Starborn Apotheosis: When Demon-Elf Hybrid Unlocks the Primal Codex

The Upside Down Woman 1

Back in Ashan, the large group of knights broke up on the spot and went back to rest, while Mordred took little Eldrin to the Castle of the Black Rose and placed him in the guest room for the time being. This side of the guest room is in the outer castle. Afterwards, two young maids brought brand-new clothes and accessories, and filled the barrels in the bathroom with hot water. The Margrave of Gordon arranged to meet Eldrin for dinner before he bathed, dressed and rested.

Showering and dressing was soon over and Eldrin lay down on his bed, he had an hour to rest. Although the fatigue from the long journey was still there, he could not let his noisy head rest a little now. Two maids of honor were present throughout the bath, and little Eldrin didn't even have to lift a finger to go through the whole process. In fact, he tried to resist and fight, but was easily subdued by the maids. They had a weak posture, but their strength was even greater than that of the village chief, and they suppressed little Eldrin's ability to resist, and he was obediently washed from head to toe, even from the roots of his hair to the gap between his ears.

The guest room Eldrin was in was small, but five meters high, with only one tall, narrow window three meters high that let in the light of the sky outside. The walls were made of obsidian masonry, intentionally unpolished and left in their original state when they were mined. The rough walls were decorated with tapestries and swords and shields, the tapestries were a deep, dark red, and Eldrin thought it was as red as dried blood any way he looked at it. The room was very dark, and even in the middle of the day vision was somewhat blurred when not illuminated by torches. Lying on his bed, Eldrin could only feel the eerie aura emanating from the floor, the walls and every corner. Instead, there was fire coursing through his veins, a blazing fire that had been stirred up by the two maids. They were still secretly giggling. Eldrin, smart as he was, sensed that they meant it.

The intertwining of cold and fire made Eldrin's head even more confused. From the moment he had left the village of Rutherland, no, from the beginning of the initiation ceremony, everything had seemed like a dream and the world had seemed extremely surreal. In the midst of the confusion, there was a knock at the door; it was time for dinner.

The destination was the evening dining room in the inner castle, a long way past the guest rooms. Following the maitre d' who led the way, Eldrin's impression was nothing but large and dark. All the buildings were extremely high, so much so that the long and winding corridors, although illuminated, could not cover every corner, leaving behind large shadows, shifting shadows, and even darkness that was completely impenetrable to the eye, and as for the outdoor part that was passed through in the middle, the light and shadows of the swaying leaves and falling branches of the dense plants disturbed the vision even more, making one's nerves involuntarily tense.

This castle seemed to be filled with a faint aura that lingered in front of and behind him, entangling his every step. It made him feel repulsed and uncomfortable to the core, but he couldn't put it into words.

The Dining Hall is not the largest restaurant in the Inner Castle of the Black Rose, but the scale is definitely at the ducal level, the fifteen meter high hall is extremely wide and dark, and even though the walls are filled with torches, the firelight can hardly illuminate the frescoes on the dome. The dining table was twenty meters long, and Eldrin, dressed in the robes of a noble boy, sat at one end of the table, looking away from his father across a table that allowed thirty people to eat at once.

He was a man of strange charm, always with a smile on his face, carefully combed hair and a thick, short beard. Age had left a slight, imperceptible mark on his face, a few fine lines creeping into the corners of his eyes, and those dark green eyes were clear and pure, yet left those who looked into them with an almost topless feeling. He sat casually, skillfully slicing the grilled lamb chops on his plate, eating them quickly and taking occasional sips of red wine. There was an odd rhythm to his movements; in fact, even the most discerning etiquette master present could not find any flaws in his demeanor. Sure, he ate a little too fast and a little too much. But his grace made it hard to notice that several kilos of lamb chops had disappeared in just a few breaths.

This was a very elegant and attractive man, and Eldrin had to admit it, even though he was tempted to throw the silver plate in his hand and smash it in the man's face.

Later he would learn that there were countless people who wanted to smash things in the Marquis of Gorton's face.

And now little Eldrin endured it, not for himself, but for his mother. So far he hadn't understood the meaning of his mother's wish, but perseverance, patience and wisdom let him know that he would understand the depth of this wish in the not too distant future.

Eldrin struggled to straighten his spine as he sat upright and approached the food with awkward movements. The food before him was sumptuous, the great kitchens of Castle Black Rose were known far and wide for their cuisine, boasting some of the best red meat cooks and pastry chefs on the entire peninsula. But Eldrin had no idea of the taste of what was being served to his mouth; Eldrin had never been trained in etiquette, and the way he held his knife and fork showed that he was from the countryside and had no idea of the many rules of aristocratic dining. Eldrin has never been trained in etiquette, and it is clear that he is from the countryside and has no idea of the rules of aristocratic dining. However, after changing his clothes, little Eldrin is very handsome, and his calm and melancholy demeanor is even more similar to that of Gorton.

Only after elegantly and magically disgorging more than twenty kilograms of lamb chops did Marquis Gordon wipe his mouth with a snow-white dishcloth and smile. His mouth was large, revealing entire rows of snow-white teeth as he smiled, so bright it was slightly blinding.

"Your name is Eldrin."

Eldrin just nodded without making a sound. He could hear that Gordon was using a narrative tone, and the statement was not to be answered.

Gordon laughed and said, "You're lucky because your last name is Malificus; and you're unlucky again because your last name is Malificus."

