Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Footsteps hasty, eyebrows frowning, Lucien was acting like an ordinary person who encountered kidnapping for the first time. Meanwhile, he was also much calmer than most of the ordinary people. He knew where to go and what to do right now.
Lucien tried to stay focused when he was walking on the street, separating his spiritual power from his body and making the power float in the air, as if his soul was overlooking his body. Lucien wanted to test if there was anyone among the crowd who was following him.
However, since Sunday noon was often the busiest time in Aderon, and the kidnapper was currently more powerful than Lucien, he did not find anything special.
The gate between Aderon district and the noble district was open, however, this area was not busy at all. Only a few poor people from Aderon who were doing the most menial work in the nobles’ places were going through the gate after going to the church.
Two guards were standing there, lazily leaning against the wall and looking at the poor people walking in hurry with some feeling of superiority. The guards were hopeless for becoming real knights, and since they joined the city guard and got spoiled by the prosperity of Aalto, they soon forgot the many fighting skills that they learned from their previous training.
All of a sudden, the guards noticed a young good-looking man in decent white shirt and black suite coming toward the gate, which was quite unusual. They stopped Lucien instantly and asked,
“Sir, what is your purpose entering the noble district?”
Lucien’s heart was being burned by the great anxiety, thus his attitude was not very nice.
“Are you questioning me here? Since when do I have to be questioned first to pass through the gate?”
Rander, one of the guards, immediately regretted as soon as he stopped the young man in front of him. Without knowing a visitor’s background, stopping the person randomly may put them in trouble since they never knew whether the person was actually a noble or someone important.
Lucien’s tough attitude made him even more nervous. He hurriedly apologized, “Sorry, sir. We’re having a hard time searching for the demon followers and tend to overreact sometimes. I’m sorry, sir.”
Lucien slightly nodded and was about to pass through the gate when he changed his mind. He turned to the guard and asked in a low voice, “May I ask where does the chief clerk of the town hall, Mr. Urbain Hayne, live? I’m his daughter Felicia Hayne’s classmate.”
Happening to know where the chief clerk lived, Rander answered, “Mr. Hayne lives at no.158 Noble Street, one of the Hayne family’s houses.”
“Thanks.” Lucien replied shortly and walked through the gate.
In the noble district, where many knights and even grand knights lived, Lucien expected that the kidnapper from Argent Horn would not be able to follow too close. Therefore, by asking the guard, Lucien purposefully let the kidnapper know where he was going. If the kidnapper still could not follow up, that meant he or she was not at all capable of tailing Lucien for a long time, and then Lucien could find a proper chance to get rid of the kidnapper and conduct his own plan.
Staring at Lucien from behind, Rander complained to the other guard, “Although the guy dressed like a gentleman, he even didn’t know where the chief clerk lives. Probably there’s something between this effeminate guy and lady Hayne… who knows…”
…………
It was the second time Lucien came to the noble district. Compared with the stormy night when Baron Laurent died, the noble district looked much more appealing today. Green trees lined up on both sides and flowers flourished. Among the trees stood the big and luxury houses. Many of them were of different architectural styles—some were similar to baroque style, others of religious style, while some were emulating the gloomy and extravagant architectural design of the ancient magic empire. And often there was only one house on each fork of the road.
Lucien appeared to be rather weird on the street since he dressed decent but was walking on foot. A few noble ladies and gentlemen passing by in their coaches threw Lucien a surprised glance, certain that Lucien was by no chance a noble.
All of a sudden, a coach stopped beside Lucien. The window on the coach opened and inside of the coach sat an elegant young lady of full figure and fine presence, with a black crape bonnet veiling half of her face. She laughed and asked, “Is this Mr. Evans? The concert last night was awesome.”
Despite being anxious, Lucien maintained his gentleman manner, “Thank you, my lady. Can I have the honor of knowing your name?”
“I’m Yvette Hill, Felicia’s friend.” Yvette glanced at Lucien with great interest, “Are you looking for Felicia, Mr. Evans?”
Excluding the family of Violet, the Hill family, together with the Hayne and the Rafati family, were the three most influential noble families in the Duchy of Orvarit. Each of the three families had a whole shire as their domain.
