After a brief greeting, Andreas changed his expression. The slight warmth that had been visible in his gaze faded, replaced by the formality of a family representative.
"By order of the family head, we have come to review Lioran’s situation and take him into custody." He stepped back and addressed Serys.
"Lioran has been imprisoned on charges of murdering several tower members, including the tower leader’s daughter." Serys answered without pause, her tone growing colder.
"No one has the right to take him."
The family elder who had been frowning at Daniel from the beginning stepped forward, and his mana pressure spread through the surrounding space.
"He is still a direct child of the Lionheart family." His gaze fixed on Serys.
"A court from an external organization does not have the right to decide his fate without the family’s presence and consent."
The defensive runes in the square lit up with the increase in mana pressure. Several tower mages prepared to counter, and Serys also released some of her mana.
"When a member of your family commits murder in our tower, you can no longer hide behind your family name."
"The charges have not yet been proven." The family elder said angrily.
"Then until they are proven, you will not treat a Lionheart family member like a criminal."
Before the tension could escalate further, Andreas raised his hand. His movement was simple, but everyone accompanying him fell silent.
He didn’t even look at the family elder, just said:
"First, we’ll see the evidence."
"Andreas, our mission is clear." The old man turned to him in disbelief.
"My mission is to review the situation and prevent further damage to the family." Andreas’s cold gaze settled on him.
"Blindly taking custody of someone who may actually be behind several murders does not protect the family."
The family elder clenched his jaw, but said nothing more. This reaction alone was enough for Serys to realize that Andreas had not come to save his brother at any cost.
He had an official mission, but he did not intend to burn his own and his family’s reputation for Lioran.
Before the formal session began, Andreas asked Daniel to speak privately for a few minutes.
The two moved away from the main square and entered a hallway leading to one of the side towers. The hallway’s tall windows faced the sea, and the sound of wind and waves covered the distant conversations of the square.
When he was sure no one was near them, Andreas asked without preamble:
"Was it really your doing?" He knew that wherever this man went, any event that happened there would surely be related to him in some way.
That’s why he somewhat felt it was connected to Daniel.
"I just brought out what had been hidden for years." Daniel looked outside the window.
Andreas stared at his profile for a few moments, then let out a short sigh.
"So it was your doing."
Daniel didn’t deny it. Andreas leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Was Lioran really behind those murders?"
"You’ll see the evidence soon."
"But I’m asking you."
"Yes." Daniel turned his gaze back to him. Just that one word was enough. Andreas was silent for a few seconds.
No brotherly grief could be seen on his face, but the news was not completely unimportant to him either.
Lioran, whatever he was, was still a direct child of the patriarch, and anything he did could affect the entire family’s reputation.
"I didn’t come to save him. I came to make sure his stupidity doesn’t destroy the family with him." His voice was quiet, but serious.
"What orders did your father give?" Daniel asked.
"On the surface, I have to bring Lioran back." Andreas smiled bitterly.
"But my father never gives orders with only one meaning. If the evidence is weak, I must defend the family and take Lioran out."
"And if the evidence is strong?"
Andreas looked out at the sea.
"I must limit the damage."
A few moments of silence passed between them, and then he continued.
"My relationship with Lioran was never good."
"And yet, you still came to defend him." Daniel said.
"Not to defend him. To defend the name we both carry." Andreas shook his head, and his gaze became serious again.
"I hate him, but he still bears the family name. If the evidence is weak, I’ll have to stand against the tower."
"And if the evidence is real?" Daniel asked without changing his expression.
"I’ll tighten the chains myself."
Daniel smiled. So there was no need to worry too much about the Lionheart family delegation, nor was there any need to plan for dealing with them.
With this boy’s presence, even if he did nothing, Lioran was not going to leave this place.
An hour later, the Lionheart family delegation members were seated in the tower council’s confidential hall.
The hall was smaller than the main council chamber, but had much heavier defenses.
The walls were covered with several layers of anti-espionage spells, and after the doors were closed, not even a particle of mana could leave without permission.
