Zoey turned to look at her husband in anticipation. If he has made such a speedy recovery, perhaps he has also managed to achieve the God of War status?
The hope in her eyes dimmed in the next second when Levi said, “Sorry. I’m not the God of War yet.”
The rest burst out into sardonic laughter.
“You aren’t good enough then!” Cora raised her voice sharply. “Zoey and Evie can’t leave with you.”
“But I’m stronger than the God of War,” Levi declared.
His words drew more laughter from the crowd.
“Yeah, right,” someone snorted. “You lost to Winsor even before you suffered the injuries, and now you expect us to believe that you’ve somehow become stronger than him right after your recovery? That’s bullsh*t!”
Displeasure etched in every line of Cora’s face. “Is there anything else that you have to say for yourself?”
“There’s more, but I won’t be able to divulge.”
He was referring to his status as Crown King, a classified information of the highest kind. There was no way he would disclose to others, least of all to these people in front of him.
Cora’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Nothing else, I assume?”
“You can say that.”
“What makes you think you’re good enough for Zoey and Evie?” she spat in anger. “Do you take us for fools? How dare you disregard what’s demanded of you from the Great Family of Westford!”
Levi chuckled and glanced at Thierry. “Why don’t you ask these two whether I’m good enough?”
Heads swiveled to the person in question, who visibly swallowed before waving a hand at Levi. “All right, you’re free to leave with Zoey and Evie.”
“What?” Several people cried out in unison as a ripple of shock spread through the crowd at the unexpected response. Does this mean… that he has the stamp of approval from Thierry? How is this possible?
“Thierry, why did you permit him to leave?” Cora pressed with a perturbed expression. “He didn’t meet the requirement you’ve set!”
The rest were equally uncomprehending. They looked at him in varying degrees of confusion, anxiously waiting for an explanation.
“I know what I said,” Thierry announced. “But Levi deserves to be reunited with his wife and daughter. I have my reasons. For one, he has returned despite the accusations against him. It shows that he’s responsible for his family. For another, he has recovered, so he’s capable of taking care of them now.
“I’m not an unreasonable person. When I put in place that provision, it was for the sake of Zoey and Evie. Based on the two aforementioned considerations, he has gained my approval to take the two of them away.”
Despite being underwhelmed by the bizarre turn of events, nobody could not find any fault in Thierry’s explanation to refute him.
Cora, too, relented, though she felt there was something different about her brother in his attitude toward Levi.
She glowered at the latter. “You better treat Zoey right or else.”
All of them could only watch as the family of trio left.
A few of them, Shaun included, were still sore about not being able to put Levi in his place as they had initially intended. However, there was nothing they could do about it since Thierry had already dished out the verdict.
“Will Levi cause trouble for us now that he’s back and recovered?” Jennie wondered aloud in concern.
“I think it’s likely,” another replied. “That man’s smart. He’ll want to get back at us with the backing of the Great Family of Westford.”
“In his dreams!” someone else scoffed indignantly.
“I agree. We need to work together to ensure that won’t ever happen.”
Thierry’s shoulders slumped in relief after Levi left. He dabbed away the sweat on his forehead, vexed at the others for unintentionally throwing him under the bus. Those people are crazy if they expected me to stop Levi from leaving with his family. I may be old, but I don’t have a death wish. If the battle of Mount Drago is anything to go by, Levi is more powerful than I can imagine… He’s definitely stronger than the Five Dragons of Erudia.
Meanwhile, Levi had returned to his manor with Zoey and Forlevia.
They were immediately greeted by George and North Sky Lord.
Zoey said nothing upon seeing them, only assuming that they were guards. If she knew just how powerful these two “guards” were—especially George, who outranked even Thierry—she might have a shock of her life.
Zoey waited till she was alone with Levi before nudging him. “Can you tell me why you went to Keerea?”
