Throne of Magical Arcana

Natasha was wearing a simple training suit, after having practiced swordsmanship. Her legs were long and straight.

“Confess?” She looked a bit confused but soon became serious, “Confess what, Lucien?”

Natasha was very different than usual. Now she was like a leopard ready to launch an attack.

Lucien did not answer the princess instantly, instead, he turned around and looked at lady Camil silently.

Natasha was very smart. She understood what Lucien was worrying, especially seeing that Lucien was still playing the piano, “I trust lady Camil with my life, Lucien, so there’s no need to ask her to leave. And in Ratacia, no one can spy on us.”

“Your Grace, we can never be too careful.” Camil stood up and her blue eyes started to shine brightly. Her whole body gradually became transparent and turned into a statue made of seawater.

Then the seawater from the statue overflowed onto the floor, and soon reached to Lucien’s ankles. A moment later, the whole practicing room was half filled with seawater, and the water level already reached to Lucien’s chest. Seeing Lucien’s confused eyes, Natasha nodded to him.

Soon the room was fully filled with the water. Lucien came to the bottom of the sea.

However, the practicing room was like a big water cube, and the water was not leaking anywhere else at all. Besides, Lucien could breathe easily as usual. The only difference was that Lucien’s skin was covered with a thin layer of silver light.

“Blessing?” Natasha lifted her eyebrows, and soon apologized sincerely, “Sorry… I did not know Lady Camil would examine you.”

“I totally understand. That’s what lady Camil should do. You don’t need to apologize at all.” Lucien was ready for the examination, and that was one of the many reasons that Lucien did not tell the princess what happened to him the first time he came to Ratacia Palace. Now his Blessing had been awakened, and his spiritual power from practicing magic could thus be hidden.

Lucien understood that, if he faced the heretics by himself, he would absolutely not be enough. Currently, the best choice was to report to the princess and refer to the noble power. And the key point was that he needed to figure out a proper chance to make sure his plan would not threaten the hostages and his own safety.

Now it was the proper chance.

Looking at the silver light covering Lucien’s skin, Natasha rested her chin in the left hand and said, “Moonlight Blessing, but weaker than a knight’s Blessing… Well, Lucien, now you can tell me what happened. The whole room has been isolated by Camil’s power.”

“As you can see, Your Grace, my Blessing is weaker. That’s because my Blessing was awakened by a bottle of magic potion given by someone else.” Lucien was well-prepared for what he was going to say, “Since the night when I got invited to be your consultant, I was involved in a conspiracy aiming at you and the grand duke.”

“I see. That’s what you get from working with them, a potion to awaken Blessing,” The corner of Natasha’s lips curled up.

“That is not true, Your Grace.” Lucien mixed the truth and his lie together, “They kidnapped uncle Joel and his family. They offered me a lot of help in the past when I was struggling. The kidnappers wanted me to report your schedule to them, as well as things that I hear in the palace. They want me to have my Blessing awakened in order to work better for them.”

“Camil?” Natasha was a bit surprised, “All the people who work for me… they got carefully investigated first, right?”

“Yes, Your Grace. Mr. Evans’s music talent is beyond doubt. Although he got involved with a witch’s case, there is no evidence showing that Mr. Evans, or any of his friends, was suspicious.” Camil stopped examining Lucien and said to the princess. Her voice came from different directions under the water.

As the future grand duke, the security measures around Natasha were very strict.

Natasha nodded, “Do you know anything about Mr. Joel and his family?”

“Our intelligence department reported that Mr. Joel and his family were invited by a noble lord.” Camil sounded a bit angry.

“Although the security measures in the palace are very strict,” said Lucien, “when I was acting nervous in front of you the last time, the kidnappers warned me about it in the evening of that day. So I suspect that there might be spies around you, Your Grace.”

“So you were doing that on purpose. Lucien, I really did underestimate you.” Natasha looked quite serious but then smiled, slightly shaking her head.

Then Natasha stood up from the bench and walked around in the room filled with water, “The intelligence department is untrustworthy right now. Auntie Camil, please go to the church and tell this to the two cardinals, Amelton and Gossett.”

