Awakening The Only SSS-Rank Class! Now Even Dragons Obey Me Chapter 888: The Lionheart Delegation III

"No decision has been made in the family yet, and you are still not the heir!" The fur-clad elder rose angrily. They had seen the evidence, and the evidence had been verified as authentic.

But even with Andreas’s words, they could not let Lioran be tried and even executed so easily.

If such a thing happened, they would become the laughingstock of the entire world... It would be a great blow to the reputation and identity of the Lionheart family!

More importantly, they also could not allow, under any circumstances, what that fool Lioran had done to become known to the world.

And if that happened, it would be another great blow to their reputation.

On the other hand, they could not let this bastard become the heir, otherwise their dynasty would be doomed!

"Then you’d better be ready to make a decision upon your return." Andreas answered indifferently.

"This is not the place to discuss family succession." The old man with the staff intervened.

"No, on the contrary, this is exactly the place." But the other elder turned his anger toward Daniel and pointed his finger at him.

"Ever since this man entered our family, everything has changed! And now even in the magic tower, no one knows what lies he has concocted! Everything has changed."

Eyes turned to Daniel, and the man continued:

"Lioran falls."

"Andreas takes Lioran’s place in the family." His voice grew more bitter.

"Who’s to say this isn’t the plan of these two bastards?"

His sentence lingered in the hall. It was a dangerous accusation, and worse, it contained a part of the truth.

Serys unconsciously looked at Daniel. Andreas was also silent for a moment.

The tower leader narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

Daniel remained calmly seated on his chair. He was neither upset by the accusation nor in a hurry to defend himself. After a few seconds, he said:

"I didn’t force Lioran to kill anyone."

The family elder opened his mouth, but Daniel didn’t let him interrupt.

"I didn’t force him to drive the tower leader’s daughter to her death. I didn’t force him to eliminate the professors."

"I didn’t force him to see everyone who doubted his future as an enemy." His gaze calmly fixed on the old man.

"I just made sure his actions wouldn’t go unpunished." Then he leaned forward slightly.

"If the fall of a killer is enough to change your family’s entire power structure, the problem isn’t with me."

No one answered. Even the family elder was silent for a few moments.

Because to refute that sentence, he would have to defend Lioran, and after seeing the evidence, such a defense was no longer simple.

Andreas took his gaze away from Daniel and addressed the tower leader. He was silent for a few seconds, as if reviewing the final consequences of his decision in his mind, and then said in a formal voice:

"The Lionheart family is currently withdrawing its request for Lioran’s release."

Several delegation members turned to him simultaneously.

"You don’t have the authority to make such a decision." The fur-clad elder said in disbelief.

"I am the leader of this delegation, and I am ordered to protect the family’s interests." Andreas answered without looking at him.

His gaze fell on the silent crystals on the table.

"Fighting the tower to save someone with this evidence against him is not protecting the family."

The legal representative wanted to object, but Andreas raised his hand.

"However, we request that a formal family representative be present at all stages of the trial."

"That request is accepted." The tower leader said after a few moments.

"Your representative can review the evidence presented to the court and attend the sessions."

"I also want to see Lioran personally." Andreas lowered his head in acknowledgment.

The tower leader glanced briefly at Daniel and then answered:

"Permission is granted, but the conversation will be supervised."

The session ended after a few more formal clauses were arranged.

The delegation members left the hall one by one, but the weight of Andreas’s decision remained on many of their faces.

In the hallway outside the hall, Andreas lingered a bit to walk beside Daniel again.

They walked in silence for a few moments, and then he said:

"With Lioran’s fall, they’ll probably announce me as the heir."

"Probably that’s why they sent you." Daniel answered.

Andreas smiled bitterly.

"My father always has a replacement ready for every failure. Lioran was one of his best children until yesterday. Now if it’s proven he’s no longer usable, my name will be pulled out of the next drawer."

"Are you upset about it?"

"No. I just don’t like pretending our family is any different from the rest." Then he looked directly at Daniel.

"Did you know I was coming in advance?"

"I knew the family would send someone who could both control the situation and not be saddened by Lioran’s sacrifice." Daniel answered.

"You’re still thinking a few steps ahead." Andreas chuckled briefly.

They took a few more steps, and then Andreas became more serious.

"If I become the heir, will you help me?"

Daniel stopped. He placed his hand on Andreas’s shoulder.

"As long as you don’t play the fool."

A real smile appeared on Andreas’s face, and he felt the pressure lift off him...

"Then I feel at ease."

Daniel took his hand off his shoulder.

"What do you want to do now?"

Andreas looked at the path leading to the underground elevators.

"I want to see my brother."

Daniel nodded.

"Good. After that, there are things I want to tell you."

"About what?" Andreas raised his eyebrows slightly.

Daniel looked down the hallway.

"About Ilaris."

Andreas’s smile faded. Ilaris’s name was not unimportant to him.

But before he could ask another question, the stone elevator opened before them.

A while later, Andreas walked alone in the cold hallway of the central dungeon.

Two guards moved a few meters behind him, but far enough away that they couldn’t hear the conversation inside the cell.

The sound of Andreas’s boots echoed on the black stone of the hallway.

At the end of the path, Lioran sat on the cell floor, his head leaning against the wall and his gaze fixed on the empty space before him.

After Daniel left, he had stopped shouting, as if all the energy of anger and denial had left his body along with his last hopes.

But when he heard the new footsteps, he raised his head. At first, he only saw a shadow approaching from the end of the hallway.

Then he recognized the winged lion emblem on that person’s shoulder. Something lit up in his tired eyes.

Hope.

Weak, trembling, and desperate, but real.

Lioran quickly rose from the ground. The chains around his wrists rattled.

When Andreas stopped before the cell, Lioran moved a few steps closer to the bars.

"Andreas..."

His voice, for the first time since his arrest, carried a hint of calm.

"Did Father send you to get me out?"

Andreas looked at his brother through the black bars for a few moments.

At his disheveled hair.

At his wrinkled robe.

At the chains around the wrists of someone who had believed himself to be the tower’s future leader until yesterday.

No affection, concern, or even satisfaction could be seen on Andreas’s face... Only coldness.

"Father sent me to see if you had left any of the family’s dignity intact."

Hope flickered in Lioran’s gaze. Andreas paused and looked down at his chains.

"But apparently, only disgrace remains."

Lioran’s face slowly went blank.

At that moment, he finally understood another truth.

The family had not come to save him.

And the brother he had humiliated his entire life was now standing outside the cell; free, powerful, and ready to take the very position Lioran had believed would forever belong to him.