"It's a sunny day. A beautiful, beautiful day."
Dressed in a one-piece purple dress, a stunning lady exuding a mysterious charm hopped from place to place. And whenever she saw anyone in this silent paradise, she would start a conversation.
"Hey hey! Little girl, you know what? I hit mid rank 1!"
Primula who was watering the garden flowers rolled her eyes at her words.
"Mid. Rank. 1." Afraid she hadn't paid attention, Miss Calamity stepped in front of her and repeated word by word.
Primula raised her head and looked at the beaming lady in front. The knee-length skirt and the purple lipstick nicely matched the color of her dress, giving a mature charm to her already beautiful countenance.
Scrunching her nose, Primula muttered under her breath. "Shameless vixen."
"I can hear you, you know?" Aurora's voice turned cold.
Primula raised her head and gave her a dismissive glance. "That's why I said it out loud."
"Since you're still a baby, I'll forgive you. What can a brat without even a century of living experience know?" Aurora shook her head with a generous expression and turned to walk away.
One can't fault a great poet for not evoking emotions inside a donkey with her poems. It's not the fault of the poet, it's the fault of the donkey!
"Baby? Then what are you as an adult? Leeching off my brother's home! Why don't you go back to your mother's place or even better, your own?"
Aurora's jaw dropped and she vanished muttering. "Teenagers! Goddamn teenagers! Arghhh!"
A second later, she landed in front of a small home at the outskirts of a forest.
"Alison!" Miss Calamity cried out in an indignant voice, tears swirling in her eyes.
The door opened and a middle-aged woman walked out with a tired expression. "What is it this time?"
Aurora rested her head on the lady's shoulder and complained. "Y-Your granddaughter! She's so rude! She wants me to leave this place!"
Alison raised a brow. "So when are you going?"
"What?!" Aurora looked at her with an expression that seemed to say 'How could you?'.
Alison coughed lightly and explained her original intention. "I mean, when are you going to visit your senior sister? It's been a few weeks since they returned."
When the topic came up, Miss Calamity smirked. "I'm going to surprise them! I broke into mid rank 1!"
"Wow! So fast?" Alison had a rough understanding and looked at her in surprise.
"Ehehehe, I guess I'm a bit of a genius myself." Aurora lowered her head and said with a not so humble smile, expecting a shower of praises.
"Good for you." Alison said and headed back home. "I want to cook some potatoes today, wanna stay for lunch?"
Miss Calamity bit her lip and left without making a sound.
Even if Alison didn't know the significance of divine ranks, why was her response so subdued?
Come on, her achievement would have caused a kingdom to celebrate for a whole year. Even the genesis empire would hold a festival week!
These guys?
With a depressed face, she reached the bottom of the mountain where Evander stayed.
Recently, he used Hortus' ritual to drain off all his ranks and started out from the bottom again.
Thanks to plenty of precious herbs Sarah provided, his lifespan and talent were not a problem.
What's a problem though was him practicing like a madman without any break.
"Err, Evander? Uncle? Uncle Evander?" After a few unsuccessful attempts, Miss Calamity left with hunched shoulders.
The next stop was the maids. They were chopping off a peak celestial fire dragon while a planet-destroying phoenix was being fried up in a special space container.
"Texture of #A23 *Y234 check. Shortlist as a starter. Create thousand more samples of phoenix soup for…"
"…never mind." Miss Calamity didn't even dare to disturb the passionate chef.
Hazel must've starved to death in her previous life. She's obsessed with food and cooking.
If this world was decided not by the proficiency of divine path but on the expertise of cooking, she'd be the strongest.
Helena, the matriarch maid, painted with a serene expression. But she was not painting the natural scenery around her.
Her canvas captured the scene of an intergalactic war, one where Varian stood facing a being covered in a brilliant and terrifying light.
"…"
Aurora decided to skip her too. Last time they talked, Helena almost convinced her to sit still for a few months for a picture. It was torturous for the energetic young lady to even imagine!
In the end, she decided she needed at least one positive boost before she reached her senior sister and brother-in-law.
With a flash of light, she appeared in front of a manor in the Pala capital.
An old man in his twilight was working on papers on his desk with utmost focus. Only when she walked into the study did he raise his head before freezing up. "M-Miss Calamity."
"You haven't died yet, Baldur?"
With a wry smile on his wrinkled face, the former prince said in a weak tone that was almost inaudible. "On the verge, Miss Calamity. I'm ashamed to receive your kindness in the form of this visit."
"You should be ashamed for actual reasons. Like the biggest traitor being your own child and you abetting his behavior."
Unlike when she was in Hortus as a young, energetic, cheerful and lively girl, Miss Calamity's presence was completely different here.
She was cold, indifferent and exuded a terrible presence that scared even the bravest of hearts.
"I know. It's something I can never seek forgiveness for. I…If I only…" Baldur clenched his weak fists.
Aurora's coldness didn't ease in the slightest, as if she was a being without a shred of mercy. The aura she exuded was so hostile and overwhelming that Baldur was prepared to face a brutal death.
But in the end, the sickle of death didn't fall. However, her words, which were just as sharp, did.
"You had your chances to stop him multiple times but when he threatened to kill himself, you let it go.
Why? Because an empire protected by divine rankers can't be toppled by celestial rankers like your son. It must've all looked like a child's play to you. And you let it be."
Baldur lowered his head and said in a weak voice. "It is indeed as you said. I thought…he'd learn reality after realizing the queens' strength. B-But…"
"You helped him back then. So, he didn't want to kill you. It's a repayment he always wanted to make but even he didn't expect it'd be like this." Miss Calamity shook her head, her eyes filled with disdain.
"Spend the rest of your life taking care of the loyal Hortians. That's the least you can do."
Without even thinking about what she came here for, she returned to Hortus.
Once she did, she headed to the palace subconsciously to uplift her bad mood.
"No, no, cheer up! Get ready to see their dumbfounded faces!" Slapping her cheeks gently, she told herself.
Barging into the manor like it's her own home, Miss Calamity yelled at the top of her lungs in a cheerful voice in complete contrast to her cold persona earlier.
"Ladies and Brother-in-law, I am a mid rank 1 from today!"
There was no respose to her words.
"Ugh?"
The manor was very large and as basic respect, Aurora didn't use her perception to probe their presence.
But when she yelled for three more times and they didn't respond, she ended up doing a light search and found them in an underwater bedroom.
'Eh? What are they doing? Could it be…'
When she blushed furiously imagining some things, three beams of aura broke into the sky.
Three high rank 1s.
"No, no, no! Weren't you peak of mid rank 1! Why?!"
What she didn't notice in her despair was that her brother-in-
law, the only person weaker than her until now had also broken into mid rank 1 a few days ago and was sprinting ahead.
"Status."