Margret frowned as Hana finished telling the old woman how Victor bought her at the auction and made her sign a servitude contract in exchange for removing her curse.

The old grandmother who listened carefully nodded. “I see…” she finally said, looking at Lin and then at Margret. She seemed to have realized something.

“Are you here to force me back into the sect?” Hana asked nervously. She might have been able to confront her master, but with her great-great-grandmother, that was not an option.

“That was the plan after Louise told me you were no longer there… That’s why I used your jade mark to follow you here,” the old woman said. “Now though, I see the big picture… I am having some other thoughts!” she added.

“Ahh… What do you mean?” Hana asked.

“Where is that…. What is his name nowadays?.... Right, Victor… Where is he now?” she asked.

“Out on some family business… He might need a week or two to return,” Margret replied. This was not really a secret.

“Oh… I really wanted to see him, but it seemed like we were not destined to meet now…Regardless, I already made up my mind…” The old woman sighed and then looked at Hana. “Did he fuck you yet?” she asked directly.

“Ah….. “ Hana yelled. “No! He promised he wouldn't touch me without my approval!”

“Oh!... Is he really into old women?” the grandmother asked with a frown, looking at both Victor’s wives. They didn’t look that old to her… She fixed her eyes for a moment on Margret.

“No, he just doesn’t discriminate!” Feeling the old woman’s inspecting glare, Margret quickly replied with a serious face. Did that woman notice something? Old grandmas' intuitions were scary!

“As expected!” the grandmother said as if confirming her guess. She turned to Hana. “From now on your mission has changed, like Louise you are to stay here, assist your master, and try to bear his child!” the grandmother said.

“WHAT” both Hana and her master, who was still on his knees, asked at the same time. This was too sudden.

“Her existence in the Immortal Abode is no longer needed…!” the old woman said to Orion.

“But what about the… You know…?” Master Orion asked nervously, making Margret frown, looking at him and then at the grandmother.

“The ‘destiny’ is still there,“ the old woman said.

“Can I know who it is?” Orion asked.

“We don’t know… And such knowledge might be detrimental…“The old woman said. “Just take care of all your disciples!”

“What are you talking about?” Hana asked.

“We used to believe that there is a great destiny in the immortal Abode… We sent you there initially to try and grab it,” the old woman explained. Revealing things on purpose. “However, recently, that destiny has weakened a lot. It seems like it was greatly damaged!” she added with a frown, making Margret almost blurt out that the destiny the old woman kept mentioning was probably Sebastian who was beaten into a pulp by her outside.

“Then…” Master Orion asked.

“You will carry on with your mission… That ‘Destiny’ might have been weakened, but it was still there!”

“Then I…” Hana hesitated.

“As I told you… Your mission is here from now on!” she said. “Stop resisting it!”

“Ah… but…” Hana whispered. She was not opposing staying here, she was just not sure about the carrying Victor’s baby part.

“Stop arguing!” the old woman said, then turned to face Margret, “I have a message for your ‘husband’, make sure to deliver it…”

“What?” Margret asked. She was not sure what was going on here anymore.

“Tell him that we know his true identity too, and we are willing to work together!” the grandmother said solemnly.

“True identity?” Margret frowned nervously wondering if the old woman meant the Nutcracker. Or did Victor have some other persona that she had no idea about?

“Yes! Although I had no idea at first, all those reports about him make sense now! He is the only one who could have all that authority! Now we know that he was the one who did it and we are ok with it!” she said with a smirk as if she found out something big.

“What do you mean?” The one who asked was Hana.

“Well… Think about it… A young man who was known to be a timid and weak boy suddenly gained the Von Weise family’s recognition, getting an elite status and all the resources in the world! Hell, they even allowed him to marry a group of normal girls in a public wedding, breaking every rule… This has only one meaning!”

“What?” Hana asked as Margret’s face became strange.

“He is above the rules!” the grandmother said with a knowing smile as if she had figured it all out. “Tell him that Louise and Hana are our tokens of friendship, he can use them however he wants… We hope to work together in the future to destroy our common enemy!” the old woman said to Margret who had totally no idea what she meant. She was 99.9999% sure there was some huge misunderstanding here.

