With her arms crossed, Thea walked right up to Lady Herodias and Yegor.

“James is a bastard,” she began bluntly. “He’s just a head on two shoulders—nothing more. Set aside his cultivation strength, and his character isn’t any better than ours.

If we praise him, he’s the ruler of all living beings, the master of the Haleth Realm. But if we despise him, he’s not even worth a chamber pot—no different from that old dog, Waitara Path.”

Both Yegor and Lady Herodias froze in shock.

“Wife, that’s too much!” James protested, looking wounded. “You call me a bastard—fine, I’ll take that. You say I have bad character—alright, guilty as charged. But comparing me to that mutt Waitara Path? That’s just cruel. You have to apologize, right now, or I’ll never live this down.”

Thea rolled her eyes dramatically.

Yegor blinked, utterly bewildered, while Lady Herodias—caught between laughter and tears—finally broke into a giggle. She turned away, hiding her flushed face with one hand and stamping her foot.