Goddess Kaleidoscope

Are you a follower of the God of Thieves?

"No, but I have a blood pact with the Night Mother."

In front of Lud, Byrne frankly admitted that he was a blood pacter of the evil goddess Night Mother. This was an extremely special relationship between a god and a mortal. Byrne was not a believer of Night Mother, but he could exchange his blood for Night Mother's power. This was a kind of sacrificial act, and therefore he could also generate faith.

It is worth mentioning that the Night Mother had taken the initiative to send her own messenger to contact the Pantheon. In fact, the other party, like Hume, was essentially a "gray god," neither as upright as the orthodox gods nor as evil as purely wicked gods. They could not be exposed to the light, yet they would not die in the light.

Night Mother was initially interested in joining, but she could not fully accept the conditions offered by Lud, so the two sides ultimately failed to reach an agreement.

Looking at the unfathomable power of Rudd, Byrne hesitated. According to the Emperor's orders, his mission was either to abduct Rudd and take him to Canary III, or to eliminate this troublesome individual.

Killing a chosen one casually is indeed a major taboo, but the Empire has the support of the God of War, Fegory, so it is not afraid of retaliation from the Pantheon.

The problem now is that Bourne has severely underestimated Ludd's strength. His instincts, as a top-tier fighter, are frantically warning him that this person is dangerous, so dangerous that he is no match for him. Forget killing him, even escaping is now uncertain.

Bourne has lived for hundreds of years and has experienced the war of the gods, but he has never seen such an outrageous mortal!

"Who exactly are you?"

"As you can see, he's just an ordinary priest."

"Stop joking, Master!"

"Who I am is not important. Tell me why you've come. I guess... your emperor wants to invite me for tea, right?"

"His Majesty has indeed long admired your name and has always wanted to find an opportunity to meet you."

“That’s great! I’d like to meet him too. Why don’t you bring him over in a couple of days? I have quite a lot of room here.”

"..."

The vast difference in strength left Bourne in a very passive position. Just as he was wondering how to respond, a series of footsteps approaching from afar and the laughter of young girls suddenly came from the entrance of the main tent.

Upon hearing this, Lude knew that Romian had come to deliver a midnight snack to him. He snapped his fingers, and Byrne, who was sitting across from him at his desk, immediately felt a powerful force binding him completely to his chair, unable to move.

Lude's move shocked Byrne immensely. The dark elf thought to himself that he was a top expert, yet Lude's casual snap of his fingers turned him into a salted fish on a chopping board. This terrifying power was something that not only mortals could not achieve, but even ordinary chosen ones might not be able to reach this level.

Looking at Bourne's utterly shocked expression, Lude said with a smile.

"My apprentice is here. Behave yourself and don't scare them."

Outside Lud's tent, Romian carried a basket of freshly made snacks and hot fruit tea, intending to give them to her hardworking master as a late-night treat, followed by Shanis and Olivia.

Normally, delivering food wouldn't require such a fuss, but the two female disciples behind them each had their own ulterior motives. Olivia, a foodie, had her eye on the pastries Romian had made and planned to tag along for a late-night snack. Shanis, on the other hand, was a hopeless case, planning to eat Lude's pastries first, and then eat Lude's.

Lude has been overworked lately, and this malicious villain should bear at least half the responsibility!

When the three arrived at the tent entrance, Shanis, who had been laughing and joking, suddenly became serious and quickly stepped forward to stop Romian and Olivia, because she noticed that there were strangers in the tent.

Shanis, still unsure of the situation and whether it was appropriate to go in at this time, cautiously asked.

"Sir, we've brought you some late-night snacks. Is now a convenient time?"

"It's alright, come in."

With Lud's consent, Shanis knew there was no problem, so she lifted the tent flap and went in first. As soon as she entered, she saw an unfamiliar male dark elf sitting opposite Lud. At first glance, he seemed to be sitting quite upright, but Shanis could see the binding spell and immediately understood.

This must be an assassin sent by the Empire who has stepped on a landmine!

Unable to move, Bourne glanced at the stunningly beautiful nun in front of him, whose eyes revealed mockery. His sixth sense as a top expert told him that this woman was also a formidable character not to be trifled with. However, his gaze was quickly drawn to another girl who entered the tent afterward, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Luo Mi'an!?"

"Uncle Bourne?"

To Lude's surprise, Byrne, sent by the Emperor, actually knew Romian, and judging from Romian's excitement to the point of bursting into tears, their relationship was clearly more than just ordinary.

