Chapter 276 (2): Kind Since Childhood, Timid and Inarticulate

“I didn’t want to mention it, Master, but you and Auston...”

Wayne reconsidered his wording, hesitating for a while. Ultimately, he didn’t want to praise Auston, so he opted for a different angle, speaking at a deliberate pace, “That’s the church’s leadership for you. I won’t let Veronica join the church, and if she does, I’ll do everything possible to pull her out of the chaos.”

Silvia knew he was appealing to her sentiments. Veronica sat on the sofa with a blush, her heart fluttering and her fists clenched with suppressed delight. She liked the sound of those words. More please.

“Also, the church’s leadership is one thing, but the goddess’s belief is something else entirely,” Wayne continued. “The Frozen Land contains seals on an ancient god’s follower, guarded by the five chosen knights of Nature, Sun, Moonlight, Darkness, and Death in rotation. The messenger of Darkness demanded that the Darkness Knight help in the Frozen Land, which means that the five faiths aren’t completely incompatible. There is always a compromise for interest.”

“Master, if you truly care about your faith, you should follow its source and see how the Goddess of Nature treats the Goddess of Darkness...”

“Don’t let the power struggles among the leadership influence you. They only interpret divine oracles. They don’t represent the true meanings of the oracles.”

Wayne was speaking for Silvia’s benefit, but also Veronica’s. Everyone said that Windsor’s Ministry of Magic was full of double agents, but religious freedom was a good thing. Obsession with one religion only led to a dangerous state of ignorance and blind obedience.

Plus, Dragonbloods weren’t particularly bright to begin with.

“I apologize, Master. I lack respect toward the goddess. But it’s someone like me who received the goddess’s recognition and became the next chosen knight.”

“And the same has happened with more than one goddess!”

The room fell silent. With the facts laid out before them, they all needed time to think.

“Master, I’ll say one last thing that may be inappropriate: it’s a good thing that your husband is the Darkness Knight.” Wayne used the twisted logic he was going to use on Veronica. “Think about it. You’ve suppressed the Darkness Knight alone. If you tell him to kneel, he’ll kneel. If you tell him to fly, he’ll fly. Isn’t that a great victory for the Church of Nature? You’ve made tremendous contributions to the church.”

Does it work like that?

x2

Veronica tilted her head. By that logic, she would’ve dominated the Death Knight, wouldn’t she?

Silvia sighed. “I’m tired. Let’s call it a day. Auston, don’t come to me tonight. I want to be alone.”

Auston nodded. “Give me half an hour. I still have things to discuss with Wayne.”

“Bastard, can’t you understand my words?” Silvia stalked out angrily, dragging Veronica with her. The two of them had too much integrity to be present at the conversation between two scumbags.

Megan walked out of the study, listening in from another spot.

Wayne stood up from the sofa and walked to the window, gazing at the spacious lawn and the small grove in the distance. With his back to Auston, he said, “I’ll let you off easy today. Next time, if it’s needed, we’ll discuss how you coerced your heir to start improper romantic relationships.”

He had only used one piece of written proof today, which Veronica had torn up. But there was another one that was even more scandalous. As long as he remained in the Lando family, Auston could forget about clearing his name.

Even so, Auston had to thank him!

Auston had to admit it. If Wayne hadn’t shown up tonight, the consequences would have been unthinkable. It was already the best possible outcome that Silvia simply hated and looked down on him.

That wasn’t a big deal. Silvia had also hated and looked down on him when they first met, but they ended up starting a family together.

“I’m curious. Megan likes you so much and lets you touch her without resisting. Don’t you plan on giving her an official label?”

Wayne suddenly changed the topic, curious about the previous generation’s private lives. Knowing that Megan could hear him, he raised his voice on purpose. “She’s dressed like Master and given up her autonomy to appeal to you, yet you turn a blind eye to her for your selfish devotion. You’re so cold-blooded. You’re breaking her heart every waking moment.”

So just do it already, I’m begging you. Please set an example for your heir. I’m in desperate need for the old bastard to be a role model!

“Don’t be ridiculous. Megan doesn’t have those kinds of feelings for me...” Auston stopped and dropped the topic; perhaps it was out of consideration for Megan, or perhaps he was simply unwilling to delve deeper. “Monica isn’t the goddess’s messenger. I saw it on my way back.”

“Yeah, I saw it too.” Wayne looked out the window. The black cat was rolling around on the lawn, almost merging with the darkness. He wouldn’t have spotted it if not for his sharp eyes.

“Are you sure that you killed the messenger?”

“I’m sure.” Wayne nodded. “The messenger is dead, but Monica remains. That doesn’t prove that it isn’t the goddess’s messenger. She can have many.”

Besides, there was more than one goddess!

It had always been Auston’s assumption that Monica was the Goddess of Darkness’s messenger. There was no evidence proving its true identity.

There was no way to answer the question. If Auston could pry the black cat’s mouth open, he would’ve done that long ago, interrogating it in one hundred and eight different ways.

“Alan is dead.”

Wayne looked bewildered. Who was Alan, and why was he dead?

