Chapter 276 (1): Kind Since Childhood, Timid and Inarticulate

“First of all, although I had a relationship with the Queen, it was before our marriage, and it wasn’t as exaggerated as the rumors suggest. The Queen has her own guardian knight. She couldn’t possibly have lost her virtue before marriage.”

Auston spoke seriously with the authority of the head of the family, his back straight like a ramrod. He hadn’t kneeled since their children were here. Silvia wasn’t going to humiliate him completely in front of them.

He was standing by the sofa, facing Wayne, Silvia, and Veronica from left to right. Given the severity of his numerous felonies, he faced a trial with three judges.

Auston was good at saving his own face. After positioning himself, he gave Megan a look, having her stand behind him. At a glance, it would look like he was the one holding a family meeting, standing tall before his family with his butler behind him.

“Megan, stand behind me,” Silvia said coldly.

Megan nodded and obeyed the order, standing behind Silvia instead. It was four against one. Auston was in an extremely unfavorable situation.

If it were only three against one—with Trash Jr. excluded—Auston would not be worried. He was confident that he could clear up the misunderstandings with his eloquence. But with Trash Jr. involved, the situation was completely different.

Dragonbloods were impulsive and hot-headed. Trash Jr. only had to make a few sarcastic remarks to derail the conversation. Besides, Trash Jr. wasn’t only causing trouble; he was the reason there was a trial at all.

Auston knew that well, so he carefully selected his words as he spoke, preventing Wayne from twisting his meaning and kicking him while he was down. Unfortunately, Wayne still found an opening.

“Master, it’s hard to say whether members of the royal family still have to maintain their virtue before marriage. After all, times have changed... Though I don’t really understand it, I read about it in books. Apparently, even before things changed, the royal families in different nations still played around a lot—they could be described as debauched.”

Wayne had an earnest look on his face. “Besides, his explanation is more of a strawman argument. Even if the Queen didn’t lose her virtue, she could lose something else. What do you think?”

I think you’re trying to get me killed!

Auston stared at Wayne with a tense face. The kid had been coveting the position of the head of household for more than a few days.

Silvia thought Wayne made a good point. She wanted to know how far the Queen and Auston had gone, and whether all those sweet words she had heard before were secondhand. She didn’t voice those thoughts, though. It wouldn’t be right before their children. Parents were their children’s best teachers. What if Wayne learned bad habits from them?

Seeing Silvia remain silent like she was going to let things slide, Wayne felt deeply pained. If his master didn’t want to speak up and was willing to continue being deceived, he would take matters into his own hands. Today, he would expose Auston’s true face.

Also, Veronica should learn from her mother and remember to defend her future husband gently and kindly. No matter what mistakes he made, whether he cheated or slept with her best friends, she should think of it as him practicing his techniques.

“Auston, it doesn’t matter whether the Queen lost her virtue before marriage. You were the Queen’s first love, and you’re good at deceiving women. I’ll just assume that the Queen has lost her virtue to you. Let’s end the topic and not discuss it further.”

Wayne waved his hand like a magnanimous judge letting go of his sin. “But it doesn’t mean the Princess isn’t your illegitimate daughter. Tell me, did you maintain an improper relationship with the Queen after her marriage?”

“No, Megan can testify for me—”

“When Megan joined the family, the Princess was already in school. What can she prove?” Wayne cut him off, not giving the suspect any chance to exonerate himself. Eyes widening, he said, “And don’t even mention Megan. You talking about her makes me mad...”

He turned to Silvia indignantly, pointing at his own eyes. “That night, at the Great Cemetery in Western District, he held Megan in his arms, his naughty hands never stopping.”

“I didn’t!”

“You did touch her. I saw it with my own eyes. How could that be false?”

Wayne was confident. The other things might be fabrications, but he had seen Auston groping Megan’s bottom clearly. That was absolutely not slander.

Auston, stop struggling. Just admit it. There can’t be only one scumbag in the Lando family. Someone has to lead by example.

“I can explain it...”

“Spare your explanation. Explanation is a cover-up. Just say it. Did you touch her or not?!” Wayne said righteously, as if he were defending justice itself.

“...” x3

Setting aside Veronica, who was just watching the drama unfold, Megan and Auston fell silent. Silvia rubbed her temples and gestured at Auston to explain himself.

Dragonbloods were impulsive and prone to losing their temper, but they weren’t brainless. When Juno was taken away by Mona, she knew that while the bastard might have been the Queen’s lover in the past, the Princess definitely wasn’t his daughter.

Auston put his family before the royal family. He would rather imprison the Princess than have the family secrets exposed to the Queen. Actions spoke louder than words. That decision was the best explanation.

As for Megan...

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Silvia couldn’t quite figure it out. But even now, she firmly believed that the two wouldn’t betray her.

“It all starts with the power of the Darkness Knight, or more precisely, from when I met you...”

