Myths Reawakened

Juno remained undeterred, spending the entire drive talking to Mona about relying on herself, being independent from men, and women helping women—all of which fell on deaf ears.

“We’re here.”

The black sedan stopped at the temporary parking area in front of the castle. Juno pushed open the door and stepped out, gazing at the cold moon in the distance. “The fog is so thick in the suburbs tonight. It wasn’t nearly this eerie when we scouted yesterday. Could it be the demon’s doing?”

The demon is nowhere near that handsome! Mona huffed silently.

Juno kept pushing Mona’s buttons and getting on her nerves. She took the invitation and headed to the castle entrance, carrying today’s gift with her.

It was a bouquet.

“This is what your boss is giving?”

“Yes, it’s the thought that counts. That’s what Boss said.”

“You’re so naive. Why didn’t the Princess meet you sooner...”

Juno felt indignant on the Princess’s behalf. It was a shame that she hadn’t been given the chance to win over such a wonderful woman.

The two walked across the red carpet into the castle’s main hall. As mages, they didn’t fear the cold of winter, yet neither removed their coats. With wine glasses in hand, they headed to the open-air banquet venue on the rooftop, observing the other guests from a corner.

Soon, a gentleman approached them, inquiring whether they were seeking a male companion. Juno placed a hand on Mona’s shoulder and said that they were already taken, needing no men to be happy. Since this was Windsor, the gentleman simply walked away with a smile.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted below. The guests on the rooftop looked down at the castle entrance and erupted into laughter of schadenfreude.

Mona followed their gazes to see a woman surrounded by more than ten figures in black, attempting to force their way in with brutal efficiency. They beat back anyone who dared to stand in their way. The woman herself was the most formidable. Dressed in riding attire and tall boots, she wielded a riding crop like a weapon, cracking it to drive away the castle guards.

Mona adjusted her glasses. The woman was clearly somebody important. Despite her violent intrusion, the castle guards only took on the defense and retreated continuously, not a single one of them fighting back.

“Now this is a good show.” Juno’s lips quirked up. “That’s Carol Bourbon, from the famous Bourbon family. Though they were once powerful, their influence is mediocre at best now.”

“Juno, is this really something you should be saying so casually?”

It was Mona’s first time hearing the surname of the Prince’s fiancée. She and the Prince were actually relatives, albeit distant ones.

“What’s wrong with that? Those who already know, already know, and those who don’t know won’t change anything by knowing. The Princess’s fiancé is also the heir to a declining family branch.” Juno pointed northeast. “Of the royal family, I mean.”

“Hohenzollern?”

“Even more distant.”

An even more distant branch would have to live on potatoes...

Mona came to a sudden realization, thinking of the famous Romanov family. She frowned in confusion and said, “As far as I know, all members of the family are dead. They even sought aid from the Windsor royal family.”

“It’s politics, you know. There are always alternative explanations. Let’s just call it something forced by circumstances...” Juno smiled faintly. “Besides, there was a rescue. Otherwise, where would the Princess’s fiancé have come from?”

Mona gulped. The Princess’s fiancé and the Prince’s fiancée—although neither had entirely legitimate bloodline, their respective surnames carried extraordinary significance. What was the Windsor royal family planning? To overthrow the current regime and restore the old feudal rule?

That couldn’t be right. They would have to be insane to play with fire like that. Even the Papal State wouldn’t dare to make such an attempt.

Noticing Mona’s alarm reaction, Juno said with a smile, “Don’t overthink it. No one’s doing anything reckless. It’s simply about preserving the bloodlines for the convenience of future manipulations.”

Mona paused, staring at Juno with a frown. “Juno, you’re quite talkative tonight.”

As long as her backside wasn’t touching Wayne’s hand, her brain was always in working order. She could tell how different Juno was acting tonight, and those words didn’t seem to be said for her benefit.

“I have no choice but to say this to you because your boss isn’t here.”

Mona was surprised again. Could it be that the Princess wasn’t trying to establish a connection with the Lando family, but with her master?

“Enough talk. Let’s enjoy the show!”

Juno took a sip of wine to warm herself up and looked down below. She wasn’t alone in her expectant glee. Other guests shared the sentiment.

These people were either Edward’s friends or the distinguished guests Mayor Angelo had invited. Since they were all acquaintances from the same circle, they wouldn’t miss an opportunity to watch the drama unfold. If they could witness Carol battling Chante tonight, the trip to this party would be well worth it.

Below, Prince Edward arrived with a group of people to defuse the situation. Judging by his profuse sweating and desperate attempts to explain himself to his fiancée, the greatest spectacle tonight was about to begin.