“Eh… What common enemy?” Hana asked once again. She had no idea what was going on.

“Your new ‘young’ master will tell you…” the grandmother said.

“Ah… I don’t think he will… He keeps a lot of secrets…” Hana commented.

“Even better… One must only know what is needed!” the old woman said with a nod. Then frowned as she looked at an old watch in her hand that began to vibrate. “I am already out of time… I need to leave. Just do what I told you to! Fate can’t be cheated without keeping many cards in the dark!” she added as she stood up, took two steps, and then disappeared as if she never existed!

“...”

“She left like that?” Lin asked, looking around.

“Left…” the confirmation came through her earpiece. It was Elise who was keeping an eye on the mansion’s array center.

“I must go too.” Master Orion said as he was finally able to stand up. “Take care of yourself, Hana… And remember to invite me to your wedding!” he said as he quickly left.

“Wait, Master… I have some questions!” Hana wanted to ask, but sadly Master Orion left without looking back. It was as if he was a man on a mission.

“What the…” Hana stood there wondering what just happened.

“Don’t ask me… I am as confused as you are…” Margret said as she quickly used her dragon wife's connection to call Lili. She was the most knowledgeable one between them!

…

Lily opened her eyes and slowly stood up.

“What? Is your rest over?” Yulian asked. His sister had been making some very lewd expressions for the last hour, so he didn’t dare to wake her up. She was the violent type after all.

“I need to make a phone call before we enter the dungeon so I will be heading toward the highway… I will return in an hour or….” She paused, then sat down again and closed her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Yulian asked.

“I need more rest…” she said. Margret was trying to contact her.

“WTF?”

…

Roy sighed and watched as Lara and her friends looked down nervously at their own little feet, avoiding looking straight at George who was glaring holes into them.

It seemed they had finally realized what wrong they did.

They were currently standing in his father’s office, together with Iris and Max.

Why was he here? Roy had no idea as no one invited him. He was waiting for them when they arrived as if he knew something!

“Do you know how angry your father would have been if anything were to happen to you?” George asked. From the way he moved, Roy could tell that he was a little annoyed by Max being here.

“Sorry… I didn't think things through… I didn’t mean to make you worry,” Lara said, biting her lip.
“But I just couldn't let those criminals go free!” she said with determination.

“...”

“Whose idea was this?” Max asked harshly, looking at Lara and the rest of the girls. One of them flinched. Her name was Ren or something.

“Max… Leave this to George…” Iris interrupted.

“No, as the eldest heir in this mansion, it is within my right to take control of this mess!” he said, looking back at the girls and focusing on Ren. “Answer!”

“It was mine!” Lara said, stepping forward, clearly to guard her friend.

“Now really… I think I will need to ask your little servants some questions in private though…” he said.

“YOU CAN’T!” Lara quickly yelled. She was not stupid as she knew what Max could do to make Ren talk!

“Why not? I am just following the family rules!” he said. “Am I right, butler George?”

“... The young master is right!” George said he was not worried though.

“But, esteemed brother… I…” Lara wanted to interject.

“Stay silent!” Max berated her harshly. “Then… You, follow me…” Max told Ren then turned and headed to the side room.

No one followed him.

“DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME BITCH?” he asked angrily. He clearly hated people ignoring him.

“She did hear you.” The one who answered was a little girl with short black hair and very cold eyes. This one was called Yin.

Why did all of those girls have one-syllable names? Roy had no idea.

Anyway, Yin was holding Ren’s hand, stopping her from going with Max.

“What is the meaning of this?” Max asked.

“Ren, me, and El are not family servants, nor are we under Lady Lara’s command,” Yin explained. “We are all registered under young master Victor, and under the family rules he has to be here for you to interrogate us privately!” she said in a robotic voice. “And since young master Victor is an elite heir, you can’t even publicly question us without an inquisition order!”

“...” Max frowned. It was clear how annoyed he was from the way he pinched his jacket. “Then I will be exercising my right to arrest all of you…“

“On what ground?” Yin asked.

