Tyson alone is already too much for her. If he gets a bunch of kids that run around with him causing trouble everywhere, she will not have a moment of peace.
She can imagine just how much stress it will give her. It made her start experiencing a headache.
Augustus ruffed his son's head and said, "If you want followers, then you must be strong. It is clear that Arthur's students are loyal to him. That is a tough thing to achieve."
"It is not a must that your followers must be loyal to you. But it is a must that they do what you say, or they will be useless. For you to achieve that, you must be strong yourself."
Tyson was sitting on his father's lap. So he had to look up in order to see his father's face.
He did that as he asked, "How much strength do I need?"
Augustus thought about it and replied, "It all depends on the quality of your followers and what you want them to do. Take, for example, I want followers who can…"
The father and son chatted during the journey. Lady Delia chimed in once in a while.
She wanted to say more, but she thought it better that Arthur got more time with his father. The two of them rarely see Augustus, but she believed that her son needed Augustus more than her.
The party was going to be held in the outer court in the public auditorium used for public celebrations. So it took them a few minutes to reach it.
The auditorium was the same place Tyson's naming ceremony was held. It was a large ancient building built with hewn stones and with a dome held up with stone pillars.
When they reached it, Tyson gave his mother a look and said, "I sure hope that Arthur came to this party."
He was warning her of what the consequences would be if Arthur didn't come. To that, Lady Delia snorted in reply.
They went into the hall while the servants went to join the servers. Tyson began looking for Arthur as soon as he reached the large hall. His eyes were roaming about in his search.
The hall was full of people going and coming and chatting with each other. It was difficult to spot someone in the crowd. But that wasn't the case for Arthur and his mother.
The two of them stood out amidst the crowd. They were the only ones with red hair in the hall, and they stood side by side so they couldn't be missed.
Tyson's eyes lit up when he saw Arthur. He dragged his father toward them immediately.
It also couldn't be missed that Lady Vena was holding Arthur's neck in a vice grip. Augustus and his family noticed this when they got closer to the redheaded duo.
Augustus frowned as he asked, "Why are you choking your son?"
Lady Vena smiled and let Arthur's neck go. She said, "He is behaving like a child. If I so much as look away, he would run away."
She had let him go now because the person she wanted him to meet had arrived.
When Lady Delia heard what Vena had said, she sighed in exhaustion. She thought to herself, "I didn't know that things were so bad. This will surely give Tyson some ideas."
Tyson wanted to say something when he heard that Arthur was being stubborn, but Lady Delia grabbed him and covered his mouth. The poor boy could only mumble.
Everyone saw this, but no one said anything about it.
Lady Vena continued with what she was saying earlier, "Since he wants to behave like a child, then I can only treat him like a child."
Arthur denied her claims. He said, "I just wanted to find a quiet corner to look at something."
Augustus looked him over and saw his red eyes and lean cheeks. Arthur was at the ninth transformation, yet he looked sick. He was injured or doing something that injures him frequently. Coupled with what he just said, Augustus could already guess what it was that he wanted to look at.
Augustus asked, "How is your progress with the force diagram?"
Arthur replied, "Fine. I would be able to make more progress if I weren't dragged around by her."
Augustus nodded and advised, "Just take it easy. Don't overdo it."
Lady Delia retorted, "You should give advice that you take. I remember hearing that you overdid it when you were trying to reach the tenth transformation."
Augustus denied her claims, "I didn't overdo it. I had things under control. I was fine."
Lady Delia insisted with a smile, "That's not what I heard. I heard that you looked at the force diagram twice a day every day for more than a year. You were so sick that you were falling over."
He waved away her claims with his hand and said, "I was fine."
Lady Delia also joined in. "I think I heard about that. I heard that you were thin, emaciated, and weak. That's why you were falling over. You were like that for one and a half years."
Augustus had to change the subject. He said, "I have to leave. I have someone to see."
He turned to leave. He had turned towards the direction of a man with bright blond hair that was glowing.
Lady Vena saw that he wanted to go to the glowing man, so before he could go far, she ditched Arthur and moved closer to Augustus.
She said, "Let me follow you. I too want to see the patriarch. I have never seen a patriarch of the family."
Lady Delia had to step up. She ditched Tyson and said, "You didn't see any patriarchs because you're just a mistress. That's why I should be the one to follow him."
Augustus's face twitched when he saw that they were about to argue. He quickly said, "You can both follow me to see the patriarch."
Augustus and the two ladies left. They left Arthur and Tyson behind.