Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom novel Chapter 426

426 How it all started (2) 

“The Maid went out on a mission to start recruiting disciples and members. The woman taught some Witchcraft, and others without gifts became members. 

“When the cult started thriving, the Maid realized that she was tricked into forming an evil cult, but it was too late to turn back the hands of time, so the Maid was turned into a butterfly that was forced to live inside Zucchini’s statue.” 

“Wow!” Jeslyn was short of words. This feels like… 

“Yeah. It was indeed a huge conspiracy by the Witch to create a world for herself and her kind… Those members were made to believe they were getting groomed to fight men who betrayed them. Unbeknownst to them, they were being raised as the Witch’s disciples. 

“Meanwhile, Zucchini’s ex–fiance was still looking for the Witch but had no idea where she had disappeared to. His reason for wanting to kill her was because the woman was prophesied to be his downfall. 

“The King of the land rewarded the hidden Magician with his daughter for his excellent service of getting rid of Witches from the Kingdom. But unfortunately, the King had no idea he had let a serpent into his home. 

“The King had only one Princess and numerous Princes. The Magician knew that he wouldn’t be able to get the throne if he didn’t do something, so he killed the whole family, claiming the last Witch did. 

“Enraged, the whole Kingdom set out to kill the Witch no matter what. But before that, the Magician, being the Princess‘ husband, was crowned the King. 

“While his kingdom was flourishing, the Witches were also growing like mushrooms until they conquered some lands for themselves. 

“Finally, the Magician and the Witch met after some decades and killed themselves. Before the witch died, she laid a curse that her disciples and the Magician’s offspring and supporters would forever be mortal enemies. 

“The Army went after the remaining witches but some still got away and continued to carry forward their Master’s desire. 

“Those remaining witches who were in hiding couldn’t initiate women anymore, so the senior Witch brought the idea of bewitching me. 

“Those disciples found men to impregnate them, and their daughters took over after their mothers. died. After decades, the disciples became numerous and the cult flourished once more, but unfortunately, some ladies couldn’t help their hearts from falling in love. 

“To combat that, the Doyenne of that time introduced the idea of initiating new members from the day they were born. It was a good idea until some girls were unappealing to men because they were not beautiful. 

“The Doyenne who came after was quite pretty and intelligent, so she passed down a new rule- the more stunning the child as they grow, the higher their position, so mothers made sure to look for handsome men to procreate with. 

“It became a competition that some members started stealing each other’s inen or allowing one man to procreate with many of them, brewing stepsisters all over the cult… by the way, that was how your grandmother and the present Doyenne of the Half–heart became siblings.” 

“What?!” Jeslyn exclaimed in shock. 

“Yes. When your great–grandmother approached your great–great–grandfather, the man immediately fell in love with her and also forced your great–grandmother to reciprocate the love. However, because he was the most handsome man then, other women from the cult also wanted him, but the man was strong–willed and disciplined because he was a Zhu, a Military family whose men were not 

allowed to mistreat their wives. 

“Even though he could effortlessly avoid temptation, he couldn’t throw off the one woman who had always been envious of your great–grandmother. 

“The woman used witchcraft on him just to have a few nights with her. By the time your great–grandmother undid the charm, it was already too late–the other woman fell pregnant. 

“Your great–great–grandmother found out she was pregnant some months later but couldn’t run away with the pregnancy like she thought. After she gave birth to your grandmother, she attempted to steal the child but failed a couple of times. 

“Meanwhile, the envious woman didn’t want your great–great–grandmother to return with your grandmother, so she snitched on your great–grandmother and caused the cult to kill her for falling in love and failing to bring back her daughter. 

“Your grandmother grew up in the Zhu family with love and care, but your grandaunt, who became the present Doyenne because of her beauty, was very unhappy. She thought that she should be the one enjoying the love and attention that her stepsister was delighting in. So she tried to steal everything from your grandmother, including her fiance, your grandfather but also failed. 

“Out of jealousy, she revealed to the Zhu family that your grandmother was a child borne by a woman from the Half–heart. Your grandmother, who was once the most loved child in the Zhu family, became the most hated child after her father, who cherished and shielded her, died.