Chapter 173 - Banquet Night

"Ascend. Finish the Mortal Realms and ascend, and you can change your appearance to an older form."

Magicus said to her.

"A-Ascend?"

Floriana Sabina asked him in confusion.

"That's what you do after reaching the Peak Mana Dominion stage."

Magicus explained to her.

"Isn't that hard? I've never heard any news of anyone succeeding that."

Floriana Sabina asked him.

"Of course it's hard, but that doesn't mean that no one in history has succeeded. Most of them were just forgotten."

Magicus agreed with her.

"I… I'll try to ascend."

Floriana Sabina replied. She was still unsure if she could even succeed in this ascension thing.

"Don't try. Do it."

Magicus' voice sounded again.

"Alright!"

Floriana Sabina replied, pumped up. She was gonna ascend and grow her body, so her relationship with Rant Valo could take another step.

"That's the spirit. I'll go now."

Magicus' voice was full of satisfaction, and he bid her farewell.

"Okay. Thank you."

Floriana Sabina nodded her head in gratitude.

…

"Master Floriana, where did you go?"

Rant Valo saw Floriana Sabina coming back. He had been looking for her.

"What? Did you miss me, Disciple?"

Floriana Sabina asked him with a smile on her face.

"N-No. I just wanted to show something to you."

Rant Valo said to her with a stutter.

"What was it?"

Floriana Sabina asked in curiosity.

"Here."

Rant Valo passed Veia's picture to her.

"Oh, wow. Veia looks really cute on this one."

Floriana Sabina was taken aback after seeing the painting. Her heart skipped a beat seeing such a cute child version of Veia.

"Doesn't she?"

Rant Valo agreed with her with a smile.

"Master! Stop staring at that picture of me."

Veia scolded Rant Valo with a pout.

"What? You're cute here."

Rant Valo looked at her in confusion. He couldn't understand why she was being embarrassed.

"..."

Veia's face turned red, and she turned away. Her master calling her cute again and again made her heart flutter.

A few hours later, they were finally done browsing through all of Veia's pictures. It was such an emotional ride for her and Rant Valo. Even her parents cried as they were reminded of the past.

"The banquet is ready."

Duke Brandi said to them. They then headed back into the dining hall. There were already various mouth-watering dishes served on the table.

"Wow. These look really good. Can you introduce it to us?"

Rant Valo exclaimed as he looked at the dishes. He doesn't know most of them so he asked for an explanation.

"This is from a Wind Rhino. It's very soft and delicious. It's topped with a sweet caramel sauce…"

Duke Brandi introduced each dish to Rant Valo. It was such a diverse banquet that it took him a solid 10 minutes to introduce all of them.

…

"This Wind Rhino steak tastes really good."

Rant Valo commented as he took a bite of the meat.

"Mm! This Red Pig soup also tastes good."

Veia nodded her head in agreement.

As for Floriana Sabina, she kept eating food and taking it inside her mouth. She didn't care if they were hot or not.

They ate for a few hours as the banquet was for all of them to eat.

"Since this is a rare and special occasion, I invite everyone to have a toast with me!"

Duke Brandi raised his wine glass up into the air. Rant Valo, Floriana Sabina, and Veia joined him. They drank wine slowly. As for Rant Valo, since he was already a Core Formation stage cultivator, the wine was like juice to him.

"Puah!"

Veia's face was red. The wine was strong enough to affect her, who was still in the Foundation Establishment stage.

"Veia, let's hope that one day you'll remember everything."

Rant Valo turned to Veia and smiled at her.

"..No… Master, I'm satisfied with the memories I have with you."

Veia shook her head and replied.

"Veia…"

Rant Valo felt satisfied hearing her response.

"My baby girl!"

Duke Brandi exclaimed in sorrow after hearing Veia's words. They were both hopeful that she would remember her past, yet she herself didn't want it.

"Of course, Father and Mother. If it came, I wouldn't reject it. I just wouldn't actively regain it."

Veia explained to them with a smile.

"Grrrr! You stupid son-in-law! Look at what you did to my baby girl!"

Duke Brandi complained to Rant Valo with gritted teeth.

"Ahahaha…"

Rant Valo scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. He didn't know what to say after hearing his words.

"Hehehe. Master is more important to me."

Veia said to them with a grin on her face.

"S-Stella, don't say that…"

Duke Brandi frowned hearing her words. It was like an arrow to his heart. It was painful.

"I'm just joking. To be honest, I don't really know what would happen to me if I remember my past and what happened back then. I'd much rather be the same me as now."

Veia said to them. For her, remembering what happened when she was raped was the scariest thing. She doesn't dare even think about it.

"I see… I'm sorry for not realizing that."

Duke Brandi bowed his head towards her. He was realizing more and more that he was actually unfit to be her father if her wellbeing wasn't his first priority inside his mind.

"I'm thankful for you taking care of me. If there was a choice, I would gladly remember all of our memories in the past but it doesn't work that way."

Veia said to him with emotion on her face.

"That's true. If you could only remember the past while forgetting what happened to you because of that crazy vampire!"

Duke Brandi nodded his head at her words.

He feels angry whenever he thinks back to what they said the vampire did to his baby girl. He also felt pain inside and regretted that he wasn't able to prevent such a thing from happening. If only he could've done better...