Enjoying his isolated life, now Cardinal Sard was not actively involved with the church. Two younger cardinals, Amelton and Gossett, were currently in charge.

Then Lucien told Natasha more details, such as how he bought Moonlight Rose from Felicia. And of course, he mentioned nothing about how he figured out those people were from Argent Horn and how he investigated them.

“Someone must be trailing you all the time recently,” Natasha said to Lucien, “Auntie Camil, catch the guy and put the guy to torture.”

Lucien hurriedly stopped her, “Your Grace, we don’t need to hurry. Instead, we should be patient. We shall start from secretly investigating the intelligence department and the kidnappers, following the clues and finally figuring out the big man who is hiding behind.”

Lucien must make sure uncle Joel and his family were safe. And he also wanted to solve the issue of the heresy once and for all, or he would be facing lots of trouble in the future.

“It’s not that complicated.” Natasha frowned her eyebrows, “We catch the person who’s trailing you, beat the person until he or she tells the truth, and then we quickly take action to take the bastards down. Come on! You’re a man, Lucien!”

“Your Grace, I think Mr. Evans is right. If our intelligence department is involved, this whole thing would be much more complicated. We should be more careful,” commented Camil.

“All right… I think you and Lucien are right. I won’t tell this to anyone else.” Natasha curled her lips, “I never like complicated things. How dare the bastards come to my palace!”

“Every once in a while, the kidnappers send me a small magic ball. I can see uncle Joel and his family through the ball. If I find any clue from the balls, how can I tell you?” Lucien kept pushing forward, but started to feel quite nervous. Princess Natasha was much more straightforward than he thought.

“I’ll give you several drops of my blood, which contain the elemental power of water,” said Camil, “so keep them with you. When you need to contact us, put a drop of blood into water and you can temporarily talk to me. Unless they have someone who’s as powerful as a level seven knight, and unless it is that person who’s trailing you, the blood will be impossible for them to spot.”

Three small sapphires appeared in front of Lucien, floating in the water.

After agreeing on the secret code for communication, Lucien put the sapphires into his pocket. While Natasha sat down in a couch and asked Lucien with interest,

“These people are using lives to threaten you, power and possible fortune to lure you, then why you decided to tell us, Lucien?”

“I did feel hesitant,” Lucien paused a bit, “but I never trust that kidnappers would keep their word. Only referring to your help, Your Grace, I could save uncle Joel and his family. I never make a concession to my enemy, and that is my creed.”

“Never make a concession to the enemy? Interesting.” Natasha’s purple eyes lit up, “No wonder you can compose Symphony of Fate, such a great work. I apologize for what I just said. You’re a real man, Lucien.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.” Lucien slightly bowed.

“Well, well… real man Lucien. You really don’t need me to teach you how to pursue girls?” Natasha laughed, “Our personalities are quite similar. You can be pretty attractive to girls, just like me.”

“…Sorry Your Grace. I’m really not in the mood.” answered Lucien seriously, “And by the way, please don’t tell the church that my Blessing has been awakened, after all, the way I did it was not proper in the church’s eyes.”

Natasha nodded, “I understand, Lucien, and I won’t. Luckily, Moonlight is not a dark Blessing. After we solve this problem, I’ll tell the church that the potion you had was given by me, as your reward.”

That was really a surprise for Lucien.

Then Natasha shrugged her shoulders, “Relax, Lucien. So you can better fight against your enemy.”

The level of the seawater was gradually falling and finally disappeared. Lady Camil showed up again in the practicing room, and Natasha and Lucien were sitting in front of the piano, talking about music as if nothing special ever happened.

Later, when Lucien came back home, the letter urgently asked him what he saw today in the palace and what the princess told him. The kidnappers had no idea about Lucien’s earlier confession.

Telling the kidnappers that John would be back this Saturday morning, Lucien used this as an excuse to request another Scene ball on Friday evening.

The heretics agreed.

……

On the second day, Friday.

After class, Felicia’s coach was waiting in front of the place. To prepare the ball, Felicia asked for a leave of the class today.

Of course, Lucien was asked to bring the letter with him.