System's POV

Chapter 440: Wait… Did I Just Raise A Flag?

Two months after the battle in the Rigel Continent ended…

Gerald and Alessia watched as their eight-year-old daughter, Remi, fought against their son, Zion, in a sparring match.

"Remi has improved a lot," Gerald said. "She's faster now. I'm sure that when her First Wandering comes, she'll be more than ready to clear it."

"I pray for that as well," Alessia replied. "Zion is making sure to train her properly."

The two watched as Remi rained a flurry of kicks and punches toward Zion, which the latter dodged with ease.

"That's it," Thirteen commented. "Even if your blows don't land, do not get frustrated, and make sure to focus on your footwork."

Remi replied with a shout as she tried to use a sweeping kick against her brother. Having predicted this move, Thirteen jumped back, evading her attack with ease.

While the two were busy sparring, three people casually entered the lawn of the Leventis Residence, making Gerald and Alessia smile.

"Mother, you've come," Gerald said as he hastily offered a chair for his mother to sit on. "You should have told us that you are coming."

"It's fine," Lady Callista replied as she sat on the chair that was given to her. "I just felt like visiting my grandchildren, so I came without notice."

Her gaze then wandered to Remi. As she observed the match, she noticed that her fighting style was something she hadn't seen before.

However, after glancing at Zion, she realized that both of them were using the same fighting style.

Unlike Mikhail and Shasha, who specialized in using weapons, Thirteen believed that Remi was more suited to be an unarmed fighter.

Putting this into consideration, he had taught her his two Divine Martial Skills—Righteous Sentinel and Steadfast Brawler.

Righteous Sentinel was the fighting style, while Steadfast Brawler was the footwork. The combo of the two resulted in an incredibly deadly fighting style, centered around the concept of unpredictability.

But since the one who bestowed this technique to Remi was Thirteen, he was able to predict her attack patterns and dodge them with ease.

After ten more minutes, Remi distanced herself from her brother, panting for breath.

"Good job, Remi," Thirteen said with a smile. "It seems that you will become the prodigy of your generation."

Remi didn't feel happy about her brother's praise.

Instead, she pouted, feeling like her brother was teasing her.

At that moment, Rhia came running toward Remi and hugged her waist, asking for her to play with her.

"Sis, play!" Rhia said.

"Okay, let's play," Remi replied as she crouched down to give Rhia's chubby cheeks a kiss, making the three-year-old giggle.

Thirteen smiled when he saw this adorable scene. He then shifted his gaze to his grandmother, whom he had already seen appear earlier.

"Let's greet Grandma first before the two of you play," Thirteen said as he held Remi's and Rhia's hands walking hand in hand with them to head to where Lady Callista was seated.

"Grandma!" Rhia didn't hesitate to break free from Thirteen's hold and ran toward her Grandmother, who happily reached out to hug and kiss her.

'She already knows how to use her charms to get her way,' Thirteen smirked internally.

Just like Lady Callista, he was also weak when it came to children, so he could understand why their grandmother doted on Remi and Rhia.

Of course, Zion was the old lady's favorite, and she was very proud that she was his grandmother.

"Grandma, how are you?" Thirteen asked after giving Lady Callista a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm doing well," Lady Callista replied. "How about you? You returned two days ago from who knows where, yet you didn't even come to visit me?"

"Actually, I was planning to visit you after I sparred with Remi," Thirteen answered. "Fortunately, you decided to come and visit me, so I no longer have to go to the Branch Family's residence."

Lady Callista chuckled after hearing Thirteen's words. This wasn't the first time he said such a thing.

"Don't let Arthur hear you," Lady Callista stated. "A day ago, he said that he was itching to give you a good spanking for being unfilial. Also, Michael wants to have a word with you because he said that he has been overworked these past few days. It has something to do with the projects being done to entertain those Earth Dragons."

Thirteen, who didn't want to touch this subject, chuckled, and immediately changed the topic.

"Grandma, let's talk later," Thirteen said before giving his grandmother's personal maid, Trisha, a side-long glance. "In private."

If Trisha weren't around, he wouldn't have minded saying what he wanted to say in front of Hans and his family. After all, he already deemed them trustworthy.

However, Trisha was assigned to serve Lady Callista so that she could report anything that happened to her to Arthur.

