Myths Reawakened

“I can’t go into the process in detail. It has something to do with the dragon blood curse. You’re still young and don’t have to make the choice, but Master has reached her limit. She will face her curse at any time. After discussing it with Auston, I’ve decided to make some changes to the Princess. If that succeeds, Master will be safe.”

Wayne continued, “Auston told me to do it as soon as possible, but I disagreed. The Princess’s call saved you and Master, so I’ll only do it when I’m certain that she’ll survive.”

Veronica deflated, grumbling, “It’s always like this with you. When I’m angry, you’ll talk about your contribution to the family. Are you doing this on purpose?”

Yes, I’m manipulating you!

“Of course not. There are secrets I won’t tell you because I don’t want you to become black-hearted. I’m protecting you.”

“So you’re saying that I’m being unreasonable?”

“No. It was my mistake for not telling you and causing the misunderstanding. You were just worried about me.”

“Hmph!”

Veronica stepped aside and let him pass, warning him not to do something strange to the Princess. He would be dead if she found out.

“You’re a member of the Tulip Families at the end of the day,” Wayne commented in exasperation. “But when you heard that the Princess was going to be imprisoned, your first thought wasn’t to save her, but to make sure that your fiancé wouldn’t suffer a loss. That’s so loyal of you.”

The same could be said about Auston. It turned out that not only was the Ministry of Magic a den of fence-sitters, but the Tulip Families weren’t any better, either.

How pitiful the Queen was. Auston was even her first love!

Veronica turned away. “The Princess is Mr. Lando’s daughter. She won’t die at your hand, so she doesn’t need me to save her.”

Well, hold onto the misunderstanding!

“However, if one day the Princess becomes the Queen and has an illegitimate child with you, I won’t be as tolerant as Mother.” Veronica’s gaze lowered to Wayne’s nether region threateningly.

Hissing in fright, Wayne bolted out of the door. A few seconds later, he returned to bolt the door back to the frame.

***

Wayne’s residence.

The Princess’s problem wasn’t yet an emergency. ‘Elizabeth’ was still around, and it was her knight, Juno, who had gone missing. No one was going to pay it any attention even if nothing was done.

The Queen might notice, but she wouldn’t launch a full-city search once she did. Perhaps she would even send Auston to look for her in secret.

Oh, no. Auston. The daughter I gave birth to for you is missing!

Wayne imagined the scenario with glee.

Putting the trivial matter aside, Wayne first enjoyed the breakfast Kristen had made with care, telling her about the successful mission and Vera’s reunion with her parents. All was well.

Then he explained why he had failed to come home last night: the Lando family was attacked in the back alley of the theater, almost becoming the tragic creature who had six legs in the morning and two legs at night.

Kristen brooded after listening to the whole story. Vera had always had feelings for Wayne, and now, her feelings would only be stronger. Kristen came to the same conclusion as Veronica: Wayne definitely hadn’t been spending time with his parents last night, but was receiving Vera’s gratitude for the whole night.

Why do you stand out so much? Can’t you be mediocre?

Kristen put away the dishes. If Wayne were more mediocre, she wouldn’t have so many concerns. But if he were too mediocre, the four of them would’ve died back in Klofron.

He could neither be excellent nor mediocre; the problem was a dead end with no solution to begin with.

“I’ll be busy working the next few days. I won’t be home during the day, and I’ll have to work overtime at night...”

“Are you going to the Lando Estate or the Church of Sun?” Kristen asked unhappily.

“Neither. It’s really work.” Feeling a pang in his heart for her, Wayne pulled her into his arms and coddled her with honeyed words, saying with a smile, “Why did you put your hair up like this? You look like the mistress of the Wayne family. It suits you!”

Critical Hit!

Kristen broke into a sweet smile. “The butler agrees. He’s had a professional designer design my hair and even hired a tutor—a granny who’s clearly old-fashioned. Veryl said that I should learn more about the etiquette of nobles.”

“As expected of him. He’s a real professional!” Wayne nodded in approval.

When Wayne easily accepted her taking on the role of the mistress of the family, Kristen felt a bloom of warmth in her heart and forgot about the unpleasant thoughts.

“Oh, I visited Secretary Mona at the detective agency a few days ago,” she said in Wayne’s embrace.

“Do what you think is right, but don’t go too hard on Mona. She’s a gentle soul like you.” Wayne had a headache. Love was indeed terrifying. Even someone as gentle as Kristen had learned to be proactive. What would happen next? Would the trio of best friends opt for violence?

Hopefully not. All three of them combined still wouldn’t be Filomina’s match.

Her beloved’s indulgence satisfied Kristen. She talked about the recent changes in her life.

Veryl had donated to the academic research team Mistress Kristen was part of, proving the rumors on campus that Kristen had found a personal sponsor. She would no longer commute between school and Wayne’s residence, which gave her a more flexible schedule and more free time to ask Filomina for magic lessons.

Oh, that...

Wayne’s scalp tingled. Things were going in a risky direction. He had to prepare a few patches to make sure he was ready for the next version of the game.

“The butler told me that as the mistress of the family, I should go out less,” Kristen said with anticipation. “He told me to turn my hobby into work, to become a writer.”

