Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Returning to the capital planet once again, her mood had vastly changed from when she first arrived.

The Oliver family also had its own private dock at the capital planet's starship port. As the group emerged from the starship in a grand procession, breathing in the familiar air, Eve actually felt a hazy sense of reunion after a long separation.

She still remembered her first time here, filled with boundless fantasies about her future life, her emotions a mix of anxiety and anticipation. She was both curious about the Medici family, described in novels as flourishing and splendid, and worried about the unknown fate that lay ahead—like a soda can shaken repeatedly, waiting for someone to pull open the tab before bursting out with a fizz.

—But until she designed an "accident" to leave this planet, that soda can in her heart ultimately never burst.

A breeze, meticulously regulated by the city's system, brushed against her face, cool and comfortable. After letting the wind blow on her for a while, Eve realized her current mood was surprisingly calm.

"What are you thinking about?"

A familiar male voice suddenly said quietly.

Eve: "!"

Her calm heart was abruptly disturbed. She reacted like any pet owner startled by stepping on their house cat in the dark while going to the bathroom at night; even though the creature that scared her was so small and harmless, it didn’t stop her from nearly leaping out of her skin.

She was almost flustered and angry: "—Why do you walk without making a sound again?"

Because taking a wheelchair on the elevator would be inconvenient, Lorca had put it away earlier and could only rely on his own legs to walk over. He gave her an innocent look, his tone of apology very sincere: "Sorry, my fault. I just saw that your expression didn’t look happy, so I wanted to see if you were okay."

"I’m not unhappy—where did you get that idea?"

Lorca pointed to the other side. Eve followed his finger and saw a brown-haired girl looking around curiously, like a little rabbit darting through the crowd, yet skillfully avoiding bumping into anyone. Although, in the end, this "rabbit" was sternly reined in by an exasperated Ludwig.

The two seemed to be talking about something, and soon she saw Ludwig’s face turn bright red for some reason.

Lorca sighed leisurely beside her: "Ah... such is the age of youthful infatuation. I think we, as older siblings, should step back and let them be."

"..." Eve had to point out the truth: "No, I think his expression looks a bit twisted, like he’s flushed with anger."

"Really?" Lorca sounded somewhat surprised.

Eve refrained from commenting on his dull sensitivity.

With a "ding," the capsule-shaped elevator door opened. Feeling a bit exasperated, she moved away from Lorca and stepped directly into the elevator.

Outside the port were the hover vehicles sent by the Oliver family to pick them up. Their style was much more low-key than the Medici’s original display—at least they didn’t block the road with a fleet of uniformly silver high-end cars with sequential license plates. Most were just discreetly parked by the roadside.

The capital planet’s terrain is roughly centered around the capital city, with the territories of various large and small families surrounding it. Among them, the Oliver family and the Medici family happen to be the farthest apart, separated by a diagonal line. It’s the kind of distance where, unless you venture into the central capital, you’d never run into each other.

A very reassuring distance, at least Eve didn’t have to worry about bumping into any old acquaintances.

The styles of the two families’ territories are also vastly different. Forgive her for repeatedly comparing them to the Medici family, as among the capital planet’s various family territories, she has only been to these two.

Unlike the Medici territory with its vast expanses of plains, the Oliver family’s land features rolling hills, tall, gloomy cypress and cedar trees forming dense, dark green forests. Flying over in a hover vehicle from above, the ground looked like a beautiful landscape painting. Eve even spotted snow-white exotic creatures moving about within.

Seeing her so interested, Lorca, who was beside her, explained: "There are also exotic creatures reared by the family in the forests. Because some of the rarer exotic beast materials aren’t always easy to find and are difficult to store long-term as dead objects, the family designated the forest in their territory for breeding these beasts to meet the needs of their alchemists."

Eve nodded upon hearing this. She understood—it was self-sufficiency.

Not far away, a black spire abruptly emerged from the dark green forest. As they drew closer, an entire majestic Gothic-style manor gradually came into view on the horizon.

At the center of the manor stood a castle predominantly black in color, exquisitely and lavishly designed, much like the demon king’s castle in fantasy novels. The stained glass windows facing them reflected brilliant colors under the sunlight, while the layered flying buttresses and massive rose windows added a mysterious aura to the castle.

