I hated the limitations that people kept putting on me.

  He doesn’t know that one day I’m going to have my own city and then I can make my own rules. I unclenched my fists. I hadn’t realized that I’d made fists and considering the difference in our levels, I really didn’t want to test whether or not he’d actually fight me if I threatened him.

  “What happens to the other?” I decided to play out his thought exercise.

  Yorn coughed into his hand and pointed at the door where Fray’s mother had exited. He cut me off before I could speak. “Yes, I know that Harror made a big deal about your engagement, but I also know that you’ve not been with either of them.” He tapped the side of his head.

  I had no clue what he was insinuating, but I assumed it had something to do with one of his skills or spells.

  “And?”

  “It seems to me that you have a way out.” Yorn chuckled. “I knew Gessy would never come back home, but she’s always dreamed of working for Celia…” He shrugged. “A little push from you and she would have the dream she always wanted and you could take the woman you can be with today.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but the way he said it clicked in place. “You asked Celia to offer Gesai the job.”

  “You are as smart as your old man!” Yorn clapped. “You got me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s going to pine after you for years…” He sighed. “Do you have any idea how long it’s going to take for you to hit Tier Six?” He held up a finger. “AFTER the next six years it takes for you to graduate?”

  I took a deep breath. For the average person, the fifties took forever to get through because there was no good event floor in the T5 range. I knew that Trent or Miel would be able to power level me, but that wasn’t something that I wanted to divulge even if Yorn did know how strong my father was.

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  “Exactly.” He must have taken my silence as a realization. “If you really care about her, you’ll tell her to leave.” He shrugged. “Take Fray and I can let the Goddess know that you’re still adding an Alard to your harem.”

  There was something about his tone that told me there was more to his offer than what he was telling me. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was starting to think that his intentions with his daughters’ futures weren’t so honorable.

  “I thought you said she couldn’t be legitimate?” I took another step back.

  “Not in an official capacity.” He agreed. “So you wouldn’t get any backing from the Alards like you would from Gessy, but you’d still be able to satisfy the Goddess’s desire to see her favored house tied to Trent’s.”

  I doubt Harror will see it that way. I groaned as I thought about her reaction if I backed out after her big announcement.

  “Just think about it.” Yorn gave me an exaggerated sigh. “Don’t be the weight that keeps her away from realizing her full potential.”

  “I’ll think about how to talk to her.” I had no intention of telling Gesai to leave, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t be very receptive if I told him to mind his business. I also doubted that Gesai wanted to leave. It might have been her dream to join one of the top Dungeon teams, but now that she was with me, she was going to be able to go deeper into the Dungeon than any Noble group would be able to take her.

  “You do that.” Yorn turned back to look out at the city.

  I didn’t bother to tell him goodbye. Instead, I left him by the window and ducked into the elevator before he could stop me.

  On my way down I remembered that I hadn’t asked Yorn to send us a car. But considering the topic of our conversation, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to accept any type of gift from him. I had originally wanted to comfort him since his big reveal had blown up in his face. After his speech that had equated his daughters more to pawns than people, I wasn’t sure if I could feel sympathy for him. I shook my head as I opened the menu on my CB and typed out a message to Trent.

  I got a response before the elevator reached the ground floor.

  Gesai messaged me. Hye is on his way to get you. We’ll talk tonight.

  I chuckled. Great minds think alike. She must have assumed that my talk with her father wasn’t going to go well. Which it hadn’t, even though I’d hoped for a different outcome.

  As the elevator came to a stop, I realized that I was about to have some difficult conversations very soon. There was a part of me that wanted to stay on the elevator, but there was no avoiding what was to come and I would much rather face Fray and Gesai than repeat the conversation that I’d just had.

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