“Who said that a family’s mistress can’t go outside? That’s plain wrong.” Wayne blinked. He did remember that Kristen enjoyed writing novels.

According to Veronica, Kristen was best at writing detective novels with tight plots, concise descriptions, grand narratives, and imaginative developments, and her style was practical without extraneous padding. With her detective stories, she was good at weaving fragments of clues into simple lines, making her stories good for rereading.

In other words, her stories had limited scope, rough worldbuilding, shallow descriptions, inconsistent logic, and childish writing that read like essays done by primary school students. With her detective stories, they gave so little valuable information that readers could read them numerous times without guessing the truth.

Kristen was Veronica’s idolized white moonlight. If even she made such critical comments, it was clear how difficult it would be for Kristen to become an excellent writer.

But it was more important to have written than to have written well. Wayne gave her his full support. As long as he bought enough books, her novels would be bestsellers!

With Wayne’s support and encouragement, Kristen reaffirmed her dream of becoming a novelist. She planned to start tonight. “When are you going to work, Wayne?”

“I’m heading out this afternoon. At night, I’m gathering mist. It’ll be useful.” Wayne checked the time and added, “I’ll return tomorrow morning at the earliest.”

So you are spending the night at Lando Estate!

Kristen huffed, grabbing his hand and heading to the second floor. They hadn’t seen each other for a few days, so it was natural for the master and the mistress of the family to catch up intimately!

***

High Reverend’s manor.

“It made sense since we haven’t seen each other for a few days, but I really have something important to do...”

It was the next morning. Wayne put on his pants and was about to make a run for it when Filomina pinned him down indignantly. What did he take her for by coming and going as he wished, doing it only a few times to humor her?

He was not leaving. He had to stay with her for a month.

Wayne listed out the facts and reasoned with her, only making it out after agreeing to numerous unfair clauses.

He didn’t head to the Church of Sun’s den. Vera had just reunited with her parents and was enjoying their warm family time. He drove the black car to a warehouse in the Western District. Getting out of the car, he followed the underground passage in the warehouse to a laboratory.

Auston had prepared the base for Wayne, as well as five Forgotten Ones whose thoughts had spiraled out of control. According to Wayne’s preferences, the five subjects had all been evil dark mages in life. Originally, they were guinea pigs at the asylum, and now, they were recycled for Wayne’s use.

Mona had been waiting in the laboratory for some time. Once Wayne showed up, she took the spot behind him naturally.

Pale Nest, wearing a yellow robe, stood in a corner of the office. When Wayne entered, it extended its tentacles toward him.

“Be good. I’ll play with you later.”

Wayne pushed the tentacles away and saw Juno, publicly the Princess’s knight, having tea on the sofa. She didn’t look like she was worried about being studied on at all; her composure was impressive. Even when the master of the laboratory showed up, she only gave him a slight smile.

Good. She remained calm in the face of danger like a true royal. As expected of Auston’s illegitimate daughter.

Mona communicated with Wayne through thoughts to tell him about what had happened since Mona took Juno home that night. Refusing to accept this fate as a sitting duck, the Princess had resisted.

It took Mona some effort to subdue her. When she took the Sacred Lance of Heaven out, Juno had raised her hands in surrender. After that, she cooperated and never attempted to run again.

“Little Brother, you are a reincarnated angel.” Juno stood up. Since they were both Auston’s bastards, and she was two months older, she considered herself the older sister.

“Sister Elizabeth, you got the wrong person. There is no angel here.”

Wayne shrugged. He knew that Juno wasn’t Auston’s daughter, and Juno knew, too. He was willing to play along with her since he wouldn’t lose anything.

“Call me Juno,” she said with a smile. “I saw Mona’s stigma and the sacred lance. Her power comes from you, which means you have to be a reincarnated angel.”

His being the Death Knight was understandable. Heaven had planted a spy before declaring war against the netherworld. It was because she had witnessed sensitive information that Wayne couldn’t let her go. Juno had put everything together!

“Technically, the Church of Heavenly Father has misunderstood me. There is no angel in this room.” Wayne didn’t want to waste more breath explaining that. He said bluntly, “Your phone call saved my family, but your identity makes it so that I cannot let you leave. I’m sorry. You’ll have to change your faith.”

“Just like that?” Juno raised an eyebrow, looking over Wayne’s shoulder at Mona. “Just like her, am I going to form a contract of Golden Law with you to gain the power of stigma?”

In that case, Juno wouldn’t say no.

“It won’t be the same.” Wayne sighed. “Mona listens to every single one of my commands. If I do that to you when I owe you one, I’ll be repaying kindness with exploitation. At the end of the day, you are Windsor’s Princess, and perhaps the future Queen. I cannot enforce my will on you.”

“So? Will I get a stigma?”

“You won’t. But I can give you angels’ evolution path.”

Really? Isn’t that amazing?

After a pause, Juno nodded. “You made the offer. You should honor your word!”

“As long as you don’t regret it.”

Wayne couldn’t help but sweat when she was not only cooperating but cooperating enthusiastically. Angels resembled ancient gods, and he resembled ancient gods even more. So... becoming his follower would be similar to becoming an angel, right?

Oh, wait, won’t that make the Heavenly Father...

An ancient god??!!