I regressed and became the Sword Ice King - Chapter 115

Chapter 115: Chapter 115€Like Mother, Like Daughter Chapter 115: Chapter 115€Like Mother, Like Daughter The wind whistled, as snow danced in the rising wind, while the moon’s luminescence glowed in an ethereal hue as two pairs of footsteps echoed, walking through the rising snow field, their thoughts in order.  Sophia held out her mace as she walked forward, pulling the 2€“meter€“long chain protruding from the butt of the hilt with a slight thug, dismistressing the weapon into a pocket plain.  She followed Tacha towards the door that stood in the middle of the snow field, its edges blanketed with white soft snow.

As Tacha opened it, the sound of crunched snow echoed underneath the force of her feet, while she pushed it into the hallway allowing snow to swirl into the Castle, as Sophia slipped past her into the warm embrace of the hallway.  She stood still by the entrance, her gaze flickering as she watched Tacha walk into the hallway, and push the door back closed, dragging it through the snow until it shut out the chilling wind and biting cold.  As warmth returned, Sophia turned around with a sigh, towards her young mistress.

‘Thank goodness about that door’s quality’.

She thought, a smile playing on her lips as she led Sophia towards her Matriarch’s study.  The magic door, as she called it, had the quality of opening towards the side you’re attempting to walk into.

Something that comes in handy since you don’t require pulling it at any given instant.

“So you’ve increased the number of your undeads?” Tacha asked, turning behind, with her gaze lowering to meet the glaring eyes of her young mistress.  The women of the Arcanus household were ethereal beauties with a distinctive purple, violet and lilac hair and eye colors.

They had soft, well€“shaped bodies that would leave men drooling and even the charisma that suffused them was ephemeral.   Well, all that was good, but one quality had become quite an issue for them, and it seemed like it wasn’t going anytime soon€“ That would be their height.

These ladies were sometimes ridiculously short or other times just short.  The Matriarch was 165cm and her daughter was merely 147cm.

They resembled midgets sometimes, and it was something that Tacha, a 175cm tall blonde made fun of, quite a lot.  A sarcastic smile found its way on her lips on noticing Sophia’s expression.  “Wanna die?” Sophia asked, the tone in her voice low and serious.  Tacha chuckled and turned away.

“From down there?” She muttered under her breath, with a playful tone.  “Huh?”.

A vein bulged on the top of Sophia’s forehead as she took a step forward and kicked the tall woman on the back of her knee.  “Tsk” She clicked her tongue, ignoring the startled Yelp that escaped from Tacha’s mouth as she walked away.  “Yes, I did.

You should know by now”.  She replied to her initial question, finding her way to her Mother’s study and knocking it before walking in.  Tacha sighed, standing up straight, ignoring the throbbing pain from the back of her left leg.  ‘This is what I get again…’ She sighed, walking towards the door, opening it and walking in as well.  She closed it to meet the intense violet gazes from the mother and daughter of the Arcanus household, the last two pure members of the family.  “You’re late” Cressida commented, her tone etched with impatience as she placed the file she held on the shelf behind her.  “I apologize Mother, I held her back for a while since I was collecting corpses”.

Sophia said, bowing down slightly in reverence to her mother.  Cressida stared at her daughter, then her gaze shifted to Tahca, lingering on the maid for a while before she sighed.

After a brief silence, Cressida asked.

“So, how many do you have now?”  “About a hundred and sixty now”.  “And how many are Great Demons?” Cressida asked, picking up another file with her gaze focused on her daughter.  “About twenty.

Ten 4th tiers, five 5th tiers, four 6th tiers and one 7th tier”.  “I see” Cressida’s face lit up with a bright smile.

“That’s good, keep it up daughter, and we won’t have to lift a single finger when the time comes”.  Sophia nodded.

The ‘time’ as her mother put it, was just an attempt to get back at the other Great families since they neglected us for so long.  It was a sad tale of friends betraying friends, and thus the long bred revenge of the Arcanus family which had been passed down from generations to generations.  It was rather…stifling, with the way things had been since she was born.  She wasn’t able to participate in the Rankings Battle for a similar reason.

Since the Arcanus household shut their doors from visitors, especially from the Great Families, no one knows of their true strength.

So at the moment, they all think the Arcanus household has faded in years and is now ‘weak’.  Sophia tended to laugh at the thought.

