Wayne’s place was quite big.

The birthday celebration was divided into two venues. One was in the living room, organized by Vera for her friends—all graduates from the Evanston Women’s Academy who had only entered the real world a couple of years ago.

They huddled together, chattering away about Vera’s life as a noble lady.

One shouldn’t forget about their roots after succeeding. Since she had found herself a man with a high status, couldn’t she introduce her good friends to a few good positions?

Vera magnanimously agreed.

Her boyfriend had just succeeded in rebelling this year. As long as she exercised some pillow talk or helped hold Senior’s hands down, they could get any job posts they wanted.

It’s a piece of cake! Let’s get Senior tonight!

Vera put her hands on her hips with a boastful smile, her twin tails swishing about. Her classmates looked on with envy, subconsciously looking for Wayne.

Seeking help from Vera would allow her to pocket the difference. It was better to make a move themselves to cut the cost.

Vera’s satisfied expression left Kristen exasperated but also amused. She wondered why Veronica hadn’t come. She was needed to stop the twin-tailed girl from forgetting her place.

Speaking of Veronica, Veronica came. Putting down her gift, she didn’t join the crowd, but instead came up to Kristen.

You smell so nice, Senior!

Kristen had dressed for the occasion today, her long hair once again pinned up like a married woman. To avoid stealing the spotlight from Vera, her makeup was light and natural.

No matter how Vera dressed up, Veronica would only roll her eyes and shake her fist in warning. Kristen was different. Whatever she wore, Veronica always found her beautiful.

“Senior, emergency!” Veronica dragged Kristen to a corner of the living room with a serious expression, gesticulating and explaining what she had just encountered. “That woman covers her face with a veil mysteriously, leading a pair of twins. Her bust is this big, waist is this slim, and legs are this long. Clearly, she’s up to no good.”

Kristen rolled her eyes prettily. “That’s my master. I told you about her before.”

“Oh, it’s Senior’s Master. Then she’s fine.” Veronica lowered her guard, but only for a moment. She suddenly realized the problem. “Senior, your master is the High Reverend of the Church of Moonlight. Why would she attend Vera’s birthday celebration? Do they know each other?”

Kristen was silent for a moment. “I invited her.”

“Why? What if... You know.”

“There’s no what if. She’s already here.” Kristen looked at Veronica meaningfully. Silly girl, you know nothing!

Veronica broke into goosebumps under the strange gaze. She asked, “Why are you looking at me like that, Senior? And what do you mean that she’s already here?”

“Master is Wayne’s lover. They have been together for a long time.”

“What? How dare he?!”

Veronica raged, clenching her fists and swearing to shed Vera’s blood.

“Wayne introduced her to his parents. Mr. Auston and Mrs. Silvia are both satisfied with her and acknowledged her,” Kristen deadpanned.

“What? How dare they?!”

Veronica was furious, enraged, and incensed. Clenching her fists, she was going to shed Auston’s and Silvia’s blood. But then she remembered that the couple was her biological parents, and she said in disbelief, “I don’t understand what you just said, Senior. Can you repeat that?”

“I’ll do that as many times as you want...”

Kristen patted Veronica on the shoulder, explaining what had happened at the banquet to cleanse the Windsor family. That night, Filomina attended as Wayne’s plus one, showing her support to the Lando family as the High Reverend. She was a dutiful daughter-in-law and called the Lando couple father and mother, disregarding the fact that she was a few years older than they were. She won the couple over then.

As Kristen told the story, Veronica’s jaw fell further and further, her eyes widening like saucers with unanswered questions filling her head. Her brain was overclocking from all the information.

“Think on the bright side, you are the Lando couple’s biological daughter in this version rather than an adopted child.” That was the only thing Kristen could think of to comfort Veronica.

“How absurd. I am their biological daughter.”

Furious, Veronica was ready to go home to demand answers from the old bastard and old hag, but Kristen grabbed her arm. She struggled, unable to break free.

“Let go, Kristen. I’m going to teach them a lesson today!”

“Drop it. For Wayne’s sake, forgive his parents,” Kristen grumbled. The family tree had become so complicated that she could no longer tell who was related to whom. She gave up. Whatever the truth was, she was good as long as she and Wayne weren’t siblings.

Veronica could not for the life of her extract her arm due to the great friction. She was about to say something when her white moonlight leaned toward her ear.

She smells too good!

“Calm down,” Kristen whispered. “Mr. Lando only recognized Master because she is the Church of Moonlight’s High Reverend. You know what happened that night.”

“So what? It’s just a rebellion. There are so many knights in the family. What difference does the High Reverend of the Church of Moonlight make?” Veronica wasn’t appeased. Auston and Silvia were clearly sabotaging her. Silvia, especially, had agreed to give her full support! That traitor!

“The Church of Moonlight makes a great difference!” Kristen stated for her church first. “The Moonlight Knight is in Londan. Given the circumstances, things would have been more complicated without my master’s presence. It’s a matter of the shift in religious landscape and who gets the bigger piece of pie.”

Hearing that it was about family interests, Veronica became even more irritated. Why was Wayne always the one to take on diplomatic missions? Couldn’t they send Auston? What was wrong with the old playboy picking up his old habits?

