Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When unsure how to respond to a leader's inquiry, silence works well.

Eve kept her eyes down respectfully, her hands resting flat on her knees. She neither agreed nor disagreed, but her expression clearly showed reluctance.

Sparti saw this but didn't force an immediate answer. Since he had already made up his mind, asking for Eve's opinion was merely a formality. He didn't mind giving the girl some time to mentally prepare.

He stood up with a chuckle and said meaningfully, "Eve, this is a significant matter and could truly be a turning point in your future. I know Cecil may not seem like the best match now, but as his father, I understand him. He's just a bit arrogant, not a bad kid deep down. And for people like us, the most important factors in marriage are rarely something as trivial as personality."

"Big life decisions require careful consideration. Take a few days to think it over and give me your answer then. I believe you're a smart girl, Eve."

Before leaving, Sparti patted Eve's shoulder with a fatherly affection that made her skin crawl.

"So he does know his son has a terrible temper," Eve thought, puzzled. "How can he still push me into that mess?"

And it wasn't just "a bit arrogant but not bad at heart"—after the engagement, Cecil never missed an opportunity to show his displeasure or put her down, eventually leading to them trying to poison each other.

Eve had no intention of following the original story's path. Sparti's engagement plans were his own business—what did it have to do with her? It wasn't like they could force her to marry him.

It wasn't that she feared Cecil; she simply found dealing with him a waste of time.

In the original story, Eve had wasted too much time on meaningless matters—busy attending social gatherings, managing her relationship with her disagreeable fiancé, and trying to please other family members.

Becoming the heir's fiancée should have been beneficial, but it ultimately led to her own talents getting neglected.

By the time she entered the First Empire Academy two years later, she not only lagged behind the naturally gifted Cecil but also couldn't keep up with Dick and Grace, who had been at her level initially. Too many unimportant matters had consumed the time she should have spent cultivating.

Eve let out a slow breath, too tired to dwell on it further. She smoothed her clothes and returned to her quarters.

Classes were scheduled to begin in the afternoon—exclusive family lessons for the children, taught in rotation by several family stewards and hired tutors.

To build on the morning's Spiritual State awakenings, the first lesson would be on Spiritual State analysis and lineage, taught by Sandro. Since Eve had already previewed this material, she brought an introductory Alchemy textbook to study secretly during class.

Eve was very interested in Alchemy, but it was indeed difficult to learn. She hadn't even fully mastered the Alchemical Cipher yet. She felt she lacked a teacher to guide her, but most alchemists were gathered in the Alchemist Association, and those who weren't were usually taken in by major families. At her current status, Eve didn't have the qualifications to access them.

For example, the Medici family's First Steward was actually a four-star miracle Grand Alchemist, though very few knew this. Eve only discovered it much later in the original story.

If she were Cecil's fiancée, she might have been able to ask the First Steward to teach her Alchemy, but for now, Eve didn't want to give in to the family over a minor setback. She wanted to try on her own first.

Before long, class time had arrived.

"The Spiritual State, as the name suggests, is a creature simulated by our spiritual power. Its grade largely depends on our spiritual power level, though the two aren't necessarily directly linked. A Spiritual State's grade can be higher or lower than one's spiritual power level."

"In actual combat, many factors affect a Spiritual State's performance, such as its orientation. In one-on-one battles, healing-type Spiritual States are undoubtedly inferior to combat-types. But in team coordination, strategic needs must be considered. A mature team can't just be a 'damage-focused team' stacked with pure combat-types; it often requires auxiliary, healing, or even assassination-type Spiritual States to maximize both combat effectiveness and survivability."

"Additionally, the rarity of a Spiritual State is crucial. Though there's no direct theoretical proof, comprehensive data shows that rarer Spiritual States tend to have stronger abilities. The silver moon clematis and the common heart-linked white-petal lotus are both healing-types, but the silver moon clematis, unique to the Medici family, is far stronger than the common one. Among all healing-type Spiritual States, the silver moon clematis is renowned as a holy grail. Moreover, rarer Spiritual States mean less public knowledge about their abilities. For example, even Medici scholars haven't fully figured out the skills of the Luna Butterfly."

On the podium, Sandro held a remote control pen in one hand and his cane with a silver head in the other, explaining smoothly.

When he mentioned the silver moon clematis, the students listened attentively. Though precious, the Medici family has one in almost every generation. The current head, Sparti, had the silver moon clematis as his Spiritual State. Cecil, his biological son with S-class spiritual power, awakening the same Spiritual State was no surprise—they were only momentarily stunned by the beauty of the S-class Spiritual State during the awakening.

But when Sandro mentioned the Luna Butterfly, almost everyone glanced toward Eve, even Cecil, who was pretending to gaze out the window on the other side of the classroom, snuck a look.

Sandro tapped the electronic screen lightly with his fingers, displeased. "You unruly little buds, do you want to listen to me, or should I invite Little Forbidden Fruit up here to speak?"

