Monster Girl Development Master.

Seeing Count Cross fall silent, Lady Lydia's heart sank as well, but she, who was already on the verge of madness, still couldn't help but plead: "Cross, Cross, I believe you know that Johnson's serious illness is no accident. I beg you, find the murderer. If you can find him, I promise to make Johnson never do these crazy things again. He just wants to find the villain who murdered him."

Count Cross shook his head: "You know the rules, Leah, especially now. If I'm going to find the murderer for Johnson, then I should also take Johnson's head for Jem."

In fact, Count Cross was not a law-abiding person, but since he was the murderer of Zhuang Sen, he couldn't very well hand himself over.

Lady Leah's pleading expression froze, then gradually returned to normal, and she said, "I understand, Cross. Well then, let's leave it at that. I have other things to attend to, so I won't see you out."

The already cooled black tea was picked up, and the smooth celadon cup was gripped so tightly that it almost broke.

Count Cross seemed oblivious to the obvious hint to dismiss him, and said to himself, "It's alright, I'll just wait for Zhuang Sen. He should be back tonight. You're always clinging to him like a banshee."

He believed that Lady Leah must have information about Johnson's changes, because Johnson would tell her almost everything, which wasn't a good habit. You couldn't trust women too much, not even your mother. Women were too emotional; with just a few words of provocation, they would reveal everything you wanted to know, even if they had sworn not to.

But Lady Leah had no intention of letting Cross stay the night; all she wanted now was revenge! Not to watch a man who was clearly capable of doing so but refused to do it, like a disgusting snot stuck to her floor.

“No, Cross, I have no time to entertain you.” She refused bluntly and without any attempt to hide her feelings. “You can go and comfort Jem’s inferior mother. Although I think she regrets that you didn’t help her dear Tim eliminate another rival instead of her son’s death, she would be happy to serve you so that her inferior family could receive some favors from the Earl, just as she thought when she climbed into your bed.”

The sharp, sarcastic remarks made Count Clos frown, which was why he had never liked this woman and had barely seen her after giving birth to Zhuang Sen, a mere formality. But today, he could tolerate it…

The heavy footsteps eased the increasingly cold atmosphere in the room slightly. Then the door was pushed open, and Lydia, fully armored, appeared in the doorway. However, Lady Lydia and Earl Cross looked past her and at Johnson behind her.

"Mother." Zhuang Sen first greeted Lady Liya, then looked at Earl Cross in surprise: "And Father, I didn't expect you to come today."

Count Cross was also surprised, but more excited. A smile even appeared on his gloomy face: "Zhuang Sen, you're back. I was just talking to your mother about you. I heard you were seriously ill before. Are you better now?"

"Yes, thanks to my mother and the nuns of the Vengeance Church."

The pointless small talk continued for a while. Count Cross acted as if he had never seen Johnson kill his beloved Jem, and Johnson seemed to have no intention of killing this old man Deng and taking over as count immediately.

Until Kloss got to the point: "Johnson, how did you awaken the Holy Eagle bloodline?"

Zhuang Sen looked dejected and sighed, "I have to thank that serious illness. I felt like my blood was boiling, like I was being cooked, but Goddess, I survived and found that I had already awakened."

This was a reason that Johnson and Lady Lia had prepared long ago, and it was the only reason they could come up with. It wouldn't be difficult to find out whether the Falau family had sent the awakening potion, especially for Count Cross. Without the awakening potion, awakening was normally impossible. Although there are records of some early bloodline members achieving natural awakening, that was something like a myth.

There was no other way but to attribute it to the most illogical serious illness. Fortunately, there was no need to fabricate the subsequent conspiracies and intrigues; the answer was simply revenge and competition.

But what Zhuang Sen didn't expect was that the reason they made up actually matched one of Cross's guesses.

As expected, after the Shadow Raven bloodline was absorbed, the previously conflicting Holy Eagle bloodline was released... I never thought there was such a use; it's worth remembering.

Count Cross thought this to himself, but on the surface he remained calm and even rebuked him with a hint of displeasure: "Johnson, as a nobleman, you cannot believe in any goddess like a fool. The church can be used, but not trusted, otherwise it will shake your power."

