I Am the Ruler of All

"Heavens!"

"Noah, are you okay?"

The guests all rose to their feet to check on Noah when they saw the blood seeping through his fingers.

At once, Emory slammed a fist against the table as he snapped at Kingsley, "What the hell? Who gave you the right to beat one of us up? Don't you know we're all trained in close-quarters combat?!"

He rolled up his sleeves and made to lunge at Kingsley, but at that moment, Serena stood up angrily to shield the latter, then warned murderously, "You'll have to go through me, Emory." She eyed the others icily. "Come on, then, let's see which ones of you will walk out of here alive after I'm done!"

The Two Muses of the dōjō were not just known for their stunning beauty back in the day; they were also the two strongest martial artists among everyone. While Emory was by no means weak, it had been years since he last practiced martial arts, and on top of the fact that his joints were stiff, he had more body fat than muscle.

As things were, he wasn't sure if he could beat Serena in a fight.

Upon sensing his hesitation, Serena challenged in a sing-song voice, "Is somebody chicken?"

The others in their well-pressed suits and their so-called successful careers started to wince in embarrassment when they heard the taunting edge to her tone.

Just as the tension between both parties was escalating, the door to the private dining room was pushed open, and in strolled a woman clad in a pink dress that perfectly accentuated her curves, her stiletto heels clacking against the floor to announce her arrival.

"The other Muse is here!"

"Well, if it isn't the princess herself! Let's give her a warm round of applause!"

Everyone behaved as though they were looking at their savior as they clapped their hands to welcome the woman.

It was only then that Emory let out a small breath of relief and slowly resumed his seat. He would be lying if he said he hadn't broken into cold sweat when he saw the mutinous gleam in Serena's eyes earlier.

"Rena!" The young woman who had just arrived immediately brightened up when she saw Serena. She hurried up to the table and exclaimed in delight, "I haven't seen you in ages! I've missed you!"

Following this, she was pleasantly surprised to see Kingsley present as well. "Hey, I know you! What are you doing here?"

Kingsley chuckled as he greeted, "Hey, there, Miss Tanner." The young woman in pink was none other than Paige herself. He patted the empty seat next to his and said, "You can sit here with us, Miss Tanner."

Confused, Paige sat down on the chair and asked curiously, "So, what are you doing here? Did you come as somebody's plus-one?" She paused as astonishment colored her face. "Wait, are you here with Rena?"

Kingsley nodded. "Yeah, she's my sister." Then, he leaned close to her and whispered teasingly, "And for the record, you look much better in this pink dress than you do in leather."

Paige flushed as she gave him a playful nudge. "Don't be a rascal. I know I look good in both," she said with twinkling eyes.

She had seen Kingsley in a different light ever since she learned that her grandfather had passed the Order of the Northern Draken to him.

Everyone was stunned by the sight of this. They had always viewed Paige as a princess-like figure who sat on an untouchable throne, and the only other person she had ever been so friendly with was Serena.

Emory, in particular, was in such disbelief that he could combust. The only reason he had agreed to take on the spy mission and come all the way to Cleapolis from the Empire of the Setting Sun was because of Paige!

Back in the day, he could never hope to impress a girl like her, who came from the powerful Tanner Family. He could only secretly pine after her, and he had plans to woo her only after he had made something of himself.

However, right now, she was getting all chummy with Kingsley, and seeing this made Emory so angry that he could explode. The intimacy between them was only something he could dream of; he never even got to touch her hand!

Nancy was bewildered, too. "Paige, do you actually know him?"

In stark contrast to the way she behaved around Serena, Nancy knew it was futile to be jealous of Paige. After all, the girl came from the most prominent family of the Northern Circle of Qustia; the power and respect they had was far superior than those of the Jovovich Family.

Presently, Paige shrugged as she said, "I guess you could say I know him. I mean, he did sleep in my room for a night."

Nancy's words died in her throat as her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and everyone else froze in their seats. For a moment, the whole dining room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, and the silence was punctured when Emory sputtered incredulously as anger filled him, squeezing the air out of his lungs.

"W-What?" Nancy was astounded. "But isn't he Serena's boyfriend? Why would he have slept in your room?"

Noah clambered off the floor with blood staining his chin, then spat out ferociously, "What boyfriend? He's her brother from the orphanage!"

Everyone became even more confused after they heard this. No one could have expected an orphan to win over someone like the young lady of the Tanner Family. The idea of this even happening was unfathomable!

Next to Nancy, all the color drained from Tyler's face. The haughty expression that he had been wearing all this time now crumbled and gave way to unbridled shock. He wanted to slap himself in the face for offering the future son-in-law of the Tanner Family security work at Spearhead Group. I could have died!

Meanwhile, Kingsley caught the embarrassed look onTyler's face and drawled in amusement, "Don't worry about it, Mr. Jovovich. There's nothing special going on between me and Miss Tanner over here; I was merely a guest in her home that night."

This set everyone at ease.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought the world went mad! I mean, an orphan and Miss Tanner getting together? Please!"

"My heart stopped beating for a second there. I actually believed he married into the Tanner Family!"

They patted their chests in relief, but only Tyler looked stormy. That was beyond humiliating! I was so scared of offending this nobody that I'm shaking! Granted, nobody was picking on him for that, but he still wished a hole would open up in the ground and swallow him.

Unable to live down the shame, he stood up and announced grimly, "I'm afraid I have to get going now. Excuse me."