Chapter 230

Damian had an ironic smile as he guided the whole group through the tourist spots of Madripoor.

He never thought he'd become a tour guide one day.

Still, he knew he had to distract them, feed them something, and show them their rooms to separate them.

With Hela, he needed to finish the conversation they left unfinished some time ago; implicitly, they had agreed that she would join him in conquering the universe.

They would be allies; their goals didn't clash, so they theoretically wouldn't have any problems.

On the other hand, with Wanda, he just needed to teach her a bit of magic. He still thought highly of her, and her increased strength would also indirectly help him.

"I believe these would be the most emblematic places in Madripoor," Damian said, finishing the tour.

"It's quite good," Hela said, nodding casually. She wasn't really interested in tourism, but she understood it was a source of income.

However, in her opinion, Damian didn't really need an income source. There was nothing they could offer him; she didn't understand why he bothered to benefit regular humans.

Damian was already the owner of Earth, but almost no one knew it; everyone lived under the false illusion of freedom.

Instead of declaring himself the owner of Earth, he lived on a small island, of course with luxuries, but nothing as ostentatious as the immense golden palace in Asgard.

Her thoughts couldn't help but oscillate between Damian and his father; she tried to find parallels but realized they were totally different.

Especially when she saw the love and care Damian had for his daughters, something entirely different from her own childhood.

Her thoughts were interrupted precisely by the voices of the three little ones chatting animatedly with Amelia.

Amelia had always seemed to have a soft spot for children, even though she wasn't exactly a good person either.

She didn't know all of Amelia's history, but she knew she was a wanted criminal before deciding to release her to absorb her energy.

Now that she thought about it, she really didn't know much about Amelia's past or how she came to learn magic.

"Daddy, I'm hungry," Alice said, approaching Damian.

"Alright, let's head back then. I'll let you settle in before we move on to other matters," Damian said, smiling at his daughter before looking at the rest of the group while picking Alice up in his arms.

''Fine, but I don't want to be away from Sokovia for too long,'' Wanda said tactfully, even though there were several witches and vampires guarding the place, she didn't feel comfortable if she wasn't careful.

"Sure," Damian agreed.

The group quickly returned to the palace, and Damian led them up the stairs to the guest floor that only Tony and his family had used.

"All the rooms are empty and have everything you need. Choose as you like," Damian said, casually presenting the place to them.

"Settle in, and we'll talk later," Damian said, smiling.

The group nodded before each of them took a room.

Finally free from the group, Damian sighed before starting to walk towards his office.

"I really don't know why they all came at the same time," Damian complained softly as he walked with Cortana.

The girls, seeing that the visitors had entered their room, also disappeared somewhere, probably to play.

"I was curious too, but I didn't see any kind of influence on them. Also, I doubt anyone could influence Hela, although, with Wanda, it's a possibility since she's still quite weak," Cortana said thoughtfully.

"In fact, there is someone who could do it, you," Damian said, looking at Cortana.

"Master! I didn't do it; you know Hela isn't exactly my favorite," Cortana pouted, feeling offended.

"Who knows, you've become quite mischievous," Damian chuckled, ruffling her hair gently.

Cortana glared at Damian before jumping on him, wrapping her arms around his neck before nibbling on him.

Damian just chuckled, ignoring her.

...

Wanda sat on the bed in the grand room; she had never seen such a luxurious room. Almost everything was white and gold.

Growing up in a somewhat poor family, this was something she wasn't accustomed to. Even when she became the queen, there was so much to do that she slept in the same small room she had lived in while learning magic.

Feeling how soft the bed was, Wanda let herself fall onto it, looking at the ceiling. She was speechless to see that even the ceiling had golden lines; she just hoped they weren't real gold, or she really couldn't digest how poor she was.

Finally, she adjusted her body and curled up in a fetal position, planning to take a nap.

Her attempt to nap was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"It's open," Wanda said, frowning slightly.

"Hello," Cortana said, opening the door and entering the room.

"I thought you went with Damian," Wanda said, looking at her with a furrowed brow.

