Chapter 22

Chapter 22

For several days, Eve was completely engrossed in the world of alchemy, unable to pull herself away.

Thanks to De Tocqueville Nando's teaching materials, which perfectly suited her, Eve finally felt as though she had pushed open the doors to the temple of alchemy. The knowledge within was incredibly fascinating and profound—far more complex than mechas and more mysterious than the spiritual state. This was alchemy, an exclusive domain that only geniuses with exceptional comprehension could dare to venture into.

And Eve was someone who loved challenges; facing difficult problems only fueled her determination.

Every night after studying, she would take notes, carrying them in her pocket the next day to review whenever she had a spare moment. She couldn't resist sneaking glances even during class, and once she was caught by the Second Steward during her Spiritual State class.

The Second Steward, dressed like a gentleman, tapped his silver-headed cane twice on the floor with a "thump, thump," standing before Eve's desk with a thin smile. "My dear Little Forbidden Fruit, what were you just looking at? May I see it?"

"...I'm afraid not," Eve replied, her hands still hidden under the desk, watching him nervously.

Sandro glared at her, pointed his cane toward the door, and said, "Go stand outside for punishment."

For Eve's current physical condition, standing for an hour or two was no big deal, but she knew she was in the wrong. She whispered, "Sorry, Second Steward," before slipping out through the back door and standing obediently outside.

It wasn't empty outside the classroom; the Third Steward and Fourth Steward were also there, waiting to serve. As soon as Eve stepped out, the three of them exchanged an awkward glance before tacitly spreading out—Eve stood by the back door, while the two stewards stood together.

The Medici family's buildings had excellent soundproofing, so Eve couldn't hear what Sandro was saying inside. However, Spiritual State was her strongest subject, and missing a lesson or two with the textbook handy wasn't a big deal. Otherwise, Eve wouldn't have slacked off in this class to study her true love, alchemy.

But being sent out for punishment was rather sudden, and she didn't have time to bring along her beloved little notebook.

Leaning against the wall, Eve silently reviewed the knowledge she had recently learned, then opened her terminal to look at the electronic textbook. It was only then that she realized the 30,000-credit stipend she received at the beginning of the month, which she had thought would be more than enough, had already dropped to double digits before the month was even half over.

Eve: "?"

For a moment, a question that many people often have crossed her mind—Where did my money go?

Checking her statement immediately clarified things—it had all been spent on alchemy materials.

The Yun Residence had an alchemy laboratory with materials, but the other children didn't have alchemy courses, meaning the entire laboratory was meant for Luo Lin alone, and the materials inside were limited.

For certain reasons, Eve hadn't revealed her intention to study alchemy, so she naturally couldn't access the family's allocated resources.

Although she could borrow the laboratory and equipment from Luo Lin, she had to supply her own materials.

The enchanted ink used for inscribing ciphers was expensive but durable. However, since she started learning how to brew alchemy potions, her expenses had multiplied. Her fixed monthly allowance alone was definitely not enough.

In the future, she also planned to go to Black Star, where living costs, transportation expenses, fees for forging identification, and other expenditures would require a large sum of money prepared in advance.

Eve sighed, worriedly staring at her account book, pondering where she could get money without easily attracting attention.

She thought about it for the entire class. Before Sandro called her back into the classroom, she had only come up with two somewhat feasible methods, but neither was perfect.

The first method was to participate in the Star Network's holographic arena battles and earn rewards through placing bets. This was easy to implement—she could join directly from the simulation combat room in the Yun Residence. However, Eve's spiritual state was too distinctive; using it would almost immediately reveal her identity. Competing without her spiritual state would make the matches less entertaining to watch than those with it, attracting fewer viewers and resulting in smaller rewards. Considering the time spent, Eve felt this method wasn’t worth the time and could only earn small amounts for urgent needs.

