From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

The guests attending the banquet wore luxurious attire, the gentlemen\'s formal wear stood out distinctively, while the ladies were dressed in splendid gowns, adorned with precious jewelry, draped in beautiful capes and shawls.

They conversed with one another, responding with laughter; everything appeared opulent and splendid.

And after dusk completely fell, fireworks burst forth in the night sky above the hall, virtually instantaneously lighting up the pitch-black sky, illuminating all of the Romann family\'s glory.

Sunbelle stared up at the fireworks, dumbstruck. She had never attended a banquet of such caliber and was extremely excited. Then, she turned her head and saw Young Master Karno looking at her.

"Let\'s dance!"

She took the initiative to invite Young Master Karno to dance, and he smiled, lifting his head.

"Yes! Let\'s start dancing then! Hahahaha!"

Although it was just a private family banquet of the Romann family, hundreds of high society members were in attendance. Darren finally got to experience the depth of a top family up close.

It was indeed a family banquet.

Those several hundred people from all over the Emerald Lake Province were all relatives with ties to the Romann family.

How could it not be a family banquet?

Among those people were even several viscounts, church Priests, and even Bishops, each of whom would converse in private with Duke Black Iron for a long time before it was Darren\'s turn to approach.

The old man glanced at him, with no trace of nonsense, and spoke in a condescending tone, "Tell me everything you know about Aldrich now."

Indeed, the most legendary figure in the kingdom, Duke Black Iron.

Darren, merely standing by the old man\'s side, could feel an oppression as tangible as reality, as unsettling as standing on the edge of a blade.

He was secretly excited by that dangerous aura and nodded with a smile, saying,

"Your Grace, what we know is as follows…"

Darren recounted almost everything he knew, except for the secrets that absolutely couldn\'t be revealed, while Duke Black Iron listened with his eyes closed, expressionless.

When Darren had finished speaking completely, Duke Black Iron opened his eyes and nodded slightly.

"Since he went missing six months ago, my people have also investigated in the East Coast Province, but unfortunately, they could only approximately determine the range of Aldrich\'s disappearance but could never find his exact location."

"However, Aldrich is a very clever person, even more outstanding than me in some respects. He shouldn\'t run into any major trouble, at least I know he certainly hasn\'t died yet."

Oh?

Darren was slightly taken aback. So it was, the Romann family also possessed the ability to determine whether their family members were alive or dead?

Next, Duke Black Iron still began discussing the next topic.

"Regarding the secret mission I entrusted to your family, the Fischers must continue to carry it out, understand?"

"Yes."

Darren nodded seriously, knowing that the other party was referring to the task they were given to smuggle the prohibited substance "Ashes of Death" from overseas.

That was the Romann family\'s covert request, and now that they were aware of it, they had to keep doing it indefinitely, only in such a way could they remain deeply tied to the illustrious Romann family.

There was no turning back now.

When Darren Fischer left, Duke Black Iron was silent for a long while, until another black-haired old man approached his side. Read chapters at mvl

If Byrne were here, he would be shocked, for that black-haired old man was none other than the perpetually mysterious "Black Lion"!

Duke Black Iron inquired calmly,

"How\'s the investigation into the Words of Tranquility going, the one I asked you to do recently?"

The Black Lion sighed, "If it weren\'t for the investigation of the Words of Tranquility, I might have been able to accompany Bast and Aldrich. Perhaps then, they wouldn\'t have run into any mishaps."

Duke Black Iron shook his head slowly, scoffing, "Heh, perhaps you would have been caught up in it as well."

Years ago, the Black Lion had spread a rumor that Lucius of the Fischer family was actually a bastard child of the Romann family, a rumor many still firmly believe to this day.

In fact, a child of the Romann family had indeed been lost in the East Coast Province.

But he knew very well that Lucius was not that child of the Romann family.

Because the Black Lion himself was that person!

