such a grand dame. It also had no warmth at all. It felt more like a dog show judge checking the fur, rather than a caress.

Leon too felt annoyed but right now he is not so strong enough to go against A kingdom so he just sucked it up.

"Sigh, as predicted, Trequill has once again wasted my time." The Marchioness thought. "It's just another of his childish delusions, finding a talented mage in such scarcely populated land.

I would really love to tell him that the reason why women and magical beasts have coloured shades in their hair is the sign of the blessing from the six gods of magic. It would save so much of his efforts and my time.

Too bad that the Mage Association would make a huge fuss if I did. Those old fogeys and their reluctancy to reveal even such an open secret. Everyone in the King's Court knows it, be him/her a mage or not."

Lith could see she was disappointed, but had no idea why. Eager to go back home and do something actually meaningful, he bowed to her.

"My name is Lith of Lutia, your Ladyship. I'm glad and honoured to make your acquaintance. Please, accept this humble gift. Is not much, but we made it ourself."

Leon and others at side were tempted to say its all Lith idea but they hold back seeing Lith looking back at them, perhaps sensing thier intentions. 

The Marchioness was pleasantly surprised.

"At least this country bumpkin acts humbly and knows the proper etiquette, instead of being all arrogant like he owns the place, unlike all his predecessors."

"Thank you, I'm much obliged." It's what she actually said even before opening the envelope.

It turned out to be a square shaped wood board, with sides about fifty-one centimetres (20 inches) long, with eight columns and rows of black and white alternating colours of wood.

After checking it with the Count, Lith couldn't be bothered much finding a proper gift, and went straight plagiarizing the game of chess.

The Marchioness interest was piqued, she had never saw anything like that before. The board was accompanied by the chess pieces and a booklet explaining all the rules.

Th differences from the common chess game were few but significant. First, the king and queen roles were swapped. Lith had to suck up to an important woman, making the king the game goal was plainly stupid.

Also, he renamed the bishops as mages and the pawns as commoners. Everything else was as it was supposed to be.

The Marchioness read the rules so fast that Lith thought she was simply skimming, instead she asked him a precise question.

"Why the commoners can become any chess piece if they reach the end of the board?" Although he had considered unlikely, Lith had prepared for this question, giving the answer the usual fortune cookie wisdom that the Count so much liked.

"Because when someone, even a commoner, completes his journey toward wisdom, life holds endless possibilities. After all, even the King's ancestors at some point have been simple commoners, before rising to power."

The Marchioness giggled softly.

"Well, it seems that at least the part about the wisdom is true." She thought.

"Fancy a game? Seems really interesting. You could show me the ropes. It would be a nice way to get to know each other better. You can understand a lot about a person based on how he plays, wins, but most importantly how he accepts loss."

Hearing her Lith fell into dilemma his face clearly showed he dont know anything about chess, Leading to Leon to step forward. 

" allow me to play with you your ladyship, My name is Leon from Lutia, I would gladly accompany you to this game of Queens " Leon said humbly by placing his hands on his chest and bowing.

" well, you are one of its makers, so I dont mind it" She nodded and then the game begins.

After sitting at a table, the games began.

Even from her first game, the Marchioness proved to be incredibly intelligent, cunning and bold. She was able to think at least five moves in advance, always trying to figure out Leon's intentions and weak points.

Too bad for her, Leon perfectly knew what he was doing. He was the Chess grandmaster in his previous life not to mention in this life he also has talents of gambler which increases his luck and Analyst which makes his brain a supercomputer. He would just move the pieces as she moves, with clear look of boredom on his face.

And just like that in 13 moves he defeated her.

The Marchioness clicked her tongue, asking for a rematch.

This time Leon got even more ruthless and defeated her in less than 10 moves using queen gambit or in this case king gambit strategy.

"I clearly underestimated you and your game. I need more time to get acquainted with all the possibilities." She extended her hand, and Leon shook it.

She had a gentle but firm grip, Leon could feel no hostility from her.

"Mind if I show it around? I need opponents to get some practice."

"It's all yours. You can do anything you want with it."