Lion's Mouth Wide Open

"Lucas!" Selina screamed, lunging forward like a madwoman in an attempt to smother the flames.

However, the moment her hand touched the blue fire, a piercing, agonizing pain shot through her fingertips, and half of her sleeve was instantly reduced to ash.

"You idiots, don't just stand there! Save him!" Selina shrieked hysterically, her voice warped by terror.

Her cronies nearby descended into chaos; some tore down heavy velvet curtains to beat at the flames, while others grabbed cold soup tureens and water from vases, dumping them over his head.

Sizzle—!

The blue-white flames did not extinguish in the water; instead, they seemed to feed on it, burning even more fiercely.

This was no ordinary fire; conventional methods could not put it out.

Selina fell into despair.

Watching her only son struggle within the flames and her servants flailing in vain, she harbored a secret resentment for his stupidity—how dared he provoke a mage to his face like that?

But there was no choice; as a mother, she had to make amends for the mistake her son had committed.

"Stop! Ye Wei'an, have you lost your mind?!" she shrilled. "He is your father's only legitimate heir! If you kill him, the Purple Dragon Order will hang you from the walls of Suzar! And you won't get a single copper from the Summerstar Family estates!"

Ye Wei'an watched the dancing flames in silence, his fingertips twitching, and the color of the fire deepened by a shade.

Selina's face turned even paler, the mask of her threats scorched to pieces by the firelight.

She took a trembling step forward, her voice laced with pleading: "Listen... Wei'an, if you let him go, I will convince the Baron—the mines south of Firefall Valley... no, even the succession rights to the title, we can discuss it all! As long as you spare him!"

Yet, the only response she received was her son's heart-wrenching wails.

At that moment, a certain arrogance within Selina shattered completely.

She realized that this young man before her, who was calm to the point of cruelty, cared nothing for the estate, nor for the hypocritical honor of the family.

He only wanted to avenge Lucas's insolence.

Selina's mind raced, and her ability to calculate human hearts quickly provided a solution:

The only way to extinguish the other party's rage was to offer the compensation he desired—to let him see the one who had once trampled upon his pride groveling at his feet like a stray dog.

But how could she—

Even if I die, I cannot bow to this lowly bastard... Her inner pride made her hesitate to make the decision.

"Aaaaaah—! Mother! Save me! Save me!!"

Another scream, like a red-hot branding iron pressed directly against the core of Selina's heart.

That was her only son, whom she had doted on for twelve years; he was her only hope.

Her son's screams became the final straw that broke her.

Thud!

This proud daughter of a Duke, the mistress of the Summerstar household, knelt heavily before Ye Wei'an in full view of everyone.

"Stop... by Sharess, I beg you, stop!" Disheveled, she clutched the hem of Ye Wei'an's robe and pleaded, "Spare him... Wei'an, he is just a twelve-year-old child! For the sake of me being a mother... for the sake of him being your brother, I beg you!"

"For the sake of you being a mother?"

Ye Wei'an looked down at her from his height, saying coldly, "I could show mercy for the sake of a mother, but he didn't seem to show any respect for my mother just now."

"I was wrong! It was all my fault! I was the one who spoiled him!" Selina knocked her head against the floor with loud thuds. "As long as you spare him, I promise I will punish him severely! I will have him confined, make him repent at the temple, and swear upon the holy symbol! I promise he will never dare to be insolent again! I beg you... the Goddess is my witness, please spare him!"

Ye Wei'an watched Lucas rolling and screaming on the ground, and after a moment of silence, he finally sighed.

"I will give you one chance."

With that, he waved his hand.

The cursed fire, which even water could not extinguish, vanished with a whoosh, as if it had never existed at all.

The screaming ceased abruptly, leaving only the sound of Lucas's sobbing in the dining hall, born of pure terror.

Lady Selina rushed over, but when she saw Lucas's state, she froze.

Lucas was curled up on the floor, completely naked; his fine clothes had long since turned to ash, but he was otherwise entirely unharmed.

Except for his hair.

Every hair on Lucas's body—from the top of his head, his eyebrows, and eyelashes, down to his lower body—had been burned away completely, leaving not a single strand, yet every other part of him remained unscathed.

Combined with his bloated physique, Lucas now looked like a scalded, hairless white pig—ridiculous and pathetic.

"My Lucas..." Selina checked him over, only to find that apart from his skin being slightly flushed, her son had not a single burn, not even a blister.

"Just a small lesson," Ye Wei'an said with a faint smile, facing Selina's confusion. "After all, he is my 'dear' brother. As his older brother, I naturally have to take the trouble to make up for the upbringing he lacks."

At this moment, Selina was both shocked and relieved, her heart a mix of joy and worry.

She was relieved that Ye Wei'an was not yet insane enough to assassinate his own brother in public; the worst-case scenario had been avoided.

She was worried because this level of precise control over magical power was truly beyond her imagination.

In the Amarisk household, it wasn't as if Lady Selina hadn't seen powerful spellcasters—her own aunt was a fifth-circle mage.

But to achieve this, one had to be a true master specializing in evocation magic.

Even after calculating as high as possible, he had still underestimated the level of this bastard.

To be capable of this at only sixteen years old, he would be considered a genius even in all of Cormyr.

The more Selina thought about it, the more she felt the Goddess was unfair. Why bestow such talent upon a bastard, while Lucas, who possessed the noble blood of the Amarisk Family, was such a...

Looking at her sobbing son in her arms, Selina sighed.

"Quick! Bring a towel! Do you want the young master to catch a cold!" she shouted at her stunned confidants.

The two maids snapped out of their daze, scrambling to wrap the naked white pig in curtains.