"I did go with him; this is just a kind of clone," Cortana said, smiling as she approached her.

"Ah," Wanda nodded.

"Do you feel so uncomfortable coming here? I'm sure you forced yourself to come to learn magic, or you would have never come," Cortana said, smiling slightly as she noticed Wanda acting so distant since she arrived.

She knew Wanda quite well and knew she was much more lively with Circe and Pietro.

"It's hard not to feel uncomfortable coming to a place where your destiny isn't in your own hands," Wanda said, looking at Cortana.

"How dramatic," Cortana chuckled.

"Why did you pay so much attention to me? Is it because I'm the Scarlet Witch?" Wanda asked, looking at Cortana.

"Hm, there are several reasons. Tell me, do you believe in parallel universes?" Cortana asked, looking at Wanda.

"Since I believe in magic, I believe in everything," Wanda said.

"You should," Cortana nodded as she let out a small laugh.

"As I wrote in the Scarlet Witch's description, she is a multiversal-level being. My master is also such a being, and in fact, he has been to parallel universes," Cortana said, surprising Wanda.

"My master and I share a strong bond, so I've had access to many of his memories, and in those memories, there's you too. But in that world, without my master's presence, things were completely different," Cortana said, smiling slightly, changing her words a bit but ultimately meaning the same thing.

"In that other world, you ended up in a pretty bad way, losing everything. That's why I became interested in you and wanted you to have a happy ending in this world," Cortana said, smiling.

"You could consider it a whim; I hadn't been born long ago, and since I reminded me of you, I paid some attention to you."

Wanda fell silent, not knowing what to think. She felt a bit curious about what another life of hers might have been like.

She had to admit that Damian really changed her life, even if indirectly.

Her magic surely would have developed much more slowly if not for the magical circles; perhaps during that time, she could have lost people she cared about, like her brother.

At that moment, Wanda felt a little ashamed of feeling so distrustful towards Damian and Cortana.

She had learned her magic, and they planned to keep teaching her even when they didn't have to.

"So, how about being friends?" Cortana said, smiling as she noticed Wanda's expression softening significantly.

"Okay," Wanda nodded slightly as she looked at Cortana with a more animated expression.

"Hm, it looks like your brother and Circe are coming. See you later, remember not to frown; it'll cause wrinkles," Cortana said, looking toward the door before turning to Wanda, gently pushing her head with her index finger, and disappearing.

Wanda unconsciously frowned upon feeling Cortana's finger before she lightly rubbed her forehead.

Immediately, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Wanda said, already knowing who it was.

As expected, Circe and Pietro entered her room.

"Sister, I want a room like this," Pietro said, appearing next to Wanda in an instant.

"If you manage to create two magic circles, it won't be difficult to have one like this," Wanda teased her brother.

"How funny," Pietro said, looking at her grumpily; he still couldn't create his first magic circle, but he was close.

"You seem to be in a better mood. Did something happen?" Circe asked, placing her hand on her chin and looking at Wanda suspiciously.

"As expected from an old witch, I actually feel more comfortable," Wanda nodded slightly.

"How rude," Circe said, sticking her tongue out at her.

...

When Hela entered her room, she also sat on the bed and looked around without emotion.

It bothered her that the luxury and decorations were similar to those in Asgard, but what bothered her even more was that she still cared about such things.

She really wants to free herself from her father's psychological shadow and the way she was raised, she can think of no other way than to plunge a sword into her father's heart.

Hela took a deep breath, not wanting her thoughts to bring out her worst impulses.

"Mistress," Amelia said, opening the door cheerfully.

Upon entering, she immediately stopped upon seeing that her mistress didn't have a good expression.

"Again?" Amelia asked, sitting next to Hela.

"Hm," Hela nodded.

Amelia sighed, looking at her mistress; she still remembered when she was picked up by her.

Her mistress used to be very volatile, and many times even threatened her with a sword at her neck when she did or said something she didn't like.

But little by little, she had calmed down. Amelia also understood that it was normal for her to be like that after spending so much time locked up without talking to anyone.