Although these words were meant to cover up something, they were also Earl Cross's true feelings, and they sounded quite like a wise and instructive message, if he hadn't been preparing to leave right after speaking.

But there's no other way. After all, if they don't leave now, it will seem a bit too deliberate. Now it can be said that after hitting Zhuang Sen with a stick, they're giving him a carrot.

But he didn't give up on testing the waters; he just wanted to try a different approach.

……

After Count Cross left, Johnson lowered his guard and turned to Lady Leah: "Mother..."

A fragrant breeze enveloped him. Zhuang Sen stared blankly at Liya, who had thrown herself into his arms, feeling the dampness against his chest. After a moment's hesitation, he hugged her tightly.

At the entrance, Nia, standing next to Lydia, watched this scene with curiosity.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The New Plan (3243 words)

In the suddenly quiet living room, the elegantly dressed noblewoman nestled into the arms of the handsome young man. Her smooth, jade-like arms wrapped around his strong waist, creating wrinkles in her fine knight's uniform. The noblewoman sobbed softly, as if lamenting something, making the whole scene appear as if she were complaining about her lover's estrangement—a scene that seemed quite ambiguous.

Fortunately, besides the two main characters, the only people present were the loyal female knight Lydia and Nia, who knew that this was just a mother's lament.

Lady Leah, who was holding Johnson, was a little embarrassed. She didn't know why she had suddenly done something so outrageous. After all, she had never done anything like this, even when facing her own son, the real Johnson Leon. Just as Count Cross said, she had always kept her son under control.

It's all Klose's fault! It's all his fault!

If he weren't so heartless and shameless, why would she lose control of her emotions because of Zhuang Sen's intervention? And if she hadn't lost control of her emotions, why would she have become agitated by Zhuang Sen's "sudden maturity" and acted in such an undignified manner?

This is simply a mother's natural and reasonable action after witnessing her son's growth and accepting his protection; there is nothing wrong with it.

—That's what Zhuang Sen thought too.

There was no way around it; due to the influence of the bloodline of the Unranked Angel, Zhuang Sen was now practically "rejuvenated," looking exactly like the original owner of the body. He had noticed a change in Lady Lia's attitude these past few days, with her spacing out more frequently, but this time was just that—a minor incident.

He sighed inwardly once again, "A mother's love is truly great, what a pity..."

After some time, Lydia led Nia to her seat and served her tea and refreshments. Lady Lydia's sobs gradually subsided, and she released Zhuang Sen with some regret: "I'm sorry, dear."

She spoke with a calm expression, pushing Zhuang Sen in front of the square table. The blush on her face seemed to be simply due to crying, with no other thoughts in mind.

Zhuang Sen breathed a sigh of relief. He had never comforted his mother before, and now he was finally relieved. He picked up his black tea and took a sip: "Phew, Mother, is this all you're going to serve Count Cross?"

Lady Lia, now back to normal, gave a soft snort: "It's good enough that he's served tea; he's a man you can't rely on."

As she spoke, she looked at Nia, who was holding a teacup and seemed at a loss, and then gave Zhuang Sen a cold look as he began to devour the white bread: "Zhuang Sen, aren't you going to introduce your guest to me? I don't recall ever teaching you such manners."

Having skipped lunch, Zhuang Sen swallowed his bread and gave Nia a smile: "No, Mother, this is not my guest, but my wife."

"what?"

Lady Lia used all the etiquette she had learned in her life to suppress the urge to spit out the tea, but she still couldn't suppress the look of astonishment in her eyes as she stared at little Nia.

Miss Nia's expression was equally astonished; her mouth gaped open in surprise, forming an "O" shape as she stared blankly at Zhuang Sen. Don't misunderstand, this doesn't mean Miss Nia suddenly changed her mind or anything; it's just that Zhuang Sen's behavior was far too sudden. Theoretically speaking, a formal marriage for a nobleman, especially for an underage nobleman, is a rather complicated process.

