Chapter 271 (2): Alley x Darkness x Family

Wayne draped the yellow robe over Anastasia. His thoughts shifted, and dozens of pale tentacles emerged and transformed into what he imagined.

“The more I look, the more creepy it seems...”

“Wayne!”

Vera spotted Wayne from afar and charged at him at full speed, tackling him with a running start. Bosom knocking against him, she covered his eyes and clung to Wayne’s back fully.

“Don’t turn around, Wayne. It’s Senior Kristen.”

“Impossible. Were you Senior Kristen, you would be kissing me by now.”

“Is Senior that forward?” Vera blinked, pressing against his neck and kissing his cheek.

“Wait, really?” Wayne tilted his head and teased, “Didn’t we agree that you wouldn’t throw yourself at me? Why are you going back on your word?”

“Hmph, you’re in no place to lecture me. I like throwing myself at you.”

Vera huffed, raining kisses on Wayne’s face and whispering a quiet thank you.

Wayne lifted her two legs to give her a piggyback, saying shamelessly, “You’ve kissed me so many times. Aren’t you worried about Veronica and Kristen finding out?”

“I’m not afraid. They’ll forgive me if I beg them, just like how I’ve forgiven them for stealing my boyfriend,” Vera grumbled. Then she whispered into Wayne’s ear, “You called me your girlfriend, and my family heard. You can’t take it back.”

“But I already have two girlfriends,” Wayne said with feigned hesitance. What should he do about that?

“Then there’s less for you to worry about. Having one more won’t matter.” Vera rolled her eyes, biting the jerk’s shoulder hard.

They understood each other and knew what the other was thinking.

“That’s not good. Veronica and Kristen will kill me...”

“I’ll help you!” Vera ground her teeth together and shared her plan in a low voice. “You must have noticed that Veronica harbors impure fantasies about Senior Kristen. She’s been fantasizing about Senior since we started college. All you have to do is this... Then... Finally, you only have to catch them in the act, and Veronica will be in no place to judge you.”

Wayne sucked in a sharp breath, adjusting his grip on her bottom and marveling, “That’s possible? You have quite the imagination. Will it work?”

“Trust me. I’ll arrange everything at the right time.”

“How strange for a smart girl like you to have been single.”

“It’s precisely because I’m smart that my future boyfriend was scared away. I didn’t expect him to be greedy enough to want all three from the beginning.” Vera sighed, saying that it would’ve been better if she were a bit dumber. “I started out liking him, and now I like him so, so much. I even have reasons to have his children now. What a terrible man he is. I hate him the most.”

“Do you like him?”

“I do.”

Vera didn’t even attempt to hide her feelings. She squirmed on Wayne’s back to shift to his front so that he was embracing her. Then she closed her eyes slowly. Her anticipation was mixed with hints of excitement and absolutely no fear.

“You promised that you would continue when you returned.”

“Of course. I always keep my word...”

***

With Carter’s help, Cushing spent four days repairing the seal and could finally free his hands to hold his wife and daughter. During those two days, Wayne and Vera had been dating. The scenery was terrible, but Vera was seeing everything through rose-tinted glasses. There had been several instances when she almost gave herself away in the tent because of heightened emotions.

Valkyrie had fetched the tents from the car. Veryl had prepared them and emergency rations that could last them several days when he packed for Wayne.

Usually, the master would need only one tent, but with bothersome traveling partners, such as Valkyrie, it would be necessary to bring two tents.

What a professional butler he was!

Since Cushing and Carter were with them, Wayne didn’t dare to make an open move on Vera. Despite her insistence on giving herself away, he held back.

No rush. It was important for him not to rush it. At the very least, there should be a romantic date, a candlelit dinner, and a heartfelt confession. Otherwise, she would feel regret when she looked back at the experience in the future.

Having stabilized Thoggua’s seal and delivered the medal to the Sun Knight, the group had officially completed their mission. They drove along the misty highway, only reaching the end of the tunnel half an hour later due to the obstacles at the exit.

It wasn’t until the overloaded car emerged from the mist that Wayne realized the cause.

The Ocean of Mist’s appearances and disappearances followed no distinct pattern. After Thoggua’s seal was reinforced, the space was temporarily stabilized, and the chance of the Ocean of Mist overlapping with Route 114 became minimal. It could only be opened with a particular magic circle.

Or, according to Cushing, the chosen knights could open it with their divine weapon, too.

Since they had no access to it, they were only able to leave the Ocean of Mist thanks to Head Trainer Dick’s stubborn attempts. For the past five days, the three bald men had been taking turns guarding the magic circle and trying to enter the Ocean of Mist, almost wearing the magic circle thin.

