One hour earlier...
Ume and I entered the courtroom together. On the seats along either side of the walls sat Master Robert, Vyaghra, Jambavan, and the six Sect Masters.
On the first floor stood Nymeria, Doran, Mother Lunaria, and other key figures of each Sect.
At the front, upon the Sovereign thrones, Father and Mother sat. Every figure had their eyes fixed on us.
As we moved forward, everyone slowly rose from their seats, greeting us with a bow.
Ume moved to an empty seat beside Vyaghra, while I remained standing at the center.
"I summoned you for three main reasons," Father began once everyone had settled.
Turning to Titan, Father continued, "Brief him about the war results."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Titan said, rising from his seat. "Ironvale has been made an independent territory, with Erik Ironvale as its King.
As for the remaining five Duchies, the new Emperor will appoint their Dukes, with the approval of the Hundred Sky Mountains.
Proper war compensation has been taken from the Empire, along with a written agreement that the Azure Sun Empire will never invade the Hundred Sky Mountains.
As for Merlin Valencrest, Bran Silvergard, Hector Solaris, and Kharos Solaris, the former Dukes, prince, and emperor, they have been imprisoned in the Valley of Heavenly Pillars."
"Who is the new Emperor?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You know that man better than any of us, Your Highness," Titan said with a smile. "It is one of your subordinates, the third prince of the Azure Sun Empire, Vyrion Solaris."
"He agreed to become the Emperor?" I asked, clearly surprised. Vyrion was not the kind of man who would accept such a position.
"He was strongly against it, but eventually agreed when a woman from his group persuaded him," Titan revealed.
It must be that woman named Su Yan, I concluded inwardly.
"What do you want to do with Hector and Kharos?" Father asked in a serious tone. "You are the one who waged war upon them for revenge. I leave their fate in your hands."
Father's words froze me for a moment. Kharos was the man who slaughtered my sect members, elders, and all my relatives. Father was imprisoned and inhumanly tortured, Mother was left in a comatose state, and Nymeria endured mental torment for seventeen long years, all in which Kharos played a major role.
I still hated him with every part of my being. If he were to stand before me, I was not sure I could maintain my composure.
After a brief pause, I declared,
"Keep them imprisoned for the rest of their lives."
Nymeria had been healed, Mother had returned to her feet, and Father had also recovered. The next generation of Thunderbanes was steadily growing.
The old wounds were finally healing, even if the scars remained.
Kharos had been subjugated. Killing or sparing him would not change anything.
So, I chose to let go of the rope of sharp thorns called revenge that I had been holding onto.
As I spoke those words calmly, a wave of relief passed through the courtroom.
It was a test from Father. He wanted to see whether I had moved on from my thirst for revenge.
"Very well, onto the next reason," Father continued with a faint smile. "What was the cause of the reverberation that echoed through Vyoman?"
Everyone turned their curious gazes toward me as Father asked the question. They knew it had something to do with me, but they did not understand how I had caused it.
"It was my heartbeat," I said, looking at Ume.
"Heartbeat?" Father asked, his eyes narrowing.
The other members of the court began murmuring as well, uncertain whether I was joking.
Ume rose from her seat with a sigh, walked up to me, and unbuttoned the upper part of the formal white shirt I was wearing.
Beneath it, a golden gem embedded at the center of my chest was revealed, radiating an ethereal glow.
"Is it something related to your divinity?" Father asked, seeing something like this for the first time.
I shook my head and replied, "It is something related to the bloodline of Banes."
My words caused another wave of murmurs to ripple through the courtroom.
I could already feel the curious gazes of the Sect Masters upon me. They were barely holding themselves back from bombarding me with questions.
"I do not understand your words, Taranis," Father said, confused.
"In that case, let me ask you a question in return," I said. "What is the purpose of the mark on our forehead?"
"It is the identity of the Banes, which sets us apart as humans favored by the natural elements," Father explained. "After reaching the Demi-God Realm, the mark allows us to access a vast amount of Soulforce for a limited period of time."
"Yes, that is what is recorded in the historical texts of the Bane family, and what we have all been told by our ancestors," I replied in a serious tone.
After a brief pause, I asked,
"Have you heard of the limitations of non-humans?"
"How is that related to the mark on our foreheads or the strange gem in your chest?" Father asked with a frown.
He, along with the others, must have thought I was straying from the topic.
"They are all connected. Please answer my question."
"Any non-human being who takes a human form cannot completely transform into a human. It is a simple fact," Father answered.
"Precisely. Demons in their human forms possess horns or fangs. Demi-beasts have traits such as animal ears or claws. Even divine beings cannot escape this exception," I explained, glancing at Ume's fox ears.
"Goddess Gumiho can conceal her beastly traits with illusion spells, but that cannot be considered a perfect transformation."
"What are you trying to impl—" Father's words halted mid-sentence, his eyes widening in shock as he realized the implication behind my words.
"You certainly do not mean..."
"What you are thinking is correct, Father," I said, the corner of my lips lifting. "None can escape this exception. Every non-human must possess at least one distinct trait of their original form in their human transformation.
Just like this mark on our foreheads."
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