The entrance to the manor was a parking lot connected to the castle’s pointed arch doorway by a narrow pathway. Walking along the path, Eve saw the courtyard filled with vibrant, dewy roses. Upon closer inspection, she realized that this seemingly ancient-style residence was actually forged from extremely hard black iron. However, it was so densely inscribed with Alchemical Ciphers that it gave off a stone-like appearance from a distance.

She glanced over it briefly—all were advanced Formulas related to defense and mechanism operations. Just from these Alchemical engravings, the value of the Oliver family’s residence couldn’t be measured in mere terms.

What a remarkable display of power, Eve thought.

As expected of one of the four great families. Even if their influence has declined somewhat, their foundation remains deep. With such a virtually impervious residence, if it weren’t for the turmoil over a decade ago that originated from within the high walls, even a precise nuclear strike from elsewhere wouldn’t cause any damage to the people in this manor.

While observing the Alchemical Formulas on the walls, Eve turned and saw Lorca back in his wheelchair, waving at her. Coiled around the armrest of the wheelchair was a familiar black-and-red creature.

She walked over and finally saw clearly that the moving thing on the armrest was the shrunken Wall-Imprisoned Serpent.

Eve asked: "How did it become so small?"

"That’s its characteristic. Form means little to it—it can be big or small, or even turn into a puddle of shadow," Lorca replied softly. "Because it refuses to return to my Spiritual State, and its original form would scare people, it takes on this small snake appearance whenever it has to be around crowds."

Eve reached out and pressed the flower on the small snake’s head. The Wall-Imprisoned Serpent’s scales were already fine and dense, but now, shrunken, it seemed even more glossy and adorable.

It slowly crawled along Eve’s finger onto her wrist, then firmly coiled itself into three loops, like a black jade bracelet, with the red flower on its head gently swaying.

Eve couldn’t resist pressing it several times, and the two—human and snake—played happily together.

"Having fun?"

Lorca suddenly spoke. Though his tone wasn’t much different from before and his words seemed reasonable, Eve felt an inexplicable chill in his voice. "If you’re done playing, can we go in now?"

Since the employer had spoken, Eve dutifully pushed the wheelchair a couple of steps before belatedly asking: "Are you not too happy about me playing with your Spiritual State?"

After all, one’s Spiritual State is quite private. Putting herself in his shoes, even with Grace and the others, Eve wouldn’t mind showing them the Luna Butterfly, but she wouldn’t be too keen on lending it to them to play with.

If Lorca was upset about this, she could understand.

"If you don’t like it," Eve added, "I’ll be more careful."

"...I’m not bothered by that. Besides, it’s the one pestering you to play," Lorca paused before saying, "I just felt a bit chilly outside, so I urged you to go in."

Eve, who hadn’t felt the slightest cold breeze on the capital planet with its perfectly controlled temperature and humidity: "..."

How is this person still so frail?

The Oliver family prefers quiet, so upon entering, the others dispersed to their respective workstations. Only Ludwig, Lorca, and the newcomers Eve and Alice went into the main hall to meet the Family Head and his wife.

The main hall was also decorated in an intricate style dominated by black tones, with a dark red carpet embroidered with gold threads underfoot. Family Head Oliver was sitting on a sofa, kneading someone’s legs. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, and his white shirt was folded up at the sleeves.

From Eve’s angle, she could only see the person enjoying the service lying flat on a long sofa, wearing loose sleeping robe, turned on their side with their head resting on the armrest, thick, slightly curly black hair hanging down like seaweed.

If Ludwig hadn’t called out "Mom" as soon as he entered, followed by "Dad," Eve might not have recognized this couple, who radiated such a strong domestic atmosphere, as the Family Head and the Lady of the Oliver family.

"Hmm."

Family Head Oliver responded indifferently to his biological son, his green eyes sweeping briefly over the other two before losing interest and focusing again on massaging his wife’s legs.

Due to the calamities of the previous generation, he had always intentionally cultivated the current heir’s ability to handle affairs. Thus, most of the clan’s routine tasks were assigned to Ludwig, and this meeting was merely a routine inspection.

However, Lady Luo looked up at the sound, smiling as she looked at the two girls.

At first sight, Eve had to admit that the saying "like nephew, like uncle; like niece, like aunt" held some truth. Lady Luo’s appearance did bear some resemblance to Luo Wenqing’s—both had that striking and generous appearance. However, Luo Wenqing still had a hint of boldness, while Lady Luo carried the opulent charm of a mature woman.

"Two girls brought home this time?"

