Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After he activated the communication circle, a mature, pleasant female voice came from his monocle, “Lucien?”
Lucien was stunned for a moment, unable to tell who it was. It was not until the speaker opened her mouth again that he finally realized that she was Lady Florencia, the wife of Grand Arcanist Oliver.
“Lady Florencia, is there anything I can help you with?” Asked Lucien in confusion.
Florencia chuckled, “Do you think I have nothing better to do? I wouldn’t have contacted you if there weren’t anything. What’s your opinion on Oliver’s paper? You must’ve read this issue of Arcana, right?”
Lucien was even more baffled. You and your husband could’ve discussed it in private. Why do you bother to ask an outsider? However, Lucien recalled that the couple seemed to be in conflict. He smiled and said, “I have read it and discussed it with His Excellency Raventi and Mr. Gaston. If you don’t mind, I’ll start from the beginning. Is that okay?”
“Yes.” Florencia replied quickly.
After exchanging their views on the paper, Florencia was silent for a moment. Then she lowered her pleasant voice and said, “Lucien, did Oliver ask you to work on an opera together with him? You’d better refuse him.”
“How did you know?” Oliver’s intention to please his wife had been found out by Florencia? That was rather a surprise for Lucien. What a terrible secret-keeper!
Florencia’s suppressed voice emitted delight. “He always complained that there were no real musicians in Holm, and that nobody could adapt his script into an excellent opera. So, if he intends to please me with a new opera, how can he forget you, a grand master who ranks very high even in the entire history of music?”
“Then, how did you know that he would please you with an opera?” Lucien finally understood that Florencia inferred it based on her understanding about her husband and their previous married life. Having just started his own love life, he asked curiously.
Florencia chuckled again, but her laughter seemed to contain complicated feelings. “He’s always like this. It’s either jewelry or emotional poetry, or a new opera, that he creates in person. The previous two choices were recently used. Considering his personality that he would not use them repetitively, it is easy to infer that he’s going to make an opera this time.”
“Then, why did you ask me to refuse him? You don’t want to forgive him?” Lucien patted his face after the question. How could he have asked it directly? It turned out that he had a gossip side, too.
Florencia laughed without any delight. She teased with bitterness, “After you wrote For Sylvia, Sylvia died. If you write another opera that is meant to mend the relationship between a couple, only to separate them in the end, I believe that your love music will become a curse in everybody’s mind. It’s for your own good that I asked you to refuse him.”
Lucien captured Florencia’s meaning between the lines keenly. “My lady, are you going to renounce your marriage with His Excellency Oliver?”
“Yes.” Florencia responded. Then, she poured her feelings out. “I tolerate him again and again, but he never really regretted. I’m too exhausted and desperate to deal with him any longer. I have my own arcana and magic studies. I have teachers, students and friends. It’s not like the value and significance of my life will be gone after I leave him. Sometimes, love can’t cover everything. Perhaps I can find new happiness after we are separated.”
She spoke rationally without any tears or yelling, which made Lucien hear the resolution in her words. It seemed to be a decision that was made after deliberation, not a spur of the moment decision. Therefore, he did not persuade her but simply smiled, “In that case, I’ll wish you a happy new life in advance, my lady.”
However, based on Florencia’s familiarity and understanding about Oliver that she revealed unconsciously, could their relationship really be cut so easily? Lucien was quite suspicious about it.
Florencia said in a low voice, “Lucien, you are really a good man. I often think that if I hadn’t run into Oliver but encountered you who are both more talented and more loyal than him, my marriage would’ve been so happy that it made other people jealous. I envy young Natasha.”
She was Morris’ student, and Morris was a member of the royal family of Holm and a junior that Hathaway thought highly of. So, she had a general understanding about Lucien and Hathaway’s dialog the other day and learnt how Lucien refused all kinds of temptations over the past years.
“Thank you for your compliment.” Although he had received a good-man card, Lucien was not bothered at all because he already had his love. He simply smiled and thanked her.
Florencia suddenly chuckled, “In fact, I once had the idea of retaliating against Oliver, and I planned to have a soulful and physical relationship with another gentleman exactly like what he did to me. At that time, you were one of my targets, but you completely ignored my charm. Also, I couldn’t overcome the psychological barrier myself, either.”
“Now that you have little Natasha, there’s no way that I would do that. I’ve suffered the pain myself, and I will not let another girl suffer such unforgettable pain again. Lucien, be nice to young Natasha. If you have another woman, I’ll seduce her and get her away from you completely. Hehe. She lost her mother when she was still young. She must be very into a mature women like me.”
Lucien rubbed his chin in embarrassment and hurried to change the subject, “My lady, you mentioned that I was one of your targets. Did you have other candidates?”
Florencia felt much more comfortable after the revelation. She held back her laugh and said, “I am very demanding. Few people met my requirements. Also, they had to have strong backgrounds so that they would not be killed by Oliver. Therefore, besides you, I planned to seduce my teacher. However, after careful analysis, I found that the odds of success were not high. Lucien, do you think if my dress is fully embedded with the Wave Stones, the Sun Stones, the Ice Crystals, the Dragon Hide and other precious materials, my teacher will be captivated by me?”
Lucien pointed it out directly, “I believe that His Excellency Morris would take off your dress, push you to the bed, and leave with your dress.”
