Chapter 37: Leona’s Old Home
Leona’s ancestor was a transmigrator summoned by the Creator God from another world called “Earth.” When Abyss told her about this, Leona showed no surprise, only disdain. She even remarked that without the power bestowed by the Creator God, her ancestor, with his playful mind, would have been crushed by the harsh realities of the world.
The people of the continent were familiar with Leona’s ancestor. He had lived a remarkable life, and many romantic tales in the knightly novels popular among noble girls were based on his exploits.
Star Platinum, originally the son of a disgraced knight, had witnessed his family’s honor and dignity stripped away after his father deserted during a war. At the age of fifteen, heartbroken after being rejected by his fiancée due to his father’s downfall, Star attempted suicide by jumping into a river. Everyone assumed the desperate young man had drowned, but three days later, he returned home, soaking wet, a changed man. He abandoned his former life of idleness and dedicated himself to training his Dou Qi, making rapid progress. Typically, a fifteen-year-old Dou Warrior, even with training from a young age, would only reach the third tier. However, in just two months, Star went from a mediocre first-tier, fifth-grade Dou Warrior to a fourth-tier, second-grade warrior.
Thus began Star’s legendary journey. To restore his father’s lost honor, he participated in various martial arts tournaments across the nation and even the world. His initial battles were arduous, but he grew stronger with each defeat. It seemed that every time he was defeated, he would become stronger within a few days, even creating new martial techniques. More bizarrely, he was often beaten to a seemingly fatal state in no-rules matches, yet he would always recover after a period of bed rest, emerging even stronger.
By the age of twenty, Star had become a ninth-tier, ninth-grade Dou Warrior, the highest rank achievable. The people of Haitville believed that the tenth tier was the realm of gods, attainable only by those who could perform miracles without relying on Divine Arts. Even so, his impressive achievements earned him recognition from the Emperor of the then-undivided Mynian Empire. He was knighted and later even helped a courageous Mynian princess, who had lost her claim to the throne due to court intrigue, establish the Western Empire and rule over half of the Mynian territory.
He was a ladies’ man, rumored to have a dozen mistresses even after his marriage, with his wife’s consent. Some even whispered that he had an affair with the Empress herself, but it was kept secret for the sake of the royal family’s reputation.
Despite being surrounded by beautiful women, he didn’t have many children. He only had a son and a daughter with his wife. His son died in infancy, leaving only his daughter, Jolene, to grow up healthy.
Star was not only a renowned warrior but also a pioneer in entertainment. He invented the popular card game played across the continent, with variations like Cranium Stone, Gwent, and Slave Master. He also revolutionized the continent’s drinking culture, introducing the practice of blending different wines and spices. Leona’s favorite “Blazing Elk” was created using this technique. He single-handedly revitalized the Western Empire’s theater, novel writing, and other cultural industries. It could be said that Star was the most playful noble in the entire Western Empire.
After Star died of old age, his daughter, although intelligent and capable, didn’t inherit his extraordinary talent. Coupled with the new Emperor’s inexplicable suppression of the Platinum family, the family gradually declined. By the time Leona’s mother came of age, they were just an ordinary, fallen noble family.
However, this unmarried noblewoman later met and fell in love with the previous Emperor, Roman III, during one of his outings, eventually giving birth to an illegitimate daughter, Leona. Although Leona, as an illegitimate child, didn’t have the same status as the Emperor’s legitimate offspring, she was still a princess, giving her mother some hope for a better future for her child.
She could never have imagined that her kind, innocent, and talented daughter would die in a court intrigue, a collateral victim of someone else’s ambition.
“I remember, this is my mother’s house… I sneaked here once when I was little, but my mother didn’t seem to want to see me. She didn’t even open the door. I never came back after that.”
Leona led Abyss and Flora to a dilapidated courtyard. Peering through a small window in the wall, they saw that the courtyard had been abandoned for a long time. The snow was thick and undisturbed. A three-story mansion stood alone, covered in withered vines. The surrounding trees, untrimmed, had grown wild, some branches even piercing through broken windows and into the house.
“When did your mother pass away? After your death?” Abyss asked Leona, noticing the sadness in her eyes, though it wasn’t overwhelming, more like a touch of melancholy. Having been taken to the palace at a young age, she didn’t have many memories of her mother.
“Yes, she died after me,” Leona said. “I don’t even remember what she looked like.”
“Let’s go inside and see,” Abyss said, gently patting Leona’s head. “This house seems to have been abandoned for a long time—by the way, do you want me to arrange a meeting with your mother?”
“If you dare resurrect her, I’ll shove that lamppost up your ass,” Leona glared at him, swatting his hand away.
“I can use Holy Light to clean the house,” Flora offered.
“Look at Flora, then look at you. Are those words fit for human ears?!” Leona said scornfully, glaring at Abyss. However, she didn’t hesitate. With a light jump, she cleared the two-meter-high wall.
Abyss supported Flora’s feet, helping her over the wall with a bit of awkwardness but little effort.
Abyss, on the other hand, casually cast a spell and walked straight through the wall.
Crossing the snow-covered courtyard, he used his Wall-Walking spell to enter the house and opened the door for Leona from the inside.
“This place has truly been abandoned for a long time. It’s covered in dust,” Leona frowned, stepping cautiously into the house.
The furniture was neatly arranged, and there were no unpleasant smells, but a thick layer of dust covered everything. It hadn’t been cleaned in years. Leona wasn’t familiar with the house, but as the daughter of the owner, she carefully examined every object.
“Any interesting discoveries?” Abyss asked with a smile.
“No, nothing here triggers any memories… I was too young when I left,” Leona said, her voice laced with disappointment. “But I want to take some of my mother’s belongings with me.”
“I do have a small discovery,” Abyss said mysteriously. “I just found two basements in this house. One is obvious, the other, hidden.”
***
斯塔尔·普拉提努 : Star Platinum(Pronunciation) or Sitaer Pulatinu – (Sītǎ’ěr Pǔlātīnū)
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