Throne of Magical Arcana

Looking around, Lucien made sure there was no one near them. Then Felicia and Lucien walked through the garden in front of the house.

“Can I ask you to do me a favor, Felicia?” Lucien looked serious.

“A favor?” Felicia slightly frowned her beautiful eyebrows, “My father’s just a chief clerk, and my uncle never liked us. I’m not sure if I can help.”

If Lucien asked before the concert, Felicia would directly reject him. However, now that Felicia had seen Lucien’s talent, she knew that having a good relationship with Lucien would definitely benefit her a lot. What the noble life taught Felicia in the past years was not only how to enjoy the luxury lifestyle, but also how to weigh the advantages and disadvantages.

Lucien spoke to Felicia with a bit hesitation, “I have a good friend, John. He’s currently Lord Venn’s high level knight squire. John’s family offered me lots of help when I was sick and poor. Since last night the concert was a great success, I believe it’s time for me to pay them back. And the best way is to help John become a real knight.”

“I think I know what you want now.” Felicia guessed, “You want to buy Moonlight Rose from me to help your friend awaken his Blessing?”

“Yes, I believe it’s the best I can do.” Lucien was sort of relieved that Felicia did not doubt his motive.

“You’re a good person, Lucien.” Felicia appreciated his character, “It’s pleasant to have a friend like you. But Lucien, Moonlight Rose is expensive, and it’s never a guarantee for awakening Blessing. Many nobles tried and failed…”

Felicia’s heart slightly sank when she was speaking, since she was one of the nobles she just mentioned.

“I did some research about it.” Lucien was trying to make his request as reasonable as possible, “John’s a promising young man. Lord Venn might soon award John with some of the dust of the rose, but it probably won’t be enough. The more dust of Moonlight Rose John has, the better the chance he would have to successfully awaken his Blessing. I want to help John with it.”

A beautiful smile appeared on Felicia’s face. She slightly nodded, “Well… you’re really something, Lucien. How much do you want, then?”

“Fifty grams.” Lucien needed to make sure that he would have enough of the ingredients to make the potion named Crying Soul, including the possible failures during the process.

“What? That’s too much!” Felicia was very surprised, “Based on my status in the family, I can only buy up to ten grams.”

Although Felicia’s father and the current Earl Hayne were brothers, they had a poor relationship with each other due to the many years of contending for power. Thanks to the generous legacy left by the previous Earl, Felicia’s grandfather, Felicia’s family could still maintain a decent noble lifestyle.

“Felicia, can you figure out a way to get more? As much as possible…” Lucien came up with another reason, “I heard people say that the dust of Moonlight Rose can also improve one’s coordination. I might need some as well to improve my piano playing skill. I’ll never forget your help, Felicia.”

Crossing her hands together, many thoughts flashed through Felicia’s mind. As friends, she could help Lucien with ten grams of the rose. However, now Lucien was asking way more than that, then Felicia needed to see how she could benefit from it.

Lucien did not urge Felicia, leaving her some time to consider. A while later Felicia said to Lucien seriously, “Ten grams from my father. Yvette and Melissa, ten grams each. Lucien, forty grams is my limit, and I won’t do this for free.”

Although Felicia did not have any title, and her family status was not very superordinate, as a noble, Felicia’s social circle was still of great value.

“Forty grams… Well, let’s do forty grams. Thank you so much, Felicia, and what you want me to do?” asked Lucien.

“My request is simple and easy.” Felicia smiled, “Firstly, you gotta pay me in advance. Secondly, my birthday party will be held next month, and I want you to be there on my birthday and play several songs in front of the guests. And thirdly, I want you to teach me how to play piano, how to compose, and offer me your help as much as possible in music field, such as introducing my future music work to the princess.”

Felicia heard that Princess Natasha appreciated piano very much. Among her three requests, without doubt, the most important one was the last. Every time a new piece of musical instrument was invented, many musicians were thus inspired and became famous with their new music works. Felicia did not want to miss this precious chance.

Since she held little hope in becoming Mr. Victor’s honor student, learning from her talented classmate who was now the personal music consultant of the princess was not bad.

“You have my word, Felicia.” Lucien agreed, and he said silently in his mind, “…as long as I’m still in Aalto at that time. Even if I were to leave, I’d do something else to compensate for it.”

Felicia trusted Lucien’s good character. She nodded and said, “Forty Thales. Give me two days.”

“Two days is fine. But Felicia…” said Lucien with embarrassment, “I only have thirty Thales for now. The rest of it, ten Thales… Can I pay you back in five months? You know I’m currently working for the princess. The salary should not be a problem.”

“Well… all right,” agreed Felicia. “Pay me back as soon as possible. The ten Thales will come from my savings. Don’t let me go broke, Lucien.”

“Thank you so much, Felicia!” Lucien was excited, although his bellying moneybag instantly shriveled.

After all, buying Moonlight Rose was Lucien’s top priority for now. Lucien was very grateful that he had the chance to enter the music circle in Aalto and thus got to know the nobles like Felicia, or he would have no choice but to go to the black market or join another sorcerer group to find the rose, which would be way more risky.

Leaving Felicia’s place, Lucien bought some good-quality bread and beef on his way home.

…………

By cooking and eating, Lucien calmed himself down. Closing the door and the windows, he took out the envelope from the crate and opened the letter again.

Within his expectations, there were a few lines on the paper, “Why did you go to the noble district and met your classmate? You stayed in the garden with her for more than twenty minutes, and we saw it. Don’t act like an idiot, Mr. Evans.”

Lucien sneered in his mind. It looked like the bastards used other ways to trail Lucien instead of marking him with their fiend power, in case Lucien would be detected by the many divine power circles placed in Ratacia Palace.

Since Lucien also understood about supernatural power, he was quite sure about it.

Lucien answered honestly, “I went to buy Moonlight Rose from Felicia to help John. You kidnapped Joel and his families, and I’m not sure if they can come back safe and sound. John is the only one in the family I can take care of for now.”

A few sentences appeared, “Taking care of John? We know what you want to do. Please stop daydreaming, Mr. Evans. It’s not easy at all to awaken the Blessing, or there would be way more knights in the world. Since your stupidness and recklessness is very impressive, we decided to give you a bonus—a finger from Alisa.”

“God damn it!” Lucien swore in his mind, which was filled with hatred.

At the same time, Lucien took out a quill and started transcribing the sentences on the back of a piece of used paper. The great hatred was burning Lucien’s guts like fire, while his brain was as cool as a piece of ice. The strange mixture of fire and ice shaped Lucien’s character.

Lucien was transcribing the sentences to figure out if the kidnappers could see what he was doing now!

He would not start making Crying Soul until he knew more about these bastards.