“Haha! I think so, too!” Florencia was stunned at first. Then she burst into laughter.
Lucien raised his eyebrow. Feeling that it was inappropriate to make fun of the seniors behind their back, he hurried to ask, “It’s been a while since I met His Excellency Morris. What studies is he busy with now?”
“My teacher almost drooled after you proposed new alchemy. That’s a field that controls the changes of materials. If anyone can get to the bottom of it, they would have however many treasures they want. Therefore, my teacher has been completely devoted to it ever since.” Florencia said jokingly. As a matter of fact, for a ninth-circle elementalist such as Morris, Donald and Raventi, new alchemy had shed the light of legendary for them. How could they not devote themselves to it?
Lucien replied equally humorously, “If Alferris were not a dragon, I would’ve suspected that Alferris is His Excellency Morris’ natural son. He truly guards his fortunes like a dragon.”
After some chit chat, Florencia said, “Lucien, you should work harder and try to have a child with Natasha soon. If Oliver and I weren’t that into a childless relationship, we probably wouldn’t be like this today.”
“The situation today is still too dangerous for us to have children. Also, it’s been less than one month since she was crowned. There are months to go before any urge or pressure.” Lucien had talked with Natasha about that, too. There would be a lot of changes in the coming years, and pregnancy would weaken her and keep her in danger. Therefore, they should consider the question after Holm was stabilized.
Natasha couldn’t have agreed with it more. She wanted to be married to Lucien openly and let their child be born in a complete family.
Regarding the problem that the higher one’s rank was, the more difficult conception would be, the ‘Forced Conception’ on the Pink Book was certainly not developed for nothing. It was a creation of a certain legendary in order to continue his bloodline. When he saw that magic at the beginning, Lucien had the idea that he could establish a clinic in Allyn that specifically treated infertility.
After ending the conversation with Florencia, Lucien more or less hesitated. Considering the closeness, Florencia was Morris’ student, and Morris was Natasha’s senior, so he should refuse to cooperate with Oliver as per her request because they were on the same side. However, he had already promised Oliver, and it was inappropriate to go back on his words.
After thinking for a moment, Lucien made a decision. “I’ll wait until their marriage is waived. If His Excellency Oliver still wants an opera to get back with her, it would be in no conflict with Lady Florencia’s request.”
“… Also, does Lady Florencia’s request that I should not work with her husband suggest that she is still wavering and scared that she may be swayed under the opera?… I hope their relationship would not end in tragedy even if they are discovered…”
Suddenly, the monocle became hot again. Lucien rubbed his eyebrow helplessly and turned on the communication circle.
“Lucien.” Morris’s voice came from the monocle.
Lucien exclaimed and replied somewhat awkwardly, “Good morning, Your Excellency Morris.”
“Why do you sound weird?” Asked Morris in confusion.
Lucien smiled. He couldn’t confess that he had just made fun of the grand arcanist with the grand arcanist’s student just now. So he simply asked, “Is there anything I can help you with, Your Excellency Morris?”
“Have you read the latest issue of Arcana?” Morris’ question was the same.
Just like that, Lucien spent the entire morning discussing with familiar archmages and senior-rank sorcerers. However, the legendary sorcerers such as Douglas did not reach out to him, because their wisdom was enough for them to see the problems in Oliver’s paper.
Lucien was not free again until noon. He planned to continue reading Arcana after lunch. If he did not study and follow the latest papers, he might commit horrible mistakes even though he had the spirit library.
At this moment, Rock, who was wearing a black tuxedo, walked in and knocked on the door of Lucien’s office. “Lucien, do you have a moment?”
“Have you accomplished the mandatory task?” Lucien invited him in with delight.
Rock said relaxedly, “Of course, as a member of the Atom Institution, the mandatory task for me was very simple. Lazar must be returning soon, too. Lucien, the reason why I’m here is to inform you that we are running out of hands and space as our research programs grow larger in number.”
“I’ll file an application to the Magic Research Board, so that we will have the other unoccupied laboratories on the eighteenth floor.” Lucien replied. He was already an unquestionable authority in the field of atomic research. It was not difficult to do. “As for hands, don’t we have many arcanists?”
Counting himself, there were ten arcanists in total.
Rock opened his hands. “We have too many arcanists. Nobody is willing to run errands anymore. Your students all have their own research programs as they grow up. Therefore, we need to hire a batch of magic apprentices.”
“Then, go to the Task Zone to issue tasks, or contact the magic school and ask them to recommend the best students.” Lucien asked suspiciously, “Why do you care about that?”
Rock did not look like a man who cared about that sort of thing.
Rock chuckled but admitted honestly, “I’m getting anxious seeing that you and Lazar have both found your love. This is the place I spend most of my time in. How can it work out if there is no ‘fresh blood’? The few female students of yours are quite good, but they are all too proud because of you, and they do not think that I’m a big deal at all.”
“No coercion or intimidation.” Lucien reminded him.
Rock rose in satisfaction, “I’m looking for a partner for the purpose of marriage. Why would I do that? I’m going to the Task Zone. Considering the reputation of the Atom Institution, countless apprentices will apply for it. Well, would it be too troublesome?”
“Resume review, written exams, and interviews. You can screen them through three procedures. It’s all yours. I’ll supervise it in person once in a while.” Lucien said rather mischievously, hoping to give the magic apprentices a lesson about job hunting.
