Throne of Magical Arcana

Lucien had almost forgotten about the dwarfs. After Natasha asked, he remembered what happened and said with a smile, putting down the caviar next to him. “Didn’t I tell you about the adventure in the Night Highland?”

“Yes, that was very wicked of you. You added an additional layer of defense outside of the vampire count’s defense core to make it even more ‘solid’!” Natasha was chuckling about it even right now. Lucien was full of such bad humor, but she liked it!

Lucien was quite proud of his reactions back then, too. “That time, in order to trick the dwarfs into coming back, I intentionally pretended to be their God of Steam after they mistook me for him, and I even ‘showed’ them an illusionary gods’ realm – Atlantis. Inside of it was my imagination about the future of the alchemical industry. Hehe. At that time, I even imagined that alchemical bombs that looked like rising suns were created by the great development of elements and alchemy. You know what happened later. Reality is always more unbelievable than fantasies. We already have “Eternal Blaze’.”

Now that they were talking about dwarfs, Lucien briefly explained what ‘Atlantis’ was to her.

Natasha was stunned first at Lucien’s answer, then she laughed so hard that she lay on the table. “And I was wondering what the dwarfs were worshiping. It turns out that they were worshiping an alchemical bomb. Haha. How hilarious! I have never seen such a funny religion before!”

They’re just nuclear-bomb believers. I’d seen a lot of them when I played games in the past. Lucien smiled at Natasha as she laughed aloud.

Trying to control herself, Natasha said while laughing, “According to the intelligence department, those dwarfs have been devoutly worshiping silver… Haha, silver iron bombs since ‘Eternal Blaze’ exploded a while back, crying about god’s favor, Atlantis’ arrival and such. They also tried to find out who performed ‘Eternal Blaze’, because they believed that he was the envoy and the saint of the God of Steam.”

“If they learn that it’s a spell I created, I will be reduced from ‘God of Steam’ into an ordinary person.” Lucien shook his head. A weird idea occurred to him. If the dwarfs perfected their doctrines and rituals, would the power of faith be gathered toward him? Or would it directly be gathered to ‘nuclear bombs’?

Lucien had no desire in becoming a god yet. He had learnt a good lesson from Ell. However, he had always wanted to study the congregation of the power of faith. If the gods were unveiled, the deeper mysteries of the world would definitely be revealed.

After talking about the dwarfs’ assimilation, Natasha wiped her lips with a napkin. “I’ll allocate the additional abbeys to local city halls as the locations of the generic schools.”

After the South Church evacuated, the number of believers had reduced a lot. In order to control them, Natasha had confiscated part of the abbeys and real estate of the Church, which built up the queen’s treasury. That was why she approved Lucien’s plan without any hesitation. She was using her private possessions and did not need the approval of the Parliament of Nobles.

“After the schools you and the Congress establish raise talents after talents, I believe that the royal family will be more steady.” Lucien said, smiling.

Natasha put down the napkin and looked at Lucien. “It’s your plan, and I definitely support you. Besides, you convinced me.”

Lucien nodded solemnly, “If nothing changes, and society remains as ignorant and underdeveloped as it used to be, will there be any joy in accomplishing success? What’s the point of becoming the leader of a bunch of pigs? A real arcanist should facilitate the progress of society and make mankind more civilized, giving everybody an opportunity to enjoy the convenience brought by the alchemical items. That will be the greatest achievement for them…”

Hearing Lucien’s heartfelt speech, Natasha became quiet and focused. He looked more charming than ever.

After Lucien finished, Natasha responded with a brilliant smile, “Yes. Being a queen in a poor, underdeveloped country where most people don’t even know how to write is not nearly as pleasant as seeing the country flourish.”

Looking at Leo and two maids who were serving nearby, Lucien rose with a smile. “Let me show you the scenery of Atlantis.”

Natasha was stunned at first, and then she realized that Lucien had something else he wanted to say. Therefore, she picked up her hat and followed Lucien into the living room unhurriedly.

After Lucien turned on independent magic circle, she asked solemnly, “What’s up?”

“Nothing important. Weren’t you ‘angry’ that I didn’t tell you when I advanced into legendary?” Lucien looked at Natasha with a smile.

Natasha blushed as if she recalled something. Then, she coughed and thought quickly. “Are you planning to hide the fact that you are already legendary in order to deal with the legendary experts that the Church will possibly send to kill you?”

