Chapter 2

All eyes instantly turned to Remus. Even Kylie’s bugged out of her head.

How did this prison bum suddenly become a VVIP even people in Neptuna respected?

“Me?” Remus frowned. He didn’t remember having any connections in Neptuna.

“Yes, sir.” The stewardess beamed. “This way, please.”

Remus got up and left the plane cabin with a shrug, ignoring everyone’s awe-filled gazes. The moment he stepped on solid land, a tall, muscular man came up to greet him.

“Anthony Mark, head of the Thirteenth Sect of Draculus Magna, at your service, Mr. Cosby. Welcome to Neptuna!” he said, bowing low.

Neptuna’s citizens were taken aback by this sight. Anthony Mark was none other than Neptuna’s underworld warlord known as the Dragon Head.

Of course, they only knew that identity. This was the first they’d heard of Draculus Magna.

Remus remembered now. One of his bootlickers in prison once told him about this guild. Apparently, he was its founder, too. The chief warden must have let news of his arrival slip out.

That made Remus scoff. These people really went to extreme lengths to earn his favor.

“Let’s go, then. Bring me to Miranda Bowen,” he ordered before walking away.

The crowd dispersed soon after he left, still gossiping among themselves, trying to guess Remus’ identity.

Kylie walked behind them unsteadily, worrying. She spotted the stewardess from earlier and went up to her. She fished a pocketful of tip money and shoved it into the stewardess’ hand.

“You can have this if you tell me who Mr. Cosby is,” she said. “Who made the airport go on standby?”

The stewardess eyed the tips, then relented. “I don’t know who Mr. Cosby is, nor do I know who made the airport go on standby. All I know is that they all wore tunics lined with gold.”

Obviously, Anthony made sure he and his lackeys dressed appropriately to receive Remus Cosby.

“Tunics…lined with gold?” Kylie frowned. No official ministry wore uniforms like that. Could it be…?

A hopeful thought came to mind. Could those men have been secret agents sent to capture Remus for trying to escape his prison sentence?

That must be it!

Kylie sighed, finally letting her worry go.

The Bowen family lived in the suburbs to the west of Neptuna in a house spanning 200 acres, complete with all sorts of exotic flora, man-made streams, and ponds.

“What’s with all the people flocking around the gate?” Remus asked curiously, pointing at the crowd outside. The crowd was diverse, filled with people in their twenties to middle-aged.

“You don’t know?” Anthony asked, then explained everything.

Miranda had contracted a strange disease a year ago which caused her to be exceptionally lethargic even during the day. It began with having to sleep up to 12 hours a day, then only waking up for two hours a day, and finally transitioning into a chronic coma-like sleep.

Her father, Elias, had sought specialists worldwide to help her, but to no avail.

“One of the specialists said the only way for Miranda to awaken was for her fated other half to arrive. That’s why all the bachelors in town clamored here,” Anthony went on. “You should’ve seen the crowd a month ago. People were gathered around here like they were waiting for a concert to start.”

Remus scrunched his eyebrows up. What kind of agreements had his master gotten him into?

First, it was Kylie Cox who was obsessed with breaking it off, and now Miranda Bowen with this weird disease.

Remus would make sure the old man got what was coming to him when they next met.

“Open the gates!” someone called from behind the entrance. The gates slowly opened, and the men waiting outside flooded in.

“You guys can leave now. I’ll go in to check things out.” Remus got out of the car and slipped into the villa.

The living room was grand, at least two thousand square feet. It easily accommodated the whole crowd of men.

Reclining on a sofa in the middle of the hall was Elias Bowen, looking exhausted. On his left stood a robed, saintly old man. On his right, a man clad in a suit.

“Please have a look at the possible candidates, Adeptus Gale,” Elias said tiredly. Seeing his daughter battle such a disease caused him intense suffering.

The old man nodded and looked at every bachelor’s face, chanting something all the while.

After some time, he ordered, “Everyone, make a small cut on your finger and let a drop of your blood fall into this bowl.”

A tray with a blade and bowl on it was presented to the crowd. The bachelors quickly complied, eager to try their luck with Miranda. After all, the rest of their life would be smooth sailing if they married the Bowen family heiress.

Remus snorted at the sight of such techniques. What century were they in？

“What are you laughing at?” Elias grunted. How dare he mock them? After all his daughter had been through?

Everyone turned to look at Remus, who quickly stopped smiling. “I’m laughing because this technique won’t work. It might even worsen Ms. Bowen’s condition. Who knows? She might just wake up from the smell of the blood!”

“How dare you?” The young man by Elias’ side spoke up. “You’ve come in here and mocked our specialist. Do you think you’re some kind of sage?”

“That I am,” Remus responded casually. “A paste of June groundsel, Devil’s milk nectar, and May-bells’ fruit should fix Ms. Bowen right up.”

He had a feeling that someone was behind the woman’s illness, but he also knew the poultice would definitely help.

“Nonsense!” The man flipped. “Groundsel and May-bells’ are deadly poisonous, while Devil’s milk has been obsolete for a long time! One more word from you, and I’ll lop off your tongue! Mr. Bowen, this man is clearly here just to make a scene. I say we toss him out right away!”

Elias had a similar opinion. None of the specialists he invited over had managed to help his daughter, so he was skeptical of this young man before him who claimed he could.

Still, it was worth a shot.

Elias turned to Adeptus Gale for advice. The old man snorted. “I’m sure even Mr. Bowen can see that this young man is merely playing the fool. He has no chance with Ms. Bowen, of this I’m sure. Kick him out!”

Though Elias’ heart fell, he still commanded, “Drag him outside!”

Several guards immediately came up to Remus.

“Wait!” he called out. “Hey, old man, how would you know I don’t have a connection with Ms. Bowen?”

His remarks made the crowd sneer. This young man was really testing everyone’s patience right now.

The man next to Elias’ right stood up again. “Don’t you dare disrespect Adeptus Gale!”

“Be quiet at once!” Elias roared, upset now. He wouldn’t tolerate his guest being insulted, especially when the old man was here to help his daughter.

Adeptus Gale gestured for them to stop, staring intently at Remus before saying, “I may not be in my prime anymore, but I have half a century’s worth of experience. I set out for my first guild at the tender age of three and met my master at eight. I learned the secret arts of divination, the mystic way of dreams, opened my third eye, and became a practitioner of shamanic healing. Tell me now, how on Earth would I have misread your energy with Ms. Bowen?”

Remus calmly held up the marriage agreement. “Would you still say I have no connection with her now?”