“I am Auston Lando. Who are you?”

Auston raised an eyebrow. The uninvited visitor had made no attempt to cover up his face. He looked young, quite different from the messenger of Darkness that Auston remembered. Perhaps he had not come as a representative of the Goddess of Darkness.

Such powerful mana and aura were rare. None of the legendary vermin at the Ministry of Magic could compare to him. He couldn’t have been a nobody in the Chosen Land.

Someone from the Church of Darkness? Why was he here? To discuss the details of the partnership between the church and Windsor?

That’s not right. He’s looking for blood!

Ivan’s anger was plainly displayed on his face. Though he had never met Wayne, he could imagine what the bastard who had deceived his daughter would look like based on Auston’s well put-together appearance.

The father was an impeccably dressed scoundrel, and the son a gentlemanly-looking bastard. Neither was a decent person!

“Auston, Wayne Lando is your son, isn’t he?”

“There is such a belief.” Auston raised an eyebrow, neither denying nor agreeing to the claim.

“So he is!” Ivan scoffed, his body suddenly bulging, his unnaturally large muscles straining his black suit. “I’m Ivan. Your son, Wayne, took advantage of my daughter. She forbade me from going after him, so I’m going after his father instead. That’s reasonable, right?”

“...” x2

(눈_눈)x2

That brat is messing around again, Auston despaired.

Ugh, Young Master, couldn’t you control yourself a little better? Megan thought.

“Speak. Have you lost your voice?”

“There is a problem: Wayne is not my son.”

Hearing that the man had come to settle the debt that Wayne had owed by thinking with his lower head, Auston quickly denied their relationship. They were not related at all, oh no.

“How shameless of you! All of Londan knows that you are father and son. How dare you give me such a blatant lie?!” Ivan was so furious that his lips curled into a sneer. “Fine. I can tell the kind of person your son is by looking at you. He’s a hypocritical bastard who chases after women to deceive them. Am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong.” Not only did Auston not disagree, but the criticism pleased him greatly. “To tell you the truth, I share the same thought.”

Being the father of another of Wayne’s victims, Auston felt no negative feelings for Ivan. In fact, he regarded the fellow father highly because of their shared plight. He couldn’t help but see Ivan as a kindred spirit and a brother he had finally reunited with after years of separation.

Ivan’s insult was too mild and indirect, though. He should’ve used harsher words!

It seemed to Ivan that Auston was only suppressing his true feelings. Given how cunning the father was, the son wouldn’t be far behind. No wonder Wayne had managed to fool Anastasia into abandoning her faith and ideals.

“Mr. Ivan, aren’t you going to say more?” Auston suggested. “Shall I get the ball rolling?”

“Bastard, you’ve gone too far!”

Ivan furiously stalked through the darkness to reach Auston, his aura growing stronger with every step. His effortless mastery over his domain lived up to the standards of an experienced, legendary mage.

He had not disturbed Auston’s and Megan’s senses with his vitality field, and he didn’t plan to. He was here to beat the man up, not to bully the weak. He would dominate over the weakling fair and square.

Most importantly, he wanted Wayne to know who had beaten up his father.

“Tell Wayne that if he doesn’t want his father to get beaten up every few days, stay away from my daughter!”

“That won’t do. If you say that to him, he’ll stick to your daughter all day long.” Auston made a face. He knew Wayne too well.

“Fine, fine. You really think I can’t do anything to you or your son, do you?”

“No, Mr. Ivan. I fully support your attempt to get justice for your daughter, but—”

“Then take this!” Ivan snarled. His massive fist shot straight at Auston’s face.

Auston remained unfazed as Megan stepped forward and caught the downward punch.

The two hands were comically different in size. Ivan’s forearm was thicker than Megan’s waist, yet at contact, Ivan was the one being pushed back.

“Huh?” Ivan started, his eyes glinting with appreciation. “You’re strong. Who are you?”

“Megan, the Lando family’s butler.”

“Being a butler to such a father and son is beneath someone of your talent.”

I do what I want, Megan thought. It’s none of your business!

She stepped between Ivan and Auston with an expressionless face, unbuttoning her sleeves. “You’re a legendary mage. Entering Windsor without the competent authorities’ permission will damage the relationship between the faction you represent and Windsor. Leave now, and the Lando family will pretend that nothing had happened.”

Auston encouraged Ivan to get justice. Even if he couldn’t win the fight, it would be nice to spit on Wayne a few times. Megan, on the other hand, would not allow anyone to threaten Young Master’s life for a personal reason; Young Master had shown her care and helped her make progress in her pursuit of love.

It didn’t matter whether Ivan would even be a threat. It was the principle of the thing. Megan had already been bought.

“I’ll play.” Ivan rolled up his sleeves, ready for the warm-up before beating up Auston. “Butler, you said. I’ve only used thirty percent of my power. How about you?”

“Ten percent.”

“...”

Ivan rolled his eyes, seething. Everyone in the Lando family had a sharper tongue than the last one. A young master growing up in such a family would naturally lack decency. Anastasia had always been a smart girl. Why had she fallen for the lies?

Ivan firmly believed that Wayne had deceived his daughter through words and refused to listen to any explanation. Once Auston moved to a safe distance as a spectator, Ivan raised his fist and charged at Megan.

