Myths Reawakened

Kristen gaped at Silvia, shocked by the depravity of high society. Wayne and Veronica were siblings with the same father, yet Wayne’s stepmother was trying to matchmake the half-siblings. Had the Church of Nature always been so open-minded—no, perverted?

Filomina, the other High Reverend she knew, suddenly became the paragon of virtue in her mind, practically glowing with a halo behind her.

The king only received four stamps, Silvia and Megan not included. After getting their shares of the cake and participating in two activities, they took their leave.

With the two outsiders out of the picture, the birthday celebration immediately became more lively. Bottles of red wine were brought from the cellar for a drinking party. Everyone was getting wasted tonight.

Vera was the first to succumb to the influence of alcohol, immediately followed by Mona and then Kristen. It was in the exact order of their gift-giving. Veronica, on the other hand, had an incredible tolerance. She remained sober no matter how much she drank.

That was to be expected. Given her life essence, it wouldn’t be easy to get her drunk. The same should be true of the three other women. It was difficult to tell whether they were actually inebriated or only pretending to be.

“Veronica, I’ll help them to their rooms so that they won’t catch a cold. Let’s continue this match later.” Wayne lowered his glass of wine and rose to pick Vera up.

“I’ll take this. Go help Senior Kristen.”

Veronica took Vera from him. She was ninety-nine percent certain that Vera was faking it, so it would be too dangerous to leave her with Wayne. She had to step in, or Vera would surely give him her second gift. Veronica wasn’t worried about Senior Kristen. Her idol only had one gift to give Wayne.

Not even waiting for him to react, she hoisted Vera up and rushed upstairs.

Wayne shrugged, chuckling at Veronica’s ignorance and Vera’s lack of craftiness. It would be impossible for Senior Kristen to lose the competition.

He lifted Kristen into a bridal carry, and she murmured, putting her arms around his neck without missing a beat. Once they were in her room, Wayne shut the door and lowered her to the bed. She opened her eyes slowly, leaning in so that they met in the middle.

Saliva was exchanged. The kiss lingered.

Kristen narrowed her eyes and said, “What’s wrong with Mistress Lando? Am I mistaken, or is she trying to set you and Veronica up?”

“She’s been doing that for a long time.” Wayne buried his face in her softness. “What’s wrong with a master setting up her student with her daughter?”

“It’s wrong because you and Veronica are siblings.”

...Senior, where did you hear that rum—oh, you’re from the Church of Moonlight. I get it now.

Wayne was pretty sure that Kristen had misunderstood something, and he agonized over whether he should clarify it. Given their current relationship, keeping her in the dark would benefit him, but it wouldn’t be fair to her.

He would happily accept gifts, but not when the gift-givers didn’t know what they were doing. That would be no different from cheating them into giving away their bodies.

He also wanted the hearts!

“Actually...”

“Actually, Veronica was adopted?”

“Huh?!” Wayne’s head jerked up. “What did you say? Who was adopted?”

“Veronica. Although it seems unbelievable, you resemble Mr. Lando too much. In comparison, Veronica...”

Kristen’s voice grew quiet. Veronica was her close friend and admirer, so she didn’t want to talk behind her back.

Wayne hissed. “Kristen, think with your smart little head. Could it be that I’m the one taken into the family later?”

“Yeah, that’s what an illegitimate son is.”

He fell silent.

Kristen pulled him into her embrace. “Don’t worry. I won’t spread rumors about Veronica. She’s a good girl who shouldn’t be subject to jeers. Since you aren’t related, though, she is my rival. I’ll make her give up by defeating her fair and square.”

You can do that, but apparently you can’t see very well.

Compelled by his conscience, Wayne said, “I’m being serious here. Veronica is a hundred percent a Lando. She’s not adopted. I became their heir because Veronica isn’t the right person to manage the family... For now, we aren’t engaged. I’m called ‘young master’ because of Master. Do you understand?”

