Chapter 279 (1): Unable to Feel Happy

Lando Estate.

Young Lady’s mansion.

Three heads huddled together, eyes locked in a staring contest that was unnervingly quiet.

First, the focus was on Kristen’s updo. With her cheeks slightly flushed, she explained, “Butler Veryl designed it for me. I’m not a girl anymore, and as the mistress of the house, I must always mind my manners and appearance.”

It’s just an updo,

Veronica thought.

I’ve been doing that since I was sixteen. Ha! It doesn’t prove anything.

You’re done for

, Vera thought.

Only old women wear their hair up like that!

Next, their attention shifted to Veronica, scanning her up and down before settling on the most noticeable change—her bust.

It was growing quite nicely.

Veronica blushed, waving at them to stop staring. It was merely a natural change brought on by her dragon blood, nothing more.

She shot Vera a vicious glare.

Vera blinked innocently. She seemed unchanged, like she was the purest among the three. How could she accept such humiliation? She would not tolerate it!

Putting a hand on her stomach with maternal radiance, she said, “I’m sure you’ve already noticed. My boyfriend and I—”

Bam!

“Who said you could use magic?!” Veronica pounced on Vera, pinning her down and snarling, “I’ll give you one more chance. Say it. Say that you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“But I do.”

“You don’t!”

“I absolutely do.”

The ruckus ended with Kristen’s intervention. The three returned to their staring contest. Perhaps out of competitiveness, or perhaps as intentional provocation against their rivals, one of them kept talking about her fiancé, one of them kept talking about her boyfriend, and the other kept saying ‘beloved’ and ‘mistress of the house’, all with a healthy dose of embellishments to paint their lover in the best light.

Another reason for their addresses was to keep their lover anonymous.

That bastard really deserves death!

x3

The three of them all wanted monopoly over the same man, yet restrained themselves for friendship’s sake, even as they ground their teeth together. Their conversation gradually shifted from beautiful romance to complaints about their other halves.

He was unfaithful, irresponsible, and never around. The more they talked, the more they found common ground. It was as if their other halves were the same person.

Which they were.

The conversation met a dead end!

Veronica glared at Kristen. Then, after two seconds of hesitation, she turned to glare at Vera instead. “I know someone who stole her friend’s fiancé. How shameless of her! Her friend was trying to help her, but instead of being grateful, she ruined her friend’s relationship.”

“I also know someone who knew full well who her friend liked, yet stole him away anyway—and she didn’t even do it behind her back, but right in front of her! She’s acting all high and mighty about being his first. How detestable!” Vera refused to back down, feeling thoroughly wronged. She huffed, “Do you know who that person is, Veronica?”

“No.”

“What about you, Senior? Do you know?”

“No. It can’t be me.”

Since Vera had made a group attack, breaking the three-way balance, Veronica and Kristen banded together to exclude her instead.

Displeased, Vera namedropped her boyfriend. “I asked Wayne if the curse of Death hadn’t turned me into a man, but had turned Veronica instead, what would’ve happened.”

Vera blamed Death for the curse that prevented her from claiming her target first, giving Veronica and Kristen a chance. Consequently, she held a grudge against the Death Knight of Londan. She should talk to Wayne about becoming the Sun Knight to avenge her someday.

“There’s little point in talking about ‘what-ifs’.”

“There are no ‘what-ifs’, Vera, or you would’ve turned into a black cat.”

Veronica and Kristen shot down Vera’s attempt to start the hypothetical discussion, but they were curious about Wayne’s answer. Thus, they each made a retort and waited for her to continue.

Vera lifted her chin proudly. “Wayne said that no matter how the curse changed things, the result would’ve been the same. He wouldn’t have given up any of us.”

So, what are you so proud of?

x2

Veronica raised an eyebrow. “Why are you defending him? Speak, traitor. Are you his spy?”

“What’s wrong with defending my boyfriend?”

Everything! You’re ten thousand percent wrong!

x2

Veronica gripped Vera’s wrists and pinned her to the sofa. Kristen curiously asked what Wayne had promised to make Vera willingly act as his spy. Vera resisted, but soon confessed everything.

Well, it was a mix of lies and truths. She brought up schemes like arranging a chance for Wayne to catch Veronica with her crush so that he could have both of them, hitting two birds with one stick.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Veronica blushed furiously. She swore to Kristen that Vera was speaking nonsense. The talks about longing and admiration were nothing but parts of Vera’s scheme.

Kristen looked at her with amusement, offering reassurance and dropping the topic. Instead, she took the initiative to cross-reference their schedules.

Wayne had been busy lately and rarely made an appearance. So, outside of the Lando Estate and his residence, where else had he been spending his time?

Comparing their timelines revealed significant problems. Kristen frowned. Based on her preliminary observation, her master, Filomina, was highly suspicious. Something about her intimidated Kristen from looking deeply.

“There’s nothing mysterious about it,” Veronica interjected. “I can testify that he has something extremely important to handle lately. When he’s not around, he’s working on that.”

“What’s that?” Vera asked, popping her head out.

Taming a princess!

Veronica pursed her lips. “I told you it’s important. If you don’t know, it means he doesn’t want you to know. The world is complicated. You only have to be a pretty face.”

She leaned back on the sofa with an air of superiority.

Vera didn’t know the truth, and neither did Kristen. She was the only one in the know. She concluded from their difference in status that she would be the ultimate winner.

Her excessive arrogance broke her alliance with Kristen. Vera seized the chance to form an alliance with Kristen to resist Veronica, excluding her from the circle.

Smack!

