Chapter 13: She’s Just My Sister~
Although humans were powerful in this world, they were by no means the absolute overlords. Various powerful races occupied different parts of this world.
Humans developed, rose, and dominated in an area in the form of city-states and nations.
They would periodically send troops to clear out monsters and beasts in the wilderness around city-states to keep the roads between cities clear and maintain trade routes.
Despite this, there were still creatures in the wilderness on the outskirts of cities. They were like locusts; those killed this year would be replaced by a new batch next year.
In the human kingdoms, cities belonged to humans, while the wilderness belonged to various monsters: goblins, kobolds, gnolls…
And in the territories beyond that, not to mention the rare dragons, just the powerful races like orcs, elves, dwarves, and halflings… were enough to give humans a hard time.
Moreover, these races all had their own racial deities!
These deities achieved godhood relying on the believers of their own race, and the people of their race were the foundation of the racial deities!
If it were a small-scale conflict, it would be fine; racial deities wouldn’t personally intervene and would just let you fight.
But! If it were a war of genocide, no deity would sit idly by!
Even deities with weak divine power were not to be trifled with; their destructive power on this world was unparalleled!
Moving mountains and filling seas was not a fantasy for deities!
Furthermore, deities had infinite divine power in their divine kingdoms, and various high-level divine spells could be cast at will.
In their divine forms, they also had extremely high resistance and immunity, making it almost an impossible luxury for mortals to slay a god.
However, mortals slaying gods wasn’t something that had never happened!
During the period known as the Time of Troubles, the Avatar Crisis, or the Godswar.
Deities were forced to empty their divine power, leave their divine kingdoms, and descend to the Material Plane as avatars.
The once high-and-mighty deities became weak, but at first, they didn’t realize the severity of the problem.
Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, they swaggered through the world, constantly creating miracles to attract new believers.
However, this wonderful state didn’t last long.
It wasn’t until a deity fell that they truly realized they were no longer safe! Deities could also fall!
At that time, Legendary powerhouses across the entire Material Plane and even the Astral Plane were like beasts smelling blood, starting to hunt deities in groups!
Fierce battles broke out between gods and gods, and between gods and mortals!
The slaughter was extremely tragic. The entire Material Plane was almost destroyed, and countless living beings died or were injured. This disaster didn’t end until the gods returned to their divine kingdoms.
In this carnival, some deities took the opportunity to plunder divine portfolios to strengthen themselves, and some old deities fell.
New gods were born, and mortals ascended to godhood in one fell swoop!
And the story background of Godhood took place in the year when the Second Time of Troubles began!
The year Shelley turned twenty-five, which was seven years later!
By then, the gods would descend to the world again, and the Material Plane would once again fall into suffering.
With the experience from the last time, the gods became incredibly cautious. Few deities personally entered the fray; instead, they sent their believers to fight.
They used all living beings in the mortal world as chess pieces and the entire world as a chessboard, turning everything upside down!
In the later stages, even the Archdevils of Hell and the Demon Lords of the Abyss joined in, treating the mortal world as a hunting ground for souls.
The hellfire of Hell and the sulfurous lava of the Abyss turned many places into scorched earth!
Regardless of high or low status, all mortals were equal before the gods; life and death were decided in a single thought.
Only those Legends with enough power to resist or even threaten deities in avatar form were qualified to control their own destiny!
This was also why Shelley had never cared much about the status of the Duke’s family. When the gods descended again, only strength would be fundamental!
Status, wealth… these were all illusions that could be broken with a single poke!
Reaching out to help Lydia off the carriage, Shelley looked at the magnificent Earl’s manor and shook his head slightly, sighing inwardly:
“Manors close to the wilderness will eventually be abandoned. Only by concentrating in the cities is there a glimmer of hope for survival.”
“The glory of this moment will turn into a pile of ruins. The Avatar Crisis…”
“There are still seven years! I must use this time to become stronger!”
Shelley, lamenting the difficult road ahead, was stunned. He suddenly felt a soft and warm sensation wrapping around his arm and turned his head to look.
Lydia, having been made up by Shelley, looked exceptionally beautiful and moving at this moment. Her lips were tender and luscious, making one want to lick them.
The gown modified her somewhat slender figure, outlining a pair of fair semi-circles. Her golden hair was tied up and coiled behind her head, revealing her snow-white neck.
Her emerald eyes seemed to contain tears at this moment. Lydia looked up at Shelley nervously, then brought her lips to his ear and whispered:
“…Master, I-I-I, what do I need to do?”
What do I do? What do I do! So many people! They, they are all looking at me! Why!!?
Smelling the fragrance coming from the girl beside him, Shelley felt his bloodline stirring a bit. Moving slightly away from those tempting red lips, he whispered:
“Don’t panic, Lydia. Relax.”
“They are just surprised by your beauty, but they don’t know your name.”
“As for what you need to do?”
Shelley thought for a moment and smiled:
“Have you seen those noble young ladies attending banquets before?”
Listening to Shelley’s calm voice, Lydia gradually calmed down and nodded obediently.
She had seen them. Before, at home, she would huddle in her room and secretly look out the window. Those noble young ladies were just like this, wearing luxurious gowns to attend balls.
“Then it’s easy. You just need to remember to keep smiling, don’t say anything if you don’t know, and walk away at the appropriate time.”
“Oh right, and also, Miss Lydia.”
“You can’t call me Master here.”