First, the guardians of both parties must confirm the marriage agreement and find a respected person of equal status to act as a witness. Then, the marriage agreement must be made public to all the nobles. The usual practice is to hold an engagement banquet, where the couple will decide what they will contribute to the marriage, namely the bride price and dowry. At the same time, a series of various influences will also arise, and these will be negotiated and exchanged at the banquet. It can be said that the least important thing at the engagement banquet is the thoughts of the parties involved and the date of the wedding.

Only after all these steps are completed can the two parties officially begin dating. At this time, they can only address each other as fiancé/fiancé until they are officially married, at which point they can truly be called husband/wife.

Therefore, it is understandable how shocked Lady Lia and Miss Nia, as long-established nobles, must have been when they heard Johnson say this.

In fact, Lydia, the female knight who was not noticed by many, also looked surprised at this moment.

“Zhuang Sen, you’d better not have done anything inappropriate to this young lady—” Lady Liya paused, realizing that the person in front of her wasn’t her own son. Fortunately, no one noticed. Although Zhuang Sen was puzzled, he wasn’t one to engage in riddles and simply recounted his unexpected experiences and gains that day.

"...So, at most I just touched her face, that's about it."

Well, even Zhuang Sen felt like he was being a bit inhuman.

Lady Leah was quite helpless. She remembered that Johnson's goal these past few days had been to gather information on the rest of Leon, right? But she didn't have any intention of reprimanding Johnson. Looking at the young and innocent Nia, she felt somewhat relieved: indeed, young people still like young people. That nun seemed to understand this as well...

Zhuang Sen looked speechlessly at the two women, one big and one small, who had suddenly become harmonious, and gently tapped the table: "Alright, let's get down to business. Mother, I have a new plan."

Lady Leah became serious: "What plan?"

"It's a very simple plan. I intend to secretly take control of the War Church and the Healing Church, and then let them use the pretext of dealing with Zhuang Sen and the Vengeance Church to wipe them out all at once again."

It sounds simple. There are only four churches in the entire religious sphere of Leon. Apart from the one mentioned above, there is only the Goddess of Gold who specializes in commerce. If we can really get the Church of War and the Church of Healing to defect, then we can indeed have another massacre in Leon.

"But what are you going to do? Aren't these two churches joining forces against your ally, the Church of Vengeance?" Lady Leah asked, raising the question from the others present, but then looked at Nia, "Or perhaps..."

Nia blinked, looking thoughtfully at Zhuang Sen. No one in the noble circles of Leon Territory was unaware of the inheritance struggle within the Earl's family, especially after Zhuang Sen nearly wiped out his siblings. Naturally, Nia wasn't surprised by Zhuang Sen's plan, and had even begun considering how to help him.

But no matter how she thought about it, all she knew was blacksmithing. She couldn't possibly wait until she awakened for the third time, could she? That would take forever.

Zhuang Sen explained, "This is where Nia's help comes in. She is the only blacksmith master with a level three bloodline in the entire Leon Territory. With her, we can monopolize the entire Leon Territory's arms market. At that time, unless the War Church wants to go bankrupt, it will have to kneel down and lick my toes—of course, before that, they will have to make a reasonable struggle."

Nia looked bewildered: "Me? Me?"

"Yes, you, don't worry, I'll help you, darling."

Zhuang Sen got into character very quickly and treated his wife very well. Seeing Zhuang Sen's affectionate smile, Nia, who had been quite outgoing in the carriage, shyly shrank back and stole a glance at Lady Lia.

Lady Leah remained calm. She believed that Johnson wouldn't exaggerate, and his words made sense, except...

"The Healing Church, they have nothing to do with military equipment."

“They were just extras anyway, I plan to try this out.” Zhuang Sen took out the Divine Seed, which was the initial development reward for the bloodline of the Unranked Angel, and could be used to grow plants with divine attributes.

Lady Lia looked at the white seed in Zhuang Sen's hand, her eyes lighting up slightly: "Is this a seed with the bloodline of a demonic plant?"

