Outside the Imperial Capital, Weir Manor.
Charlotte, wearing a loose loungewear set and hugging a silk pillow, rolled around beside the pink dual contract mark like a silly girl lost in the early throes of love.
Her emerald eyes were fixed on the faintly glowing contract mark on her wrist, grinning like an idiot.
“What are you giggling about in your room?”
Count Ville’s voice suddenly came from outside the door.
Her old father happened to be passing through the backyard when he heard strange laughter coming from his daughter’s room, so he couldn’t help but peek inside.
Charlotte quickly shifted her focus, sending a private message through the magic mark to Annabell, who was who-knows-where:
[Oh dear, time to head to the meditation room and cultivate. So I can pin you to the bed in the future… cough, so I can protect you, I’ve gotta work hard! You must give me kisses before bed tonight, ten of them!]
After sending the message, Charlotte turned to her father, face completely straight and heart not even skipping a beat as she made up nonsense: “It’s nothing, Father. Your daughter just suddenly figured out a complex alchemy equation, and I’m simply in a good mood.”
Count Ville looked at his daughter, who had suddenly become all serious, and didn’t suspect a thing. He sighed, walked to the bedside, and handed her an antique mithril space ring.
“Take it. This is what the family scraped together over the past few months—selling off the magic workshops south of the city to pool resources. You’re about to head out for your trial, and traveling far requires funds. Keep it on you.”
Charlotte knew all too well how badly the Weir Family had been crushed by the other old-money nobles lately. They were completely broke right now. Whatever was in this ring was probably the family’s last lifeline.
“Father, this is too precious, I can’t—”
“Take it!”
Count Ville shoved it into her hand firmly.
“You’ve not only awakened an extraordinary talent, you’re also the family’s only hope. Good steel must be used for the blade. Even if the whole clan has to gnaw on black bread, we won’t shortchange your cultivation resources. Accept it, and give the family something to look forward to.”
Just then, a spirited old woman’s harrumph sounded in Charlotte’s Sea of Consciousness:
“Silly girl, if she says take it, then take it! With this old woman—the sacred alchemy founder—guiding you, once your alchemy reaches its peak, a single strand of my leg hair will be worth more than this entire Count’s estate! Right now, you’re in the critical phase of expanding your mana, so stop being coy.”
Hearing the old woman’s extremely hardcore remark, Charlotte decided not to be overly modest.
She solemnly tucked the ring away and said to her father with all seriousness: “Rest assured, Father! I’ll set out for the trial right away and will not disappoint the family’s expectations. In the future, I’ll refine divine-grade magic herbs and support—”
She swallowed the words “my tsundere Duchess wife” and changed it to: “support our whole family!”
The old Count, however, didn’t mind.
“Where are you going?”
“The Abyss… the border of the Grand Duchy, the Deep Crimson Dragonbone Mountains.”
Count Ville sucked in a cold breath, his blood pressure spiking: “Are you insane? That place is crawling with fire-attribute magic beasts of tier six and above.”
“You’ll step on a magic beast every two paces. Everyone who goes there looking for high-grade fire crystals ends up having their ashes scattered to the wind!”
“Relax, relax~”
Charlotte smiled sweetly, stroking the contract mark on her wrist with a dreamy, besotted expression.
“I have the Elven King’s legacy protecting me. No one can touch me. I’m also going to devour a high-grade strange fire to make a love token for my wife…”
Watching his daughter sink into some kind of pink, feverish frenzy, the old father sighed wearily:
“Our family finally produced a genius, and her brain seems a little… off.”
May the gods protect her.
At the same moment, twenty thousand feet in the air.
In the VIP cabin of a luxurious magical airship, Annabell watched the pink light flickering on her wrist, and her mind automatically replayed Charlotte’s sickly-sweet “ten kisses.”
She pressed her forehead helplessly.
This damn stench of love!
I’m a woman who’s sworn to become the ultimate villainess, damn it!
Why does this feel like some scene where a domineering CEO is on a business trip while his little sweet wife waits at home like a lovestruck statue?
Damn it, I should’ve kept my composure that night!
The cold, cruel persona I worked so hard to build is completely ruined in front of Charlotte.
Annabell sighed, waved her hand to dismiss the faint glow of the contract mark, and turned to look out the window.
After who knew how long, the sunlight was completely blocked out as the airship sailed into a stretch of sky shrouded by blood-red clouds.
The Trandi Grand Duchy.
Or rather, the place known as the “Death Zone,” a territory that looked like demon territory.
This godforsaken place, to put it in gaming terms, the art style suddenly shifted into a souls-like game. The ground was littered with grotesque obsidian spires and sulfur pits spewing green flames.
Never mind birds—even the stray dogs passing through looked twice as vicious here.
Legend had it that this was where the ancient Mo Shen fell, and it was also the stronghold of the Trandy Family.
Holy knights from the outside world would detour eight hundred miles just to avoid this place.
In truth, Annabell knew full well that these family elders were twisted, brutal, and vicious.