Lucien just recognized the coat of arms on the coach consisting of spears and grizzly. He answered with respect, “Yes, my lady.”
“Well… then you might have to wait a bit, Mr. Evans.” Yvette’s smile was very charming, “Since the concert was a great success, Felicia is still praying in Golden Cathedral to thank the blessing of God. And, by the way, just call me Yvette. I’m a fan of your music, Mr. Evans.”
“Then miss Yvette, you just call me Lucien.” Lucien worked at a smile, “I can just wait for Felicia to come back outside of her house.”
“If you don’t mind, Lucien, I can give you a lift.” Yvette took off her crape bonnet and her beautiful face was completely revealed, “You’re two years younger than me. What a genius you are.”
Her maid opened the coach door and invited Lucien to come in. It seemed like Yvette did not worry at all that this might damage her reputation as a noble lady.
Lucien did not refuse. As a member of the Hill family, Yvette was also able to get Moonlight Rose. If Felicia rejected Lucien’s request, becoming a friend with lady Yvette would be Lucien’s second possible chance.
Entering the carriage, a sweet, alluring scent snuck into Lucien’s nose.
“Very nice… A genius is indeed different,” said Yvette with satisfaction, “Most of the men that I invited before were just hypocritical. They wanted to come in, but they didn’t dare.”
Leaning forward, her plump and fair chest was half revealed in front of Lucien.
However, Lucien was really not in the mood. Slightly turning his eyes away, Lucien forced a smile, “Stick to your own path, and let the irrelevant people say whatever they want to say. It doesn’t matter.”
“Interesting. I like it.” Yvette’s eyes lit up for a moment, “You’re more interesting than I thought, Lucien.”
The coach went slowly. Inside of the coach, Yvette was casually talking to Lucien about music, and purposefully made tiny physical contact with Lucien. Unfortunately Lucien’s mind was completely occupied by the kidnapping, and he completely ignored this noble lady’s elaborate seducing. Yvette was quite disappointed.
Half an hour later, Yvette’s coach finally stopped in front of a luxurious three-storey house. At the same time, Felicia’s carriage arrived as well.
“Lucien? Why you’re with Yvette?” Felicia looked at her classmate quizzically.
Getting off the coach, Lucien answered, “I was looking for you when I met lady Yvette. She kindly offered me a ride.”
“What did you do, Yvette?” Felicia looked a bit angry.
“What can I do?” Yvette grinned in her coach, “No worries, Felicia. I prefer mysterious sorcerers compared with musicians.”
“What do you mean? Since when you changed your preference?” asked Felicia with surprise.
“Since last night,” replied Yvette full of yearning, “Last night during the concert, I heard Cardinal Sard and the grand duke were talking about a mysterious sorcerer called ‘Professor’. I’m very curious… after all I haven’t tried any sorcerer yet. I wonder… these gloomy guys who always hide their faces in their hoods… what do they look like when they are naked in bed, and how they react when they see a beautiful woman…”
As the youngest daughter of Earl Hill, she was qualified to sit in the same balcony with the grand duke.
“Yvette…” Felicia was speechless. Although Yvette and Felicia were pretty good friends, Felicia never understood Yvette’s openness with men. As a very maverick noble lady in Aalto, Yvette was even much more open than the noble madams and ladies in the palace of Tria.
Lucien was very surprised, not because of Yvette’s openness, but the fact that the church and the grand duke had already found out his pseudonym, “Professor”.
Was anyone caught that night? Or were there moles among the sorcerers… Lucien wondered, with his back being covered by a thin layer of cold sweat. Lucien was just about to buy some magic potions that increased his power from the other sorcerers to save Joel and his family. Luckily, he heard the conversation between the noble ladies. What a valuable piece of information!
“I have to go now. Bye.” Yvette was happy to see the surprised look on both Felicia and Lucien’s faces. Turning around, Yvette’s coach left.
Noticing that Lucien was still staring at the coach in a trance, Felicia sneered at him,
“You want to be part of Yvette’s collection, don’t you?”
And then she paused a bit and asked, “Why you came to me today, Lucien?”
