Carlene spoke in a kind, courteous, and amiable tone.Adrian could see that she was kind-hearted. Even though she was married to a Gardner, it did not signify that all the members of the Gardner family were b*stards like Chase.Speaking of which, Chase could not be considered a total b*stard either. He just had a different standpoint. Or rather, one should say that he dreamt of taking control of the whole country yet lacked the capability to do so.Then, Carlene asked Adrian many other questions such as his career and such. He answered all her questions graciously as he was posing as Nadine’s boyfriend, after all.Carlene and Adrian talked about their families. She talked about how she raised Nadine from the time Nadine was born and the hardships that she had endured during that period.On the other hand, Nadine suddenly fell silent upon hearing Carlene talk. Not expecting her mother to hold her boyfriend in such regard, she had lied to her mother.They talked for a long time. Th
“But I—” Nadine sounded dispirited.“You’re foolish. Don’t hide your relationship anymore at this point. Seal the deal as soon as possible. It’d be even better if you can get pregnant and get married quickly.“Talk to him and find an opportunity for me to meet his family so you can get married as soon as possible.”Carlene talked endlessly, while Nadine was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. However, she figured that her mother was right. She was almost thirty and was still single while the rest of her cousins were already married with toddler-aged children.Nadine did not comment further. She figured that she could only go with the flow at this point.***By the afternoon, Carlene had prepared a feast. She was highly enthusiastic because it was her first time hosting her daughter’s guest. She, Adrian, and Nadine sat down together for lunch.During the meal, Nadine almost could not get a word in edgewise because Carlene was talking Adrian’s ear off throughout the meal. She a
While Adrian and Nadine walked to the latter’s grandfather’s residence, Carlene walked out of the kitchen after she was done cleaning up. She walked toward a room in the villa and opened its door, revealing it to be a study.The fifty-year-old woman walked into the study that had been uninhabited for a long time. A shelf stood against the wall, containing books stored in storage containers with not a speckle of dust on them. A photo was displayed on the top of the shelf.Carlene’s expression appeared extremely sorrowful. She stopped midway into the study room and took a deep breath. Then, she stretched out a hand to the bookshelf and a square hole suddenly appeared on the wall as if she had just pulled some sort of mechanism.Inside the hole sat a book. It was a wordless book—not a single word written in it. However, Carlene rifled through it gently as if she could read it. Soon after, she stopped at a page and brought over a glass of water that she splashed onto the page. Two names
“In early spring, Neo takes over Purgatorium and brings it to an end. He takes charge of Apotheosium. He announces the change of Purgatorium’s reign at the end of February. He establishes Drakarium, retires the title of ‘godking’ and takes on the title ‘Dracorex Neo.’”These were the contents traced onto the pages of the book. Carlene knew its contents like the back of her hand.These words were part of an ancient prophecy. She used to think that it was just some made-up prophecy, but she thought about it afterward and figured that it was not the case.No one knew where the prophecy originated from but the part about War Legate Draco had been fulfilled. Even though the year was not written in the prophecy, Draco had indeed been announced as the war legate in January.Wyvern Peak was also dissolved in August exactly as the prophecy stated, furthering Carlene’s anxiety. It was because Nadine was prophesied to die in Northbound.Nadine was her daughter and was prophesied to die at th
Thiago was the bodyguard of a previous war legate who worked at Wyvern Peak and served under War Legate Achelous.Achelous was one of Wyvern Peak’s past war legates and had held the position three generations before Adrian. After Achelous passed away, Thiago came to guard Achelous’ wife, Carlene, and their daughter, Nadine.Wyvern Peak had undergone the biggest change in its history. It and Internal Affairs were about to engage in a head-on collision. Carlene and Thiago had been secretly monitoring the prophecy all this time but had not expected Adrian would fulfill the contents of the prophecy one by one.No one could explain what was happening. The only thing Thiago could do was stop a part of the prophecy from becoming true.Thiago frowned for a brief moment. As a retired bodyguard of Wyvern Peak, he said, “Mrs. Legate, we have to stop two things from happening now. The first is to ensure that Nadine won’t be killed as prophesied. The second is about War Legate Draco going missi
Nadine turned around and saw eight youngsters—both men and women—walking into the courtyard one after another.One of the young men’s names was Louis Gardner, her cousin. In fact, most of these youngsters were Nadine’s cousins from the Gardner family.“What are you all doing here?” Nadine asked curiously as she watched Louis and the others walk in.Louis smirked when he heard this. The group stood before Nadine as he said, “I heard from Aunt Carlene that you brought your boyfriend today. This is him, right?“Felix was furious when he heard about it. After all, you clearly know he’s been trying to pursue you, right?”As Louis spoke, the others next to him were carefully scanning Adrian from top to bottom. Nadine frowned and turned toward a young man next to Louis. The man was Felix, hailing from the Yale family—one of the ten most vital families in Southrive.Felix had always been among Nadine’s list of romantic suitors, even spending ridiculous amounts of effort in doing so. Howe
Adrian’s words struck Felix’s heart like a ferocious and relentless blade.The Gardners were all in shock, and Nadine’s face turned bright red as she pinched Adrian’s waist.The Gardners began to hurl their comments.“I never knew you were such a sl*t, Naddy.”“How great could this man possibly be for you to give yourself to him?”“You were Southrive’s goddess!”The Gardners all looked at Nadine as if she was a cheap woman, while Felix’s expression was absolutely hideous. He had dreamt of sleeping with her, but that was now going to remain a dream forever. On top of that, no sane person could withstand the thought of the one they love sleeping with another.Louis spat on the floor and said, “I’m appalled, Naddy. I wasn’t expecting such behavior from you. You’d seem so cool and distant most of the time, yet you’ve actually given yourself to a man like him?”Nadine was thoroughly enraged by Louis’ remark. She extricated herself from Adrian’s arms and said, “Shut up! All of you! M
The people around Adrian were stunned.‘What just happened?’Louis looked up with a face filled with confusion. He then turned toward Felix and the others, still unable to identify who it was that had slapped him.“Who hit me?” Louis asked as he covered his face.“Pfft…” Nadine stifled her laugh, while Louis shot a sinister glare at Adrian. However, it was at that moment Adrian sent another slap his way.Smack!This slap was much harder than the last, causing Louis to not only roll across the ground, but his face became swollen as well.Finally, Louis and the others were able to discern who it was that landed that slap.‘It’s him!’Panicking, Louis got up and looked at Adrian in a daze. He had not expected Adrian to retaliate and even became frightened for a brief moment.Meanwhile, Adrian said, “Are you done? If you are, it’s my turn now.”“What?!” Louis felt fear crawl up his spine.But before he was able to react to the situation, a silhouette charged at him and grabbed