Eden System - Rise of the Villain Prince

"Dark Mist?" Lathel frowned, searching through the memories of the "old Lathel," but there seemed to be no information at all about the event Catherine had just mentioned.

"Mother, what exactly is Dark Mist?" Lathel asked.

Catherine shook her head gently and said, "You don't need to know for now. Just focus on the upcoming duel."

Hearing that, Lathel's eyes grew sharper as he looked at Catherine, but that look quickly vanished.

In its place was a gaze full of warmth: "I understand, Mother."

"What power did Celethalis give you?" Catherine asked with a frown.

"Mother, it didn't give me any special abilities—just enhanced my physical strength. However, I need to use energy crystals to maintain that strength."

Catherine thought for a moment, then looked at Lathel. Her gaze seemed as if she was trying to see through all of his thoughts.

However, Lathel was not afraid. He met her eyes—clear as crystal—with a hint of puzzlement.

She looked at him for a long time, then finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It seems… you haven't been tainted by the Dark Mist."

'Dark Mist again…' Lathel thought to himself. 'Looks like… I should find out what exactly this Dark Mist event is.'

After checking, Catherine no longer had any doubts.

After all, in this world there were so many strange things and magical arts she'd never heard of.

It was perfectly plausible for the soulbound weapon of an ancient powerhouse to make Lathel stronger.

Besides, only Lathel's physical strength had increased; he still couldn't use magic or possess any special abilities.

Moreover, to maintain this power, Lathel had to continually supply the spear with energy crystals.

Everything made sense.

"Don't worry," Catherine said with a smile. "Energy crystals—I have plenty."

"In a moment I'll have the maids fetch you more. And besides…"

Catherine didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she took out three small yellow talismans, each inscribed with a red magic symbol.

"Each talisman contains the power of a full-strength attack from me. If you're ever in danger, or when you're fighting Lucien and can't win, use it."

Hearing this, Lathel pretended to be surprised, then said anxiously, "Mother, I… I can't use this. That would be against the rules."

Catherine forcefully pressed the three talismans into Lathel's hand, resolutely saying, "Lathel! I don't care if it's against the rules or if people criticize you. As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

"The life of a piece of trash like him isn't worth even one of your fingers. I don't want you to get hurt, and I certainly don't want you to die."

"Listen to me… all right?"

Lathel took a deep breath, then nodded. He smiled, a warmth as bright as sunlight: "Yes, Mother."

"Uhm!" Catherine also smiled, reaching out to caress his face.

Neither of them said much more. They simply looked at each other for a long time.

After a while, Lathel left. Catherine watched his departing figure, her joyful smile quickly fading into fatigue and sadness.

"I'm sorry, Lathel…" Catherine murmured. "I… still can't tell you the truth."

…

Lathel sat inside the carriage, gazing at the soulbound spear Celesthalis in his hand.

With a wave of his hand, Celesthalis instantly shrank down, transforming into a bracelet that wrapped around his wrist.

Lathel wanted to store it inside his 'Storage Space', but Rika was still inside.

'Storage Space' could not contain living beings, not even souls, so he had no choice but to keep Celesthalis outside.

Fortunately, it could now turn into a small bracelet—otherwise, carrying around a two-meter-long spear everywhere would have been extremely inconvenient.

Lathel's eyes flicked over to the system notifications.

By now, he had already seen the messages, but he hadn't had time to read them before Catherine entered the room.

Thinking of Catherine, Lathel let out a wicked smile. "Earlier… it seemed she wanted to talk about that, didn't she?"

Catherine knew full well that he was not her biological son, and it seemed she wanted to say it out loud.

"Tsk!" Lathel clicked his tongue. "No matter, I still have plenty of time."

"And… I should also look into the 'Dark Mist' event. Perhaps this event will have something to do with some male protagonist, or maybe it's related to Lucien."

Speaking of Lucien, he gave a greedy, disdainful smile, then opened the system notification panel to take a look.

🔔 [You have successfully mastered your Soulbound Weapon: Celesthalis – The Spear of Divine Accord.

Reward: 10,000,000 EXP; +5 Luck points.]

🔔 [You now possess Luck points. The 'Blind Box' feature is now activated.

Price: 1,000,000 EXP/Box.

Note: The higher your Luck, the greater your chances of receiving high-rarity items from 'Blind Box'.]

Seeing the notifications, Lathel smirked and muttered a command: "System, I want to buy 10 Blind Boxes."

🔔[10,000,000 EXP successfully deducted.

10 Blind Boxes purchased. Opening now.

- Better luck next time.

- Better luck next time.

- You have received 100 Energy Crystals – Rank F.

- Better luck next time.

- You have received 'Basic Melee Proficiency Card'.

- Better luck next time.

- Better luck next time.