It took only one hand chop to knock Vera down. She was securely at the bottom of the pecking order.

(:3」∠)

The afternoon tea ended. Veronica bade her best friends farewell, with whom she had a complicated relationship. Then she saw a car parked in front of the main house.

With her sharp eyes, she saw her mother, Silvia, who had left work early, and the alarmingly beautiful Senna. Veronica hissed, alarm bells ringing in her head. She knew it. She knew the old hag harbored impure thoughts for her fiancé. See? She even followed him to Londan!

But her mother wouldn’t believe it, even foolishly bringing her home.

Silvia, oh, Silvia. How can you be so naive? What good does it do for your master to become your son’s girlfriend?

Actually, there was a benefit. With Silvia’s elevated status, Senna would have to call her ‘mother’, and Silvia could get back at her master for all the grievances she had suffered.

Veronica shuddered. She rushed to the main house and, before the two women could enter the study, pulled her mother aside.

“Mother, why did you bring her home?” Veronica eyed the study warily. “Don’t you know about her ill intentions for Wayne? You can’t keep her here. Kick her out.”

“I know, but it’s fine.”

“How can it be fine?” Veronica’s jaw dropped. She said stiffly, “I know that recent events have left you in shock, but you can’t just give up on yourself!”

“What are you talking about? You aren’t making sense,” Silvia said. “Master has important business with Wayne. Can you contact him?”

“No!”

“Then I’ll contact that bastard. He must know where Wayne is.”

Indeed, Auston knew.

Learning that Senna had arrived in Londan and was now at the Lando Estate, Auston immediately called the laboratory. No one answered, which led Auston to the conclusion that Trash Jr. was messing around somewhere. He called Wayne’s Detective Agency instead and reached Secretary Mona, who relayed the message for him. Soon, Wayne returned to Lando Estate.

During the family dinner that day, the atmosphere in the dining room was bizarre; everyone was lost in their own thoughts. The room was so quiet that even a pin drop would be audible, and only the sounds of cutlery clinking against plates could be heard.

After dinner, Wayne led Senna toward the young master’s mansion. Noticing a whole group of people trailing after him, he borrowed Auston’s study for the conversation instead.

Well, it wasn’t borrowed per se. The Lando Estate was only under Auston’s temporary management, so Wayne was only reclaiming what would rightfully be his.

“It’s important business. Are you sure that they can all know?” Senna frowned at the family—Auston, the Darkness Knight, Silvia, the High Reverend of the Church of Nature, Veronica, who was just here to guard her possession, and a magical creature acting as the family butler, who was eavesdropping from outside the door.

Senna had seen many things, but not such a strange combination under the name of family.

Are they not going to start fighting? Or do they not know about each other even though they live under the same roof?

“It’s fine, Master Senna. They all know that I’m the successor to the Nature Knight.” Wayne shrugged.

Also Death, Darkness, and Sun

. Auston fiddled with his antique silver coin impassively, throwing sideways glances at Senna. It had been years, and Silvia’s master was as stunning as she had been. Among all the women he had met, her looks and grace could be ranked at the top.

That wasn’t the point, though. The point was that Wayne claimed that he had Senna eating out of his hand. He could even walk her like a dog with a leash on her. Moreover, he had told Senna who the Darkness Knight was.

Wayne was a serial liar, and sometimes ten out of ten sentences out of his mouth were false. Unconvinced, Auston wanted to use this opportunity to confirm the true nature of Wayne and Senna’s relationship.

“Very well. Then I’ll be frank.”

Senna glanced at Auston. His black hair and black eyes were in line with the Darkness Knight’s style. Silvia had a good eye, picking out the Darkness Knight from all the men around her.

Foolish student, marrying and having children while you were drunk on passion. You probably don’t even know how dark your partner’s heart is.

Senna shook her head. “Wayne, something has gone wrong in the Frozen Land. Sir Moula, the Nature Knight, asked for your presence and for you to bring your dragon mount, proceeding to the Frozen Land as soon as possible.”

Senna then noticed the family’s reaction—or the lack thereof. They didn’t seem surprised when the Frozen Land entered the conversation, as if they had known all along.

Wayne had to have told them.

She reassessed the family’s importance to Wayne. Sir Moula had emphasized that it was a top secret, but Wayne still told them everything.

“Dragon mount?” x2

The dragon-blooded mother and daughter both paused. Veronica asked curiously, “Wayne, you also ride a dragon? Is it part of the Nature Knight’s legacy? Why haven’t I seen your dragon before?”

“Um, she’s in this very room.”

“Where?”

Veronica looked at her hands. He had ridden her, but she couldn’t transform into a dragon now. After a brief consideration, she struck herself off the list of suspects.

She turned to Silvia. Impossible, absolutely impossible. Out.

Then she looked at the door. In the past, she might have suspected Megan, but after learning about the previous generation’s messy relationships, she ruled Megan out.

Finally, she looked at Senna, who sat on the sofa having tea with Mother. Sneering at the old hag, Veronica struck out her name—

But wait, she could be the one!

“Wayne is my rider,” Senna said with a calm nod.

Silvia spat out her black tea, accepting Auston’s offered handkerchief to wipe her mouth and gaping like she had seen a ghost. She wondered if her master had lost her mind.

As a fellow Dragonblood, Silvia knew that great dragons weren’t so easy to tame, even though she couldn’t yet transform into one. Not just anyone was qualified to ride on a dragon’s back.

Take herself as an example, even after years of marriage to Auston, she still would never allow him to ride her.

What exactly was the relationship between her master and her son?