He decided to be open about his scumminess. Kristen was so gentle and kind that he didn’t want her to give herself away without knowing what was going on. And since he was listening to his conscience, he didn’t intend to let go of her.

“I understand.” Kristen nodded with a smile, taking Wayne’s hand and interlocking their fingers. “Such a bad boy, messing around with so many girls. Promise me that you won’t break Veronica’s and Vera’s hearts.”

Do you really understand, girl? Wayne thought to himself and made a comment out loud, “Yeah, I won’t break their hearts. I’ll only break yours.”

He lowered his head and kissed her.

***

Living room.

Veronica cocked her head at Wayne. “What took you so long? I got two of them upstairs. Did you do something to Senior Kristen secretly?”

“Yeah, I kissed her many times while she was drunk,” Wayne said honestly.

Veronica huffed. She wouldn’t be so easily fooled. “Be honest.”

“Senior’s not feeling well. She might have drunk too much.”

“That’s more like it.”

“...”

Wayne gave up. In this fickle society, people could no longer see the truth, and they only believed what they wanted to believe. It was the case for Veronica as much as it was for Kristen. He would attribute it to pride, one of the seven deadly sins.

As a scumbag, he encouraged more girls to be prideful in this sense.

“Come on. I’m going to win tonight.” Veronica picked up her bottle, ready for a final match with Wayne.

They sat on the carpeted floor with their legs crossed. No rock-paper-scissors was played to make the game more exciting. They simply took turns drinking from their bottles until only one of them remained sitting upright to decide the victor.

Ten minutes later, Wayne folded and fell into Veronica’s lap by accident. Groaning, he adjusted his posture for comfort and fell asleep.

“Don’t play dead. I know you’re not drunk.” Veronica grumbled. Based on the fact that she never gained the upper hand in their sparring sessions, she knew that if she was sober, Wayne had to be, too.

“I’m talking to you. If you don’t get up now, I’m going to exercise the authority of the king in your stead.” Veronica issued the first warning, picking up the charcoal pencil to draw on him.

Wayne remained sound asleep and unresponsive. After repeating the warning for the third time without getting a reaction, Veronica drew a glass on his face with broad strokes.

According to her, it was supposed to be a trash can.

“Huh, is he actually drunk? It can’t be.”

Veronica pinched his nose and tugged his hair. Half convinced, she dragged Wayne upstairs. Once in the bedroom, Veronica put him on the bed and looked down at him. For some reason, her feet remained planted. She thought about the stamp she hadn’t given Wayne and gulped softly.

“Senior and Vera both kissed him. I can’t lose...”

After reassuring herself, she mustered the courage to lean in, her eyelashes fluttering as she closed her eyes. Like a dragonfly flitting across water, her lips came into brief contact with the top of Wayne’s head.

Then...

(⁄⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄⁄)

(⁄⁄⁄﹏⁄⁄⁄)

Wayne showed his usual phony shyness, while the young lady was so red it looked like steam would come out of her head. Embarrassed beyond measure, she grabbed the scumbag by the collar and hurled him toward the window.

Clang!

Followed by the noise of glass shattering, Wayne flew into the grove and clung to a tree.

Meanwhile, the culprit didn’t know what to do. She jumped out of the window and ran toward her mansion, covering her face because she couldn’t bear to show it to the world.

From upstairs, Auston witnessed the scene from the window of his study, his curled lips stiffening.

“How?”

As a fellow scumbag, he knew Wayne would ultimately be fine, but things shouldn’t have turned out this way. Weren’t women supposed to be prone to jealousy? How did they get so easily fooled?

Auston looked envious—no, furious. He suspected that Wayne had used psychic corruption; there was no other explanation.

Megan walked into the study. “Master, the Ministry of Magic called. Supreme order. They asked you to go to the headquarters of the Ministry of Magic.”

“Supreme order...”

Auston looked shocked. Only the Minister could issue a supreme order. The last time she did it was when the Church of Nature went after the Darkness Knight.

What happened?