In an instant, Ivan and Megan clashed. Megan landed gracefully, while Ivan flew away like a cannonball.

He shouldn’t have fared this badly inside his vitality field. Picking himself up in confusion, he frowned at his trembling right arm and asked, “Are you human, Butler?”

“No.”

“That explains it.” Ivan shook his arm, restoring his damaged muscles. He said in a booming voice, “I was only going to beat up Wayne’s father, but it seems that I must go through you to get to Auston.”

“Mr. Ivan, may I ask who your daughter is?” Megan asked reasonably.

“The Church of Darkness’s Holy Maiden!” Ivan scowled. “The bastard made a move on our Holy Maiden. If this gets out, the Lando family will suffer consequences, too.”

“...” x2

(눈‸눈)x2

He really went after the Holy Maiden of Darkness. Is she the second Senna? Auston wondered.

Young Master, you’ve gone overboard this time, Megan sighed inwardly. That’s the Holy Maiden, the Goddess of Darkness’s vessel in the human world.

“Feeling intimidated?”

“A little, but not much,” Megan said calmly. “Mr. Ivan’s daughter is the Church of Darkness’s Holy Maiden, and you’re a powerful legendary mage. That must mean that you hold a high position in the church. The Lando family has the Darkness Knight’s support. You shouldn’t make things difficult for the church.”

“So what?” Ivan huffed. “I’m the Pope, and my daughter’s the Holy Maiden. Who’s going to criticize me?”

“...” x2

(는‸는)x2

Both the Darkness Knight and his great dragon fell silent. The Pope was the Holy Maiden’s father? Since when had nepotism become so rampant in the Church of Darkness? Wasn’t the goddess going to do something about it?

Ivan announced his identity without reservation. With black light glinting in his eyes, he manipulated his vitality field to separate Megan and Auston. No brainless brutes could become the Pope.

Claiming that he would duel Megan, Ivan sent her away instead. He stalked up to Auston with red light glimmering in his eyes. He growled, “Auston, your butler is gone. What are you going to do now?”

His massive fist parted the air and slammed down like a meteorite falling from the sky; the resulting booming currents made Auston squint. Clutching his silver coin, he balled his hand into a fist and met the punch with a punch of his own.

The moment their fists collided, both of them moved back.

“Huh?” Ivan couldn’t believe it. He had again used thirty percent of his power, which Megan, a non-human, could easily block. But how could Auston do it when he was a Silver-ranked mage? What the hell was wrong with the Lando family?

His expression tightened. He knew what the failed attempts to test the other side meant as someone in a position of power. While he was pulling his punches, the other side was, too. If the clash escalated to the point where they had to use their trump cards, a mess would be inevitable.

Moreover...

The darkness he glimpsed from Auston made him wary. Rather than a Silver-ranked mage, Auston was likely a legendary mage who had hidden his rank. Their power being similar, Auston would be a formidable enemy that Ivan would have to go all out to defeat!

Usually, Ivan would’ve left to collect more information and formulate a strategy to target the enemy’s weaknesses and ensure his victory. But not today. He had come for Anastasia. If he left now, Wayne would go after his daughter with bolder, even more shameless methods.

“Wait, this fight is meaningless. Whether you or I get hurt, Wayne would be the one laughing.”

Auston made his stance clear. All of the Lando family, be it the mistress, young lady, or butler, supported the young master, but not Auston. He was on Ivan’s side.

“What do you mean?”

“The Lando family is in a complicated situation. Wayne was sent away after his birth. I did it to protect the family’s bloodline, but the torment he had suffered since youth made him resent me as a father.”

Auston put on a resigned look. Just like Wayne, he was good at spinning a story. “I want to discipline him, but his mother has always spoiled him, and in two years, he became a young man with no moral compass. Regrettably, Wayne had always envied his younger sister for growing up in abundance, and to get even as well as to retaliate against me, he and his own sister...”

He sighed. “What an unfortunate family we are!”

“What? He and his younger sister...” Ivan’s eyes widened in disgust. “You immoral nobles truly know no shame!”

That’s a stereotype for nobles!

Auston tamped down his annoyance and shook his head mournfully, saying in a regretful tone, “When I learned about what happened, I wanted nothing more than to break his legs, but my wife would not let me. Overindulgent mothers raise spoiled sons. She would rather claim that our daughter was adopted and arranged a marriage between the siblings to legitimize a mistake than to allow me to punish Wayne.”

Ivan got lost in the story. As an objective bystander, the scandal was so scandalous that he had to spread it. Tomorrow, he would print newspapers to expose the shameful secret of the Lando family!

Since the Lando family was the master of Windsor, and airing the royal family’s dirty laundry could lead to suicide by a shot to the back, no news outlets would dare to publish the story. Ivan decided to utilize the Church of Darkness’s influence.

The Pope had the power to do that, at least. That was decided!

Then he realized that he had to move quickly. Since Wayne was perverted enough to go after his own sister, Anastasia’s purity must be in great danger.

Even if he could tolerate it, the goddess wouldn’t. His daughter would end up taking the brunt of Her anger and paying the price!