Lady Luo had a cheerful personality, so she laughed upon seeing the two girls: "Which one is the S-rank, and which one is the quick-witted and sharp-tongued one who said our Oliver family is on the decline?"

Ludwig didn't hesitate to sell Eve out: "She's the one who said it. Her name is Lu Qing, and the other is Alice. She's the one with S-level Spiritual State."

Exposed so quickly, Eve didn't dare act bold in front of the elders and could only stare at the ground along with Alice as they said, "Pleased to meet you, Family Head Oliver, pleased to meet you, Lady Luo."

"Ludwig is so particular about rules. No need for formalities. Come, sit, let me take a closer look."

Lady Luo patted Family Head Oliver's hand, signaling him to stop massaging her, then had him help her sit up and waved the two girls over.

Her demeanor was almost identical to Luo Wenqing's, her likely daughter. The moment she saw Alice, she smiled warmly, asking how she was doing and saying she felt like she’d seen her before. After talking for a while, she even directly asked if Alice would like to be her adopted daughter.

Alice: "!!!"

This was nothing like the noble lady she had imagined. She had thought Ludwig's mother would have the same bad temper as him... but she never expected her to be such a kind and approachable elder.

She immediately shot a frantic look at Eve.

Eve wasn't surprised at all, as she had already seen this exact scene in the novel. She nodded at Alice, signaling her to agree.

Lady Luo was sharp—despite her refined appearance, she was perceptive. That small exchange between the two girls made it clear to her who the real leader was.

But when she turned to Eve, facing her blank, cold silver mask and the dark eyes behind it, her heart skipped a beat.

Recovering quickly, she found it somewhat amusing that she had been momentarily intimidated by a junior. With a chuckle, she asked, "Child, what's with the mask on your face?"

Eve: "I was disfigured in an incident and find it hard to show my face, so I cover it with a mask."

"Oh, is that so?"

Lady Luo paused, suddenly remembering the message Cecil had sent before returning—about this girl being driven away by her family. She felt a twinge of guilt for touching a sore spot. "I'm sorry for bringing up something painful. You—"

Before she could finish, the family head, who had been silent since entering, suddenly spoke: "Take it off."

Lady Luo, cut off mid-sentence: "What?"

Ignoring Lady Luo’s sharp nails digging into the back of his hand, Family Head Oliver remained expressionless and said, "I know this request may seem unreasonable to you, but I must also consider the possibility that your face might have appeared in inappropriate places, such as on a wanted poster."

"Please remove the mask and let me take a look. I apologize, but I must ensure my family's safety."

Lady Luo looked at him as if he were insane.

The family had taken in mysterious individuals before, but they had mostly respected their habits and never forced them to remove their disguises.

"My Spiritual State has the ability to nullify illusions."

As if completely oblivious to his wife’s puzzled expression, Family Head Oliver added this pointed remark. His eyes, sharp like a hawk’s, fixed on Eve, as if he could see through the mask to her true face in the next second. "If you are indeed disfigured, I promise no one here will mock your true appearance. Just let me take a look for confirmation."

He did have some doubts about Eve. She was different from those before her—Ludwig hadn’t actually verified her background. She appeared too late on Black Star and coincidentally saved Lorca immediately afterward. It all seemed too suspicious.

To Family Head Oliver, a girl who knew the four great families so well could not possibly be just a bullied illegitimate child, as she claimed.

Moreover, when she entered the estate earlier, her eyes and demeanor showed curiosity and amazement but not a trace of inferiority or envy. This further proved that her origins were anything but simple.

She was likely a spy sent by another family, and no matter what, he had to protect his family’s safety.

The room fell silent. After a moment, a soft, resigned sigh broke the stillness.

Eve removed her mask. As the silver mask came off, it revealed a face ravaged by blade marks. The girl’s pale skin was marred by crisscrossing dark red scars, creating a visually shocking impact.

A closer look showed layers of scars—old and new—consistent with her claimed experiences.

Lady Luo and Ludwig gasped at the first sight. Alice looked away, unable to bear the sight. Lorca showed no expression but stared thoughtfully at the ruined face.

He didn’t get to look for long, as Eve soon put the mask back on. "Sorry to startle everyone."

"But now that you’ve seen my face," she turned to Family Head Oliver, asking gently and meekly, "may I ask if the family head can trust me now?"

With a face so ruined, she definitely couldn’t be from a major family—those people cared about appearances most.

...But before Family Head Oliver could speak, he first felt the flesh on the back of his hand being nearly pinched raw by his wife.