Zhuang Sen nodded: "Yes, and it's of the holy attribute, so there's a high probability that it can be used to make healing and purifying potions. If we can cultivate this on a large scale, the Healing Church will have no choice. So I have to go see the Flor family tomorrow; they must have had enough of the Healing Church's monopoly."

Lady Lia was relieved: "Very good, just tell me what you need."

Zhuang Sen didn't mince words: "I need enough forging materials and space, as well as channels for selling weapons..."

As he spoke, he looked at Nia, whose lips were slightly pouting: "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Miss Nia immediately went into shy mode, but under Zhuang Sen's burning gaze, she had nowhere to escape and could only mutter in a very low voice, "Does the Flor family also have people like Nia...?"

Zhuang Sen felt like he had suffered a thousand points of mental damage.

This is the first time in both his past and present lives that someone has ever been jealous of him.

If Lady Leah and Lydia hadn't been there, Johnson would have loved to hug Nia and give her a good rub, saying, "You're so cute!"

But all he could say for now was, "That's not true. People as cute as Nia are very rare!"

Lady Lia watched this scene with mixed feelings, especially when she noticed that Zhuang Sen wanted to get up several times but stopped because of his hesitation. Her gaze towards Nia also became complicated.

At this point, a good mother should leave to give her children enough space. Lady Leah understood this, of course, but she still didn't get up, just silently watching the two of them, as if in a daze.

Zhuang Sen naturally noticed the gaze, but he still attributed it to Lady Liya's longing for her son. After all, it's said that parents want to see their children get married, and it's normal for her to be reminded of her son's feelings now that he has a wife.

Nia, however, was different. She was already a bit reserved because of "meeting the parents," and was no longer as cheerful and "scheming" as before. Now, under the gaze, her face turned red, and she blurted out in a panic, "I, I'm not as pretty as Sister Dantalian. When we were in the carriage, you looked at Sister Dantalian more."

Zhuang Sen said without batting an eye, "Dantrian and you have different styles. You are definitely cuter. Do you want me to prove it to you today?"

The naive Miss Nia was no match for the evil Zhuang Sen. She was subdued with just one sentence and quickly stood up, saying, "I... I need to rest!"

Zhuang Sen also stood up: "Perfect, let me take you to your room."

"Ugh—" The little one seemed to be thinking about something, her face turning bright red, but she didn't utter a word of refusal. Finally, Lady Lydia couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward: "Lydia, take Miss Nia to rest. Johnson, where has your manners gone?"

Zhuang Sen reluctantly raised his hands in surrender: "Alright, then I'll go practice my bloodline abilities first. Thank you, Lydia."

The female knight bowed respectfully and left with Nia.

Zhuang Sen followed him out and walked in the opposite direction. Lady Liya watched this scene, her eyes flickering as she looked back at Zhuang Sen.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Bloodline Switching (3052 words)

As Zhuang Sen walked through the Radiant Manor, which was shrouded in the night, the cool moonlight bathed him, gradually calming his mind and allowing him to temporarily shift his focus away from Nia and Dantalian.

Now is not the time. Don't be fooled by Nia's calm demeanor; she just revealed that she wasn't prepared. Since it's already in his hands, Zhuang Sen isn't in a hurry to cook it, especially with so many enemies around. Let's prioritize the important matters.

He was going to the ritual room to try out his newly acquired tall and short bloodline and personally test the effects of the bloodline switch. Just reading the system's introduction made it seem a bit too abstract.

……

In the reception room, Lady Leah sat with her smooth, jade-like hands casually resting on her ample breasts. The feeling of embracing Zhuang Sen earlier flashed through her mind once more. It wasn't a hard, fiery pressure, but rather a supple gentleness, like that of a truly frail young man, leaving Lady Leah with a melancholy feeling.

Although she herself didn't know what she was feeling melancholy about, even though everything had been explained very clearly. She helped Zhuang Sen become Earl Leon, and Zhuang Sen helped her take revenge. For this, Zhuang Sen even told her about his special ability that would definitely attract countless people's covetousness—helping others awaken their bloodlines, and he himself could also obtain a bloodline!