"Brother!" Grand Elder Loom was immediately enraged. "You married off my grand niece to a man with no name and reputation?! Would you really hate to see my grandson take over your mantle this much?! He is still your blood!"
The Grand Hall became rowdy and a powder keg of emotion erupted. Even the usually calm grandson of the Grand Elder couldn't help but from. Anyone who knew him would understand that he was truly enraged by the sight before him.
The problem was the City Lord Loom was just as stunned as everyone else. How could he promise his only kin to the very young man he steeled his heart to kill just days earlier?
At first, he too thought it was an innocent mistake, so he was about to lightly correct Ryu's seating position thinking that his granddaughter would of course sit in the correct place. But who would have known that the usually astute and attentive Tae would make such a big mistake?
The individuals here weren't just of the Loom Clan. As the manager of a city, the Loom Clan had long since expanded to accommodate many small Clans, especially with how large the city was. There were a few Fourth Order Clans under their wing and even more Third Order Clans, each of whom were allocated a certain number of seats depending on their strength within their Grand Hall.
Since these people had hitched their wagons to the Loom Clan, they also had a vested interested in seeing them succeed in the coming selection. If the Loom Clan could become a Half-Step Sixth Order Clan, their positions would rise as well.
For this reason, many favored the talented Matheus Loom. He hid himself deeply, but his demeanor was clear to everyone.
They were all aware that this generation of Core Clan Heirs was very weak. Even Ryu was aware of this, or why else would he say that Tae could defeat them all alone? So, everyone believed that Matheus was their greatest chance.
Yet, who would have known that their usually calm, steady and amiable Patriarch would suddenly slap all of their wishes in the face like this. Even those who sided with the City Lord didn't want to see such a thing happen.
This truth made this matter impossible to cover up.
By now, Ryu had noticed his own mistake as well. In truth, he had sat here out of muscle memory. He had been thinking about his father when he entered this Grand Hall, so to him, this place was naturally his own. He lost count of the number of times he had followed his old man's broad back to sit in this very seat.
Unfortunately, this time, he wasn't in his Tatsuya Clan, nor was the woman by his side Elena.
Ryu sighed lightly, his gaze filled with a complicated light. Suddenly his eyes sharpened, the tremendous momentum of the Impose Realm wafting from his body.
"So many petty annoyances." He said coldly. "So what if City Lord Loom made this decision without speaking to you first? Is she your daughter? Do you wield as much power as he does? Do you have the right to speak even before me, let alone him? Shut your mouths."
The various ministers and elders were stunned. They were so used to dealing with City Lord Loom, an amiable man who took the opinions of everyone into consideration. It wasn't that he was indecisive, but more so that he didn't want to rule like a tyrant.
After spending so many years with such a ruler, how could they suddenly become used to such a brazen young man? How would they live life as they normally did if he took over the Clan?
Tae was stunned by Ryu's words before her eyes watered with gratefulness. She lowered her head, looking at her small trembling hands.
One might think that with Ryu's personality, he wouldn't care for Tae's emotions in all of this. But, this would be an incredibly shallow analysis.
In the past, how had Elena become his fiancée? She suddenly appeared in his bedchambers one day and stripped down until everything was exposed.
By then, she had understood Ryu's personality to the tiniest detail. She was certain that this was the man she wanted to be with for the rest of her life, but getting him to accept her was a task taller than even finding him had been in the first place.
So, that was the plan she came up with. She knew that the cold Ryu was a man who cared for the emotions of those he saw as his own. After becoming the first man to see her naked, there was no doubt in her mind that he would take responsibility.
The matters of today seemed like an innocent mistake, but in a martial world where reputation dictated something as important as the Faith of a Clan, if Ryu were to ruthlessly deny that Tae was his woman, she would be forever tainted. No matter how good her explanation, there would always be those with nefarious intentions who sought to sink the Loom Clan as a whole…
Maybe under normal circumstances this wouldn't be a large problem… But one needed to remember that the Loom Clan had somehow made enemies with individuals of the Core Region… And though Tae hadn't explained how to Ryu back then, with Ryu's intelligence, he immediately picked up that the main cause should have been Tae herself.
If this was true, and Tae was suddenly seen "happily" accepting a man as her fiancé, only for the same man to turn around and say he had no interest in her… It was a stain that would never leave her in this lifetime.
In truth, Ryu had no interest in Tae. She was a top-tier beautiful woman, but that was only by the standard of other Half-Step Divine Vessel Realm women. For Ryu who had been around women with high cultivations all his life, not to mention Ailsa who was on his shoulder, Tae was only an average beauty.
As one took steps toward immortality, the impurities of their body would be washed away, and one would become more perfect. Unless one was of a race as perfect as the Sprites or had genes that came from high cultivation realm parents like Ryu, it was impossible to be among world class beauties with low cultivation unless you were an absolute anomaly, likely born with a special Bone Structure.
Still, this was only one aspect. Ryu had never been interested in women simply for their looks, or else he wouldn't have rejected Ailsa who was even more beautiful than Elena when last he saw her. The truth was that he merely had a good impression of this woman and nothing more.
Compared to the strong-willed Elena who had always been the support in his life, or his elder adoptive sister who had always protected him without rest, Tae was simply much too lacking…
However, even if he only took Tae as his woman in name, he would do so. He knew that if Elena was here, she would be glaring at him with vicious intent, daring him to reject Tae in front of so many people. If he actually did something so dishonorable, she would never forgive him.
His mind was already made up. He would take responsibility for Tae and for his mistake. In the future when she met a man she could truly love, he wouldn't hesitate to let her go.
His heart only had space for one woman.
Ryu knew he was being na?ve. If they'd crucify Tae for such an innocent mistake, how bad would the backlash of leaving him for another man be?
However, in Ryu's mind, since he had decided to take Tae as his woman, he would elevate her to the point where the squabbles of this pitiful Inner Ring could be dealt with by her with a single finger. These people glaring at him with ill intent… Were nothing more than ants in his eyes!
"Didn't I come here for you to test me?" Ryu said coldly. "All I've been subjected to is glaring and the barking of yard dogs. If you want me to fight, then bring someone out worthy of fighting me. If you have no such intention, then don't speak again!"