Years ago, Bast\'s father found him and then reported the matter to his uncle, Duke Black Iron, who then, following Duke Black Iron\'s orders, raised the Black Lion as a foster son.

From the beginning, the Lion clan had been a pawn of Duke Black Iron.

The Black Lion reported respectfully, "The Words of Tranquility are indeed taking actions in Cyart, they are expanding their influence in various places, and it seems they want to... to Summon Him!"

"At that time, the entire nation could be annihilated!"

——

After the banquet, Darren returned to his prepared room and became lost in thought.

"I didn\'t expect that Aunt Irene would actually die."

Long before he set out, Darren had already known of Irene\'s passing.

When he had just returned to the family, he thought Aunt Irene was out on an errand, believing that the only members of the family in crisis were his father and Chris.

But it wasn\'t long before Darren became aware of the fresh hatred committed by the Meyer family.

"Those Rhea people will pay the price sooner or later, I swear to you, Aunt Irene."

He took a deep breath and then put on the rusty Iron Mask.

Although his appearance had completely recovered, Darren did not discard the Iron Mask he had worn for years. He knew that once he set foot on Rhea land again, he would have to wear the Iron Mask for years to come.

And by that time, he would become the nightmare of all Rhea People!

In another room, the silver-haired Karno was sound asleep, snoring heavily.

He was the complete opposite of the brooding Darren, carefree and heartless, as if he had no cares for any grudge and never thought about anything too burdensome.

"Hmm?"

Karno groggily opened his eyes and quickly saw Sunbelle undressing and standing by the bed.

The girl, wearing only a tight bodice, covered her body with her hands, took a deep breath, and red-faced, she lay down beside Karno.

His eyes widened, then slowly narrowed as he muttered, "This isn\'t necessary."

Embarrassed and rigid, Sunbelle shivered slightly as she said, "I\'m cold, hold me."

She didn\'t know much about the affairs between men and women, having only heard about it from the unrefined servants in her small family. Back then, the plump cook had laughed loudly while Sunbelle, still a little girl, listened in a daze.

Lying on the bed, Sunbelle felt extremely shy, yet she didn\'t want to retreat and leave just like that.

On the bed, Karno held the quilt motionless, and Sunbelle, wearing only her bodice, also remained still.

Karno just wouldn\'t hold her and out of curiosity asked, "Do you know what to do?"

"I don\'t know..." Sunbelle shook her head repeatedly.

"Actually, I don\'t know either."

"Ah..."

The Fischer family educated their members about sexual knowledge at the age of fourteen, and Karno was still a few months shy of that, so he truly was unclear about what to do; he had heard only a little about it.

"Then, let\'s just forget it..."

With a red face, Sunbelle muttered, looking down. She realized that Karno hadn\'t touched her at all. She felt somewhat happy about that, yet also a bit disappointed.

Young Master Karno really is a good person, but am I really that unappealing?

He said softly, "You\'re not frightened by my arm, Sunbelle. I appreciate that about you."

Following that, Karno placed his withered and ugly arm between them—the only flaw on the young man\'s handsome body.

Looking at that withered arm, Sunbelle calmly said, "My grandmother was also disabled. Her arm was burnt in a fire, much like yours. I lived with her when I was small and got used to it early on, but eventually, she passed away..."

Her expression turned somewhat sad; back then, her family simply didn\'t have the money to treat her grandmother\'s illness.

"I see."

Karno responded with a gentle tone.

"I really am a bit cold..."

"Hahaha, then let\'s split the blanket half and half."

Karno finally shared the blanket with Sunbelle, giving her half, and she immediately felt much warmer. She quickly noticed that he still did not seem to want to touch her.

"Don\'t you like me?"

"It\'s okay."

She was a bit displeased and asked, "What does \'it\'s okay\' mean?"

Karno thought for a moment and seriously replied, "It means I don\'t dislike you."

Sunbelle stared at the charming, handsome face and suddenly, without thinking, hugged the young man and lightly kissed his lips.

"I want you to like me."