Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 157 Lina's Family

It probably took another hour, but Rhys has truly confirmed that although her cousin's revenge against her was a tad bit excessive, it wasn't completely unfounded—no. One could even say that from a certain perspective, it was somewhat justified.

Lina was a menace when she was younger.

Although some of her cousins were older than her, she did not even let them be exempt from her evil pranks.

Vicky, Lance and Annabeth's oldest child and the oldest out of all the cousins, had her pets die not once, but twice due to Lina's negligence and curiosity.

Daniel, the son of Lance's younger brother, was locked in a closet for days and was also used as a target practice for Lina since he was the biggest out of all of them.

Adeleine, Vicky's younger sister, had her hair shaved off while she was asleep because Lina supposedly wanted to use it as a wig since she apparently liked its purple glow.

The ones younger than Lina suffered even more.

Bernard, Vicky and Adeleine's younger brother, was made fun of by Lina for having a cleft lip — saying that his lip was even more noticeable than his glowing hair. It would have been mild if it was just that, but no… she posted a video of him sleeping all over social media when she pinched and slid a slice of lemon between his cleft lip, causing him to almost choke.

Fortunately for Bernard, social media wasn't as popular then as it is now, but even still, those who knew him never really treated him the same after.

Margaret and Camilla, Daniel's younger sisters, were perhaps Lina's most favorite targets for her pranks. Out of all the cousins, the twins resembled Lina the most… by a lot. And none of them knew what Lina did, but she made the twins believe they were actually her clones for an entire year when they were children, practically making them her servants.

It took years of therapy to recondition the twins that they were not actually Lina's clones.

Henry, Lance's youngest son, was thrown by Lina from the highest point of the castle to test if he could survive it since he had the best Noble purity blood out of all the cousins — surprisingly, however, Henry probably held the least contempt against Lina since he was trying to calm everyone down.

And these were just the things Rhys could recall at the top of his head. Lina did tell him that she was quite naughty when she was young, but Rhys might have underestimated just by how much.

Rhys doesn't even want to talk anymore, as it almost feels like he actually owes something to someone even though he doesn't. Fortunately for Rhys, the cousins truly seemed like they wouldn't actually do anything to Lina as long as she stayed inside the castle.

But… just how long are their discussions going to last?

"Why would Rhys marry you, you don't even know each other!"

"We're part of the royal family, Lina — our marriage is completely political! Look at my mum, she doesn't even love Dad and yet she's here!"

"Now, that's not exactly true."

Rhy could really only close his eyes as their conversation once again looped from the start. He then turned to look at Lina's other cousins, who seemed to have finally lost interest in him since they weren't looking at him every other second now.

Good.

And as Rhys confirmed that no one was truly paying any attention to him… he dived into his own shadow, moving through the gaps of the door as he left the meeting hall. Maria's abilities felt incredibly weird to use, it was almost as if he was swimming through a pool of cotton… candy.

It was like the path was melting in front of him, turning sticky and oily at the same time — that was really the only way he could describe it.

It was comfortable, it felt comfortable. And it is only when he finally emerges from the shadows does he realize how uncomfortable it actually is.

"Hm…" And as Rhys emerged in the hallways of the palace, the guards who were standing by outside the door flinched in surprise as soon as they saw him… but that was it.

They only looked at Rhys for a couple of seconds, before lowering their shoulders and just returning to their duty. Prince Lance did tell Rhys that he was given permission to freely go anywhere he wanted, and no one would question him… but to think he wasn't joking at all.

The royal family of Enkland… was quite lax.

Rhys then carefully looked at both ends of the hallway, before ultimately deciding to just start walking — he doesn't even know the layout of the castle in the first place, it won't matter if he goes left or right.

There wasn't really anything to see in the castle, it was mostly just empty and the people were far in between. He continued to walk for several minutes, but the castle just didn't seem to have any signs of ending at all… just how big was the place?

He had also noticed this before, but there was an abundance of plants everywhere you go in the castle, and not the kind of plants that added to the glamour of the place—no, the castle was adorned by crawling plants, ivy, thorns, thin roots that seeped from the cracks of the old walls.

And yet, for some reason, the castle did not seem dilapidated at all. It was old, true, but the invasive plants, instead of making the hallways ominous, made them even more lively, and with Rhys's abnormal senses, the castle almost seemed alive.

…Or perhaps it is.

"What…" Rhys thought he was just imagining things or there might have been lizards crawling across the walls when he caught a glimpse of something moving, but no. As he turned his eyes toward the crawling sound that crept across the shadows of the castle…

…he saw the vines actually moving.

He was only realizing this now, but aside from the guards and some of the maids he had seen earlier… the only sounds he was hearing now were his breaths and the crawling vines — he hadn't seen any signs of people for a while now.

Rhys quickly turned to look back to where he walked from… only to see the path has turned completely dark. The torches that were just previously dancing along the walls, now gone and completely quiet.

He was about to walk back, but before he could do so, he felt something crawling over his feet.

"!!!" He looked down, only for him to quickly raise his foot as he saw a face with no eyes—no. It was just a knot of vines that eerily resembled a face. It seemed to be saying something to Rhys, but before he could actually understand what it was, the face turned into a hand and grabbed him by the ankle.

Rhys did not need to do anything, however, as the vines were too weak to actually hold him down as it just retreated and crawled away across the floor like a snake. And as it was about to disappear into the shadows of the hallway, it once again turned into a hand that gestured to Rhys to follow it.

Rhys stared at the fading hand for a few seconds, before just shaking his head and walking away.

"Nope," Rhys breathed out as he quickly made his way back even through the pitched-black darkness, "That's not going to happen."

Unfortunately for Rhys, before he could even take 3 steps away, the vines suddenly became violent; the fragility they once had, nowhere to be felt anymore as Rhys suddenly found himself wrapped inside giant hands made of vines.

Rhys quickly used all the strength he could muster to free himself, but it almost seemed as if the vines were just stretching endlessly. Even as he grabbed a single vine and tried ripping it in half, it just stretched.

He also tried escaping through the shadows, but each time he emerged, he just found himself back between the giant hands. And as soon as Rhys realized he was completely trapped…

…he just sighed and let the vines take him.

"Let's just get this over with," he whispered as he relaxed his arms. And now even a minute after he did so, the fines that veiled his entire body started to crawl away…

…leaving him just casually lying in the middle of what seems to be a garden.

"Hm…" Rhys breathed out as he stared at the moon adorning the otherwise empty sky. It was weird, however — he doesn't remember it being a full moon, and yet right now, the moon reflecting in his eyes filled them with its perfect radiance.

And soon, however, this perfect radiance was replaced… by an even more perfect one.

"Hello."

Rhys could really only blink as a woman's face suddenly blocked the view of the moon; her long and silky black hair, almost melding with Rhys's messy black hair. The beauty her face held, impossible to define.

"...Hi."