At this moment, Shelley’s smiling face seemed to radiate holy light in Lydia’s eyes. Hearing this, she nodded silently, then imitated the look in her memory, putting on a cold and aloof expression.
“Mm, very good. Let’s go then, Miss Lydia.”
Arriving at the banquet hall, a forty-year-old woman who still retained her charm and a kind-looking middle-aged man in his fifties stood smiling in the center of the hall.
Shelley led Lydia straight over and bowed elegantly to the two hosts of the banquet.
Upon seeing Shelley, the noblewoman exclaimed softly towards him, completely disregarding her husband:
“Oh! My dear Shelley, long time no see!”
“Beautiful Lady Rupert, we haven’t seen each other for two days.”
You were there on my birthday too!
“Really, I told you to call me Audrey!”
Shelley responded to the coquettish Countess with a smile:
“Alright, Lady Audrey.”
Before she could continue to pester him, he bowed to Earl Rupert, whose expression remained unchanged, and said:
“Lord Earl, it’s been a long time.”
Earl Rupert looked at the young man in front of him and said perfunctorily with a hint of jealousy:
“Mm, Shelley has more and more of your father’s demeanor from when he was young.”
Same silver-gray long hair, but the difference was that Shelley’s appearance was softer and didn’t look as aggressive as the old Duke!
The gaze he directed at Shelley was a bit strange, like looking at a pitiful creature.
The Countess didn’t care about the tone of the person beside her. Instead, she looked Shelley’s female companion up and down:
“This is? Oh? This dress?”
Feeling Lydia tighten her grip on his arm, Shelley maintained his smile and said:
“You are not mistaken. This is the birthday gift you once gave me.”
“And this is Lydia, my sister.”
Huh??? What did Lord Shelley say?
Although she was prepared mentally, Lydia almost cried out. She looked at Shelley somewhat helplessly.
Earl Rupert raised his eyebrows and said in confusion:
“But isn’t she that woman from the other day? The one Congreve gave you.”
As a man, Earl Rupert had a relatively clear impression of beautiful women.
Isn’t this the half-elf slave from that day? How did she become your sister now?
Secretly patting Lydia’s nervous little hand, Shelley explained with an unchanged expression:
“Lydia has indeed experienced many hardships. As a Paladin apprentice, I couldn’t bear to let her suffer such treatment anymore.”
“I requested my father, the respected Duke Bell, to adopt Lydia as his foster daughter.”
“The benevolent Lord Duke also agreed to my request.”
Sensing footsteps approaching from behind, Shelley nodded and said:
“You have other guests. Lord Earl, Lady Audrey, please excuse us.”
Holding Lydia’s small hand, Shelley bowed to the two and walked towards the dining table nearby.
After sending off the new guests, Rupert looked at Lydia’s moving figure and face, smacking his lips in dissatisfaction:
“Tsk, it seems those people won’t have a chance to make a move.”
When Shelley explained just now, he didn’t deliberately hide it from the surroundings. Many people who had been paying attention here learned the news.
The Duke’s foster daughter! Even if her background wasn’t good, she wasn’t someone ordinary nobles could reach for!
What a pity!
“Why talk about others? Didn’t you also show a lewd gaze?”
Lady Audrey elbowed her husband, speaking sarcastic words with a brilliant expression.
“Hmph!”
There were no more words between the two, but they would occasionally look at each other.
As if they were an incredibly loving couple, gazing at each other affectionately.
…
“Mas—Lord Shelley… is what you said just now true?”
Wearing unfamiliar high heels, Lydia walked very slowly, afraid of making a fool of herself.
“Mm, it’s true. Watch your step, slow down.”
Shelley slowed his pace, supporting Lydia as they walked to the side of the dining table. While nodding to acknowledge people around them, he explained:
“I went and spoke to the Duke, and he agreed.”
Although it was in exchange for Bowen only going to the monastery for half a year.
“Half a year is enough time to do many things!”
“Worst case scenario, I can take her and leave Lunt for an adventure!”
Softly teaching Lydia etiquette, Shelley observed the guests around him. His gaze paused almost imperceptibly, then continued scanning as if nothing happened.
“Because there are many people, so you blended into the crowd, is that it…”
With his back to a certain direction, Shelley exhaled gently and shook his head:
“Naive, Miss Nadia.”
Yes, Nadia had changed her appearance and blended in among a group of noblewomen.
Although her appearance and hair color were different, her temperament and the majesty brought by her every move made her as conspicuous in Shelley’s eyes as a candle in the dark night!
“Hehe, finally don’t need to maintain Greater Invisibility and Fly anymore.”
Holding a wine glass, Nadia’s image at this moment was a dignified noblewoman with blonde hair and green eyes. One could tell there was some resemblance between her features and Lydia’s.
She watched Shelley skillfully dealing with various noblewomen and young ladies, rejecting their invitations without leaving a trace.
But magically, none of those rejected felt angry; they only looked forward to the next invitation even more!
“As expected of the Canary of Lunt…”
Nadia, who was sighing with emotion, didn’t notice that several women in the distance were also whispering.
“Who is that woman? She seems to be staring at Shelley all the time.”
“Don’t know, but judging by her temperament, she must hold a high position for a long time…”
“Besides, the women staring at the Canary in Lunt could fill the King’s palace hall!”
“Can’t just go up and talk to her casually…”
Nadia noticed the gazes but didn’t care. Such gazes of fear mixed with jealousy were too commonplace for her.