Besides the Abyss curse running through their bloodline, living in this heavily polluted hellhole with zero greenery day in and day out—it was a miracle they hadn’t all developed depression.
“BOOM—”
The airship landed smoothly at the only giant fortress in this territory—the core castle of Trandi’s Shadow.
The city’s scale rivaled that of the Imperial Capital, and it survived solely by relying on a super-massive mana gathering array at its center, forcibly yanking magical elements from the outside to keep the whole city alive.
But the population makeup here was seriously hardcore—humans and half-breed demons only.
The entire city looked exactly like a Demon King’s castle!
Back when the demons were wiped out, somehow Trandy’s ancestor reached a settlement with the Empire’s high command, so the family had served the Empire for generations, staying loyal for dozens of generations…
And then…
Well, of course, they stopped being so loyal.
The Trandy Grand Duke was constantly paranoid about rebellion and had long since made the teleportation array one-way.
Apparently there used to be a direct teleportation array to the Imperial Capital, but the Royal Family had been wary of them. So the noble Miss had no choice but to take an airship for a grueling two-day flight.
The moment she stepped off the gangway, a thick stench of sulfur mixed with blood hit her in the face.
“We welcome the Young Miss back to your loyal family’s domain!”
Two rows of Dark Knights in full-covered dark gold armor dropped to one knee in unison, their voices rattling the very ground.
Annabell immediately switched into her expressionless Miss mode.
She raised her snow-white chin high, stepped over them in her expensive dragonhide boots without a second glance, and strode straight into the deep palace.
The two lead knights secretly glanced up, their eyes burning with fervor as they gazed at Annabell’s waist-length silver hair that shimmered like moonlight.
In the Trandy family, hair color was the symbol of your social standing.
The whiter your hair, the purer your bloodline, the closer you were to the original demons!
Which meant the higher your status in the family!
That’s right, the Trandy Family actually originated from the demon royal bloodline. It was said that their ancestor, the Demon King, was also a demon!
Some even claimed he was a sinister great skeleton wielding a gem-encrusted staff!
Of course, that was complete nonsense.
If you had black hair?
Sorry, your only job was scrubbing toilets, and you had to bring your own brush.
As the family’s only pure-blood direct Heir, Annabell’s hair was an extreme silver-white without a single stray strand, the kind of super-rare configuration in the family that could blind people just by walking past.
Who wouldn’t treat her with the utmost respect?
“The Young Miss is so beautiful!”
“I know, right? Every time I see her, it’s like a breath of fresh air!”
“Especially that look she gives everyone, like she’s looking at trash. Absolutely stunning.”
“She’s so arrogant and aloof, yet still so pure. It’s just unfair!”
These rumors naturally reached Annabell’s ears word for word.
She muttered a quiet curse about a bunch of shallow face-chasers, then headed to her private chambers.
Back in her bedroom—which was bigger than a basketball court—she barely got settled before receiving word that the Grand Duke wanted to see her.
Meaning her mother wanted to see her!
Annabell didn’t dare dawdle. She moved at once, following the dim, shadowy corridors toward the castle’s core, the Main Hall.
The moment she got near the area, Annabell felt the demon blood in her veins thumping like it’d been injected with adrenaline.
Not from nervousness, but because an absolute superior’s presence triggered a resonance response in her genes.
Sitting inside was the very heavens of the Trandy Family, her biological mother, the current female Grand Duke of the Trandy Family—Camilla Bathory Trandy!
Annabell took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the mana surging in her body, and straightened her appearance at the door.
“I wish to see my mother.”
She said coldly to the two female officials standing before the gates.
The two officials tremblingly pulled open the massive doors, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
The scene inside the Main Hall was even more macabre.
No lamps to speak of, just eerie red dim light everywhere, like stepping into some underground cult recruitment rally.
At the center of the enormous raised platform, a ridiculously luxurious soft couch floated, revealing the lazy, reclining silhouette of a mesmerizing figure. Layer upon layer of crimson curtains completely veiled the person within, with only her voice audible.
Annabell knelt on one knee: “Mother, Annabell pays her respects.”
From the couch came a mature, seductive voice laced with drowsiness yet dripping with danger:
“Come closer. Let Mother properly inspect my masterpiece.”
The moment the words landed, Annabell felt an utterly unreasonable surge of mana envelop her, and in the blink of an eye, she stood before the couch.
The curtain was parted slightly by a pale, slender hand, and a pair of eyes red enough to drip blood stared at her through the gap.
There was no motherly love in that gaze—only boundless pressure.
Annabell nearly broke out in cold sweat, her heart pounding wildly.
Terrifying. Just how high-level was this cheap mother of mine?
Her health bar is so thick I can’t even see the end of it! Unfathomable!
She had a feeling this female Grand Duke’s strength might even surpass her mentor’s!
As expected of a big shot with demon royal blood!
“You awakened the abyssal bloodline ahead of schedule in the Elven King Ruins outside?”
The Grand Duke’s voice was lazy yet carried a warning: “You’re not yet worthy of fully controlling that power. Aren’t you afraid of the backlash turning you into a mindless monster?”
