Chapter 315 (1): Frequent Fires at the Ministry of Magic

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”

Auston glanced at Trash Jr. contemptuously. When he looked in the mirror last year, he knew that this kid was just like him in his youth—a playboy who charged forward at the sight of a beautiful woman.

The difference was that Auston had money when he was young, while Wayne only had potatoes. He eventually turned around and changed his ways, while Wayne stayed on the same path.

“What can I say? That you’ve misunderstood me? Would you believe me? In your mind, I’m just a little pervert.”

No, not just a little one.

“You may not believe this, but even if it’s the packaged deal of the Princess and her two fiancées, I still think I’m getting the short end of the stick.” Wayne waved his hand in denial. “This isn’t about numbers, but a lack of emotional connection. The Princess isn’t my type. She’s too ambitious. I prefer simpler girls.”

That much was the truth. Wayne knew Juno well; he was confident that he knew her more than anyone after studying her thoroughly. Physically speaking, he didn’t see it as a sacrifice to help the Princess improve her bloodline, but he saw it as a spiritual sacrifice. His heart didn’t flutter for her, and there was no fun in a purely physical clash of the bodies.

If he had to be honest, he was more interested in the Princess’s fiancée.

All things considered, Wayne didn’t lack beautiful companions, especially since he already had Senna and Filomina, who were flawless beyond criticism. His standards had risen, so he didn’t want to settle anymore.

The Princess was decent, but he was always going to be a man she couldn’t have.

Trash Jr.’s definitive rejection puzzled Auston. “I never thought I’d see the day you turn down a beautiful woman, and a buy-one-get-two-free deal at that. Incredible. Is this a side effect of being the Death Knight?”

ε=(′д`*)))

“You don’t get it. I have my problems!”

Wayne sighed. Private life was hard.

No matter how tempting the flowers in the wild were, he already had a garden. As an honest man, he only wanted to tend to his garden and live a decent life.

After figuring out his reasoning, Auston shot Wayne a glare before closing his eyes so that the eyesore wouldn’t continue to grate on his nerves. “Handle the Princess yourself. I don’t care how you do it, but I’ve already promised the Queen that the future sovereign will have the blood of both the Landos and the Windsors.”

“Then there’s even less reason for me to contribute my blood.”

“Go tell the Queen and see if she believes you!”

“...” x2

ε=(′д`*)))x2

She thinks I’m his father—how can you insult someone like that?

She thinks I’m his son—the Queen’s being too rude!

They sighed in unison. Wayne said, “Father, in my opinion...”

“Shut up and don’t call me father. I don’t have a father like you.”

Auston cut him off, so mentally and physically exhausted that he didn’t realize he had made a verbal slip.

Wayne didn’t notice, either. He was too busy lamenting how difficult rebellion was, especially since they had to clean up a great mess after a successful rebellion. He suddenly felt a twinge of regret.

That said, he would’ve still chosen to make Auston take power given another chance. Just as life, void, and self should reach a balance for a mage, so too should power, status, and reputation keep pace and advance together.

Raw power was power. Even if the strong didn’t actively seek political power, political power would gravitate towards them. If they hadn’t rebelled now, they would have sooner or later invited the suspicion of the royal family from having their secrets exposed, ultimately leading to a great conspiracy against the Lando family. Wayne had simply chosen to be proactive rather than passive.

“I have no plan for the Princess. You shouldn’t have promised the Queen on my behalf. You’re strong, and she’s weak. Given the power dynamic, you’re only encouraging her to keep testing boundaries by leaving room for hope. In the end... she’ll be the one to suffer.”

Auston understood that. He could see from the increasingly revealing way the Queen dressed herself lately that she was already toeing the line. Even so, Auston had never intended to rebel and become king. What could he do except drag things out and let time prove his truth?

Plus, he had no idea how he should do that.

The Church of Darkness was going to develop in Londan and would become the strongest religious force. Then Silvia and Filomina would surely compete for interests on behalf of their respective churches.

Auston couldn’t find a reason to refuse them, but if he said yes, the three churches would continue growing. The higher-ups were on his side, yet at the lower level, followers, made ignorant by religion, would inevitably get into physical altercations.

Or the Church of Heavenly Father could meddle. They didn’t even have to sow discord for the three churches to start fighting among themselves.

The scales had already tipped after the banquet that night. There was no recovering the balance.

These past few days, Auston had been handling state affairs while Queen Sophelia slacked off, pretending to be busy with a cup of black tea as a prop. She watched him struggle to find a solution like she found it entertaining.

Beyond balancing the churches, he also had to deal with the messy internal politics, terrible foreign relations, the chaos of the international landscape in wartime, and...

He needed money for everything!

Auston despaired. He had never wanted to be king, and now he wanted it even less. He considered having Wayne take his place, but feared that the troublemaker would destroy the country.

“So, as long as you help the Princess continue her bloodline, the Queen will have hope and step up to govern the country.”

Auston explained his predicament with resignation in every word he uttered. It was all caused by Wayne’s instigation of a rebellion. He had to take responsibility.

At the end, he added that he would write Wayne more written proof.