Seeing his old friend after more than a decade, Dick burst into tears then and there. Four bald men formed a circle with their arms linked, shoulders and heads pressed together as they hopped and shouted unintelligibly.

Men’s collective intelligence usually lowered to the level of the most stupid one among them when they were in a group, and no matter how childish they got, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Soon, the bald men who had reunited after a long time started wrestling.

Vera watched her father from the back, speechless. “Mother, how did you fall for him back then?”

“Hm, let me think...” Carter thought back to the time and smiled. “It was love at first sight. I thought he looked easy on the eyes, so I chatted him up. Then we got married.”

“How wonderful that you didn’t have close friends fighting for him back then,” Vera said sarcastically.

“I did, but I fought them all off.”

Vera’s heart clenched. She tried, but she lost.

The black sedan drove out of Route 114 as night fell. Since Cushing had been reassigned to share a car with his fellow bald men, Wayne’s car suddenly became spacious.

In the passenger seat, the yellow-robed figure was holding a birdcage.

***

Theater, Western District, Londan.

“To be or not to be. That’s the question!”

On stage, the actors performed with passion, reciting lines that gave the audience headaches. Below, the audience applauded with appropriate enthusiasm. Although they had all seen the play more than once, they pretended to be immersed in the artistry to prove their class and respectable appreciation for fine arts.

In reality, they were most likely complaining about the queue for the restrooms in their minds.

From the luxurious viewing box on the second floor, a family of three, plus their butler, were watching the play expressionlessly.

“Hmph!”

“Ha!”

“Hmph!”

“If you do that one more time, I’ll break your leg.”

“...”

“Why did you stop?”

Faced with Silvia’s antagonistic attitude, Auston pulled a long face but didn’t dare provoke her. He leaned against the walking stick he was holding as a temporary crutch. Thinking of the beating that had come out of nowhere some time ago, he pondered about retaliating against a certain someone.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Veronica propped her chin on her hands. She couldn’t be bothered with telling her parents to communicate. She was tired. Let everything burn. It was best that her mother broke both of her father’s legs.

Due to the outrageous behavior of the kind young man’s father in the diary, Veronica couldn’t help but see the son in the father. Upon closer inspection, the unfortunate mother and daughter were so alike. They had both tragically experienced infidelity from their beloved men.

So yes, he deserved the beating! He should be punished like that!

Among the four of them, only Megan was watching the shows despite her expressionless face. There was the drama on stage, and the drama beside her wasn’t any less entertaining.

Over the past few days, Veronica had been in a foul mood, her gloom written all over her face. Silvia had asked about it, but didn’t get an answer. She guessed that her daughter was going through the confusing period of growing into a mature woman, so she brought the family to the theater.

Veronica was brooding for a simple reason: her fiancé cheated on her, and with her white moonlight at that. Every time she thought about Wayne and Kristen rolling on the bed, she lost her appetite and sleep.

Dragonbloods were known for their possessiveness. She would never agree to sharing, not even with her white moonlight. What was hers had to be exclusively hers.

She thought for several nights and arrived at a fork. The left meant driving away her white moonlight, and the right meant watching her white moonlight elope with her little trash can.

The third option was to stay put and go nowhere.

Veronica knew that she couldn’t stay put forever. She had to make a choice sooner or later.

“Annoying!”

Her complaint interrupted the harrumphs and huffs of her parents. Thinking that they had annoyed their daughter, Silvia glared at Auston and ordered him to be silent from now on.

Just then, a member of the theater staff came up. Megan stopped him and had a brief conversation with him before relaying the message to the Lando family: a fire had broken out suddenly. Although it was discovered in time for intervention, as a precaution, the staff had decided to evacuate the VIPs.

The Lando family was undoubtedly the VIPs among VIPs. The staff member stated that there was a safe passage through the back door, which would lead to an alleyway and then a parking lot.

Auston frowned, explaining the situation to Silvia in a low voice. He held himself like the head of the family and got to his feet with the walking stick. His slightly crippled right leg made him walk in uneven steps. If anyone asked, he would claim that he had strained his tendon during horseback riding.

The four of them reached the back door of the theater. Silvia huffed at Auston’s awkward posture. “You’re quite the actor. A bystander would think that your leg is actually broken.”

“It is broken,” Auston said with a dark look. Whether it was true or not, he had to stick to the pitiful act.

“Serves you right for going for Her... Hmph, when are you going to introduce your other daughter to me?” Silvia sneered.

“I only have one daughter,” Auston said impassively. “Wayne was talking nonsense. Why would you believe such blatant lies? Don’t you know me after all these years?”

“I’ve only come to know you after all these years!”

...So there’s no room for explanation!

Auston scowled as he led the way. Opening the back door, the family of three stepped into the dark alleyway.

The iron gate slowly closed, and darkness crept toward them...