Got it.
This psycho mother was testing her.
Even from a thousand miles away, the moment she used a big move, her mother had already sensed the problem.
But who was Annabell?
She knew the truth well: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and prideful cannon fodder dies fast.”
She immediately put on a tone that was outwardly defiant but inwardly aggrieved:
“If I hadn’t activated my bloodline, your pure-blood Heir might have been sent to the afterlife by that useless Fourth Prince of the Royal Family. He’s got the guardian dragon soul the old Emperor gave him. I couldn’t withstand that.”
She paused, then let out an extremely disdainful laugh.
Sure enough, at the mention of the Royal Family, the Grand Duke’s voice grew noticeably colder and sharper.
“Augustus the old Emperor’s dragon soul protection? Hmph, those grasshoppers in the Royal Family don’t have much time left either. We endured humiliation and infiltrated the human world, not to serve as the old Emperor’s dogs…”
Annabell was ecstatic inside. This was working!
The subtext was that the rebellion progress bar was almost full. Dare to mess with my daughter? Just wait until I get out and crush them!
“Rest assured, Mother.”
Annabell picked up the thread: “That Fourth Prince has already been sent to meet the Goddess of Light by your daughter’s hand.”
The figure behind the curtain mused for a moment, seeming quite satisfied:
“You did even better than I imagined. Since the Demon King’s bloodline is already awakened, there’s no time like the present. Prepare yourself. The blood sacrifice ritual will be held early. It’s up to you to take the lead.”
What?!
Annabell nearly blurted out a “what the hell” inside.
Are you kidding me?!
According to the original plot, this ritual was supposed to happen three years from now, right before she was sent to the front lines as cannon fodder.
Was this butterfly effect flapping its wings a little too hard?
The ritual was connected to the second purpose of Annabell’s return home, and it had a tremendous connection to her sister, Xue Lei.
Her sister Xue Lei was also one of the protagonists!
Yeah, the one who was originally supposed to have her bone dug out!
But she didn’t let it show on her face. She had to stay steady as a rock and naturally steer the conversation toward her other messy issue.
“I understand. But Mother… about my engagement to Charlotte of the Weir Family…”
“I’ve already heard. It was just a little ploy to irritate the Royal Family anyway. With the Trandy family’s grand plan at hand, that girl from the fallen family has outlived her usefulness. Follow the wishes of those sanctimonious old fogies at Sky College and break it off.”
The Grand Duke said it as lightly as tossing out trash.
One part of the grand plan was for Annabell to “infiltrate” Sky College as a spy, biding her time to seize control of the institution.
Though, back then, Principal Sylvia taking a liking to Annabell and accepting her as a direct disciple had been a genuine accident.
You could only blame Annabell for being too beautiful, right?
Who knew the Principal was a lesbian with a thing for pretty faces?
As for the broken engagement?
Annabell absolutely refused!
Thinking on her feet, she started spouting nonsense without missing a beat:
“Mother, please calm down! Our family’s grand plan three years from now absolutely cannot be ruined by a broken engagement! Charlotte has now obtained the Elven King’s legacy. Her talent is no less than mine, and she will inevitably become the core combat strength on the Empire’s side in the future!”
“Furthermore, I’ve already publicly declared my unwavering devotion to Charlotte. Half the Imperial Capital knows about it. If I break it off, how can I still stand in the academy? How can I vie for the position of Principal of Sky College?”
“Besides, keeping Charlotte as our… cough, as a fine cultivation vessel to raise on a leash—isn’t that more conducive to monitoring the Empire’s side?”
“Please, Mother, consider the greater good!”
To protect her wife, Annabell had memorized all the “heartless villainess” lines to perfection.
The female Grand Duke behind the curtain clearly pondered for a moment, then spoke:
“…Very well.”
Whew…
A successful comeback from the brink.
Annabell’s back was practically soaked through.
The Grand Duke dismissed her.
The moment she stepped out of the Main Hall, Annabell’s eyes turned razor-sharp.
With Mother handled, next she had to complete the second extremely important main quest of her return home—the fatal scythe of death that was perpetually hanging over her neck in this story.
That was her dear cousin, the biggest hidden rising protagonist in this book—Xue Lei.
Xue Lei was born with all-element magic talent, monstrously gifted. If she’d been thrown into any other novel’s script, she’d have been a flawless protagonist invincible from the start.
But in the Trandy family, this extremist bloodline-worshipping demon descendant clan, because she had black hair and an extremely thin demon bloodline, she was instantly branded as lowborn scum.
Even the dog guarding the gate ranked higher than her.
She’d even been used by the original owner as a human punching bag to test new magic, beaten bloody countless times, and all her cultivation resources had been seized and stolen by the original owner.
In the original story, she had been utterly inhuman!
In the end, she even had her supreme bone dug out, with the claim of “uniting two supremes, conquering the world”!
And then, well… everyone saw the result…
Karma!
Walking along, Annabell returned to her bedroom, pondering how to escape this second storyline.
[This arc might get a little angsty]
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