She preferred the second method: producing alchemy potions and selling them on the black market. All alchemy products sold on the market bore the Alchemist Association's seal, but alchemy products were incredibly lucrative. Official products involved multiple parties sharing the profits, so prices were generally high. The black market had cheaper alchemy products, but their quality was inconsistent, so finding a trustworthy middleman to vouch for her was necessary.

Strictly speaking, privately selling unregistered alchemy products was illegal.

After all, Eve was still a sheltered young lady. Even with the backing of the Medici family, law enforcement might not catch her, but she was also limited by her status, with many limitations on her freedom. This was also one of the reasons she wanted to temporarily leave the Medici family.

Perhaps she was inherently greedy—wanting to enjoy the advantages of a major family's support while unwilling to have her freedom infringed upon even slightly. Wanting both was indeed a bit difficult.

Fortunately, she would soon have an opportunity to take advantage of.

This Friday was Cecil's birthday and also the social debut arranged by the family for these children from branch families, marking their entry into the capital's high society. Many dignitaries and socialites would attend, and the other three of the four great families would naturally be present as well.

Eve was waiting for someone from the Luo Family.

Although the four great families were considered the four most prominent families of the era, each had its own specialties, and there were frictions among them.

For example, the Medici family relied on their numerous branches and political influence, dominating half of the political world; the Cavendish Family upheld honor and strength, with their power centered in the military; the Luo Family valued integrity and wealth, with industries and resource-rich planets spread across the galaxy; the Oliver Family, through wisdom and alchemy, firmly controlled the empire's underworld, the parts untouched by light.

The latter two might seem slightly less powerful than the former two on the surface, but they held significant authority in places like Black Star and the black market. For instance, the black market was secretly manipulated by the Luo Family, with the Oliver Family also holding shares.

...It had to be said that the Oliver Family was quite skilled at making money—openly raising prices through the Alchemist Association to profit from the wealthy, while secretly earning in the black market, skimming profits from everyone else.

Unless necessary, Eve didn't really want to deal with such extreme capitalists. So, she focused on the Luo Family, which had a strong reputation for integrity.

-

"What are these?" Grace asked, looking curiously at the items spread on the table: two bottles of colorless potion and three nail-sized earpieces.

Inside the living quarters, there was no need to worry about surveillance—the Medici family wouldn't stoop so low as to do that—so Eve decided to be direct.

She pointed at the two bottles of potion. "These are potions to mask one's presence. Spray them on, and they'll keep you undetectable for about two hours, even to alchemical sensors." Then she pointed at the three earpieces. "These are alchemy products for communication, supporting delayed messaging. One for each of us. I made them myself, so you can use them with confidence."

Dick looked astonished, with a hint of envy. "So you know alchemy too, Eve?"

"Not originally," Eve corrected. "I learned it after coming to the family, so I only focused on learning some useful techniques."

Eve didn't mention Luo Lin's help in this, not because she distrusted Dick and Grace, but because sometimes leaks weren't intentional.

It could only be said that the more people who knew something, the greater the risk. She didn't want to drag her two good friends into trouble without their consent, and she also wanted to take responsibility for Luo Lin.

"Still, that's impressive. I wanted to learn before, but I really didn't have the talent for it. Besides, the cipher looks so twisty it makes me sleepy. Machinery is more interesting."

Grace was the first to take her communication earpiece, holding it between two fingers before putting it on her ear. "How do you use this?"

Eve put on her own earpiece as well and explained, "It's simple. First, we set a fixed communication password. That way, sent messages are like letters with fixed addresses, automatically delivered. The concept of space-time of alchemy is different from our current dimensional perspective, so don't worry about the time it takes—it's instant. If you want to send messages to someone else later, just change the communication password."

This was prepared for when she would no longer be in the Medici family but still needed to communicate with those inside. She had made extra communication earpieces and planned to give one to Luo Lin later, along with agreeing on a communication password.

To avoid raising suspicions about why the three of them suddenly started wearing matching earpieces, Eve purposely designed them to look different. Plus, with the banquet approaching, wearing more accessories on the ears would seem normal.

"What should we set as our communication password?" Dick asked.

