King of Titans and Dragons
Chapter 1222 - 1222 1209 Fleeing Noblewoman

Chapter 1222: Chapter 1209 Fleeing Noblewoman Chapter 1222: Chapter 1209 Fleeing Noblewoman “What kind of man would be eligible for your consideration? My daughter, state your requirements,” The man felt a headache coming on and set down his pen.

“At the very least, the strength of my future partner must not be inferior to mine, preferably stronger than me among those of the same age!”

Areina proposed a perfectly reasonable condition, but this caused her father’s brows to furrow tightly, knowing full well how exceptional his daughter’s talent was, finding a male of the same age who matched her would be extremely difficult.

Unless, the constraint on age were lifted. But, not to mention whether his daughter would be willing to marry someone ten or even dozens of years her senior, he was also not willing to marry his daughter off to such mediocre wastes.

The Frankel family no longer needed to sacrifice their clan members’ lifetimes for gain, that was something only the middle and lower-tier nobles needed to do.

“That is not an easy feat.”

“Then forget it, if it can’t be done, we’ll wait, I would rather live and die alone than to compromise, my partner must definitely not be a waste.”

“Areina, my daughter, you’re simply too excellent, if you were just a little more ordinary, it’d be easy to meet your requirements.”

“Unfortunately, Father dear, your daughter is a genius, a talent unmatched by anyone in the young generation of the Empire.”

“Don’t be too self-satisfied, the Empire’s territory is vast, and there are not a few mighty individuals capable of matching me, although their names are not spread throughout the Empire, it’s normal for these strong individuals to produce a genius on par with you.”

“But Father, such geniuses, it seems, do not belong to the noble class, would you agree to such a marriage?” The young girl’s face revealed a smile.

“For a young man whose talent can match yours, obtaining a title would be a matter of ease, why would I not agree?” the man retorted.

“Then why didn’t you agree to my brother’s marriage? Sister Lucia is also a very outstanding person, is it because she is a woman? Can’t join the battlefield? Can’t gain a title?”

Hearing her father’s response, the young girl immediately took offense on behalf of her brother, pressing with a trace of dissatisfaction in her tone.

“Correct, it is because she has no title that I oppose her marrying your brother,” he replied.

Speaking about his son’s lover, the head of the Frankel family did not show slightest disdain on his face, but rather a hint of admiration, yet such were the rules; even as a clan patriarch, he could not defy them.

“Frankly speaking, I quite admire Lucia, if she had a title, even the lowest Knight Title, I would not object to her marrying my son, but sadly she is a title-less commoner.”

“Hmph, if Sister Lucia were male, she would have at least been granted a count’s title by now.”

“Male?” The Frankel patriarch’s face showed an odd expression, “If she were male, then even if she were noble, I would never agree to such a marriage. I could never endure such disgrace.”

“Ah, my statement was erroneous!” Hearing her father’s words, the young girl’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment, coughing to ease her awkwardness, “I misspoke, if women were allowed on the battlefield by the Empire, not to mention Sister Lucia, even I could prove myself in battle.”

“Men are responsible for warfare, this has been the rule since the Empire’s founding, no one can alter it.”

“That’s unfair!” the young girl vocalized what she’d always found to be extremely unreasonable, “Women are not inferior to men; whatever men can do, women can too.”

“My daughter, you are an exceptional case, you cannot use your circumstances to represent all the women in the Empire. You are second to none, but other women are not capable.”

“You know I am capable then let me onto the battlefield, with your power, it is entirely possible.”

“To allow my daughter to enter military barracks, to stay with tens of thousands of men, do you think that’s possible? Do you think any father would agree to such a thing?”

“What are you thinking about? Father, who could take advantage of me? My place in the army would be for marching and fighting, nothing would happen that could bring shame to the Frankel family.”

“I know nothing would happen, but it wouldn’t stop those gossiping women from concocting all sorts of messy rumors.”

“Who would dare?” The spirited young girl slammed her hand on the table, anger apparent on her face, a visible wave of Qi spreading from beneath her palm, instantly garbling documents atop the table, scattering countless imperial documents in disarray.

“Many would dare, Areina, you must understand, once you join the army, the related rumors would not stop. The Frankel family absolutely cannot endure such gossip.”

Seeing his desk in disarray, the head of the Frankel family heaved a sigh while massaging his forehead; he truly felt a headache over his children’s marriage prospects. His eldest son had taken a fancy to a woman completely unrelated to the noble class, and his daughter had exceptionally high standards.

