"I know, you will be playing your part soon, I promise, I need to set up the stage first."

"What…?"

Riona didn't understand a word.

"Don't worry mother-in-law, trust me. I am quite good at it."

"At what…?"

"You ask too many questions."

"That's because you talk in riddles!"

Riona retorted.

"I do that because it is fun."

"Are you making fun of me?" Riona narrowed her eyes.

"It's not my fault that mother-in-law is so cute." Nux chuckled.

Riona stared at Nux for a while. "You are shameless." She commented.

"It is already a well-known fact." Nux nodded.

Riona just shook her head.

"Anyways, let's stop talking about this, mother-in-law. Tell me, how were these last 150 years you spent here? What did you do for such a long time? Something particularly interesting you want to talk about?"

"You think I was in a condition to enjoy my time? You people left everything to me, then everything started falling apart, I was busy trying to keep the Clan intact."

"Whaaat? So you didn't do anything interesting? Like falling in love with someone or something? There are already people chasing after you, wasn't there someone you were actually interested in?"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about? Why would I be falling in love with someone? I have already passed that age, not to mention I already have a daughter, who also has a husband. Thinking about it, I am quite old already."

"You don't look old at all, mother-in-law. Actually, you look quite beautiful, so beautiful that sometimes I get mesmerized by you."

"Are you flirting with your mother-in-law?"

"Mhm."

Nux nodded shamelessly and again, Riona had no idea how to react.

It was not like this was the first time Nux was joking around with her, but… this time… his jokes felt more… difficult to handle.

Nux's jokes felt… different than before.

"Anyways, so you are saying that there is no one that you like, correct?" Suddenly, Nux questioned.

"Why are you even asking this?" Riona narrowed her eyes.

"Just confirming if I have any competition or not." "Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Nux." Nux simply shook his head, Riona, however, wasn't the same. "What are you trying to do?" She questioned as she narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing." Nux's answer was the same.

"I do not like these games, Nux." Riona, however, wasn't some inexperienced woman who knew nothing about the world.

"You come here, start talking about different things, and are now being evasive, what are you trying to achieve?" The former Queen questioned directly.

"I just wish to know if there is someone in your heart. Someone you like."

"And why do you want to know that?"

"I have my own reasons."

"What are those reasons?"

"I'll tell you when the time is right."

This was one of those rare times when Nux was not being direct about his intentions.

"Nux, I will say it just to make things clear. I am your mother-in-law and I love my daughter."

"I know that, mother-in-law.

Now will you answer my question?

I promise I have a reason for doing what I am doing."

Riona stared at Nux for a while, then, she decided to trust her son-in-law and answered, "I do not have anyone in my heart other than my daughter and I am not interested in any sort of romantic relationship."

Nux's smile widened.

"That's good. So I am allowed to beat up that Kaelin dude however much I want, correct?"

"You were asking all this because of that…?" Riona's expression changed.

"I just want to know how far did that guy go and how do you want me to handle the entire situation. I plan to wipe out his entire clan and enslave those who give in."

Nux spoke as if it was the most natural thing to do.

"Do we have to go that far…?"

"I need to leave a strong impact in order to announce my return and we need some manpower to restructure our clan as well.

This Kaelin dude and his clan just came at the right time."

Nux shrugged.

"He messed with the wrong people, so he should be prepared for what's about to come."

Nux spoke as a cold light could be seen in his eyes.

"You have changed."

Riona commented. "Hmm? I have?" Nux seemed surprised.

"You are treating human life too lightly."

"I mean, I wasn't one of those passionate ones from the very beginning, now was I? I just didn't kill those I deemed useful.

If the Kaelin dude can prove himself useful, I might let him live.

Though it would be comparably harder in this case, since the petty grudge I hold against him is quite huge."

"A grudge?" Riona tilted her head in confusion.

"Of course, he dared to aim for what's mine." Nux's smile widened.

"What do you mean yours?" Riona narrowed her eyes.

"You don't think I would let him go after he bullied my favorite mother-in-law, do you?"

Riona frowned, for some reason, she got a feeling that Nux didn't mean what he said.

"Yo-"

However, before she could ask anymore questions,

*Knock* *Knock*

A knock was heard.

"Who is it?" Riona questioned.

"It is me, Evane."

Evane replied.

Nux and Riona's expressions changed, they glanced at each other before opening the door.

"What are you doing here?" Evane questioned as her eyes fell on Nux.

"I was talking with mother-in-law," Nux replied with a smile on his face.

"Anyways, what happened love? Why are you here?"

"We received a reply from Kaelin's clan," Evane answered.

"And?"

"They rejected our challenge."

"What?"

Nux's expression changed.

Riona narrowed her eyes as well.

She wasn't expecting this, especially considering how persistent they have been in harassing them.

"Rather, they have sent an invitation." Evane completed.

"An invitation?" Riona's expression changed.

Evane nodded as she passed a scroll to Riona,

"They say that they want to talk about something and…" Evane then turned towards Nux and,

"They asked you to come together with Lady Riona as well."