5 I was promised to a man, not to a sissy

Parker's voice silenced everyone in the hall. His voice stammered. Filled with sadness and grief, Parker stood up. He had not expected Lydia to cancel this marriage so suddenly. Although he had never spent time with her, he loved her more than anything. Ever since he was a little child, his mother and family told him he would marry Lydia one day. They planted the seed of love in his heart and watered it until it had become a giant tree.

"There must be some reason for you to cancel the marriage. I can wait for you. I will wait for you no matter how long,"

Sasha sighed, feeling terrible for her little brother's naivety. Many chuckled inside, looking at the tears rolling out of Parker's eyes. They enjoyed Parker's pain. It delighted them. But Lord Alvis felt terrible for the young man. Unlike the rest of the Bronson family, Alvish shared the blame for poisoning the young man's heart with love ever since he was little. Mary turned around to see Parker's reddened face. At that moment, she felt like her heart was being stabbed with hundreds of needles simultaneously.

Parker walked towards Lydia whip, wiping off the tears. Each move he made shocked Lydia. She had heard about her fiance's femininity but looking at it with her own eyes bewildered her. When Parker joined his mother before Lydia, he clutched her hand. Even his hands felt soft and tender like a delicate girl's. For a few moments, Lydia stayed still as though she was petrified.

"Did someone force you? Yes, someone must have. You wouldn't have made this decision otherwise," Parker burst into a fit of a miserable laugh. He tried to convince his mind it wasn't her decision to cancel the marriage. Upon seeing Parker's pathetic act, even those who laughed at his pain felt bad for him. It was an outright disgrace.

"No. I made this decision myself. You will find another girl," There was no regret or sadness in Lydia's voice. Her words were void of any emotion.

"I…I don't..believe…" Tears gushed out of Parker's eyes. He had been building a life with Lydia in his heart. But everything he built for years collapsed in a few moments. Unlike the youngsters of his age, Parker had never looked at a girl in a wrong way. He desired or loved anyone else except Lydia.

"That's enough!" Parker's body jerked as Walter slammed the table. He turned his gaze to Alvis.

"Get this out of my face, Lord Alvin. We Phoenix clan maybe not be as big as Bronsons or Tamaria but we have dignity and the decency to keep our word. You can't buy us with a mere pill. Please see yourselves out!" Walter raised his voice, shocking everyone in the hall. Even Alvis was stunned.

"Lord Walter," One of the elders took the pill from Alvis's hand shamelessly before bringing it to Walter. Since Walter was already bubbling with anger, the anger within him exploded when he saw the pill and the shameless look on the elder's face.

Chap!

Walter swatted the elder's hand as the pill went flying. What had transpired in front of Lydia's eyes made her tremble in anger. Lord Alvis and she had been so courteous yet a small lord in a backwater kingdom dared to disrespect them. Lydia's nose crinkled due to controlling her anger.

"Lydia, please-" Parker tried to apologize to Lydia, but she pulled out her and swatted Parker's hand so violently to the point that her hand slipped, hitting Mary in the process.

"Mother!' Sasha shouted,

"MARY!" Walter's shout destroyed everything before him.

But before Walter could dash at Mary with the intention to punish Lydia, Roman Bronson who remained so carelessly, leaning back on his chair waved his hand. A golden chain talisman flew out of his hand. In a blink of an eye, the talisman hit Walter. As soon as it hit Walter, the talisman transformed itself into golden chains. The force created by the talisman sent Walter flying onto the pillar behind. The chains quickly wrapped around Walter and the pillar, preventing Walter from moving.

"BASTARD!" Walter growled.

"Young Master Roman, please," Lord Alvis, who knew about Roman panicked. He did not want the scene to turn into a blood bath because Roman was capable of slaughtering all of them. Knowing Roman, he wouldn't bat an eye to slaughtering the Phoenix clan. Walter was the strongest among the Pheonix clan yet the young man neutralized Walter with a single talisman. Hence, the other elders didn't even move a muscle. Those who lusted over the head of the table seat watched the scene unravel, grinning inside.

"Why can't you backwater morons just do what you're told, like good dogs? " Roman Bronson ridiculed them.

"It's enough brother," Lydia coldly said. She didn't even apologize to Mary who just stared at Lydia without blinking an eye. She stood there like a statue.