Under Wayne’s regretful gaze, Auston seized the opportunity to make his case. He looked at Silvia lovingly as he told the whole story.

They met, they fell in love, they became linked, they clashed because of their faiths...

Auston’s potential in magic was limited. To climb higher and higher to stand at the same height as Silvia, Auston became a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Magic.

The conflict of their faiths was an insurmountable obstacle for the couple. To resolve the issue once and for all, there was only one possible method: to eliminate all faiths in the Chosen Land.

Darkness thus came knocking. The Goddess of Darkness approved of Auston’s ambition and allowed him to use Twilight Despair, playing a little dark game with him through the curse of pain.

It became clear now that the game was actually the Goddess of Darkness’s way of training him. Auston was already the Darkness Knight then.

“The Darkness Knight appeared in Londan, coinciding with the descent of the demon familiars from hell. There was also a traitor within the Ministry of Magic. Under Her Majesty’s order, I formed an alliance with the Death Knight...”

“I can’t lose the coin of Death, or I will become the Darkness Knight for real. Thus, I had Megan swallow it, and through physical contact with her, I remained in contact with the coin...”

“I attacked the Church of Nature under the instruction of Observer Grau, an avatar of Death. That was the price for obtaining the antique silver coin...”

Auston confessed everything.

Silvia and Veronica gaped, shocked by his crazy idea of eliminating all faiths in the Chosen Land.

For you, I’m willing to be the enemy of the whole world!

Veronica thought it was cool. Putting herself in her mother’s position, she believed that Wayne would do the same for her.

“You must be out of your mind!” Silvia closed her eyes and shook her head. “Even if you’re doing everything for me, the Darkness Knight is destined to be the church’s enemy. I’ll have Megan draft the divorce papers—”

Her children grabbed her hands from her sides. Expression shifting, she took her words back, saying that they would separate instead. From now on, they would be neighbors, but no casual visits.

Veronica frowned and glared at Wayne. Resigned, he went against his conscience and said, “If it were you, Veronica, forget eliminating the faiths in the Chosen Land, even the gods and goddesses—”

“Don’t speak nonsense!” Silvia interrupted, looking left and right at her children before turning to Auston, who was obediently awaiting judgment. She couldn’t come to a decision even after agonizing consideration, so she kept her silence.

Dissatisfied, Veronica glared at Wayne again.

Feeling his heart burn, Wayne took Silvia’s hand and said, “Master, do you remember the night you met the Death Knight, not long after you arrived in Londan?”

“What about it?”

“The Darkness Knight was there, too.” Wayne sighed. “That night, the Death Knight and the Darkness Knight met for the first time. Flora, the former Holy Maiden, used divine arts to impersonate your thoughts, taunting both knights.”

“Worried that you would get hurt, I kept stalling the Darkness Knight, not knowing that the Darkness Knight was doing the same. We kept each other busy until the Darkness Knight discovered that Flora was impersonating you. Then he left.”

Silvia was moved, but she soon snorted. It was expected of him to be good to his wife, or they would’ve gotten divorced long ago.

“Besides, you can accept me being the Death Knight. Why can’t you accept him being the Darkness Knight?”

“It’s different. You haven’t done anything to the Church of Nature. He practically wiped out the church’s elites in Windsor,” Silvia said grimly.

“No, I’ve also killed many members of the Church of Nature. For example, Flora died by my hand.”

Silvia looked at Wayne in shock, and Veronica was so surprised that she covered her mouth. That was the former Holy Maiden, someone who had communicated with the goddess and conveyed Her divine oracles as Her spokesperson on Earth.

“She shouldn’t have made a move against Master. I’d tolerated her for a long time.”

“Good boy. You’re still the best, no matter how I look at it.”

Silvia happily pulled Wayne into her arms, pleased with everything about him. Unlike the Darkness Knight, whom she found disagreeable from every angle.

Auston rolled his eyes dramatically. The Death Knight killed the Holy Maiden, and the High Reverend said nothing. The Darkness Knight killed a few priests, and the High Reverend demanded divorce. How was that fair?

Veronica glared at Wayne. She had asked him to ease the relationship between her father and mother, not to praise himself. Didn’t he know that the better he performed, the worse the old bastard seemed?

Patience. I’m only getting started!

Wayne broke free of his master’s embrace and sat down by Veronica’s side. He had complained about it before. Silvia’s child had grown up, so she should stop hugging him all the time. There needed to be a safe distance between them.

“I was able to kill Flora because I was going to be the next Nature Knight. I made a deal with the Pope: no one would look into Flora’s death...”

He talked about what had happened in the Misty Forest.

Learning that Ottilia had died at her master’s hands, both Silvia and Veronica found it hard to accept. Veronica, specifically, felt a pang in her heart rather than happiness when the girl she had considered her lifelong rival turned out to be dead.