Lucien raised his thumb. Natasha had always been keen about that. “Yes. We have to eliminate as many legends of the Church as possible. If I set it to public, they will probably never take any action. After all, a legendary sorcerer can barely be killed. Besides, you are still being threatened by the shadow of Kritonia. I’m thinking to resolve the two issues at once.”

Knowing that Lucien was doing this mainly to help her deal with Kritonia, Natasha meant to object first, but she abandoned her idea after seeing Lucien’s firmness. She smiled, “The problem is, you can always plan to assassinate somebody else, but you can’t always be braced for assassinations.”

“That’s why we need to attract all of them.” Said Lucien without any hesitation. As long as they misevaluated his strength, he would be able to stall them until Mr. President, his teacher and Hathaway arrived.

Natasha scratched his chin. “Kritonia and the possible assassins of the Church can’t be fooled so easily. They are very experienced. They will discover our flaws and take advantage of them if we do anything wrong.”

“Yes. We can’t wander about randomly. There has to be a justifiable, unquestionable reason.” Frowning, Lucien said.

Natasha began to consider how to create such an ‘opportunity’, too. Suddenly, her eyes glittered, and she clapped her hands. “Wedding! Our wedding! While Granny Hathaway and the Lord of Storm will be present, the wedding will be rather crowded and messy, which will give the assassins a chance.”

“Everybody knows our relationship. It’s perfectly normal to hold a wedding now that the situation is steady again.” Lucien nodded in approval.

Natasha added. “We can go one step further. For example, you are a grand arcanist, and I am a queen. Our wedding should be equal. We can hold one wedding in the Nekso Palace and another one in Allyn, or you can come to the Nekso Palace to fetch me, my father, Aunt Camil and the other members of the royal family to Allyn. In such a way, Granny Hathaway will be our only protector on the way. There will be a chance for assassination.”

Weddings were supposed to be held in churches, but since Lucien was a sorcerer, churches were naturally not suitable.

“If the Church takes action, it will probably be the Original Fire or one of the other giants of the inquisition. According to their record, they are all bold and careful. The only problem is whether or not Kritonia will work with them. If not, how can they spare enough hands to keep Granny Hathaway busy? We need to make two different plans.” Said Lucien quickly. The two of them soon settled on a framework after their discussion.

In the end, Natasha asked, “How long will it take before you can engrave the remaining two legendary spells in your soul?”

“Half a year at least, and eight months at most.” Lucien said his estimation.

Natasha nodded and smiled, “Then, we will hold the wedding on April 10 next year, the day when we were separated for the first time. I’ll release the news first. Is the time enough?”

“It is.” Lucien believed that the time was enough for him to craft his unique legendary items, but the problem was that he did not have enough precious materials.

As if she guessed what was Lucien’s mind, Natasha chuckled and said, “Now that the wedding date has been settled and you are really my fiancée, the treasury of the royal family will open for you. I hope you can find legendary materials that you need. If not, you can trade the materials inside with other legendary sorcerers, say Granny Hathaway or the Lord of Storm.”

Even though the royal family of Holm had a history of hundreds of years, it boasted no more than five kinds of legendary materials.

“About that…” They were so precious that even such a petty person as Lucien also hesitated. However, after seeing Natasha’s firm, smiling eyes, he immediately let it go and said with a smile, “Okay.”

After they settled on that, Lucien felt something was wrong and scratched his head. “So to speak, we have already agreed on our wedding? Nobody has proposed yet, right?”

Wasn’t it too irregular?

Natasha was briefly stunned. “Huh, do you want me to propose to you?”

After saying that, both she and Lucien were amused. They had unique experiences, unique personalities and a unique relationship. Why did they have to pursue regularity?

Natasha extended her right hand and grabbed Lucien’s left hand, before she declared in a low voice:

“If they really dare to come, the blood of legends will dye the carpets of our wedding red!”

“That will perhaps be the most unforgettable wedding.” Lucien agreed with a smile. Then he reminded her, “You must be very, very, very careful in the coming months.”

…

They spent the afternoon inside the magic tower. At night, when Lucien was about to bring Natasha to the Sky Radio Station for a secret visit, he suddenly received Samantha’s message. “We have found a strange channel. It seems to be a radio station that the Church established recently.”

“Is that so? I’ll come by and see what it is about.” Lucien and Natasha looked at each other, both noticing the curiosity in each other’s eyes.