The Shining Star Above The Heaven

Aldrian showed his smile as he kept looking at her face. Ilona, who could clearly see his expression, tensed, and a coldness ran through her because she truly couldn't do anything. Moreover, Aldrian's blue eyes, which seemed to shine under the dim light of the room, made her unsettled.

Although those eyes were truly beautiful, at this moment she did not share that opinion. What she saw were the eyes that would become the last thing she would see before she died.

She really did not understand why Aldrian the Great had come to her. Did he already know that she was from the Barevisk family, and because of that he came to her? Did he already know that the Barevisk family seemed to harbor ill intent toward him, so he came here to interrogate her? Did he intend to kill her?

'No, I still have something to do before I die!' she thought in panic.

"Miss Ilona, my visit here is only for conversation, and I don't intend to kill you. Because if I did have that intent, you would already be dead before you realized it," Aldrian said, which stunned Ilona, though she still felt the chill.

She did not think much about how he could know her name. What he said was also the truth, and if he wanted her dead, she would already be dead. Finally, she experiences for herself the gap of power between her and Aldrian.

All this time, she had only heard about his reputation and strength, a strength that could even battle an immortal. She actually still felt a little doubt in her heart because of how absurd his ability and power were.

However, the stories from many people from this star could not simply be discarded or ignored. At this moment, when she could not do anything in front of him, she finally tested a part of his power. Was this young man an existence at the peak pseudo immortal stage? Many said he was only at the low pseudo immortal establishment stage, which for her was truly absurd.

"I will release my space lock on you, and I hope we can converse with courtesy, like civilized people. I will not kill you, but the way I treat you in the future will be based on the result of our conversation," Aldrian said before he finally released the spatial lock from Ilona.

The moment the spatial lock was released, she could finally move her body again, which made her gasp for breath as she looked at herself. After making sure she could move all parts of her body normally, she looked at Aldrian again with a wary expression.

Although inside she felt tense, she still braved herself to open her lips.

"So what is it that brings His Majesty, the great emperor of this empire, to visit my humble self for a conversation? We have never met each other, and I don't think I have anything that would grant Your Majesty reason to visit me personally," Ilona asked carefully.

Aldrian still showed his smile as he finally answered.

"Well, we have never met each other, Miss Ilona, but your family is the one that 'voluntarily' came to me and even did something that could potentially endanger my empire. So how could I not visit you, the envoy from that family? You are wrong to think you have nothing that would grant me reason for a personal visit. It is precisely because you have it that I came to you personally."

Ilona's heart skipped a beat, and a coldness spread through her again. As she had guessed, this young emperor already knew about her family's dubious actions against him. Her mind quickly turned to one of the possibilities that had already formed within her thoughts since earlier.

Aldrian must have already known about the Barevisk family's activities from Elder Vars's group that infiltrated the continent.

If that was the case, then something had happened to them, and this emperor was truly playing with them! He must have done something to Elder Vars's group, and all the while her family, communicating with Elder Vars, must have been under the watch of Aldrian the Great.

Without anyone realizing it, her family and maybe even the Valroy family, had already been played into the palm of his hand.

She wanted to deny everything that came from Aldrian's lips, but after a quick consideration, she decided against it. He had said that the way he treated her would depend on the result of their conversation. If he already seemed to know about her family's actions and she still denied it, then she would be insulting his intellect.

She tried to bury her anxiousness and keep her composure as she released a long breath.

"Good choice, because if you denied what I said then my opinion of you would drop, and I don't have much patience for those who come from a family that harbors ill intent toward me and my empire," Aldrian suddenly said, which made her freeze inside. Could he read her mind or something?

Terrifying, truly terrifying!

"Uhm, what would Your Majesty like to converse about? Just to be clear, I am only here as an envoy from the Barevisk family under the order of the patriarch. We hope to build a relationship with Your Majesty, but I don't really know much about what the patriarch is planning," Ilona said.

Aldrian nodded. "I expected as much. After all, I heard that you don't have a good relationship with the current patriarch of the Barevisk family."

Ilona was stunned. This man knew the true nature of her relationship with the patriarch? Once again, her mind turned toward Elder Vars. Gathering her courage, she finally asked him,

"Your Majesty, did you do something to Elder Vars? I mean the group from the Barevisk family that came to this continent more than a month ago."

Aldrian still smiled. "Of course I know him and his men. I already made them my slaves, and they keep feeding your family the information that I approve for them to deliver, which your family then spreads across the stars. Do you think he could have entered this continent without me knowing?"

Hearing his answer, Ilona felt her heart turn cold.

'His slaves? As expected, something happened to Elder Vars's group, which allowed them to send all of that information unhindered. To think all of them had already fallen into this man's hand! Then I have to assume that this man already knows many things about us, even some of our secrets,' she thought.

'Doesn't that mean I could end up like them? Slaved by this man?'

The moment this thought appeared, she wanted to escape, but she knew there was no way she could. Panic gripped her, and as a woman, the word slave was something she feared.

Slave and woman in the same sentence was the fate she truly hoped never to experience. Most slave women suffered a fate worse than death, and she had already seen many examples of it throughout her life. She did not want to experience that kind of fate!

Aldrian simply let her mind turn in turmoil with her own thoughts and imagination, which was quite amusing for him. She kept silent, and after a few seconds, Aldrian finally opened his lips again.

"Miss Ilona, what do you think about the current patriarch of your family? Although I heard that you don't have a good relationship with him, just how bad is it? I want to know if you hold any good intention toward that man."

Hearing that, the panic and coldness inside her heart suddenly stopped. Her tense expression shifted into a frown, and then into anger. Her feelings changed from fear and despair to one full of rage. The flame of hatred raging inside her heart burned away every other emotion.

Aldrian, sensing it, smiled inwardly.

'Her hatred and rage are truly immense. With this kind of intensity, I must commend this woman for still being able to hold herself back from attacking, or at least attempting to kill, the patriarch,' he thought to himself.

'Well, this will be much easier then.'

At this moment, Ilona gritted her teeth as her expression shifted to one of restrained fury.

"Do I have any bit of good intention toward that bastard?! I would rather die! How could I have good intention toward the person who made my father's life miserable and even drove my mother into a coma?" She glared at Aldrian fiercely.

"Your Majesty asked how bad my relationship is with that bastard? I want him dead! No, I want him to suffer the same torment my father endured all his life. I want to watch him grovel, I want him to live in humiliation! I wish to see him under my feet, dying a dog's death!"

She stopped, her eyes still burning with ferocity, unwavering as she kept her gaze locked on him. Aldrian's blue eyes met hers, seeing the hatred that filled them, a hatred so strong it seemed it could set her ablaze in her path of revenge against the patriarch.

However, after a few seconds of silence, Ilona seemed to realize what she had just done. She drew a deep breath before lowering her head.

"My apologies, Your Majesty, but I truly couldn't control myself. If you wish to punish me for it, I am ready."

There was no fear or hesitation in her heart or words. It was much different from earlier, when she had felt fear and despair in front of a man she knew she could not escape. Her rage had truly neutralized all of those negative feelings.

She kept her posture like that until she heard Aldrian's voice again.

"I already know about your father and mother's condition. What if I told you that I could heal them completely, and even grant them additional benefits?"

Hearing that, Ilona's eyes and heart trembled. She instantly raised her head, looking at Aldrian with trembling eyes, and couldn't help but ask,

"Is Your Majesty serious? Do you truly have a way to heal my parents?"