At this moment, Lud vaguely remembered that Romian had once said that when she and her mother ran an inn in the countryside, a dark elf uncle would often come to visit them on behalf of her biological father, bringing them money and gifts. He thought that this must be Bourne.

Later, when her biological father's family learned about her and her mother's affair, they sent assassins to kill them. It was Uncle Bourne who came to warn them and bravely covered their retreat to block the pursuers.

Therefore, Romianne always regarded her kind and amiable Uncle Bourne, who had sacrificed himself to save her at a critical moment, as her savior. Without his and her mother's sacrifice, Romianne would not have had the chance to escape alive, and naturally she would not have met her master.

It is worth mentioning that the kind-hearted Romian firmly believed that Uncle Bourne was not dead, but she had no idea how to contact this mysterious dark elf ranger. Therefore, she could only pray in front of the statue every day, asking the goddess to protect Uncle Bourne so that they could meet again in the future and thank him in person for saving her life.

Now that she has finally seen Bourne again, Romian is overjoyed and thinks that the benevolent goddess has responded to her long-held expectations. A feeling of gratitude wells up in her heart, which makes Aina, who is on duty at the field hospital, suddenly see a large, exceptionally strong mass of faith rushing towards her.

However, unlike Romian's excitement, Ludwig, though somewhat surprised, remained very clear-headed and immediately noticed that there seemed to be many things that were not quite right in the story.

When Romian and her mother were attacked by a group of assassins, the dragon girl was only twelve years old. Although she was more mature than her peers in many ways, she was still young and simple-minded. She only remembered that Uncle Bourne had single-handedly held off the pursuers for them, but she did not think about things in depth.

Firstly, when Ludger first met Romian, he had suspected that her biological father, Adrian, was probably not a young master from a minor noble family in the empire. You see, in order to protect his wife and daughter from being discovered by his family, her father could have specially sent them to live in the northern part of the kingdom, far away from the empire. However, after his family found out, they still sent a large group of assassins to raid thousands of miles away.

How could a family with such strength be a minor noble family?

Secondly, after meeting Bourne in person, Lud was quite certain that this guy was extremely powerful, undoubtedly a top-tier expert, one of the most powerful figures at the very top of the pyramid, and possessed two divine artifacts. If this guy got serious, he could even hold his own against a god of the lower third tier.

So theoretically speaking, unless there are at least three top-tier experts of the same level as Bourne among the assassins sent by Romian's biological father's family, he wouldn't need to run to protect the Dragon Girl and her daughter. His behavior of letting the mother and daughter go first while he stayed behind to cover the retreat seems very illogical.

Ludwig scrutinized Byrne and Romian for a long time until he noticed Romian's increasingly vibrant red hair, which had become more and more striking with age. Suddenly, a seemingly absurd but possibly true conjecture came to him.

So after a moment's consideration, Lude smiled and spoke to Romian in a gentle tone.

"Alright, calm down, Romian. I didn't expect you to know Mr. Bourne. He's the wandering uncle you mentioned before. How about this, you go wash your face and calm down. Your Uncle Bourne and I still have some important things to discuss. You two can catch up later, okay?"

As Lude spoke, he gave Shanis a wink, and Shanis immediately took Romian out first, and also picked up Olivia, who was trying to stay, with one hand.

After the three girls left, leaving only Ludwig and Byrne in the tent, Ludwig's smile quickly faded, while Byrne asked him in a tone clearly tinged with guilt.

"Master, that child... how could she..."

"Four years ago, I met Romian in the Void Forest. The child was with a group of ratmen and was tricked by them, almost becoming a living sacrifice in a cult ritual. I rescued her and took her as my disciple. I know about that child's experience, so I'm very curious now, with your strength, why couldn't you protect her and her mother?"

"I……"

"You'd better think carefully before you answer, and don't try to fool me with lies, or the consequences will be severe. I'm furious right now. Just thinking about how that child lost his mother at such a young age, suffered so much alone and helpless, and almost lost his life, makes me want to drag the culprit out right now and tear him to pieces, even if he's the emperor of a country!"

When Rudd uttered the last sentence, his eyes widened in fury, seemingly spitting fire. And this wasn't just empty talk; it was a genuine threat. With Rudd's current strength, unless Canary III had three great gods as his personal guards, even a dozen top-tier experts wouldn't be able to stop Rudd from taking his head.

