Chapter 22

1

"I'm sorry, ladies, but we really can't let you in!" The guard outside the Duke's mansion gate said respectfully and politely.

The president smiled and elegantly introduced herself, "I am Elena Brand, the Qin family and Brand family are friends, and I also used to visit here as a child. Could you please help us convey our intentions?"

"Elena Brand? Oh... I remember now!" The guard suddenly realized. "I'll try to help convey the message. As for whether the young master can see the ladies, I can guarantee it."

"Thank you!"

The guard turned and went into the mansion's front yard.

"Sis, why don't we just barge in directly?" Yao couldn't hide her impatience with the guard. If she could, she would be the first to rush in without hesitation.

"This is the Duke's place. We should try to avoid conflict as much as possible. After all, if we offend the Duke, none of us will have it easy."

"Jiang is right. We came rushing here in such a hurry, but we should calm down on the way. We should try not to cause too much trouble. It would be easier to sort things out afterwards." The president gathered her hands and leaned against the wall, waiting and speaking at the same time.

"We can try to awaken Qin Yang from this position!" The unfamiliar girl proposed at this moment. She was already very close to me here so we can try.

Suddenly, the seven contracts and eight colors of light lit up at the same time. The contracts resonated with each other, moving from their bodies and amplifying to the feet of each person. It was a feeling of the contract's power doubling. They had never imagined that the contracts resonating together would be like this. She seemed to be pulled by some strange force, two black and white energy fields suddenly formed between the seven of them.

In the black energy field stood the ruffled skirt girl, Nofice, Xiao Qiong. In the white energy field stood Elena, Li Liu, Hanya, and Xiao Yao.

Although the contract subject was the same person, there was still a difference in the key connection of the souls. Each girl had her own position.

The girls didn't pay much attention to this. Everyone closed their eyes and tried their best to bring their thoughts and voices into the black and white space, hoping to remind me to wake up through the contracts.

2

"Hey! Can you hear me?"

"I can. Will I die if I sleep a little longer?" Black continued to lie on the ground looking at the sky.

"Ignoring the requests of beautiful women like this is not gentlemanly."

"You are the one with the manners. You go first, you decide today."

"But isn't it your father who wants to see you?"

"..." Black remained silent.

"Although your power has already recovered, there are still remnants of darkness. As the black dragon, shouldn't you face it with your freedom? Killing Tong Fei was already free enough. What you need is a freer heart, or maybe that way we can come up with a final solution more easily."

"Has anyone told you that you are annoying?"

"You are the first."

"I really don't understand why so many people like listening to your preaching." Black sat up lazily, bored.

Black moved around in the space, turned to look at White and said, "When do you plan to expose Qin Yin?"

"I thought you already knew."

Black chuckled lightly and left the space.

3

After a dark process, I felt the presence of my body, not the light and weightless feeling of my soul.

The feeling of my body seemed to tell me that someone was wiping my body with a cloth, itching and comfortable.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was actually a little girl. She seemed to be only ten years old, with a doll-like face, and no signs of being a little girl in her expression. She acted decisively and skillfully, holding a towel and gently wiping my face without any hesitation.

Gothic Lolita dress? This attire has been out of fashion for a long time, and it's still so retro.

"Hmm? Awake?"

If I'm staring at you with such big eyes, do you still need to ask if I'm awake?

"Hmm!" I replied helplessly.

"I'll go get your father. Siro, help take care of him."

"I will, Grandma!"

The little girl seemed very happy and happily ran out of the room. I wondered, "Grandma"? What kind of title is this?"I didn't realize you were here too," I lazily remarked as Zi Sirou sat by my bedside and picked up the towel that the little girl had just set down.

"This just goes to show that my fiancée has never been valued by you."

"I just wasn't used to having you appear by my side. It's not like you to be so insecure."

"You were willing to push me into the water for someone else. What kind of character can I still show?"

"Do you really remember that incident so clearly? It was a necessary action. We can't let our personal relationships undermine everyone's interests."

"There weren't many things that were related to you in the first place, and forgetting them would leave us with even fewer things." Zi Sirou yanked the towel forcefully, clearly upset by this conversation.

"If you hadn't come looking for me, we probably would never have seen each other again in this lifetime. You didn't like the arranged marriage your family had set up for you ten years ago, right? Why did you agree to it and insist on completing the marriage?"

"Are you familiar with love at first sight?"

