Chapter 300 (2): Be at the Dinner Table or Be the Dinner

“Consider the future, Wayne, and use your brain more,” Auston warned. “Don’t choose to solve every problem with your fists just because you’ve gotten stronger.”

Wayne had gotten arrogant since returning from the Frozen Land, which wasn’t ideal. It was understandable for a young man to act like that, but he hoped that Wayne would recover his cautious nature. Cowardice wasn’t a bad trait!

“You said it wasn’t a bad thing to focus on the present, and now you’re telling me to consider the future.” Wayne huffed. “Whatever. You should treasure the days when you are the head of the family. Once I take over, the Queen will not get to decide how she makes the demands.”

Auston sighed, placing a document on the table before Wayne. “This is information about my uncle, including his family’s temporary residence in Londan. They’re our relatives. You’ll attend the dinner banquet tonight. Don’t make things too difficult for them, but don’t let them have it easy, either.”

“At the end of the day, you’re displeased with the Queen, too.” Wayne took the document and accepted the mission readily, raising an eyebrow. “Can I have the Death Knight visit them?”

“You can’t.”

“What about the Darkness Knight?”

“No.”

Auston knew what Wayne wanted to say, so he added, “No to any of the knights. Use a power that doesn’t belong in the Tulip Families.”

He didn’t continue. He was loyal to the Queen and represented the Lando family’s loyalty. Wayne, his heir, was different. It was natural for a young man to get hot-headed and make a mistake. If the Queen pushed too hard, there was no guarantee that Auston’s heir would continue to be loyal to the royal family.

Wayne understood immediately, asking, “Is this viable? Won’t the Queen get furious and take away my right to succession?”

“Excellent politicians do not get angry. They test each other and make compromises. Since I’ve made my compromise, it’s time for the Queen to do the same.”

“How troublesome. Fists will be efficient and foolproof.”

Wayne was unconvinced. His incredible intelligence told him that this situation warranted the use of extraordinary power. He asked curiously, “What about the other Tulip Families? Do they all have their own retaliation plan?”

“That I don’t know.”

“Tsk, how loyal of you!”

Wayne left the study with the document, taking a left turn. Seeing Monica hunting butterflies on the lawn, he only glanced at it before heading straight to the young lady’s mansion.

Veronica wasn’t there. Wayne followed the scent in the air to the underground base and found her.

During the trip to the Frozen Land, Silvia wasn’t the only one whose ego had gotten bruised. Veronica had experienced the same thing. Senna’s comment still rang in her head, making her heart clench every time she remembered it.

Weak, helpless, pitiful, and easy to bully,

Senna had said.

Among her peers, Veronica had always been the unequivocal top in talent. She had believed so, but then she met someone with a cheat.

She didn’t know that Wayne had a cheat, so in her view, he was simply better in every way with overwhelming talent. If he refused to play along, she wouldn’t be able to launch him like a human cannonball whenever she wanted, like Silvia had been doing with Auston.

Although it was later proven that Silvia had only been able to do so because Auston was playing along, the point was that Veronica had become driven. She agreed with the old hag that if she were powerful enough, her fiancé wouldn’t be riding the old hag, and she wouldn’t have to form an alliance with her best friends, thus giving Vera a chance.

According to the information Vera had ‘accidentally’ leaked, she had moved into Wayne’s place, already pregnant.

Bam!

Veronica’s fist hit the wall, causing ash to cascade down from the sturdy concrete wall. Looking closely, one would see a note attached to the wall with Vera’s name on it. Beside it were two other notes. The one with Wayne’s name was all torn up, while the one with Kristen’s name was completely clean and undamaged.

She still couldn’t find it in herself to attack her white moonlight.

“Why are you here, Veronica?” Wayne asked purposefully. He was going to examine Juno again soon, and if nothing was wrong with her, he would conduct the surgery on Veronica. Auston had also been urging him; it seemed that Master was at her limit, too.

It was about time to lift the curse!

Veronica glared. In her eyes, Wayne was holding a pregnant Kristen and a pregnant Vera in each arm, smiling like a real bastard. She shook her head. When she looked again, he was holding Vera with a punchable face.