“Enough, let’s not discuss these matters further, I still have issues to address.”

“Oh, then I’ll be off,” the oblivious young girl, noticing the chaos she had impulsively caused, made a gesture as if to leave.

“Stay right there!” A stern reprimand boomed behind the girl, “You must bear the consequences of your own faults, now straighten out these documents obediently for me. My time cannot be wasted on such matters.”

“You could let the butler handle it,” she replied reluctantly under the stern gaze of her father, turning around to start tidying up the papers strewn across the floor.

“Why should my butler bear the consequences of your mistakes?” said the man, who didn’t even lift his head as he casually pulled out a document he hadn’t dealt with yet to browse through.

“Hmph,” the girl uttered in dissatisfaction, yet dutifully sorted the papers on the floor. As she picked up each one, her gaze involuntarily swept over the contents.

The documents recorded significant events from all sectors of the Empire, but these seemed rather dull to the girl and irrelevant to her, although her boredom persisted until she saw a certain drawing.

“What’s this?”

With an expression of bewildering surprise, the girl looked at the image replicated on the document in her hand. It depicted a dense, ancient forest, with light diffusing through heaven and earth and faintly reflecting an image of a rather peculiar city.

In the city, there were buildings as tall as ancient trees, with orderly, straight-roads and serpentine bridges interlinking them. On these roads and bridges, one could vaguely make out numerous steel creations shaped like blocks.

“This is the portal to a Different World!”

A slightly emotional voice arose behind the girl, who was enthralled by the image on the document. She snapped back to reality and realized her father had unknowingly come to stand behind her.

“A portal to a Different World? Isn’t this just the masterpiece of a master with a rich imagination?” the girl asked, unable to suppress the shock and curiosity in her heart.

“Regardless of whose masterpiece it is, it has no place in this room. Rest assured, the scenery depicted in this picture does indeed exist,” said Father.

“But why have I never heard of it before?”

“Because this incident occurred just three days ago and the portal hasn’t appeared within the bounds of the Empire, but in the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts, which doesn’t fall under the Empire’s jurisdiction,” he explained.

“Oh!” The girl nodded thoughtfully, and then a new doubt arose, “Can we be sure it’s real? It’s not some kind of illusion?”

“Do you think such uncertain news would make it to my desk?”

“Then how does the Empire plan to deal with this portal?”

“The matter is still under discussion, but, barring any surprises, the course of action will primarily be observation,” he replied.

“Observation!” she nodded with a pondering expression.

“Enough daydreaming now, get these files organized properly. Then go find a man you find suitable, bring him back, and settle down your affairs as soon as possible,” Father instructed.

Some moments later

Stepping out of her father’s office, the light-footed girl felt cheerfully spirited, “I’m still so young, why look for a partner now? There’s no rush, plus those fools are not nearly as interesting as exploring the portal to a Different World. This is just the boredom I needed.”

…

“Barbaric Forest? This could be interesting, I wonder if it’s a stroke of luck or misfortune.”

A black-haired, golden-pupiled young child stood atop an ancient tree that seemed to reach into the clouds, gazing out over the vast expanse of wilderness before him.

Behind him was the light diffusing through heaven and earth—the external manifestation of a spatial conduit connecting different regions of two massive worlds.

For regions that had been isolated for eons and could practically be considered two separate worlds, the sudden emergence of a spatial conduit was critically important.

For instance, the portal behind him had unexpectedly opened on the outskirts of a city; however, on the other end of the passage lay a wild, primordial forest.

The consequence of the portal’s sudden appearance led to hordes of beasts charging out, savagely attacking the unprepared inhabitants of the city, resulting in considerable loss of life and property.

Such losses could only be attributed to natural calamities, and while the root of the disaster could be suppressed in a short period, it was only a temporary pain.

If the newly created portal happened to connect the cities of two different civilized races, the consequences would be unpredictable.

It could lead to the massacre of one race by another or warfare between the two races; the smallest possibility was that the two civilizations would make peace and develop together.

However, the likelihood of war was greater—as peace depends on strength. It is only when the forces are equal or relatively balanced that peaceful development is possible.

Otherwise, the more powerful side would think only of how to annihilate or assimilate the weaker side—such is the instinct of civilization: to survive, develop, and then expand.

So when the Cluster World began to interconnect, chaos was inevitable and out of this chaos, a new, more robust order would be born.