- You have received 'Disguise Card'.

- You have received Knight, Initiate Rank | Level 1 – Mid-stage.

- Better luck next time.]

Lathel burst out laughing at the rewards he received: "Hahaha… looks like 5 Luck points aren't so useless after all."

He was starting to like this so-called 'Blind Box'. One had to know, it normally cost 10,000,000 EXP just to buy a 'Basic Melee Proficiency Card'.

But after spending the same amount of EXP, he not only got that card, but also gained several other things.

"System, use 'Basic Melee Proficiency Card'."

🔔 ['Basic Melee Proficiency Card' used successfully.]

At that moment, Lathel felt a surge of information flooding into his mind, making his head ache a bit.

But soon, the pain vanished, replaced by the knowledge that the card had brought.

"Hm… very good," Lathel murmured. "It's as if I've fought for ten years."

"Not only has my combat ability increased, but my reflexes have also improved greatly."

Lathel nodded in satisfaction, his gaze shifting to the 'Disguise Card' and Knight.

He commanded the system to display the information for both items.

…

Name: Disguise Card.

Type: Single-use item.

Description: After use, you can disguise yourself so that no one can recognize you (cannot disguise as someone else).

…

Knight: This is your personal knight, absolutely loyal to you alone.

…

Seeing the information displayed, Lathel smiled with satisfaction: "That's acceptable. Even if it's not that powerful, at least it's better than spending 10 million EXP on just a single card."

"System, how can I earn more Luck points?"

🔔[ To earn more Luck points, you can seek out unique items or soulbound weapons meant for yourself.

Additionally, you can gain more Luck points by seizing opportunities destined for main characters.]

"Seizing opportunities… Didn't taking Selvia from Lucien count as one?"

🔔 [At that time, the system hadn't been activated yet. Please try again, Master.]

"Huh!" Lathel sneered in contempt.

"Prince! Where do you want to go?" Mira's voice called from outside the carriage.

Lathel stroked his chin, then said, "Take me back to my palace."

"Ah, yes!" Mira replied.

Lathel leaned back in his seat, muttering with a wicked smile, "It's not time yet. The seeds of chaos need more time—if I harvest too soon, there won't be any sweet fruit to savor, right, Celethalis?"

The bracelet suddenly trembled as if responding to his words.

Lathel smirked, his gaze turning to the lively scenery of the kingdom outside the carriage window.

…

At the Cathedral.

Viviane sat on a bench, staring absentmindedly around her.

Her maid stood nearby, lips pressed together, wanting to say something but hesitating.

At last, she decided to speak: "Saintess, I've sold the things Prince Lathel gave you in the past."

"Fortunately, it was enough to raise relief funds for the people of the kingdom. The captain of the Royal Knight Order came to collect the money, and he also said that… he… he thanks you for your generosity."

BAM!

Viviane slammed the table in fury, her eyes reddening as if they were about to burst into flames, a thin film of tears threatening to fall.

She gritted her teeth and said, "Lathel… the royal family… this grudge—if I don't repay it a hundredfold, I'm not worthy of being the Saintess."

Viviane ground her teeth so fiercely that even the maid standing beside her trembled at the sound.

"Saintess, I… I think this isn't such a bad thing," the maid stammered, trying to comfort Viviane.

"If news of your relief work spreads, your reputation will only rise."

SLAP!

"Agh!!!"

A slap left the maid stunned, sending her sprawling to the floor. The mark of a blood-red handprint appeared once again on her pretty face.

The imprint from the previous slap still hadn't faded, and now a new mark had been added, making her once-beautiful face now look utterly miserable.

"Reputation, I need reputation, but the money I saved up for years!" Viviane shouted furiously, her voice trembling, both hands clenched so tightly they turned white. "Now what do I use to develop the cathedral? What am I supposed to feed the Holy Knights with?"

"Tell me!!!"

Viviane screamed like a madwoman, her hair a wild, tangled mess, completely different from her usual calm and pure appearance.

The terrified maid could only bow her head and weep, not daring to say a word.

"Viviane, this is not how a Saintess should behave."

Suddenly, a sweet voice rang out, laced with a hint of indifference and languor.

Hearing that voice, Viviane immediately shouted in anger, "Who?!"

She turned and saw, at the large window, a girl standing there.

She wore white robes with black patterns, like drifting clouds across the sky.

She had a mask adorned with black markings in the shape of two wings, like a bird's.

The designs on her clothes and mask were strange, yet also lent her an air of mystery and authority.

When Viviane saw the girl along with her attire, she was startled, her body trembling uncontrollably, her face turning pale as if stricken by illness.

But then, she slowly knelt on the ground, bowing her head slightly, and respectfully said, "With all due reverence, I welcome you to my cathedral."

"Judicator!"