The tower leader sat at the end of the long table, with Varcas and Azreon on either side.
Serys and Daniel were also present on the right side of the hall, and across from them sat Andreas, the two family elders, the legal representative, and three of the Lionheart senior mages.
Before anyone was even properly seated, the tower leader said firmly:
"Lioran will not be released."
The family’s legal representative opened a thick folder before him.
"According to the seventh treaty between the Central Magic Tower and the Lionheart family, any direct family member accused of a political crime or an offense related to the family’s internal structure within the tower’s territory must be handed over to family representatives for a joint trial."
"That treaty concerns political disputes and your family’s internal crimes." The tower leader didn’t even look at the documents. His eyes were cold.
"The murder of my daughter and the tower’s professors is not a Lionheart internal matter."
"No court has yet proven the crime." The family elder in the fur robe said.
"That’s why you’re seeing the evidence." The tower leader replied, and with a wave of his hand, he placed two crystals on the table.
Before the session began, parts of both crystals had been separated and sealed; the parts that spoke of Lioran being cultivated as the founder’s vessel and the plan to transfer Divinity.
No one from the Lionheart family should hear that truth.
That one of the family’s direct children had been cultivated from birth as a body for possession and the destruction of his personality was not just Lioran’s scandal.
It was a direct insult to all Lionheart blood.
The family could consider it an assault on their lineage, dignity, and independence, and even if they opposed Lioran, they could enter an uncontrollable war for revenge against the founder or the tower.
The first crystal was activated.
Ryndor’s image formed in the hall’s space.
The delegation members saw his interrogation and confessions; but each time the conversation got close to the truth of Lioran being a vessel, the image would cut off for a few seconds and then continue from the next part.
Still, what remained was also enough.
Ryndor spoke of Lioran’s connection to Morcan, the elimination of those who had become suspicious of the succession process, and all the crimes that had occurred.
Then the Silence Curse activated, and Ryndor’s soul was destroyed before everyone’s eyes.
The hall’s atmosphere grew heavy.
The second crystal immediately lit up. This time, Morcan’s image appeared.
His tired voice echoed through the hall, and the recorded scenes played again.
One of the family’s mages unconsciously raised his head.
The old man with the staff lowered his gaze.
He explained how each of them had been a threat to Lioran’s future in some way, and their murders had been carried out with his knowledge and desire.
When the image went dark, no one spoke immediately. The delegation members fell into silence one after another.
Some had known Lioran since childhood. True, until a few years ago he had no talent and was considered useless.
But after his talent awakened, everything changed.
In their eyes, he was the most talented child of the new generation, the family’s most popular figure, and someone who was supposed to expand Lionheart’s influence for the next few centuries.
Accepting that the same young man had been behind the murder of several professors and the tower leader’s daughter was not easy.
Andreas showed almost no reaction. Only his fingers tightened around the chair’s armrest.
Part of him was shocked by the truth, but another part had always known what kind of person Lioran was.
Perhaps not to this extent, perhaps not with this many bodies, but he had never seen that flawless smile as innocence.
The family elder in the fur robe finally broke the silence.
"Even if this evidence is real, his trial must be held in the family’s territory."
"The presence of these confessions does not eliminate the family’s judicial rights." The legal representative quickly added.
"Executing Lioran in the tower will destroy the Lionheart family’s reputation." One of the senior mages added.
For them, this was a matter of honor.
Andreas calmly turned his head toward him.
"The family’s reputation was destroyed when its heir started killing those who stood in his way."
The old man looked at him angrily.
"By what right do you decide about the family heir?"
"Which heir? I don’t remember anyone being chosen as heir!" Andreas’s eyes turned cold.
"Besides, from the moment his tower status was revoked and these documents were released, he no longer has a future for representing the family and has been completely removed from the succession line!" He leaned forward slightly.
"And I am the most likely, and perhaps the only, next heir."
The hall’s atmosphere froze for a moment. This was the first time Andreas had openly raised his new position.
The family elders knew such a possibility existed, but expressing it directly in the presence of the magic tower carried a different meaning.