Veronica glanced at Kristen suspiciously. “You’re acting strange today, Senior. The High Reverend is your master. Not only are you not angry with her, but you’re putting in a good word for her. Why? Did she threaten you?”

Kristen let out a long, drawn-out sigh. She wasn’t threatened, but she was under a lot of pressure—all from Darienne, the Moonlight Knight.

Darienne said that since she and Filomina had already done the deed with Wayne, they might as well continue this mistake and tie him down from both fronts, making sure that he would be the Moonlight Knight’s successor.

It was a decision Darienne had made impulsively while playing cards. It was hard to tell what she was thinking then. Was she thinking about the church, playing wingwoman for her successor, or both?

“I’m not going to get angry over something this trivial. I’ve been through worse.” Kristen covered her face. That night, after putting her down, Wayne had picked up Vera.

♀♂♀

♀⚤

⚤♀

♀♂♀

The sheer depravity![1]

When Kristen stammered and blushed from embarrassment and frustration, Veronica leaned in curiously, sensing that there was fun to be had. She asked Kristen to go into more detail.

Unable to put it into words, Kristen skipped ahead, “It doesn’t matter. The good news is that my master isn’t very bright.“

“That can’t be. She’s the High Reverend, the top leader of the Church of Moonlight in Windsor. How could she be a fool?”

Veronica didn’t believe it. She thought about her mother, also a High Reverend. Although Silvia was impulsive, prone to anger, unreasonable, stubborn, overly imaginative, and had a penchant for domestic violence, putting the shortcomings aside, she was intelligent in most situations.

“She’s not stupid in that way. How do I say it... She’s naive in romance.”

Kristen explained simply. The older these old women were, the more naive they were. While they all talked big, none of their theoretical knowledge was any use when it was time to put their thoughts into action.

They would only be eaten.

Darienne, especially, was naive. When Kristen played cards with her, she had heard many stories about her past conquests. Kristen had thought that Darienne was actually an experienced player who had had many men, but ha, she didn’t even know what night jogging referred to.

Clearly, she had never been a victim of scumbags.

Filomina had been victimized, but the scumbag played his role as a devoted lover too well that she had no idea about his cheating behavior before. She thus had zero experience in dealing with romantic rivals. She posed no threat.

“What are you planning, Senior?”

Suddenly, Veronica saw Vera in her white moonlight.

Instead of answering the question, Kristen asked, “Veronica, is my master beautiful?”

“Um...” Veronica thought back to the veiled woman. Though she hadn’t seen the older woman’s entire face, she was graceful and captivating, making Veronica gulp at a glance. She had to be quite stunning.

Gulp!

“...” x2

“Don’t misunderstand me, Senior. I’m just... hungry,” Veronica defended herself with a blush. She only had one white moonlight. No matter how beautiful other women were, her appreciation for them was only skin deep.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” Kristen asked.

“She’s alright.”

“How does she compare to Senna?”

“They’re about the same level.” Veronica compared the two women and almost gulped again.

“What if we pit her against Senna?”

Veronica hissed. Using a tiger to drive away a wolf? It was masterful, very masterful. She nodded vehemently, praising Senior for her intelligence. As expected of her white moonlight, Kristen’s plan was much more sophisticated than Vera’s crude trick.

The general was both smart and powerful. Acquiring her was akin to acquiring the world. Veronica decisively reorganized the team and kicked the former strategist out without consulting her.

“What are you talking about, Veronica?” Vera skipped her way up to them, sticking herself into the conversation. She heard Kristen explain the plan to use the tiger against the wolf, immediately breaking into a cold sweat.

It was a nice idea, but what were they going to do with both a wolf and a tiger?

“...” x2

Veronica sweated. The general was still too young to hold down the fort alone, so she hurriedly welcomed back the strategist she had fired.

Kristen urged, “No, no. You don’t understand how complicated the situation is. Another stunning woman has appeared around Wayne. While she is a veteran legendary mage, she is incredibly beautiful and youthful-looking, as much as my master and Mage Senna.”

“What? There are three old hags?” Veronica exclaimed.

Vera shook her head. “How can there be that many? Don’t lie to me, Senior. Seriously, I’ll get nightmares!”

“It’s the Church of Darkness’s Holy Maiden!” Kristen exclaimed.

“...” x2

“Senior, do you really know what a Holy Maiden is?”

“I don’t, but I know what Wayne is.”

“...” x3

The three girls gathered. Facing a powerful enemy, their alliance remained unbreakable. Under Kristen’s suggestion, they discussed the viability of recruiting Filomina as their vanguard.

It was a typical short-sighted strategy. Filomina lacked nothing but experience. If they recruited her and taught her advanced theoretical knowledge, she could more than create her own team, with Virna and Diede, the twins, as her right and left-hand women.

1. The raw uses the unique logographic nature of Mandarin for this part. 女 is a woman. 男 is a man. And there are also 娚 and 嫐 in the language, both quite obscure letters that aren’t really used. The author uses those letters to paint the picture. Since there’s no English equivalent, I opt for symbols. I considered using the displayed formulas in chemistry, but it’s a bit messy. ☜