The teenage boy's grandmother wasn't ignorant of this fact, but she simply didn't care.

"Okay." Lady Callista nodded. "Let's talk later."

Trisha could only sigh in her heart, knowing that she was being treated as a spy—to be fair, she was technically one. ????????.???

In the past, she didn't think much of Zion because the teenage boy was not even a part of the Main Family.

But recently, every time she heard his name, it had something to do with all of his recent accomplishments.

Zion was even the latest cover photo of the Timez Magazine, and inside it was an exclusive article written about his accomplishments to date.

Truth be told, Trisha had become one of his secret fans, but she was too embarrassed to say this to him.

This was also the reason why she felt bitter about the teenage boy still not trusting her enough.

"The Solstice is only a month and a half away," Lady Callista said as she lovingly patted Rhia's head, who was now seated on her lap. "Have you made your preparations?"

"Not yet," Thirteen replied. "I've just returned from doing a big project, so I plan to rest for a few days before doing that."

"Just remember that if you need our help like last time, don't hesitate to call us, okay?" Lady Callista said in a serious tone.

"I sincerely wish that it won't reach that point, Grandma," Thirteen answered. "I'm not in the mood to fight against Archons, Majin Princes, and Princesses right now."

Lady Callista nodded. "As you should."

"Now, about your Leventis Corn Business—it's currently thriving, but are you sure you want me to remain as its CEO?" Lady Callista inquired.

"Yes, Grandma," Thirteen replied. "Aside from you and Hans, I don't trust anyone else in the Leventis Family. I've already given Gramps enough resources to fuel his ambition. Whatever he does with it is up to him."

"Indeed." Lady Callista smiled. "I heard that he is also working on a Project that you have given him months ago."

Thirteen smirked because that was indeed the case.

Project Nemo was a downgraded version of Project Nautilus. Even so, it was still a Trump Card that the Leventis Family could use once it was completed.

Because of this, Arthur made sure to take a page from his no-good grandson's footsteps by commissioning several engineers to create different parts for it.

Once all the parts were completed, it would be assembled at the same secret base, where Nautilus had been assembled together.

"Oh, dear me. I almost forgot the real reason why I came here," Lady Callista chuckled. "Zion, my friends have been chatting with me lately, and the majority of them are asking if you are willing to meet their daughters for a meeting.

"Although they are not saying it explicitly, I'm sure they are sniffing around if you are engaged to someone already. If not, they will definitely try to make their beautiful daughters make an impression on you."

"I'm just thirteen, Grandma. This is too early for me," Thirteen replied.

His hosts didn't have any good endings with their own relationships. With this as one of the big reasons, he had no intention of having any romantic relationships with anyone.

Thirteen always had the impression that having a partner was not really a good idea.

Besides, he was once a System. He didn't really prioritize things like dating, and marriage.

"Okay, there is one last thing that I need to add," Lady Callista said. "You know Rianna, right? Her mother and I are good friends, and she has been wanting to visit you since you returned from the Rigel Continent.

"But you disappeared a few days after you arrived, and when she came to see you, you weren't around. This time, I told my friend that you had just returned from your trip, so she informed me that her daughter was already planning to visit us."

Lady Callista then lightly caressed the side of Thirteen's cheek.

"Don't go anywhere, okay?" Lady Callista said. "My friend gifted me a very expensive perfume for this favor."

Thirteen didn't know if he should laugh or cry because of what his Grandma was telling him.

"It's not like I'm running away from anyone," Thirteen said. "I'm just really busy lately."

"But you'll be here when she arrives, right?"

"Mmm. I will be."

Lady Callista nodded. "Good. She will be arriving here tomorrow."

It had been a while since Thirteen had seen Rianna, so he didn't really mind seeing her again.

Also, he thought that it was also a good idea since he would be returning to Solterra very soon.

When Thirteen returned to Pangea, Rianna was in Solterra, doing a mission alongside his brother, Mikhail.

Since both of them had a very high impression of Zion, the two of them got along really well and have been close friends since then.

He even thought that his brother and Rianna were a good match since their characters complemented each other.

'I just hope she comes alone,' Thirteen thought. 'Wait… did I just raise a flag?'

Thirteen almost facepalmed because he should have known better to say such a thing.

He had just been too focused on thinking about random things, so this matter completely slipped his mind.