Chapter 150: Acknowledgement(4)

Luke groaned and grumbled before slowly opening his eyes. The gold-decorated ceiling of the royal guest room inside the royal palace greeted him as soon as he opened his eyes. Luke sighed, scratched his head, and took a seat on the bed. He then looked around, but no one was there.

Luke hopped off the bed after a minute of stretching. He then began to enter the shower and clean himself, after which he changed his clothes and exited the room, only to be greeted by a barrage of glares.

Bang!

Luke quickly shut the door and panted heavily while clutching his chest. Outside, he noticed his entire group staring at him. It's a truly terrifying sight in the morning.

When he heard knockings on the door, Luke flinched.

"Luke, we know you're awake. Get out."

"Why did you close the door, Brother? We only wanted to talk."

"Do you realize how much we missed you? So come out and talk to us."

Luke gulped as he heard dark and cold voices on the other side of the door. Even though they say they want to see him, their voices convey a different message, causing Luke to hesitate before opening the door.

Luke took a deep breath and opened the door after a few more knocks from his group. He then looked around at his group, who were all staring at him. Spencer in his Archmage robe, the children in their mage robes, Selena in her usual training outfit, Lina in her assassin training outfit, Klein in lavish clothes, Julius in his princely clothes, Liam in his usual clothes, Bell in his lab coat covered with a robe, Yulia in her dark robe, Erdene in his disguise knight clothes, Ava in her casual clothes, and Jay in his usual black robe.

Everyone has arrived, and they are all staring at him. Luke gulped and nervously laughed.

"Haha, what are you guys doing here? And, Klein, it's been a long time since we've seen each other."

Klein scowled; he looks like he is looking at his troublemaker son returning home.

"Your constant disappearances and fainting make me doubt every day when you'll return me home to my family."

"Don't worry; we'll finally make a move after this banquet tonight."

Klein's eyes immediately brightened.

"Really? You swear?"

"Of course, now that you've fulfilled your end of the bargain, it's time for me to fulfill mine."

"Don't take back your words!"

"Of course."

Luke smiled at Klein and turned his gaze to the children tugging on his clothes. Luke then greeted them.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you four. It appears that you took part in the Archmage Tower?"

Lily, Jessa, Josh, and Michael all nodded enthusiastically, flaunting their robes.

"Big brother rarely returns home because he is so preoccupied with running the tower."

"So we decided to work in the tower with him."

"It was great fun!"

"We discovered so many new things!"

Luke patted their heads and nodded. He then looked at Spencer, who was scowling at him.

"It appears that you are doing an excellent job of managing the Magic Tower."

"Che, it's only natural since the pay I receive is high."

"Ho, I see... Hello to you too gramps."

"Brat, how come you didn't call me when there was a dragon?"

Luke cocked his head to the side, looking at Erdene's grumpy expression.

"Why? Are you interested in dragons?"

"No, but I could have handled him."

"Old fart, I handled him perfectly. Don't talk as if our performance in the last battle was a disappointment."

The group then turned their heads towards Liam- no, Dos, who is putting up a scowl towards Erdene. Erdene's brow furrowed.

"You let an enemy escape; that alone qualifies you as a disappointment."

"Why you-!"

"Enough."

The group then turned to face Luke, who stopped them. Luke sighed as he massaged his head. Having his entire group here in the morning is a huge hassle that he has to deal with.

"Haa, instead of standing here, why don't we go to the dining hall?"

Bell then spoke while attempting to conceal his face and hair with his hood.

"There's no need; I just wanted to check in on you."

"Aha, I see."

"I'll see you later, hopefully before the rebellion."

Bell then turned and walked away. The maids all cast glances his way because he was wearing a hood, but Bell simply ignored them and continued to walk out. Luke and the others just stared at his back for a moment before turning to Erdene, who spoke.

"I'll go too."

"Wait, grandpa."

Luke grabbed Erdene's shoulders, preventing him from walking away. Erdene then cast a glance over his shoulder at him. Luke just smiled at him, his smile suddenly made Erdene uneasy.

"What is it? Brat."

"I need you to fetch your new residents to your forest."

"...What?"

"A new batch of residents is waiting for you."

Erdene blinks briefly before frowning.

"Wait a minute- what do you think of my forest? Huh? A residential area where people can come and go as they please?"

"Aww come on grandpa, let them in, please? I'm sure they'll be useful in guarding your forest alongside the giants."

"You, son of a..."

Erdene's eyes twitched. He then looked at Luke who is looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Please? Grandpa?"

Erdene frowned and brushed his palm across his face. It appears that being old causes you to have this strange favoritism in which you are unable to refuse the requests of children. He is really turning senile now.

"All right, where are they?"

Luke clapped his hands and smiled as he spoke.

"I'll take you there later, but first let's eat breakfast. Come with us, Grandpa."

"Haa."

Erdene just shook his head and sighed. He and the rest of the group then followed Luke's lead to the dining hall. Lina then asked a question while walking.

"By the way, where are Nash and Snow?"

Luke stopped for a moment before speaking to them in a confused voice.

"They aren't with you?"

Yulia shook her head.

"No."

"What the..."

As Luke was searching around while walking, he then heard Nash's familiar voice calling to him.

"Dad!"

Selena then sighed and spoke.

"Oh, look, there they are."

The Sujin siblings then spoke in awe as they watched two children with identical eyes walk towards them.

"Wow..."

"They look so... Royal."

"Their clothes are stunning."

"It looks like they belong here."

Ava then spoke while softly chuckling.

"They look so expensive."

While listening to his group's commentary, Luke stared at the children approaching him. And he won't lie: they do look like royalty. Paulina's clothes look truly magical on those two children.

Nash is dressed in adorable princely attire laced with sparkling gold and gold pins, while Snow is dressed in a puffy light blue dress and her hair is styled in a simple bun with colorful pins and decoration. Luke just stared at this; he then realized that the money Lance spent is justifiable based on how expensive the children's dresses appear.

'Damn Lance you are crazy.'

"How do we look, Dad?"

"...It's very royal."

Nash and Snow's eyes glowed.

"Really? Uncle Lance said later in the banquet he will dress us in a more shiny dress than this! "

"He said we should wear it to look presentable and not let your image down!"

'I think he is doing this because he is on the verge of adopting you...'

Luke held himself back to speak the last line and sighed. He then let the two children take his hands in theirs and lead him to the dining hall. He then suddenly felt uneasy being pulled by two luxurious-looking children while he himself looks like an average joe that is prepared to take a walk in the plaza.

The power of Lance's money is truly no joke.