Unholy Player

Chapter 461: Staying a Family

The room inside was quite spacious, resembling the reception halls used by the kingdoms in the Beyond, but with a clear Human touch.

It was very bright, lit by carefully placed lights in every part of the room. Yet it was not only artificial light that brightened the space. The entire outer wall was made of glass, wrapping around the room and offering a perfect view of the city below and the land stretching far beyond, turning the whole landscape into a single, beautiful scene spread out beneath them.

In the center stood a wide table covered with a white cloth, plates neatly arranged on top, and chairs placed around it, most of them already occupied by men and women.

Henry Bates sat at the head of the table, his seat alone enough to show he was the one leading this gathering. He looked to be in his mid-forties, dressed in a suit, his black hair marked by a few strands of white that gave him a slightly seasoned and experienced look.

To his right was a beautiful middle-aged woman with dark hair and blue eyes, and next to her a younger woman who shared the same features in a softer, gentler way. They were Marielle and her daughter, Niva.

The table was not limited to them either. A little further along sat another middle-aged woman with dark purple hair, sitting with the composed confidence of a sharp, business-minded person, the kind of woman used to making decisions and being listened to without question. This was Vivienne White, Selina’s mother, known as the founder of the Angel Wings Foundation.

Next to Vivienne sat a man with completely white hair, the oldest-looking person in the room. He was Marcus Ravencourt, head of Dalin and Evangeline’s family and the owner of one of the largest companies on Earth, Ravencourt Logistics.

Kara looked at the people sitting at the table first, then bowed her head slightly in respect and said,

"Lady Vesha Draven of the Velari Kingdom has arrived."

Upon hearing the announcement, everyone at the table stood up and turned their attention to the short, blond girl, their eyes brimming with curiosity as they quietly studied her.

"I am very glad you accepted our invitation, Lady Vesha." Henry Bates stepped forward to greet the young girl in the Velari language, carrying himself like a polite and well-practiced host.

"The pleasure is mine, Lord Henry Bates. Thank you for inviting me." Vesha returned the courtesy in Human language, responding in a way befitting a lady as she lightly held the edges of her simple white skirt and lowered her body in a graceful curtsy.

Her eyes then quickly scanned the people in the room and finally settled on Marielle and Niva.

She could not see any resemblance to Adyr in their appearance, not to his last evolved version and not even to how he had looked when she first met him, back when he had still appeared fully Human.

She also did not feel any sort of overwhelming royal aura from the mother and daughter.

In Vesha’s eyes, Adyr was someone who carried himself as if he already knew everything, someone nothing in the world could truly surprise. It always felt as if only he could choose to surprise the world, not the other way around.

Marielle and Niva, by contrast, looked so... normal.

Their curious gazes as they looked at her were too innocent and down-to-earth, not at all what one would expect from royals of an Elder Race.

Maybe they are simply beyond my understanding, and I just cannot read them properly?

While that thought was still circling in her mind, Niva’s words took her even more by surprise.

"Wow, you are so beautiful... like a doll."

Niva was looking at her with her own blue eyes, and the expression on her face made it seem as if she were looking at a delicious cake or a soft plush toy made for hugging, something she wanted to reach out and touch.

"T-Thank you." For a moment, Vesha did not know how to respond. Her face flushed red, as she had not expected a compliment like that from these people at all.

The way Marielle was looking at her was not so different either. She seemed to be quietly appreciating Vesha’s charming and adorable appearance, sometimes giving a small, silent nod, as if she were approving the kind of girl Adyr had chosen to be close to.

Noticing Vesha’s slightly shy and hesitant behavior, Henry looked satisfied. He stepped a little closer and spoke. "Let me introduce our dear guest here properly."

Even though everyone in the room already knew who she was in detail, the act was for the sake of the image they needed to present to Vesha and the role each of them had to play in front of her.

Before arriving, Marielle and the others had received a thorough briefing on various topics: the current situation in the Beyond, Humanity’s standing in the region, and how their relationship with Adyr was meant to be perceived, including any necessary fabrications.

They had been told that Adyr was hailed as the ruler and king of the Human race, and that Humans were seen as one of the powerful Elder Races from the Central Region.

All of this had been drilled into them like exam material. They were taught how to behave here, which roles they had to play, and what kind of words they should use when speaking so that they would not break the image that had been created.

For Marielle and Niva, accepting these terms had not been easy. They were being asked to deceive the native people with lies and to play along with a story that was not entirely true. Even so, they had agreed, because it was the only condition given to them if they truly wanted to come to this world.

In reality, coming here had not been their own request. They had always thought that their presence in this world might upset Adyr or make things harder for him, so they had never asked for such a thing. It had been Henry Bates’s invitation that they accepted.

To Marielle and Niva, Adyr was both a son and a brother. Seeing what kind of life he was living here and what kind of hardships he was facing mattered a lot to them. Only then could they truly support him and show that they were always by his side. This made it very hard for them to say no to the invitation.

It all meant even more after the Mad Scientist had kidnapped them recently. The two of them could barely remember what had happened, as if all their memories of the event had been wiped away, leaving only a vague unease behind.

Since then, Adyr had been acting a bit distant, not showing his face as often as before, and his attitude felt colder and more remote, as if he were intentionally trying to distance himself from them.

Because of that growing distance, they had even more reason to accept the invitation and come to this world, to close the gap that widened a little more each day and make their family feel whole again, like before.