"D-D-Did something happened to Joey?" Blake questioned with a pale face.
Elder Payn frowned due to his sudden reaction before he demanded coldly, "Just answer what I asked, I didn't allow you to question me"
"N-No! t-t-tell me, did something happened to him?" Blake questioned again, though he doesn't want to offend Elder Payn, this was a life and death situation for him. If Elder Ace really acted, then his end might be near too.
"I sai-"
"I won't answer till you answer me!" Blake screamed.
"This is my last warn-"
"I don't care! I won't answer unless you answer me no matter what you do to me!"
Seeing him acting like that, Elder Payn frowned even more before he decided not to waste any more of his time and answer him. Plus, It wasn't like he could hide his nephew's death in the first place.
"He's dead, now answer me, who did he offend recently? I have to avenge him. I will make sure that guy regrets what he did to my nephew! I'll kill his entire family in front of his eyes before torturing him until he begs for death!"
Elder Payn declared coldly, expecting Blake to be a little intimidated but the latter was horrified instead.
His eyes were wide open and all the color left his face while his body was trembling non-stop, it was as if he just saw a ghost.
'What? Even I didn't think that my words would affect him this much. Should I just tell him that I am joking?' Elder Payn thought inwardly.
"Uhh, I was ju-" Just as he was about to comfort him, he heard him mumble something inaudible.
"He acted… he acted… I am dead… I am dead… I am dead… I am dead… he acted… I am dead… I am dead…" Blake muttered and his body stopped trembling. His eyes lost the previous luster and became dull, it looked like he already submitted to his fate...
Elder Payn frowned deepen and he realized that Blake wasn't terrified due to his words but something else.
"Blake! Blake!" He held Blake's shoulder and shook him aggressively but Blake didn't budge and continued muttering the same words lifelessly.
"Blake! Snap out of it! Tell me what happened and I will help you! You will be safe, Just tell me what happened!" Elder Payn demanded.
"No one can help me now… he acted… he killed Joey, now he will kill me… I am dead… he acted… I am dea-"
"Who acted!? Who killed Joey!? Do you know him? Can you tell me who he is? If you do, I can protect you by killing him! You will be safe! Just tell me who he is!"
"It's Elder Ace… He will come after me… he killed Joey, he will kill me… he will kill every one of us! I knew we shouldn't have offended him! It's all Joey's fault! Why does he have to be so arrogant? Now all of us will go down with him…"
"Elder Ace? Who Elder Ace? Do you know which sect he is fro-" Elder Payn questioned before he stopped abruptly since he realized something…
How could he not know who Elder Ace is?
Though normal people see him as the strongest person below the Sect Leaders of the 4 Strongest Sects, Payn doesn't think that way. He had seen the fight between him and that Elder Aurora.
He is sure that none of the 4 Sect Leaders are strong enough to do something like that. He knows how strong she is since he had fought her before and lost miserably. Defeating someone like Elder Aurora without even touching her… he would say it's impossible if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.
He knows that Elder Ace was definitely as powerful as the 4 Sect Leaders if not stronger.
And… if this guy is telling the truth… then the one behind Joey's death is Elder Ace... That Elder Ace!
How is it even possible? And how in the hell did his nephew offended someone like that!? And did he just swear to eradicate Elder Ace's family?
Elder Payn shivered by the thought of facing Elder Ace. Thoughts of revenge? No way! Heck, he was even thinking of going to his courtyard and offer an apology.
So what if his bastard nephew died? It was all his fault! How dare he offend someone like Elder Ace? It's already generous of Elder Ace to not come here personally and kill his whole family. If it's just his nephew's death, he deserved it all. Elder Payn doesn't have any objections.
While Elder Payn was thinking about all this, Blake was thinking of ways to somehow survive but since the one he was facing was Elder Ace, he didn't have many chances to do so. Maybe leaving the city? Leaving the country maybe? Who knows how far will he have to run away and he still doesn't know if he could avoid the upcoming danger.
…
On the other hand, the one responsible for all this was chilling and laughing with his family while they had dinner.
"Papa! Papa! We will go to that Jwuhu Beach tomorrow, Right?" Gracie questioned as she finished her food.
"Of course we will, my little princess, How could we not after we promised you?" Ace replied with a smile as he patted Gracie's head.
"So are you two done with those important things you talked about?" Gracie questioned innocently and a big smirk appeared on Ace's face.
"Don't worry about that... we will do it later… and plenty..." Ace answered as he glanced towards Maeve.
"Okay~ but do it soon, so that I won't have to wait more and we leave for the Jwuhu beach tomorrow!" Gracie replied and Ace couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Don't worry about that, Gracie. Oh by the way, which story do you want to listen to today? It is my turn to tell you a story right?" Maeve questioned since she wanted to change the topic as soon as possible, and as naïve as little Gracie was, her expression quickly brightened after hearing the word 'story' and she exclaimed.
"I want to hear a beach story!"
"Alright, a beach story it is then" Maeve nodded before she quickly carried Gracie and walked towards their room, but not before glaring at Ace dangerously.
Ace sighed before smiling weirdly as he stood up. He then grabbed the plates and placed them on the sink before washing them with Water magic.
He then walked towards the bedroom where Maeve and Gracie were waiting for him.
"Papa! Come Quick! The story's about to start!" Gracie exclaimed excitedly as she patted on the bed beside her cutely.
Ace smiled and lied beside her and Maeve started the story.
…
It didn't take long for little Gracie to enter the dreamland and as soon as she did, a big, perverted smile appeared on Ace's face.
He stood up, carefully placed Gracie on her crib, and activated a sound inscription around her, ensuring that she will sleep soundly and doesn't hear them doing 'important things'. After that's done, he turned towards Maeve and his smile widened even more.
"You do remember your promise, right? My love?" Ace questioned.
"I do…" Maeve answered bashfully.
'Alright, Alright, calm down, I can't lose!' Maeve thought inwardly before preparing herself and a smile appeared on her face.
"I do" She replied again, but this time, confidently.
She then walked towards Ace slowly before wrapping her arms around his neck and looking directly into his eyes.
"As I promised, tonight, you can do whatever you want with me" She whispered seductively and even though he tried to control it, Ace's emotions turned chaotic and his heart started beating faster than usual.
But, of course, just like Maeve, he doesn't want to lose in their weird battle either and quickly controlled his emotions. He then grabbed Maeve's waist and pulled her even closer.
"Don't mind if I do then…" He whispered back and picked her up before throwing her on the bed.
His storage ring shined and black-colored ropes appeared in his hands accompanied with a big smirk on his face.
"Oh, we haven't used these in a while, did we?" Maeve questioned in amusement and Ace smiled.
Obviously, the 2 have been together for more than 100 years now, of course, they have different ways to keep themselves entertained, and this right here, is just one of them.
"We haven't" Ace answered before crawling on the bed and tying Maeve's hand above her head.
"Hehehe~ You are mine! Rawr!"
"Annhh~"