"Take me away, take me away from that demon!" Lucas let out a shrill, distorted scream, shrinking into the towel like a startled quail. He didn't even dare to look at Ye Wei'an, and was carried out of the dining room by the servants.

The dining room was now a mess, covered in shattered porcelain and scorched curtains.

Ye Wei'an pulled his chair back, sat down again, and watched Lady Selina with composure.

"Alright, my lady. Now that the nuisances are gone, we can continue the conversation we hadn't finished."

Selina braced herself against the edge of the table and stood up, her once-exquisite bun half-disheveled.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to maintain a shred of dignity: "You win, Ye Wei'an. Tell me, what will it take for you to hand over those witnesses and ledgers? Five thousand gold coins? Or one of my properties in Suzar? Name your price."

"Five thousand gold coins?" Ye Wei'an sneered, "My lady, you previously sent people to assassinate me. To put it bluntly, these things represent my life, and they also represent yours. And isn't life priceless?"

Selina gritted her teeth and said bitterly, "Then what do you want?"

"What do I want?" Ye Wei'an leaned forward slightly, revealing a greed as vast as a dragon's, "It's simple: I want more money."

As he spoke, he listed a series of demands that made Selina's heart bleed:

"First, I want twenty thousand gold coins in cash, and it must come from your private funds—don't even think about using the family's public treasury to make up the difference. You've made so much money smuggling through the Summerstar Family's connections; I deserve a share of that."

"Second, I want unrestricted recruitment rights within the territory. Whether it's knights, craftsmen, stewards, or anyone I take a liking to, as long as they are willing to leave with me, you must let them go without any form of obstruction."

"Third, after Father passes, I want to inherit all of the ancestor Aslan's magic-related legacy, including all spellbooks and magical items."

"Fourth, I want to inherit half the armor and weapons in the warehouse, half the cattle and horses in the stables, and a full year's rations for five hundred people. That property of yours in Suzar must also be transferred to my name."

"Fifth, I want you to file an application with the Royal Court in the name of the Summerstar Family to formally recognize my legitimate noble status, and use the Amarisk Family's connections to help me apply for a Charter of Exploration."

"You are robbing me!" Upon hearing the last point, Selina finally reached her limit, "If you take all this, the foundation of the Summerstar Family will be half-hollowed out! How will Lucas support this house in the future?"

"Robbery? You can't get this many good things through robbery, and you certainly can't rob your way into a noble title or property in Suzar." Ye Wei'an nodded without a hint of shame, "My lady, you need to understand the current situation: if you don't give these to me, I can take them myself, but by then, the consequences you face might not be so pleasant."

With that, he pulled out a pre-prepared contract, on which all the conditions he had just mentioned were already written.

"If you're worried, we can sign a contract. As long as you don't act against me, I will never expose those incriminating documents, I will never threaten Lucas's inheritance rights, and I will never split the family territory."

Ye Wei'an pushed the pen toward her: "A very fair trade, isn't it? You keep your secrets and your son's future, while I take the compensation I deserve and go off happily to be a pioneering lord."

"You... aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" Selina, pushed to her limit, instinctively threatened, "Don't forget, I am not just the mistress of Firefall Fortress, I am a daughter of the Amarisk Family. With one word from me..."

"With what will you kill me?" Ye Wei'an scoffed, "With those knights you brought from the family? With those bandits I slaughtered like chickens? Don't make me laugh. Before you make such plans, you'd better look in a mirror and see the way you were kneeling and begging for mercy just now."

Mentioning what had just happened was like a bucket of ice water poured over Selina.

That's right, the opponent was also a genius mage.

With the forces she had at Firefall Fortress, she might be able to kill Ye Wei'an, but in reality, it was unlikely.

Yet, she was still unwilling to be drained of her family's wealth like this.

With no other choice, Selina played her final trump card: "Ye Wei'an, don't be so arrogant. The ledgers in your hands don't just implicate me; they implicate the entire Amarisk Family! Do you think you alone can stand against a noble house? If you don't hand them over, the family will never let you go!"

"Indeed, in the face of one of the top noble houses in Cormyr, my personal power is insignificant. But so what?"

Selina did not notice a flash of purple light suddenly cross Ye Wei'an's eyes.

"My lady, it seems you've stayed in Firefall Valley for too long and have forgotten the basic political rules of Cormyr—the supreme power of the Purple Dragon Kingdom always belongs to the Dragon Throne. I spent four years in Suzar and made a few friends who 'have the ear of the heavens.' Guess what happens if I hand these ledgers over to the Royal Court? Faced with an investigation by the Purple Dragon Legion, will the Amarisk Family openly defy royal authority for the sake of a woman married off to the frontier, or will they throw you and my dear brother out as scapegoats?"

Selina instinctively wanted to refute him.

In the royal capital of Suzar, nobles were everywhere, and barons were a dime a dozen.

How could a down-and-out bastard make friends there?

But as the words reached her lips, she suddenly realized something was wrong.

Everything that had happened during this time proved one thing: her intelligence on Ye Wei'an had been wrong from the very beginning!

His strength was wrong, his personality was wrong, so it was highly likely that the intelligence regarding his social circle in Suzar was also wrong.

If he really could take the smuggling matter to the royal family...

Thinking of this, fine beads of cold sweat broke out on Selina's forehead. She realized she no longer had any room to bargain.

"What falls into your own hands is truly your own."

At this moment, Ye Wei'an's words sounded incredibly seductive to her ears.

"My lady, you must see the reality. In the Amarisk Family, you are merely a tool to control Firefall Territory; but in Firefall Territory, you are the mother of the lord. As long as Firefall Territory doesn't fall, you are the mistress here. What good would it do you to go down with those people back in Suzar who only treat you as a pawn?"