Alex was pleased when he saw Ian accept the decree with him. While he liked his son-in-law getting infatuated with his daughter, he also hoped he would be a responsible man.
Sylvia and Aunt Evelyn congratulated him one after another, while Lyra looked at him weirdly.
Although Ian told her that he wasn't following her to the academy, she never believed it for a moment. However, after he accepted the decree, she realized he was right.
'Maybe, I judged him too early.' She thought.
"Okay, it is getting late; you youngsters should return first," Eldric said after a few pleasantries and wines.
"Ian, you send Lyra and Sylvia home first. We will follow shortly," said Duke Alex, who was drunk, offering him a timely assist.
"Okay. Don't drink too much," Ian replied.
After warning them, he followed behind Lyra and Sylvia outside. Actually, there was no need to send someone home, as the carriages were already prepared for each of them outside.
Furthermore, they all had private estates in the imperial capital, which weren't far.
"So, how was the banquet?"
Ian asked after following the two awkward girls, trying to find something to talk about.
"It was okay."
"Awful."
Unlike someone, Sylvia wasn't in the mood. She was scolded, teased, and slapped in the butt. How could she be in a good mood? She glared at Ian in anger as if to swallow him alive.
Ian scratched his head in embarrassment. After he slapped her butt, he realized that he had indeed gone too far. He even thought her favorability towards him would decrease.
'Fortunately, she didn't tell her sister.'
Ian could naturally see that Lyra was in a good mood, although she still wasn't looking at him.
'But why hasn't her favorability decreased?' He looked at Sylvia weirdly.
It stands to reason that what he had done was overboard; even if she didn't hate him, at the very least, a slight loss in favorability was expected, right?
"Well, my carriage has arrived."
Suddenly, Lyra's low voice broke the tension. In no time, they were in front of the carriage.
After coming near, Lyra quickly entered the vehicle and said goodbye without giving him any chance to respond. Due to the special nature of the party, the carriages were single-seaters, leaving only Ian and Sylvia alone.
"Hmph!"
Sylvia was still angry, so she didn't pay him any attention and quickly walked toward her carriage at the corner.
'Tch, this little girl has a bad temper.'
Ian didn't ignore her. He still had something to do, so he followed behind her silently with a smile.
Although her carriage wasn't far, there was a sharp corner in the path that was noticeably darker. Just as Sylvia was about to pass, Ian ran forward, pulled her towards the corner, and pressed her body to the wall.
"What...? What are you doing?"
Sylvia was so surprised that she was about to scold him loudly, but suddenly she saw Ian's face getting closer and closer. Before she could get flustered or defend herself, a soft touch pressed on her lips.
Suddenly, her eyes went wide in disbelief. She tried to push him away in panic, but her strength didn't allow it.
With nothing she could do, she slowly forgot everything in a daze, closed her eyes, and immersed herself in her first kiss, even though it had been so sudden.
'Heh, let's see how you avoid me now,' Ian thought as he looked at her expression while carefully nibbling on her soft lips, full of youth and fragrance.
Unlike the mature charm of Aunt Margaret, Sylvia's lips were juicier, filled with a refreshing sweetness that stirred his heart.
After about a minute or two, Ian carefully released her, savoring the kiss they had shared.
He hadn't been able to enjoy it earlier with his aunt, so he didn't let go of her as quickly as before. He wanted more but was afraid the little girl couldn't handle it.
Sylvia, on the other hand, was taking deep breaths to calm her agitated emotions and racing heart. Despite how she acted tough, she was a young girl, unaware of intricacies and naive in some ways.
How could she face such a sudden kiss from Ian, her crush? After regaining her composure, she pushed Ian hard and ran away towards her carriage without a word.
Ian didn't stop her; he knew she needed to digest today's encounter slowly.
'I guess today has been a fulfilling day,' Ian thought, watching her retreating figure.
[Ding!]
[Sylvia's favorability increased by 20.]
[Current Favorability: 80 (Strong Crush)]
[Congratulations! You've obtained a Knight fighting method: Ironclad Discipline.]
[Ironclad Discipline: Show your strength through simplicity. Includes Steel Guard, Hammer Strike, Iron Strike, Blade Breaker, and Knight Cleave moves.]
Along with the notification, Ian was suddenly filled with complex knowledge about the Knight movement techniques, as if he had practiced them forever.
Fortunately, his mental power had increased earlier, so he only felt a slight headache.
'The system is considerate,' he thought with a smile.
Previously, he had been troubled by the fact that he knew nothing about fighting, even though his realm was high. He didn't even know the names of the moves practiced in his family.
Now that he had perfected all the moves in the Ironclad Discipline codex, he just needed to familiarize himself with them before heading to the border.
---
After returning home, Ian quickly walked to his training room, which had been left unattended for a long time.
The training room of the Veilstrider Duke family was a simple, empty space with nothing but a futon placed at the center.
Since the Knight Breathing Method focused more on breathing than absorbing mana between heaven and earth (unless one wanted to impact the High Knight Realm), there was nothing else to prepare.
In fact, if he told his father that he had reached the peak of the Tertiary Knight Realm, his father would do anything to acquire a secret recipe to help him impact the High Knight Realm.
Such a secret recipe, especially one targeting the breathing method, was crucial for condensing a life seed.
However, Ian wanted to hide his strength and bide his time. Moreover, with the Eclipse Pill rewarded by the system, he had nothing to fear.
Taking it out, Ian looked at the round black pill in front of him, which had no fragrance. Without hesitation, he gulped it down his throat.