Having already witnessed Ludwig's methods, Byrne naturally understood, and he replied with a wry smile.

"No! You're wrong about one thing. His Majesty... was unaware of what happened back then."

Under Ludwig's pressure, Byrne, who already felt guilty towards Romian, honestly confessed the truth about what happened back then.

The story begins more than twenty years ago, when the previous emperor, Canary III, ascended the throne. Although the empire nominally operated under a centralized system, local powers remained strong, and several powerful nobles were secretly vying with the royal family, even attempting to sever the royal bloodline.

Faced with both internal and external troubles upon his ascension to the throne, Canary II could only feign ignorance to preserve the overall situation, allowing the ladies sent by various noble families in the harem to cuckold him. In private, during a northern tour, he secretly married the daughter of a border noble family loyal to the royal family, hiding his true bloodline.

For the next two decades, Canary II skillfully orchestrated a comprehensive victory both domestically and internationally, wiping out the power of the great nobles and eliminating even the illegitimate children in his harem.

But Canary II, having accomplished all this, was already exhausted. Years of intrigue had brought him to the brink of physical and mental exhaustion. So, on his deathbed, he entrusted his closest friend, the current Imperial Chancellor, with the task of welcoming back the country's true heir apparent.

When Canary II issued a decree to welcome back the crown prince, Canary III, whose real name was Adrian, was already thirty-three years old. In his memory, he had never seen his biological father. He had only heard his mother often mention that his father was a great man who had always loved them deeply. Even on his deathbed, his father repeatedly told Adrian not to hate his father, and that he would know the truth one day.

At that time, Adrian did not understand what his mother meant. It was not until the Imperial Chancellor and the five legion commanders came to the home where he had lived for thirty-three years and knelt down to call him Crown Prince that Adrian finally learned the truth that had been hidden all along.

And so, Adrian became the crown prince in a daze, and was taken back to the capital by the prime minister to see his father, who was on his deathbed.

Upon seeing Adrian, the old emperor was overjoyed. To protect the safety of the mother and son, Canary II only held Adrian a few times when he was just born, and then he resolutely refused to see them again.

On his deathbed, the old emperor held the hand of his only son, murmuring their names and repeatedly saying sorry, until he breathed his last.

After that, with the support of the team left to him by the old emperor, Adrian successfully ascended the throne as Canary III.

Although Adrian had lived on the frontier for thirty-three years, he received the most rigorous imperial education from a young age. His teachers were all the most learned court scholars, and they were extremely loyal to the imperial family. Canary II secretly sent them to his own son through exile, execution (or feigned death), and other means, to cultivate the heir to the empire in anonymity.

In addition, to ensure the safety of the mother and child, King Canary II also sent his most loyal bodyguards to the royal family.

This palace shadow guard was none other than Byrne, standing before Ludwig.

Bourne had received a great favor from Canary I in his early years and vowed to protect the safety of the Canary royal family for the rest of his life. So Canary II asked him to protect his son, and Bourne disguised himself as a human ranger and became Adrian's bodyguard and martial arts instructor.

The two have been together for 33 years, their relationship being both that of teacher and friend.

Because Adrian considered him his best friend, Byrne knew some of Adrian's little secrets: he had fallen in love with an Argonian maid named Leona and they had secretly fathered a child together, named Romian.

In the empire, where racial discrimination was the only politically correct practice, aside from elves and dwarves who were relatively well-regarded, other non-mainstream races were second-class citizens, and demi-humans were simply "untouchables," with a social status only slightly better than slaves.

But Adrian didn't care. Although he was a nobleman, he was an illegitimate child without a title. Although he had good teachers and friends from childhood, and his mother and grandfather treated him very well, he still inevitably heard some unpleasant gossip. Even his own servants would gossip behind his back. Only Liana, who was also bullied, was kind to him, so the two naturally came together.

Adrian originally planned to take his wife and daughters and run away after his grandfather passed away, but he never expected that his true identity would be revealed. He was actually the crown prince of the empire and had even ascended the throne as Canary III.

Adrian initially felt he was not fit to be emperor, but the prime minister and his teacher kept persuading him, saying that the country and its millions of people needed him. So Adrian had no choice but to take the throne, but he never forgot his wife and daughters who were far away on the border.

At that time, Adrian still harbored a sliver of unrealistic illusion, believing that once he became emperor, he could break with convention, make his beloved woman empress, his daughter princess, and live a happy life with his family. However, he severely underestimated the deep-seated prejudices.