Eldrin looked up at that moment, met Gordon's gaze and said calmly, "My name is Eldrin.

Gordon's gaze was clear as water, but few could meet it. Eldrin, however, held his head up and didn't flinch.

Gordon smiled, then sighed and said, "The personality is very similar to your mother! But she didn't say your name was Eldrin. Moon Song, right?" Although it was a question, it was asked in a declarative tone.

Little Eldrin hesitated and finally said, "No. Now he more or less understood what his mother had in mind.

"So your last name is still Malificus, whether you admit it or not." Gordon said. By this time, he had finished all the main courses, and with a wave of his hand, ten waitresses came in a stream, packed up the used meals and replaced them with brand new cutlery, and served as many as seven desserts.

As he served the dessert with the same elegance and speed, Gordon said, "Say something useless. Even the most senior nobles can't make fun of my ceremonial gestures. But those old nobles still think I'm a thug. The other big shot, whom we all call Bloodthirsty Philips, whose favorite dish is magical beast meat, demands that it be cut from the living body in no more than an hour. If it is a rare species, the time limit can be relaxed to one day, and this noble lord likes to personally use his hands to tear the meat into his mouth. But those nobles still recognize him as a true nobleman, do you know why?"

Eldrin shook his head, he knew nothing about the world of nobles. What little knowledge he had came from Mordred, and the knight was clearly not considered a qualified teacher.

"Because this 'Bloodthirsty Philip' is the greatest emperor of our Holy Alliance Empire! He wields too much power and is temperamental, so the old and true nobles are afraid to provoke him. Besides, having such a great man in one's circle would bring many tangible benefits. Benefits so great that they are impossible to refuse."

Eldrin nodded this time, understanding a little.

"Well, since your last name is Malificus, it's unfortunate that you have to become stronger and more powerful! With strength the world is heaven for you, and without strength everywhere is hell! At that time, you don't need to count whether you grew up in the mountains or were born in the grandest and most magnificent old castle, and you don't need to put on airs like I do now. All this is illusory and means nothing to you now, you just need to become strong! Because your last name is Malificus, and it is Malificus! data-dl-uid="6">blood that flows through your veins! Just by having that last name, people will expect so much from you, so incredibly much, that if you're even slightly better than average, you'll disappoint them all." Gordon's voice grew louder and louder until it was like sonic thunder exploding in his ears, shaking young Eldrin's head.

Eldrin picked up his knife and fork, no longer caring about the piece of food that had fallen ungracefully from the tip of the fork onto his plate, and looked a little blankly at the man across the table, whose posture remained incredibly graceful, but who had erupted into a deafening scream that was completely out of place for the man.

Gordon suddenly lowered his thunderous voice and revealed that charming smile again, saying, "With enough power, you can do anything you want, whether it's something meaningful or something completely ridiculous. With that, Gordon motioned for a servant.

In the dining room, besides the butler and a few footmen, there were several guards and ten knights standing quietly against the wall, living like statues. Mordred, who had brought Eldrin from Rutherland, was among them. At that moment, the statues came to life, of course they still maintained their standard standing posture, but their eyes fell on the squire with reckless abandon. She wasn't exactly pretty, but her youth filled her body with power and seduction.

Eldrin was stunned, the shock of the scene was too much for him, and he was only ten years old. The resilience he had honed since childhood kicked in and he gripped the knife and fork tightly, not letting them fall from his hand.

Gordon waved his hand in front of the maid, who maintained the same posture as always, curtsying before leaving the dining room after facing her masters, not daring to turn around until she was in the hallway. She feared that if she ran out of propriety, she would probably be in a much more miserable position. Sure enough, Gorton's voice came from behind her, "Eldrin, I wanted to kill someone to show you, but I was in a bad mood a while ago and killed everyone I could. Speaking of which, the other nobles have quite a few eyes planted here! Too bad I couldn't control my temper back then, but now I have no one left to kill."

Eldrin's face paled, how could such a thing as killing be said so lightly? But everyone in the dining room, from the servants to the knights, looked as if what the master had just said was just a common thing, like hunting some game and adding food to the meal. It was only then that Eldrin vaguely noticed a faint smell permeating the castle. It seemed to be the smell of blood that had accumulated over the years.

As with the main meal, Eldrin wasn't even sure what the taste was by the time the dessert was gone. He forced himself to hold back the churning in his stomach to keep what he had eaten from coming up. It was hard, and the smell of blood, once he noticed it, became clearer and clearer, lingering at the back of his nose.

But Eldrin didn't eat much, he was growing up, and mountain children always ate more. Gordon looked satisfied and said, "Eat more to grow faster, Eldrin, your mother has a wish she wants you to fulfill, right?"

Eldrin blushed and agreed in silence. But he didn't want to tell Gordon the content of his wish, only on the day it came true.

Gordon didn't force Eldrin, but simply said, "Whatever your mother's wish was, I'm sure it won't be easy to fulfill. I won't help you directly, let alone give you power. But I will give you enough opportunities to become stronger. As for how far you can go, that's up to you. I hope that one day you will be able to speak out loud in front of me.

Eldrin nodded without saying anything.

Gordon thought for a moment and said, "I will find you a teacher and you will study with her for the next few years. I hope you will surprise me when you come back to see me. It's not only for me, but also for you and your mother. Well, go ahead and meet your siblings, it will be a ...... very interesting meeting.