God Of Crafting

Chapter 53: The weight of purity

"So, to sum it up," I spoke out after taking a sip of the coffee that the house attendants brought just before Claire reached the peak of the backstory of her father.

"Your parents fell in love with each other, even though the talent of your father, perfectly formidable and respectable in its own right, was nothing on the innate talent of your mother's bloodline," I summed up the part that took Claire about fifteen minutes to properly tell.

Then, to keep my throat wet and going, I took another sip, allowing the herbal drink to soothe my throat...

Which made me feel like a rat who had just switched from eating straight from a dumpster to one that somehow got a golden ticket to a world-class restaurant.

And it applied to pretty much everything in this place.

Every room was filled with a different, distinct aroma, be it the slight sweetness of the gently burnt sandalwood of the main living room, the scent of the essential oils in the bathroom proper, the herbal smell of the fresh, morning forest, all the way to the old, smokey aroma of old books filled with the scent of the old whiskey barrels from which the carpenters sourced the wood for the shelves of the study.

When walking inside, as opposed to keeping my shoes on as I did back at my place, I instead enjoyed the perfectly soft carpet underneath my feet, turning every step from a simple motion of conquering space into a spiritual experience.

Then there was food, the furnishing of the room, the sights outside...

Everything about this place gave me a feeling of some other, different world...

A world that was all too common to Claire.

"While the elders of the clan couldn't really stop your mother from spending time with your father, everything changed when your mom got pregnant with you, her pregnancy being the solid proof that your father has... spoiled her?" I finally turned my mere repetition of Claire's story into an actual question.

Hearing the change in my voice, Claire raised her eyebrow and turned her head slightly off to the side, over her right shoulder, all the while giving me a puzzled look.

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked before carefully reaching out to the table and grabbing her cup of herbal tea.

As careful as Claire was to move it over from the table and then take the sip, most likely doing her best to avoid spilling it over and burning me, her face when she drank it... didn't change in the slightest, once again proving that what was luxury to me, was merely an every-day matter for her.

Even if it hadn't been said out loud thus far, I was pretty sure that Claire offered me her first time just last night.

And now I just learned that apparently, for cultivators, it was a pretty big deal, something much greater than the proof of purity that was otherwise rooted into human society as a virtue.

"I mean..."

Strangely enough, while clearly amused as I struggled to voice my concerns when it was her turn to speak, Claire's cheeks turned red while her eyes escaped to the side, moving as far off my face as they could.

"Yeah..." Claire lowered her head while her voice grew weaker and her hold over my neck harder. "It kinda is."

For quite some time, we simply sat down in silence, with nothing but the sound of our breathing and the ticking of some old clock on the wall to accompany our thoughts.

Ultimately, I moved my right hand from the armrest of the chair and onto Claire's waist before locking her in an embrace when I added my left hand.

"While I'm still not aware of how big of a deal it is, I promise," I rested my forehead against Claire's shoulder, "I will do my best to make it count."

Before my anxiety about Claire's response could start spiking up, I felt her hand rest down upon the back of my head before she moved it up and down, gently caressing my scalp with her delicate fingers.

"You don't have to worry about it. It was never my intention to burden you with this thought."

For just a little longer, I accepted Claire's gentle cuddle, before pulling my head back and recovering my smile, as tall of an order as it was.

"Okay then, moving on..." I muttered, my head lifted from Claire's shoulder... but my hands still locked over her waist. "Because of the difference of status, the moment she gave birth to you and ensured your safety, your mom had no other choice but to permanently retreat to the spiritual plane, right?"

Instead of answering, Claire simply nodded her head.

"That's correct," she then spoke out only to end up biting down on her lower lip. "And ever since, it was my father's one wish and desire to grow powerful enough to gain the indisputable right to reunite with her."