“You revealed the existence of family secrets to Lara!” Max said, making Roy frown. “According to the family rules those Secrets can only know about the existence of players during the month prior to his awakening ceremony…”

The girls froze…

Roy frowned, what was this secret about... He had a hunch about what this was about, but it was too crazy!

“... I don’t know what you are talking about…” Yin said, gesturing to Lara who was pushed to the back by El to stay silent.

“Want to deny it, well, we just have to inform the family and….”

“Young master… I have to interject….” George said. “Lady Lara’s awakening ceremony date had already been specified to be the end of this month! So there is nothing wrong here!”

“WHAT?” Max asked. “You mean you found a new artifact?” Max asked.

“I can’t reveal anymore…” George said.

“Oh... Fine… Do whatever you want then!” Max said then turned and hurried to leave. He seemed a little annoyed by what happened, but for some strange reason, Roy felt that he was completely acting!

George who watched him leave probably felt the same, as his eyes kept looking at the door even after Max left.

…

Victor opened his eyes in surprise. Lily had returned inside the soul pearl after only leaving for 20 minutes or so.

“Missed me already?” he asked with a smirk.

“We have a problem!” she said, not denying what he said.

“What?”

“Margret contacted me… An old woman visited the mansion, did you see her though your blood slave?”

“My self in Ismeralia must have… What’s the problem?”

“That woman is probably the Von Richter family’s patriarch or one of their supreme elders…” Lily said.

“WHAT? Wasn’t their family completely exterminated?” Victor’s face turned serious as he realized the gravity of the situation.

“I know right! Those bastards didn’t show themselves at all in the other timeline!” Lily said. “This is outside of our calculations… Those bastards seemed to have completely erased their existence from their heirs’ and agents' memory!“

“Oh…” Victor frowned. “What did the old woman want?” he asked.

“At first she was here to grab Hana after that bitch Alpha ratted on her…” Lily spat, she seemed pissed. “That bitch must have asked her family to help her get away from you!”

“Like anyone would be able to help her...” he smirked. “I will give her a good spanking when I return… Did she take Hana away?” he asked with a frown. Although Hana was no longer crucial to his plans after she finished preparing the blood-purifying pull, he really liked the girl.

“Oh…” Lily smiled. “This is where the story got interesting. Apparently, after realizing that Hana was now captive in the hands of the great pervert, Victor von Weise, the old woman changed her plans, she told Margret to tell you that they want to work with you to defeat a common enemy and that Hana and Alpha are from now on yours as a token of good faith or something…” she said, puffing her cheeks a little. Why did people keep throwing their girls at Victor?

“Oh… What? Is there anything wrong with that old woman’s head?” Victor asked.

“She said that she now knows your real identity… Something about you being above the Von Weise family rules…” she said with a knowing smile.

“OHHHHHHHH…. Holy shit…”

“Yup…”

“She thinks I am Nicholas, my ancestor?”

“Although I am not 100% sure, this is the most likely explanation!”

“Why would she think that?” Victor asked.

“Many reasons... Everything from how your grandmother pampers you to the array at the mansion, few know how to use these things... The most prominent thing was probably you having too much authority!”

“Oh... She must have tried and failed to break Alpha's contract!” Victor quickly figured it out.

“Yeah, Your ancestor must have done something to get a lot of Authority as she did mention something about knowing what you did…” Lily said. “Do you know what was the last thing Nicholas did before going into hiding?”

“No idea, the entire hidden lair was destroyed in the other timeline… And the corpse I found doesn’t have traces of anything interesting,” Victor frowned.

“Something to do with lords most likely...” Lily pondered.

“Yeah... Do you know who that common enemy is? A lord?” he asked.

“Most likely, although she didn’t mention it, but according to Margret, it might have something to do with the Fate Lord…” Lily said. “The way their family is hiding would also suggest that… The best way to hide from fate is to make everyone forget about you!”

“Good point, but we can’t jump to conclusions,” Victor frowned. “Tell Rita to try to get the heart safely without destroying it if possible… We might need to extract my dear ancestor’s soul to ask him a few questions…” Victor said.

“I already did!”

“Then what are you still doing here?”

“I already missed you…”

“...”