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Dane Duchy Palace...

The Danes had a conference of sorts after the Duchy capital-wide worship of the Sapphirine Prince and that conference was especially in regards to the power held by the pair of Devon and Damien in the family.

Isabella could barely contain her joy at the sight of the subdued elders who were all angrily puffed up as though they had swallowed their pride literally rather than metaphorically.

Ever since the death of her husband, Isabella had stopped being on the side of the Elders and for so long, she believed her sons were on her side in regards to her dislike of the old fogeys. After all, Richard, their father\'s death had indirectly been caused by the Elders.

Alas, once Damien was in power and Devon was totally in his support, the two brothers began to see more eye to eye with the Elders.

This was not necessarily a bad thing as even with her dislike of the bunch of them, Isabella would readily cooperate with them for the good of the family but the ready exile of Melinda, as well as the ready reacceptance of Cirk, was not something she would ever agree with.

Speaking of Cirk, after his mother had been taken away from the courtyard to be tended to after her breakdown over her son\'s death, the elders had suggested a simple ceremony for the disposal of Cirk\'s body.

\'Suggested\' is used particularly here because, at this point, Hal had secured his command over the entire Duchy and the hierarchy of both Melinda and Isabella was so much higher than the Dane family as a whole.

A suggestion was all the Elders could prefer.

For an answer, Melinda nonchalantly set fire to Cirk\'s body with her flame Ordinance and he was nothing more than ashes before anyone at the scene could blink.

Melinda still went further;

Before those ashes could be carried off by the wind she burned them again and this time completely obliterated the very last traces of Cirk Dane in the world.

Knowing already that Hal had refined the bastard\'s soul, Melinda smiled with Malevolent satisfaction that he truly had been done away with.

"I relinquish my role as Duke," Damien said and all eyes turned to him.

Ever since they had all congregated in the hall, no one had yet said a word. At the very most, they had been communicating with each other with gazes.

The question in the gazes was all the same; Where do we go from here?

"Good decision, Uncle. Clearly, it\'s a position that is taking its toll on you" Melinda said with a mocking smirk.

"Melinda, that is enough," Devon said while still imposing his authority as a father on his daughter despite her very evident boost in status and strength.

It was the classic \'However big you are or might have become, I still sired you\' cliche.

To Melinda\'s credit, she said nothing and let her gaze do the talking.

Besides, she was not entirely wrong. Damien looked worn out. It was not and could not have been due to the death of Cirk (as he still had another son) but rather, he just seemed to have lost his will to lead.

Even now, he had his head lightly bowed with a defeated expression on his face.

"I do not wish to take control of the family or the Duchy and I do not have to. We\'ll let Hugh become Patriarch." Isabella said.

"He\'s still young" grumbled an Elder.

"He\'ll grow," Isabella said.

None of the Elders would take the seat of Patriarch because, for all the control they had and craved, they preferred to operate in the shadows. To operate behind the figurehead.

This was not really due to personal selfish interest but more due to the customs of the Dane Family.

There was a lineage within the family that always warranted the title of Patriarch and now Duke and while that lineage had shifted a tad due to Damien taking the title rather than his minute-older twin Devon, the lineage remained the same.

Had Melinda, daughter of Devon the Eldest twin, desired to be Matriarch, the lineage would have truly been restored but she was meant for greater things... She belonged to a greater being.

Hugh\'s age and current cultivation level were not an issue... The very reason the role of Elders and Patroness exist was to guide the Patriarch and defend his rule.

"Hugh doesn\'t appear to desire to rule though. If he lacks the desire, then he lacks the will. Rather than place the family and the Duchy in his hands, I believe it would be far wiser to return the Duchy to the Silvas and have the Cult govern our family.

I mean, they have the authority already" Said a female Elder.

At this point, the head Elder raised a hand and said,

"Rather than consider those drastic steps, how about we bring things back closer to home.

There are many mature Danes in age and in cultivation, Hugh does not have to be the only choice. Take my grandson Eder for example. He\'s at the peak of the Cosmic Pagoda realm."

"Eder? Ha, that idiot that could barely contend against me in the Guild war?" Melinda said.

"Well, with your strength..." the head Elder began but Melinda quickly interrupted,

"I was not a Cosmic Saint at the time. I was not even at the Cosmic Pagoda realm.

Anyway, his strength or lack thereof is not the reason I discredit Eder as a candidate for Patriarch but rather because I have seen him, I have heard him speak, and he does not deserve to be Patriarch/Duke.

The same goes for every other Dane that is not Hugh.

You can all disagree with me but you will be wrong" Melinda said.

"And if Hugh is not interested?" asked the Head Elder and Melinda stood to her feet,

"He is. He\'s only in shock at the moment. Excuse me while I speak to him" she said.

"You are the reason his mother is in the condition that she is in and thus the reason for Hugh\'s \'shock\', do you really believe you are the right person to speak to him about becoming Duke?" Devon asked.

"I do. I\'ll return shortly" Melinda said and she warped space to leave the meeting hall.

The fact that she warped space caused the eyes of everyone to widen because they had all felt it when she used her insight into the Ordinance of Life during and after her battle with Cirk. It had been what she used to return life to Cirk\'s mother.

Ordinance use, especially one that its wielder was not trying to hide is hard to miss and to see her use another Abstract Ordinance was worthy of wide-eyed awe.

The eyes were soon directed to Isabella and at first, she ignored them but when their stares became insistent, she addressed them all at once,

"What?!"

...

Melinda\'s spatial travel, guided by her incredible senses as a Saint, took her into the room where Cirk and Hugh\'s mother lay with her eyes closed and an almost peaceful expression on her face.

Hugh was by her side and his eyes focused on her,

"I had a feeling you\'d come," Hugh said the moment Melinda stepped out of the spatial rift that brought her there.

"You did?" Melinda asked and Hugh nodded,

"You are not as callous as you presented yourself today. I know Cirk brings out the worst in you" he said.

"Not really. I\'m that way with anyone I dislike. There was nothing special about him. He was just another one," Melinda said.

"But you are not like that with me" Hugh pointed out.

"Well, I don\'t dislike you. You\'re very tolerable" she said with a smile and then ruffled his hair.

"Do you hate me?" Melinda asked with a bit of a frown.

"Why would I?" Hugh asked and looked over at Melinda.

"I killed your mother," Melinda said and her eyes darted to the comatose mother of two lying on the plush bed.

"And you brought her back to life. She was dead all of a minute at the most." Hugh said and then looked back at his mother, "Besides, I would understand if you had let her death be permanent. I would hate you, of course, but I would understand.

I love my mother but I have always hated how much she supported Cirk.

Her breakdown was very much expected." he said and the more he spoke, the sadder he looked.

Melinda directed her hands towards the slumbering mother,

"May I?" She asked.

"What do you want to do?" Hugh asked but Melinda already moved forward to place her hand on the woman\'s forehead where she proceeded to initiate her Life Ordinance.

There are certain things mending pills cannot heal and among them is grief. That was not the case for a Life Ordinance wielder though.

At the insight level, Melinda could not completely get rid of Hugh\'s mother\'s grief and trauma but she could reduce it to the point of being manageable and unharmful.

Another option would be with Hal\'s means and Melinda highly doubted the woman, despite her beauty, would qualify as worthy of receiving that treatment.

The extreme option was the complete replacement of her personality but that would remove the memory of her grief and Melinda did not want that. She wanted the woman to be able to live and cope but she didn\'t want her to have a clean slate.

Hugh saw his mother begin to stir and was witness to her revival. He grinned with appreciation to Melinda just as she said,

"It\'s time you became Patriarch"