The images flickered. Veronica lunged at Wayne, who stepped aside with a panicked look on his face. “Not today. I have a mission to take on. Don’t destroy the document before I can deal with it.”

Veronica stopped chasing him, looking at him hesitantly. “What document? Where is it? Why don’t I see anything?”

“Oh, it’s in my personal storage. I got it after becoming a Gold-ranked mage.”

A stretch of silence.

Veronica’s rationality snapped. She chased after Wayne furiously, angrily, seethingly, beating him up hard. After a few minutes, she lifted him by the collar and pinned him to the wall.

“Why did you stop running? Keep running!” She raised her fist, her knuckles crackling.

“My heart is in your grasp. No matter how far I run away, I’ll always come back. There’s no escaping,” Wayne said, lamenting that he was done for in this life.

“Haha, how many parts is your heart divided into?”

“...”

“Speak!”

“I’m still counting.”

Bam!

Later, Veronica turned away and walked out of the underground base, taking every step with unusual viciousness. Meanwhile, Wayne followed her like a pitiful punching bag, covering his nose with one hand while blood gushed out through his fingers.

He was much better at the pity act. Given their constitutions, Auston would die if he lost too much blood, while Wayne could bleed as much as he wanted.

“Why are you following me? Go back to your place.”

“This is my place!”

“Hmph, Senior and Vera are waiting for you at home. This isn’t your home.”

“You’re right. I’ll get going.”

“Bastard, come back.” Veronica furiously dragged Wayne back to her mansion by the collar, finding herself a justification to speak civilly. “Tell me what mission it is. Did the old bastard send you on a distant trip?”

“Veronica, you can’t call my father that, at least not in front of me,” Wayne said seriously. “As you know, we haven’t gotten married, and the old bastard is the head of the family. If he hears you, he’ll consider you lacking in manners and reject the marriage.”

(는_는)

Veronica squinted.

“Don’t worry. I like you so much that I’ll elope with you if he opposes the marriage.”

“...”

Veronica rubbed her temple with a brewing headache. Marriage. What a wonderful and sacred thing it was. She had once imagined her own wedding. It would be a sunny afternoon with white doves taking flight under the pleasant sunlight. Her mother would give her hand to Wayne, and with her bridesmaids’ blessings, she and her husband would bask in the romantic atmosphere, a sea of flower petals raining down on them.

Now, she could no longer dream of the same thing. The bridesmaids were wearing wedding gowns instead, and there was nothing romantic about the occasion.

Veronica resented her own indecisiveness. She had resolved to cut the bastard off, but she couldn’t help but forgive him after the attack in the alleyway. Every time she remembered his coming to the rescue, she lost the heart to reject him.

She was definitely going to beat Vera to death next time!

“Speak. What mission did the old bastard give you?”

“A family tree.” Under Veronica’s envious gaze, Wayne extracted a document from his dark domain. “You may not believe it, but the Lando family has quite a few poor relatives outside the city. They have moved to Londan.”

Veronica frowned, taking the document and browsing through it. “What, are you supposed to help them?”

“No, they’re aiming to steal from the family. Auston told me to take good care of them.”

“...”

Veronica returned the document, silently mouthing, “Boring.”

“This involves the push and pull between the royal family and the Tulip Families,” Wayne warned. “As the heir, I have to show an opposite reaction to Auston. If you hear gossip about me recently, don’t believe any of it. I’m putting on an act for the Queen.”

“Don’t look down on me. I can tell an actual scandal from something related to family interest,” Veronica said irritably. “You don’t have to explain yourself. Whatever the old bastard told you to do, just do it. Since Mother supports him, I’ll support you.”

Wayne approved. “Then I don’t have to worry. I’ll make my moves tonight.”

“Wait!” Veronica gestured at him to stop, suspicious. “What scandals are you creating? Why do I feel like something isn’t right?”

“Tonight, I’m using a power that does not belong to the family. She is a beauty.”

“Huh?!”

“Don’t worry. She’s Kristen’s master.”

“...”

That only worried Veronica more. So she was Kristen’s master. So what? Senna was Wayne’s master’s master, and she still got a taste of him.