Therefore, in the first two years after his ascension to the throne, Adrian, knowing that his power base was not stable, did not rush to bring his wife and daughter to the capital. Instead, he left them in his hometown on the border and asked his good friend Byrne to take care of them.

But later, when the prime minister learned of this, he was dumbfounded to discover that the new emperor had actually married a lowly demi-human and had a child with her. He never imagined that His Majesty, who seemed so perfect in every way and appeared to be a wise and benevolent ruler, would have such a taste!

In the prime minister's view, it was perfectly normal for the new emperor to have women and even offspring at the age of thirty-three; it could even be considered a good thing. As for the woman's humble origins, that wasn't a big problem either. He had ways to gild the sparrow and turn it into a phoenix. Even if she couldn't become empress, bringing her into the palace wouldn't be difficult. But there was a major prerequisite: the woman had to be a purebred human.

The prime minister, who was loyal to the late emperor and transferred that loyalty to the new emperor, knew very well that there were actually quite a few complaints about the illegitimate son becoming emperor. It was only because of his and the five military commanders' endorsement that he was able to suppress the dissent with an iron fist.

If the new emperor were to reveal a colossal scandal that would shock the entire empire, the blow to the foundation of the royal family's rule would undoubtedly be fatal.

So the prime minister spoke with Canary III, reassuring the emperor not to rush to bring the Argonian mother and daughter to the capital. Then, he secretly instructed Byrne to take a large sum of money to Adrian's family home and secretly send the mother and daughter abroad to "deal with" all those who knew about it.

At the time, Bourne was unaware that the prime minister, who had served the old emperor for many years, was far more ruthless than he had imagined.

For a period of time afterward, the prime minister used his political skills to help the new emperor consolidate his position, while also using his connections to introduce various beautiful women of noble birth to the new emperor, hoping that His Majesty the emperor could be like an ordinary man, easily bored with the old and eager for the new, and forget about the demi-human mother and daughter.

To the prime minister's utter astonishment, the new emperor, Adrian, was not only highly learned and a worthy ruler, but also an impeccable gentleman in terms of personal morality. He knew that as emperor, he couldn't avoid taking concubines, but he had never forgotten the Argonian mother and daughter and always wanted to bring them to live with him.

The new emperor's kindness and compassion both pleased and troubled the old prime minister.

However, the prime minister knew that if the new emperor could secure his throne, the mother and daughter absolutely could not be discovered. They had become the new emperor's only weakness, and a fatal one at that.

So the old prime minister decided that he would play the villain himself.

Under the prime minister's meticulous planning, a plan to eliminate Leona and her daughter Romian was quickly formed.

He first spread false information, leading the new emperor to believe that remnants of the old nobility knew about his wife and daughter, and that assassins were being sent to kill them. The new emperor was immediately alarmed and hurriedly sent Byrne to rescue them, but in reality, he hoped that Byrne, the only one who knew the location of the mother and daughter, would guide the real assassins.

As a top expert, Bourne was indeed impossible for ordinary assassins to track. However, the Prime Minister obtained a divine artifact that could track Bourne remotely. A large group of elite assassins followed Bourne to the northern border of the Kingdom of Duran and launched a surprise attack as soon as Bourne saw the mother and daughter.

Bourne hadn't expected the assassins to arrive so quickly, and hastily covered the mother and daughter as they fought their way back. The assassins were numerous and well-equipped. Furthermore, Bourne had two artifacts borrowed by the Chancellor under some pretext, and he had been injured while protecting the new emperor, so he wasn't at his peak condition.

Even so, Bourne managed to cover the mother and daughter's escape, but unexpectedly, while he was covering their retreat, the prime minister appeared in person, unarmed, and begged him to join him in being the villain, for the sake of the late emperor's entrustment to them.

This is the beginning and the course of everything. Bourne was persuaded by the Chancellor to betray his friend's trust in him. And on that day, Romian also experienced a nightmare that would haunt her for the rest of her life—watching her mother die a horrible death at the hands of assassins while protecting her.

Afterwards, Bourne returned to the Empire in a daze with the Chancellor and told Adrian the devastating news. The Emperor was heartbroken upon learning of the murder of his wife and daughters, and nearly died of grief. Bourne, in cooperation with the Chancellor, pinned all the blame on the remnants of the old nobility, and even went so far as to smear the Kingdom of Duran, claiming that the remnants of the old nobility had the help of the Duran people.