"I am. Why wouldn't I be?" I had fallen in love at first sight with many girls before, so it wasn't strange at all. How many girls had wanted me to fall in love with them at first sight when I was the Demon Dragon?

"In that case, there's no need for too much explanation."

She was truly a bold girl. I seemed to slowly discover her strengths, either because I had lacked the perspective of the Demon Dragon before or because I hadn't understood her well enough in the past.

"Click!" The door opened once again, and it was the little girl who entered, followed by the Duke.

The Duke entered and seated himself in a chair in front of my bed.

"You're back in your own bedroom. Are you accustomed to it?"

Oh? I hadn't realized until he mentioned it. This really was my room from ten years ago, with every blade of grass and every tree exactly the same, and very clean.

"I'm fine. I don't have any habits to be accustomed to just after waking up."

The Duke leaned back in the chair and asked, "Do you know what I'm thinking now?"

"I'm thinking about how we should determine our relationship." At that time, it was Qin Yang who lost consciousness, which was me as the Demon Dragon. Bai, who was the Saint Dragon, heard the conversation between them as clear as day.

Yuzhe had already made it clear to me about my identity as the Demon Dragon. He was also the ancestral founder of the Qin family and a descendant of the Qin family. This was truly playing with people's lives, and even the Duke didn't know whether he should show respect or receive respect when he saw me.

"Yes, that's right!"

"For me, it doesn't really matter. Since our bodies are derived from our parents, I'd rather you be my father."

"Alright then, let's have a good talk as father and son." The Duke sat naturally and didn't put on any airs of being a duke at all, fully embracing the role of a father. "According to Sirou, you ran away ten years ago because of me!"

I glanced at Zi Sirou with a sideways look.

"Sigh~" After a long sigh, the Duke said, "Is there really a father in this world who would actually kill his own son? Foolish child!"

Hearing this, I suddenly felt that my escape was so ridiculous, so foolish. But youth always makes many mistakes, and at that time, I wasn't the Demon Dragon or the Saint Dragon. I was just an ordinary child.

"Hahaha..." After a moment of self-mockery, I said, "Because of me, my mother died by my own hands. As someone who loved her mother the most, I really wouldn't..."

The Duke shook his head gently.

"The reason is not just because I am your son?" Why did the father who always put his mother first do this?

"Your mother didn't die!"

"That's impossible!" I flipped the blankets aside and took big strides toward the Duke, my excitement uncontrollable: "I clearly... I clearly pierced through my mother's heart. How could she not die?"

The Duke chuckled and beckoned to his left. The retro little girl hopped onto his lap, snuggling against his chest. The Duke was dressed in a black long robe, matching the girl's clothes.

He caressed the girl's hair, his voice gentle and magnetic. "The Brand family's reincarnation technique, crossing the Netherworld to cleanse the dust of the past, forbidden magic that grants new life."Father recounted how he found my mother's lingering soul in the ruins of a warehouse ten years ago and entrusted his good friend, Elena's uncle, to help her be resurrected through reincarnation.

My gaze fixed upon that retro loli; it turns out that this loli is actually my mother. The elegant and refined image of my mother in my memory feels somewhat shattered.

Although it's a little strange to call a loli "Mother", I finally understand how my father feels. Our family is truly peculiar.

My mother is a loli, and I am my own ancestor. Our relationships are all so complicated.

And I finally understand what Zi Sirou meant by "mother-in-law". It's quite obvious that I've already married into the Qin family.

"My Lord!" At this moment, a guard reported from the door, "There is a young lady outside the main gate claiming to be Miss Elena Brandt. She is accompanied by six other young ladies and wishes to see the young master."

"Just now, there was a sudden intense surge of magical power. It must be their doing!" The Duke continued to stroke my mother's head. Looking at his doting expression, I can't help but wonder if she is his wife or daughter.

"Yes!"

"Why is Elena here?" Zi Sirou frowned every time he heard the president's name.

"She already stated that she's here to see me." I said to the guard, "Bring them in!"

The guard glanced at the Duke, who nodded gently. The guard then quickly left.

"Yang, since you've already returned, hurry up and marry your fiancée! Look, she's getting impatient." My mother, with her petite figure, sat up straight and seemed to be speaking seriously.

Embarrassed, Zi Sirou lowered her head. I can even feel the warmth of her flushed cheeks from where I am sitting.

"Mother, let's wait until I turn eighteen. Besides, there are seven other fiancées waiting for me outside!"

"Seven?"

Without waiting for my mother to recover, I walked out of the room.