She was strong enough to deal with all of them, well…all of them except one.  “Mother, perhaps do you have a plan?

You didn’t call me just to check up on my prowess did you?” She asked, her tone laced with curiosity.  Cressida stared at her daughter, her gaze searching something from deep within.  Sophia was always different.

She was her only child, as the Arcanus household was cursed with a delicate womb, causing most mother’s to die after birth, if they weren’t from the main household.

What she observed from her daughter was her relentless pursuit for power, and her carelessness in handling delicate matters.

She was a girl, and yet, she acted most times as a boy.   For example, the manner at which Sophia presented herself at the moment.  “Why didn’t you at least wash up before coming here?”.

Cressida asked, her expression laced with annoyance and disgust as the pungent smell of demon’s blood finally diffused throughout the Study.  Even Tacha found it difficult to not hold her breath.  “Why should that matter now?

I will return to the Northern Mountains if you don’t tell me why you called me” Sophia sighed, folding her arms, and pouting her cheeks.

She at least acted as a cute girl when she needed to, knowing one’s charm is also a weapon, and Sophia’s cuteness was out of this world.  “Alright” Cressida rubbed her temples, used to her daughter’s tantrums.

It wasn’t like she could control her not to anyways.

‘She is strong enough to summon the magic door now, she can go whenever she wants’.  With a click of her tongue, she rested her back against the Chair.  “The academy starts in a week.

Unlike the past few generations, I want you to actually attend”.  Sophia’s lilac eyes sparkled, an ambiance brightening from within as it widened, but she contained that excitement that boiled her deeply.

“Aren’t they too weak?

Except for the Great Families and minor branches, everyone else uses the system”  She asked, trying to contain the light in her eyes.  ‘Hah…she’s still terrible at hiding her emotions’ Cressida thought.

‘I wonder, will she be okay alone?’ She asked herself in her mind.  “On€“On another note”€“ “Mother?!”  Sophia cut her off before she could find it in her power to change her mind.

She greatly loved her daighter after all.

Cressida chuckled.

“You seem excited when every other person there is weak, Hm, Sophia”  The young girl turned away from her mother, her cheeks flushing bright red.  ‘How cute’ Tacha thought, watching the event unfold from behind the two.  “No€“Not all of them” She muttered, fiddling with her fingers.  Cressida raised a brow, perplexed by her daughter’s reaction.  ‘Well, that’s new’ She thought to herself, clearing her throat to get her attention.  “The Homeric Academy of Gifted Children starts in a week, and you will be admitted as a student.

However, I have another task for you; our target is Raffaelo Jun, get close to him, and bring him to our side”.  The instructions sounded like a beautiful piece of a musical piece in her head, and it caused an excitement she wasn’t even aware of.  “Why?

He’s a Jun.

The Jun’s don’t have a reason to betray the Great Families” She asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.  “Well, their present situation is precarious.

At a moment like this where they’ve lost their family head, and must move to fill in the space that he left behind, there will be holes.  The King insists on exploiting those holes to get what he wants”.

Cressida explained, and her daughter grasped the intent immediately.  “He wants to bewitch Raffaelo Jun, as he once did with Phillip Jun”.

She concluded, piecing two and two together, the vibrant lilac turning dark, casting shades of black on her expression.  Cressida nodded in response.

“We will serve as a means of hope and get them to owe us.

Swordsmen, especially one’s  like the Jun’s must have a creed that makes them repay their depths.  She placed her fingers on the desk, tapping it gently.  “And we must be the ones they owe.

Serving the King is one thing, but serving the Arcanus…”  Her lips curled into a devilish grin as she placed her right hand over her face, hiding the ill intent that vividly etched on her face.

“Just the thought of using them to destroy the other families brings great joy to me”.  Sophia sighed, once again, accustomed to her mother’s behavior.  They had already formulated their plans, and they were one step closer in grasping it.

But even their plans had to be one step at a time.

Though she agreed to partake in her Mother’s plans, Sophia had other ideas for the Academy.

She was finally going to see him, after contemplating how long it would actually take for her to see him.  The pompous, arrogant sole son of the Jun family.  Her lips curled into a sly smile at the thought, and her eyes sparkled with a mad glint, her hands hiding the expression on her face.  ‘We’ll meet soon, Raffaelo Jun’.

All the while, Tacha observed all this unfold, and she shook her head.  ‘Like mother, like daughter’.