Some bold children, already familiar with the Second Steward's exaggerated but good-natured demeanor—and having heard about Eve's nickname "Little Forbidden Fruit" and its origin from Dick—chimed in, "Really? Can we hear Eve explain it to us?"

"Yeah, we're curious about S-class Spiritual States too. Can Eve tell us about it?"

Eve shyly touched her cheek. The awakening had been too recent, and she hadn't yet figured out the Luna Butterfly's abilities. She only knew it could resize itself freely, hide, and was very beautiful—perhaps useful for confusing enemies.

But Eve had a vague feeling that the Luna Butterfly's abilities encompassed those of the StormEye Butterfly, with an evolutionary progression between them. Otherwise, there was no explanation for why the original StormEye Butterfly had suddenly become the butterfly-type Luna Butterfly instead of another Spiritual State.

Sandro dismissed the children's requests impatiently. "No way! You really want Little Forbidden Fruit to explain? She's only awakened for a short time—she probably knows less about her Spiritual State than I do. If you're so curious about S-class Spiritual States, should I invite Cecil up here too?"

Not necessary, Eve thought silently, though she knew Sandro meant well by shutting that down.

Keeping one's Spiritual State abilities secret might someday become a lifesaving trump card.

Cecil chose that moment to let out a dismissive "hmph," and the children immediately fell silent, afraid the young master would blow up. Even Sandro glanced warily at Cecil, who sat by the window, with the blindly obedient Third Steward standing outside, ready to follow his orders.

Unexpectedly, the young master did speak—not to cause trouble but to ask, "Why do you call that woman..." He seemed embarrassed to say the nickname aloud, lowering his voice, "...Little Forbidden Fruit?"

Eve: "..."

Sandro: "..."

Even Lorin looked surprised at her brother.

Oops. Seems like no one had included the young master in their gossip.

Dick was firmly on Eve and Grace's side. Since Cecil had conflicts with them, Dick naturally avoided him. As a well-connected figure among the children, his lead encouraged others, who were already somewhat afraid of Cecil, to further cold-shoulder the young master.

Sandro coughed lightly, trying to move past the awkward topic. "I'll explain after class. This isn't relevant to our lesson. Let's return to the topic, little buds. Stay focused, no dozing off."

Cecil seemed to understand the underlying reason, pressing his lips together in dissatisfaction but, surprisingly, didn't cause a scene. Sandro smoothly continued the lesson.

"Although Spiritual States have clear grades, they still need to work with spiritual power. This is why the family invests so many resources to help you awaken your Spiritual States early. Spiritual States can evolve alongside your spiritual power. If you can improve your spiritual power level before it solidifies in adulthood, your Spiritual State will likely upgrade as well. Even without an upgrade, different spiritual power levels affect the performance and endurance of your Spiritual State."

"For example, take someone you know whose spiritual power and Spiritual State grades differ—young master Luo Wenzhou of the Luo family has S-class spiritual power but an A-class Spiritual State, while Eve has an S-class Spiritual State but A-class spiritual power. If they were to duel now, the outcome would be uncertain. Although Luo Wenzhou's Spiritual State is suppressed by Eve's, his spiritual power is stronger, and both have non-combat-focused Spiritual States. Luo Wenzhou could win by wearing her down or leveraging other strengths. But two years from now, if Eve's spiritual power evolves to S-class, Luo Wenzhou would lose his advantage and likely lose—though not necessarily, since as a Luo family young master, he would have other tricks up his sleeve."

"Therefore, little buds, before you officially begin combat, you must learn one principle," Sandro tapped his cane on the ground, solemnly stating, "Never underestimate your enemy."

"You may have superior talent, family background, or other advantages, but many factors influence battle outcomes. Some battles, once lost, offer no second chances. So learn to be wary of your opponents. This doesn't require respect—sometimes arrogance itself can mask strength—but never approach a battle with overconfidence and treat your opponent lightly."

Eve had been secretly reading her introductory Alchemy manual, but Sandro's teaching was so insightful and full of good examples not covered in the materials that she eventually closed her book and listened attentively.

By the end, she found herself nodding in agreement. Once again, she felt the Second Steward truly deserved his position—he was a very wise man.

Just as everyone felt they had gained something, a familiar scoff echoed through the room. Eve followed the sound and, unsurprisingly, found it was Cecil, the tactless jerk.

The Medici young master's already stunning appearance seemed to shine like moonlight in a dark room when he smiled, but his words made it regrettable that even a dog's mouth couldn't say anything nice.

Right after the Second Steward warned against underestimating enemies, Cecil said disdainfully, "That's not necessarily true. Some gaps are impossible to bridge. The existence of nobles and great families is to create such privileges for their descendants. No matter how hard commoners try, they can't overcome the vast chasms created by class. So, Second Steward, you're exaggerating."

So annoying.

Eve sighed silently. The last time she saw Cecil spouting such confident nonsense was during the entrance tournament in the original story, where the young master was promptly beaten to a pulp by the commoner female lead.

...I wonder if I'll get to experience such a satisfying moment this time around.