Rivers of the Night

Theron formed the very same sphere. Other than the fact it seemed to reflect a deeper shade of blue, nothing had changed, and it certainly didn't carry the same Runes a Black Clan's water would when their Echo activated.

Saularon frowned, her head tilting to the side.

"… Blue Pufferfish?"

She couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. The sensitivity she had to her own bloodline was obviously quite strong, and she didn't think that she was wrong.

All things considered, she wasn't actually angry. The odds that Theron was an illegitimate child of the Black Clan were quite high—or, rather, they had been quite high in her eyes just moments ago.

Maybe it was arrogant, but it was a warranted arrogance. In the eyes of the Black Clan, the only strong Water Mancers in this world descended from them.

Saularon had found it funny because she thought that she had been about to expose an elder's casual fling, maybe even get herself in the midst of a scandal. It would have been funny to see how the family handled it. She was even hoping it would be an elder she particularly hated so that she could give Theron a hard time.

But this… this was even more of a surprise.

She couldn't fathom why anyone, let alone a talent like Theron, would pick such a worthless Echo.

"… It seems I was wrong."

Saularon almost instantly lost all of her interest.

It wasn't just her who was surprised either. This could be said to be the first time Theron had revealed his Echo so candidly in front of so many. Usually, his control was so perfect and subtle that unlike others who experienced huge changes when their Echoes activated, hardly anyone sensed his.

The most shocked of them all were his teammates, including Aliza, who would have usually been the best at hiding her reactions.

The only one who expected this result was Sigil. But even he just shook his head.

This guy… was causing trouble again.

If people thought Theron was suddenly no longer a threat because of his Echo, they would be in for a rude awakening very soon. Theron's teammates, especially, understood this intimately.

Even so, while this was enough for them to not look down on Theron, it still made them wonder… how much stronger would Theron be if he chose a real Echo?

"Let's go eat, hubby. I'm bored," Saularon turned back to a spoiled child, pulling on her fiancé's arm.

"Mm, alright." The Gold Clan Crown Prince nodded and walked away without much more fanfare.

Theron bowed politely as Aetherion followed suit, then he went back to eating himself, running through several more courses before he was finally satisfied.

As he left, he felt Saularon's gaze on his back, but he pretended as though he didn't feel anything at all, bringing the Alpha along to leave the restaurant.

**

"What happened today?"

Later that night, Saularon went to report what happened in the restaurant. Although she wasn't 100% sure of what was happening with Theron, the resemblances between his Mana and theirs were too uncanny for it to be a complete coincidence.

"You've heard already?" Saularon asked.

"Everything that you do reflects on the Black Clan," the voice replied.

Saularon fell into silence. Even without the elaboration, she understood what the voice was getting at.

It was very rude to ask someone to display their Echo in public. It was even worse that it was a genius of an Empire under their control.

In the world of politics, soft power was as great as real power. If every Clan under the Black Clan's charge chose to suddenly band together to attack them, whether or not the Black Clan could win was surely obvious, but how much would they lose in the process?

Part of being a ruling power was not having to fight in the first place, and that required a balance between the stick and the carrot. Could Saularon afford to humiliate a mere Nightingale Empire genius?

Of course she could.

But was it smart to do so without any results?

No. No, it was not.

"This time, I believe there is something odd going on, Elder Kelyne."

The shadows shifted beneath the moon, and the silhouette of an old woman that looked as though she could be blown over at any moment finally turned back to meet Saularon's gaze.

"Alright. You've always been smart, and you've been willing to lower yourself to marry into the Gold Clan this time, so I'm also willing to give you a longer leash than I would usually otherwise. What did you sense?"

"I am sure that young boy at least had some inkling of your Clan in him, but when he activated his Echo, he was using the Blue Pufferfish."

"… Is that so? Interesting…"

Saularon's pupils trembled. She knew Elder Kelyne Black very well. The things she found interesting were very limited, and she wasn't a person to speak perfunctorily.

"May I ask… why?" Saularon pushed a bit.

"The Blue Pufferfish and our Black Limbo Tortoise have many similarities in foundation. Both deal in the Laws of Heaviness and Density, but very obviously on different levels. For you to feel that a Blue Pufferfish was so similar to our own, it can only mean that this boy has raised his Echo to the level of Manifestation, and has also begun to grasp the secrets of those Laws on his own.

"The Nightingale Province has realized that he is a genius, but I'm afraid they haven't understood the extent of it just yet."

Saularon felt her heart skip a beat. "… I saw his Echo, though…"

Her meaning was that she would be able to tell a Manifested Echo when she saw one, but this was clearly not that.

"Mm. Which means he's not just at the entry of Manifestation, either. He can hide it. He is better than you in this regard."

Saularon fell to silence. "What do we… do?"

"Do? There is nothing to do. The times are volatile. I'm sure you know the Clan wouldn't normally send me for something so meaningless. There are movements in the Sangun Province that are… odd. Someone is encroaching into our territory."

A light of danger flashed in the old woman's eyes.

"The Sangun actually dare to show up late. How bold of them."