Fight! Fight!

In one corner of the castle, a skeleton was watching with gleaming eyes in the bushes.

“Edward, why didn’t I receive an invitation to your birthday party? And why is your birthday today?”

“Carol, let me explain...”

“I won’t. I’m not listening. Hand over that harlot. I’ll see how alluring she can be!”

“There are too many people here. Let’s move the conversation inside...”

Faced with his fiancée’s interrogation, the Prince was at his wits’ end. He could imagine his friends’ jeering laughter. He led his fiancée into the castle, pulling and dragging her.

On the rooftop plaza, the guests craned their necks, anticipating Act Two. What just happened was merely an appetizer. The main course was yet to come.

“His Highness is going to have a headache. I remember him being quite afraid of his fiancée...”

“Well, she does wield that whip quite skillfully.”

“Coming here today is worth it.”

“Come to think of it, Mayor Angelo is Chante’s only support. Will she be strung up and whipped?”

“His Highness let his lower head do the thinking for him. He should’ve seen this coming.”

Human nature was the same everywhere, and it was human nature to gossip[1].

Case in point, the onlookers would rather the drama continue to escalate, worried that the show wouldn’t be sufficiently entertaining. They actively exercised their imagination and pictured what would happen next, spinning one joke after another.

That so many fair-weather friends could mock the Prince so brazenly showed that while he lacked the competence to govern a nation, he had many friends and was quite popular.

Crash!

The sound of something shattering echoed from inside the castle, prompting the crowd to laugh with even greater glee. Mona glanced around before withdrawing her gaze. The audio drama with no visuals was too dull. Rather than wasting her time here, she preferred checking if Chante was a demon.

As soon as she turned around, she found her target right before her.

Chante had reached the rooftop at some point, with her black hair put up and her fair shoulders and neck revealed in a black evening gown. Below her delicate collarbones, a black pendant adorned her pronounced bosom.

Darkness!

Mona narrowed her eyes, golden light glinting as she focused on the black gem at Chante’s chest. It was the power of the Church of Darkness rather than a demon from hell. They got the wrong lead.

Crack!

The black gem split, and surging Darkness energy poured out, swirling around Chante’s body. Layers upon layers of black mist enveloped her, turning her elemental. A slim, shadowy figure rose from the ground, standing approximately five meters tall.

Writhing black mist floated like long hair, while the slender arms hung down. The inverted triangular torso tapered at the waist and flared out below, like a pleated skirt woven from darkness itself.

The shadow raised one arm, holding up an elemental umbrella of black mist. Where the face should be, a pair of red glowing orbs opened.

The sudden turn of events terrified the guests, compelling them to step back while trembling. They backed away until they were at the edge of the rooftop. If they took one more step, they would go into a free fall.

Mona didn’t make a move. Chante wasn’t a demon, so there was no need for her to expose herself and cause trouble for Wayne.

Beside her, Juno took a slow step forward, grasping her cross pendant and murmuring under her breath for a spell.

Boom!

A tremendous sound shook heaven and earth. The ground rumbled, and the castle trembled violently. Black curtains rose from all directions, isolating the castle without leaving a seam. An inverted pentagram radiated red light high in the sky, spraying cold blood rain and draping the grey castle below under a layer of crimson.

From afar, the cold moon beyond the curtains looked so red it seemed about to bleed.

Prince Edward rushed out, followed by his whip-wielding fiancée, Carol. The two of them looked up at the sky, their eyes gradually becoming vacant under the drizzling rain.

A figure approached them from behind, patting their shoulders. The smarmy middle-aged man slowly transformed into an elegant figure wearing a black, wide-brimmed hat.

The final demon familiar, Juliette!

She just revealed herself like that? Isn’t something off here?

Hidden in bushes, a skeleton watched the crude entrance skeptically, questioning her lack of flair that should’ve come with a boss-level monster. Even though a familiar would be an elite monster rather than a major boss, this anticlimactic entrance still seemed like a waste of over a month of lying low.

Is that all? I thought you were a big deal!

Disappointed, Wayne was just about to come alive when a white beam of light shot toward the sky due south of the castle. Surging mana stirred up a violet vortex, reversing the rain of blood. It was a feat beyond a regular Gold-ranked mage.

Another major player?

1. The raw is literally translated into “Not a lot of people in the world know taiji, but many know bagua.” Taiji is a Daoist concept referring to the principle from which existence flows, and bagua is the eight trigrams derived from taiji. Bagua, though, also refers to gossip. That’s the wordplay the author is using here. “Not a lot of people know taiji, but many know gossip.” As the pun does not render in English, I’ve rewritten it. ☜