Grace thought for a moment, her eyelids lifting slightly. "Since it's a password specifically for the three of us, let's choose something meaningful to all of us—do you remember the name of the starship we came on? That's where we first met, right? How about using that as the communication password?"

Dick added, "Actually, Eve and I are from the same hometown. We knew each other before boarding the ship."

"Who asked you to speak up?" Grace couldn't stand hearing this and pretended to be angry, flicking his forehead. "So what if you're from the same hometown?"

Eve also supported using the starship's name, mainly because she had forgotten what her home planet was called.

This was one of the downsides of being transported into this world in such a hurry—she woke up in the morning and was sent onto the ship in the afternoon, still confused about what her father and stepmother were even called.

After the three of them set the password and tested it by sending a few messages to confirm it worked, Eve picked up the extra communication earpiece she had prepared and went to deliver it to Luo Lin.

Grace pointed at the remaining two bottles of concealment potion. "Are these for me and Dick?"

"Yes, for self-defense. One bottle each," Eve said. "I improved these using extracts from the Luna Butterfly. They work well. Keep them just in case."

If it weren't for lack of money and materials, she would have made more potions for Grace and the others. Alchemy potions had amazing functions, and Eve hoped that, in her absence, the things she left behind could at least help her friends a little.

Grace didn’t hesitate either. Hearing this, she openly accepted the potion and smiled. "Thanks, Eve. Alchemy potions aren't cheap to make. Let us know how much it cost, and we'll transfer the money to you later."

Okay. Thinking about how much money she had in her wallet, Eve agreed. After arranging to meet them at the banquet hall in the evening, she hurried off to the library to find Luo Lin.

No one was in the library. She went to the Alchemy lab next, but no one was there either. She was puzzled that Luo Lin wasn’t at either of her usual haunts. On her way back upstairs, she nearly bumped into Luo Lin, who was coming down alone.

“What’s the rush?” Luo Lin steadied Eve, noticing she seemed to have something to say. She deliberately guided her into the washroom. Once inside, Eve slid a small, hard object into Luo Lin’s palm.

Luo Lin turned her hand over—it was a vine-shaped ring, designed to stack with other rings, making it look like a decorative piece.

Eve then repeated the explanation she had given earlier. Perhaps due to her extensive experience growing up in a prominent family, Luo Lin immediately picked up on something off in Eve’s words.

Luo Lin gently stroked the small ring, stacking it beneath her Mythological Mecha ring. One was a deep magenta bud-shaped ring, the other a floral vine design—the two rings stacked together harmoniously. She asked softly, “Are you planning to leave home? Is that why you’re making these preparations?”

“Yes, I’ll be away for a while, but I’ll be back before university starts. While I’m gone, could you please keep an eye on Grace and Dick for me?”

Luo Lin replied, “As long as you’ve made your arrangements, that’s fine. But before you leave, could I ask you for a favor?”

“What is it?” Eve asked curiously.

A dark look flashed across Luo Lin’s face, but it vanished quickly, her expression smoothing back into its usual dignified calm, as if the fleeting hint of violence had been an illusion.

She said, “I’d like you to take Edgar with you when you leave.”

Edgar was the name of the Fourth Steward.

Eve had planned to leave quietly and safely, but since Luo Lin knew about Edgar’s betrayal and poisoning, she naturally wouldn’t let him get away with it.

Though she appeared composed on the surface, how could she not resent someone who had ruined another’s future?

Eve stared at her intently, making Luo Lin worry that her sudden display of ruthlessness had frightened one of her few friends. She turned away slightly, embarrassed, and hurriedly added in a low voice, “If it’s inconvenient for you, it’s alright…”

“Yeah, no problem.” Before Luo Lin could finish, Eve cut her off.

Eve grinned broadly, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth, her smile bright and carefree, as if she weren’t discussing something as serious as murder but merely offering to help a friend with a small favor: “It’s no big deal, don’t worry, Luo Lin. I’ll help you out, no sweat.”