She couldn't help but hate Odin even more for that. It's okay if he needs to lock her up, but he practically abandoned her completely, threw her away as if she were an object, without a home, without companionship; it was normal for her mind to fragment.

"How about we take a walk around the palace? Damian didn't say we couldn't explore the place; as long as we don't go to secret places, nothing will happen," Amelia said, smiling at her mistress, trying to cheer her up.

"Are you sure it's for me and not because you want to?" Hela said, giving a small smile in her previous somber expression.

"Let's go," Amelia said, laughing slightly as she took Hela's hand.

Hela looked at her hand and frowned slightly, but she still didn't withdraw her hand and let Amelia help her stand up.

Amelia smiled even more brightly seeing that her mistress didn't reject her touch as in previous times.

The two of them left the room and walked through the halls looking for the staircase.

"If you don't stop smiling, I'll hit you," Hela said, looking emotionlessly at Amelia.

"Okay," Amelia nodded, suppressing her smile a bit, making a somewhat funny grimace.

The two of them descended the stairs and decided to go out to the garden for a walk.

As they progressed, they saw all sorts of strange plants exuding magic.

Magical plants had been brought to decorate the gardens in many of the Spartan raids.

"What a waste," Amelia said, looking at all these plants that people would kill for.

She recognized many of these plants; most could enhance people's magic or physical abilities.

The two of them continued walking through the garden until they reached the back of the palace, where there was a much larger space.

"Is that a freaking T-rex?" Amelia suddenly shouted upon seeing a giant creature in the distance.

"What is that?" Hela said confused, looking at the giant animal and several smaller ones that started advancing toward them upon hearing Amelia's shout.

Seeing the giant T-rex, Amelia quickly hid behind Hela as she peeked her head out, looking.

The T-rex approached Hela and Amelia before sniffing loudly at them; the velociraptors, on the other hand, just surrounded them while making sharp sounds.

Hela's expression didn't even change upon seeing the dinosaurs; she had seen much more terrifying things.

She slowly extended her hand and stroked the T-rex's snout before lowering her hands and running them over its sharp teeth.

She smiled slightly, remembering her wolf's teeth.

''She's not scared, she's weird is weird,'' said Tyr growling at the velociraptors.

"Let's go," the velociraptors said, giving several shrill cries.

"Why does it seem like you scared them?" Amelia said, looking at them leaving.

"You're overthinking," Hela said, shaking her head as they continued exploring the place.

While the two of them were taking a walk, Sassy was in hunting mode on a rock in the garden, her tail swaying gently behind her.

She noticed Hela as soon as her subordinates went to see them; she clearly remembered the woman who had attacked her.

Sassy began stalking them among the bushes as she moved forward, planning to ambush them later.

Many bushes had holes where Sassy usually slipped through, so she just crouched, waiting for her prey to arrive.

Hela walked alongside Amelia, glanced sideways at the hole where she clearly felt Sassy, but still paid no attention and kept walking.

Sassy's body swayed slightly, making sure she had a good grip on the ground before launching herself towards Hela.

Hela seemed to have anticipated it as she agilely crouched, causing Sassy to miss and fall onto Amelia.

Amelia was completely surprised by the giant tiger and was knocked down.

Sassy growled in annoyance at missing her target, but she didn't forget to give Amelia a gentle lick to vent her anger.

"You've really been spoiled," Hela said, smiling slightly before grabbing Sassy's tail. Her fur was incredibly soft, showing that she hadn't faced hardships in her life.

Sassy immediately jumped upon feeling her tail tugged and moved a few meters away from Hela before roaring at her angrily.

Amelia let out a sigh of relief as she stood up; she was really scared, as she was with her mistress and had no guards in Madripoor.

"Don't be so dramatic," Hela said, smiling as she approached Sassy and tried to pet her.

It really reminded her a bit of Fenrir when he was a cub.

Sassy quickly evaded her touch, turning around and lightly hitting Hela's face with her tail before running off somewhere.

"She really is just a bigger cat," Amelia said, laughing.

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