"This marriage won't happen, not in a million years. Phoenix clan is not even fit to be our servants, let alone have a marriage relationship with us," Lydia's cold words were amplified by Astral energy to sound loud and clear to everyone in the hall.

"We had no obligations to come here. Instead, we came here out of respect and my decision. Since you people can't realize that, there is no point talking,"

"Don't talk about respect!" Sasha raised her voice. She couldn't stay back and hear Lydia. Instead, Sasha rushed to her mother and wrapped her arm around Mary. When she turned her gaze back to Lydia, her eyes turned predatory.

"How can you lecture us about respect after you hit an elder and broke your grandfather's promise?"

"What did you say you bit-" Lydia raised her hand, cutting Roman's words abruptly.

" I didn't break my grandfather's promise. He gave his word to marry his granddaughter to a man, not to a sissy like your brother here,"

With a single sentence, Lydia broke Parker into million pieces. His mind went blank as he just froze. As everyone was stunned by her words, Mary's eyes rolled back as she collapsed to the ground.

"MOM!"

"Brother, grandpa Alvis, let's go," Completely ignoring Mary, Lydia turned around to leave the hall. Lord Alvis hesitated for a moment, but he wanted to leave the clan before Roman decided to slaughter everyone.

The elders who served Walter loyally rushed to Mary as Parker just stood there without moving an inch. He stared at Lydia's disappearing figure. His mind replayed Lydia's last words to him. If those words were said to him by someone else, he could have taken them. But hearing those words from Lydia killed him. He felt like his heart got ripped out.

"Mom!" Sasha frantically shook her mother's shoulders, trying to wake her up. However, no matter how much she screamed or shouted, Mary did not open her eyes. Her entire body went cold.

"MARY!" By the time, Roman left the clan, the golden chains that shackled Walter to the pillar disappeared. He came dashing towards his wife. Those who stood in his way went flying as she pushed through the crowd.

When he arrived near Mary, he saw his wife lying on Sasha's lap, unconscious. He collapsed down, taking Mary's head to his lap.

"Mary," Walter's rage faded away from his eyes. His anger was replaced by worry. He gently tapped Mary's cheek to feel the coldness.

With his entire body trembling, he placed his fingers on her throat.

"Father," Sasha couldn't speak through the lump in her throat. Words hardly escaped her mouth.

Walter pressed his fingers harder but he didn't feel any pulse. Tears gushed out of Walter's eyes. Even those who hated Walter couldn't help feeling pity for the man. As one would think, neither the marriage cancellation nor the slap hurt Mary as much as Lydia's last words. Mary's heart couldn't bear Lydia calling her son an effeminate. However, a few words spoken by Lydia affected Mary more than her hand. During her last moments in Abbalon, Mary blamed herself for destroying her son's life. It was her who put Parker on the path of Nazzle dancing. It was her who raised parker, saying he would one day marry Lydia, the prettiest girl in the whole nine realms.

But her heart simply stopped when she realized she had destroyed Parker's life with her own hands. Her soul departed Abbalon carrying regret and grief.

"MARY!" Walter violently shook Mary.

"Lord Walter, please," An elder squeezed Walter's shoulder.

"She's gone,"

Everyone surrounded Walter and Mary. They had known Walter for decades, but this was the first time they saw Walter cry. He hugged his wife, crying like a little kid. This was how Mary, mother of six and a loving wife left the world and what started the Bronson and Tamaria's destruction.

When the sun disappeared into the horizon, leaving the darkness to take over the world, countless stars dotted the black sky. The beautiful stars that shined in the sky, were not as brilliant as the sun nor as clear as the Abbalon's three moons, but they sprinkled the dreamy light into the world, turning it into a strange world, inducing people to explore the starry sky. They sparkled as though they were inviting the mortals to the vast sky. Abbalon's three moons sailed like a silvery boat in the deep blue sea.

Inside the Phneox clan, the usual laughter and joy were long gone. What had transpired in the day spread throughout the kingdom like wildfire. The elders who should have kept the news hidden spread it everywhere. To them, Walter's tragedy brought a new opportunity. With Mary gone and parker's marriage annulled, they were one step closer to taking overing the clan. However, those elders didn't have a single clue that when the sun rises tomorrow, there won't be a Phoenix clan for them to take over.