He had arrived late and missed Alan’s part in the story. After Auston’s explanation, he finally learned about the unfortunate soul.

“Tsk, the messenger really went far to help you awaken.”

“Alan was one of the three vice ministers of the Ministry of Magic, tasked with the important duty of keeping watch on the mist. His death has consequences. We must notify the Queen quickly.”

Auston explained Alan’s responsibilities. They had to notify the Queen as soon as possible so that another legendary mage could take over Alan’s work.

“How do you plan to notify her? During a secret date?” Wayne’s eyes lit up.

“I can’t be the one to do it, or it’ll be hard to explain my involvement. It’s best left to the Princess.” Auston ignored Wayne’s attempt to frame him and said bluntly, “Take control over the Princess as soon as you can and have her report to the Queen. Do whatever is necessary as long as Alan’s death isn’t linked to the Lando family.”

“I can’t do that quickly. Let’s pick someone else.” Wayne shook his head. “At the end of the day, she had notified Veryl. Without her interference, Master and Veronica would’ve gotten hurt. I owe her one, and I’m not going to act ungrateful.”

He mapped out the timeline. Currently, he was still studying the body of Anastasia, Holy Maiden of the Church of Darkness. Then there was Celeste, who had already been corrupted. Both were excellent test subjects for reverse engineering.

After that, he would experiment on the Forgotten Ones that Auston had prepared in the secret base.

He had to proceed step by step. Without combining multiple data sets, something could go wrong, and Silvia and Veronica could turn into Senna.

Wayne would operate on the Princess after the Forgotten Ones, with paying her back as the primary goal, and keeping the secrets as the secondary one. He would grant her a more advanced evolution while letting her retain her sense of self.

“The experiment has just begun. I can’t give you a specific timeline. Be ready for the Princess to go missing for three to five months.”

“Then she’ll be pregnant by the end of it!” Auston scoffed.

“Quite the opposite. That’ll happen if we let the Princess go home tonight.”

Wayne’s expression was solemn. He wasn’t joking. While Auston could ignore Megan, he couldn’t do the same. He had been kind since childhood, timid and inarticulate. He was a people-pleaser and found it difficult to refuse others’ requests. He would consider himself an even kinder and more gentle version of Kristen.

In short, if he changed the Princess’s life essence tonight, and she insisted on getting closer to her faith, the two of them would end up in bed together.

There was no helping it. He could never say no!

Auston’s face darkened. He was reminded of how Wayne had fabricated stories about him and the Queen. They were in line with what he suggested would happen between himself and the Princess.

No wonder you were putting in so much effort. You were setting things up!

Auston suspected that Wayne was laying down the foundation. Wayne denied it; he had no plans for the Princess, or he would’ve transformed her tonight.

The two couldn’t see eye to eye, finding each other disagreeable like they were looking in a mirror.

After a long silence, near the half-hour point, Auston said in a booming voice, “What about the Frozen Land? The three chosen Knights aren’t enough to protect the seal. You have to go as the Death Knight.”

“Ha, the messenger specifically named the Darkness Knight.”

“You’re the Darkness Knight, too, and you’re also the Death Knight and the Nature Knight!”

“You missed one. I recently became the successor to the Sun Knight.”

Auston’s face twitched. He would sooner or later be exposed when he had so many jobs lined up for him. When the time came, how was he going to explain it? It was a glaring hole that not even all of Windsor could fill, let alone just the Lando family.

Wayne was also quite troubled, but he chose to take things one step at a time.

“I haven’t awakened,” Auston said. “I can’t go to the Frozen Land. It won’t help even if I go. You can go in my place.”

“The price?”

“Written permission. I can write more for you.”

“Geez, you’re selling out your daughter to save your life,” Wayne said disdainfully. “Your heart must be black.”

Auston’s face darkened. He had no intention of selling his daughter. He was just accepting the blame because he was in so much debt that a little more didn’t matter. He could do it so that Wayne would go to the Frozen Land in his stead.

No matter what the relationship between the five goddesses was actually like, the Frozen Land had gathered three chosen knights from the Life Alliance. If he went as an unawakened Darkness Knight, he would be a little shrimp shaking among large whales, and after the mission was complete, the three chosen knights would kill him together.

Wayne was different. Auston believed that he could survive the ordeal, just like before.

“I can go in your place, but I’ll have to join the battle on Megan’s back.” Wayne turned to the door of the study. “Megan, can I be your knight?”

“Absolutely not!” Megan said decisively from the other side of the door.

Wayne spread his hands in resignation. “See? It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but Megan won’t cooperate.”

His face darkened. “You are the Goddess of Darkness’s chosen knight. She won’t let you go. Attacks like tonight’s will happen again, so you have to find a way to understand pain. You’re running out of time. You must become the true Darkness Knight, for nothing if not for your family!”

“Pain...” Auston smiled bitterly. “I’ve tried to accept pain, but I have my limits. My body cannot bear more.”

If humans have limits, stop being human!

Wayne raised an eyebrow. What if he changed Auston’s life essence and granted him evolution?