“Let’s talk about it later. Maybe my taste will change in a few years, and I’ll develop feelings for the Princess.” Wayne deflected once more, but he didn’t reject the idea fully, leaving Auston with a glimmer of hope.

He could sleep with her, but there was no passing on his bloodline. The reason was simple: his existence was so advanced that the Princess couldn’t match it.

Outside of Senna, who had not been allowed to take his essence, Wayne had given it to Veronica, Kristen, Vera, Filomina, and Mona quite frequently. Kristen, due to her proximity to him, had received most attention from him, yet showed no signs of pregnancy.

Their existences were too low-level for them to bear his offspring.

There was another possibility: Wayne had long since stopped being human, and different species could not reproduce. That was a possibility, but not likely.

Veronica had dragon blood, which was known for accommodating anything and flooding with only the slightest hint of stimulation. If even she showed no signs, it probably wasn’t an issue of reproductive isolation, but a gap in levels of existence.

Wayne could sacrifice himself and mess around with Juno, but then what? Should he just keep doing it without paying her with results? That would be shameless!

Wayne didn’t spell things out. When anyone asked, he would say that his career came first, so he wasn’t in a hurry to have children. By not explaining, he hoped that Auston would figure it out himself. Wayne was willing, but unable to help in the important matter of continuing the royal bloodline.

In two years, once the Queen couldn’t bear it any longer, perhaps she would ask Auston to help continue the bloodline. She had nothing better to do. Why not try her luck at conception?

When Wayne didn’t even accept written proof, Auston developed some respect for him. It seemed that Trash Jr. was finally turning around and changing his ways like Auston had done. It was a good thing!

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“Have you dealt with the Grey Space?” Auston asked.

“I’m working on it.” Wayne perked up immediately and said with renewed energy, “I’ll find a way to divide the Grey Space, making sure that the higher-ups of the Ministry of Magic can communicate with the four elements with their silver coins. However, the royal family is not awakening their divine blood. That information will be handled.”

Auston nodded. The sooner that was done, the better. He didn’t want the Queen to get ideas, and he didn’t want to actually dispose of her.

“Speaking of the higher-ups, the Queen and I concluded that reorganization is in order. The old arrangements are no longer appropriate.”

Wayne took the list from Auston and browsed it.

For the Vice Ministers, Alnwick and Charlee being declared missing left two positions vacant. Vice Ministry Yvette remained in office—that was Auston’s decision. He had a good impression of Yvette, and she had once been supportive of him.

Hermann was similarly left in his original post as the captain of the Order of Holy Light, stationed at Saint George’s Church at Windsor Castle.

Both were legendary mages loyal to the royal family. Any other new ruler would’ve kept them far from the center of political power, even if not have them killed. Auston, however, hadn’t done so, instead allowing them to retain their original posts.

Perhaps that was why the Queen kept testing the boundaries.

He still loves me!

“Planck didn’t attend the banquet, and he had distanced himself from the Tulip Families. At least on the surface, he wasn’t involved...” Auston glanced at Wayne, who was focused on the list. “Planck remains as the director of the Red Leaf Asylum. He’s neither achieved anything nor made a mistake, so he’s neither rewarded nor punished.”

“Bedfrith and Bourne had participated in the Queen’s kidnapping under the mysterious man’s control. Regardless of whether they were willing, they did what they did and must be punished.”

“Bourne’s research projects have been halted, and the materials on Astral Beasts have been sent to the ministry’s headquarters...”

Auston continued expressionlessly, “Bedfrith holds no position at the ministry, so his punishment is having the Bedford Shipyard transferred to the nation. Due to the difficulties faced in the process, the Lando family will temporarily manage the accounts and oversee the shipyard.”

“Tsk, power sure is useful—more so than magic.” Wayne nodded. This was why he wanted to be a rich second-generation. They should’ve done this long ago.

“Celeste has been summoned back to Londan, in charge of monitoring the mist from now on to prevent it from running loose at night and spawning wild magical creatures,” Auston added.

Celeste had been corrupted by Wayne. Though he was the Princess’s master and the liaison between the royal family and the Church of Heavenly Father on paper, he had already become Wayne’s follower. It would be safe to have him guard the mist.

Unless Wayne lost his mind, that was!

“Also, we found out who the mysterious man was: Frank Turner, the Hell expert of the Tulip Families. I suspected him before, but the investigation didn’t go anywhere because of the Queen.”

Auston shook his head. Frank had contributed significantly to the fall of the royal family, so the Queen had brought it on herself in the end.

“Frank’s backer or ally is still unknown. We’ve found no clues, not even a shadow.” Auston’s expression turned grave. He was deeply uneasy when he thought about the fact that a formidable schemer had been lurking in the shadows, quite possibly from Hell.

Frank, who had been hiding in the dark, was exposed, and so were the Lando family and the royal family. That mastermind alone remained hidden until the very end.

Wayne was equally troubled. The person had concealed themselves too well. Who could’ve guessed that Frank was just another pawn on their chessboard?

It was precisely the reason why the Queen had to stay, to absorb the attacks at the front.