Chapter 64

Chapter 64

The urgent, ghost-like knocking at the door was none other than Ludwig.

Eve, hands tucked into her sleeves, opened the door with a cold expression. Ludwig’s knocking hand nearly struck her gleaming silver mask.

At the table behind her, Lorca had also just woken up. He didn't question Eve about why she had knocked him out earlier in front of an outsider. Instead, with a drowsy, muffled voice that clearly showed he was still half-asleep, he hoarsely asked:

"Who's knocking?"

"It's the Second Young Master," Eve replied.

Despite her answer, she made no move to step aside. Instead, she fixed an unfriendly gaze on Ludwig, who was almost half a head shorter than her, and asked, "What do you want?"

"Can't I come if there's nothing?" Ludwig was first taken aback by her question, then quickly grew annoyed and indignant.

Damn it! This was his house, after all!

Unfortunately, when it came to being impervious to both soft and hard tactics, no one could match Eve.

Under the gaze of her nearly lightless black eyes, no matter how uncomfortable Ludwig felt, he had to suppress it and say, "I just came to see how my brother’s treatment is going, to make sure you’re not slacking off. Can’t I even check on that?"

"It’s only the first day."

The implication was that the treatment had just begun less than a day ago, and if he wanted to see progress, he might as well turn right and leave—get lost.

"......"

Fine, he wasn’t really here to supervise; it was just an excuse he came up with on the spot.

Taking a deep breath, Ludwig had no choice but to confess his real intention: "I came to invite you both to dinner."

During those days at the Viper's Den, life had been precarious, with no room to demand quality of living. After drinking nutrient solutions for over half a month, Eve felt like she was about to lose her mind from the blandness. The sudden prospect of a normal meal even made her look at Ludwig slightly more kindly.

Though she also wanted to ask if he didn’t have Lorca’s terminal contact or if there were no servants in the house, forcing the young master to personally come and fetch people, after observing Ludwig’s expression, she reluctantly held her tongue.

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to be kind for once.

Ludwig even brought Lorca’s wheelchair over. Once Lorca was settled securely, Eve pushed the wheelchair and followed along. When they reached the dining room door, she was about to hand the wheelchair to someone nearby and leave when Ludwig grabbed her wrist, looking slightly surprised. "Hey, where are you going?"

"If I don’t leave, am I supposed to just stand and watch while you eat?" Eve looked even more puzzled than he.

She glanced through the crack in the door and saw Family Head Oliver seated at the table. A man in early middle age but still strikingly handsome, he was speaking gently to the person across from him. Anyone could tell from his expression that the person sitting opposite him could only be Mrs. Luo.

This was clearly a family dinner. Eve pointed at the door crack, then at herself, and said incredulously, "Hey, I’m here to apply for an alchemist position, not to be a caretaker who has to watch over meals."

"Caretaker?! Do you think that’s what—"

"Never mind what I think. Could you let go of my hand first?"

Hearing this, Ludwig released Eve’s wrist as if he’d been burned.

"He wants you to dine with us, not to serve us," Lorca interjected with a sigh, watching his brother’s face flush and pale alternately. "Our family isn’t heavily steeped in aristocratic habits, and we don’t need others waiting on us during meals. If this were the Medici family, you might get to experience that, but we don’t have such bad customs here."

Eve, who originally hailed from the Medici family: "......"

Actually, the Medici family doesn’t have that custom either. You Olivers should stop spreading rumors.

She let out an "oh," unsure how to respond to these mutual misconceptions, and simply pushed the wheelchair into the room with a blank expression.

Everyone inside was familiar: aside from the two elders at the head of the table, Alice was also present. She was seated on Mrs. Luo's left, their heads close together as they chatted about something, both looking quite happy.

There was no one else there; the servants had all dispersed after serving the food.

Taking in the oddly assembled attendees, Eve quickly deduced what was going on.

She wasn’t arrogant enough to think she’d gained favor like the female lead upon first meeting and been invited to dine as a valued member of the family. Moreover, the Olivers clearly didn’t use meals for utilitarian purposes like some "Power Lunch"; those present were basically family members.

Most likely, since she was serving as Lorca’s Chief Alchemist, they wanted her to keep an eye on him regularly. Additionally, Family Head Oliver probably felt somewhat guilty about unmasking her earlier, so he invited her to join the meal as a gesture.

Ultimately, it was thanks to Lorca, though Eve felt her role wasn’t much different from that of a caretaker.

With that in mind, there was no need to be overly reserved.

Eyeing the remaining empty seat, Eve pulled out the chair and sat directly beside Alice.

This happened to be next to Family Head Oliver. Seeing her sit there without hesitation, he gave her an extra glance; he had expected her to choose the seat next to Mrs. Luo, who had been more welcoming.

Sitting opposite her was Lorca.

Just as Alice softly called out "Xiao Qing," there was a click—Eve folded back the lower third of her mask, revealing part of her face, and casually responded with an "mm."

She looked up and saw Lorca staring at her.

Eve: "?"

Are you surprised her mask could fold? But it was, after all, a product of the Interstellar Era—it wasn’t strange for it to have multiple functions.

Preoccupied with thoughts of contacting Luo Lin and finding an opportunity to meet another Senior Alchemist, she found Lorca’s condition to be a case of "when one suffers, all pitch in." She shot him a mildly annoyed glare.

What a troublesome, ill-fated soul.

Compared to the Medici family, who added mental energy tonics to every meal—prioritizing function over flavor—the Olivers weren’t so desperate as to treat dining as preparation for boosting strength. The table was laid with normal, delicious food, which suited Eve’s palate much better.

The dining table seemed split into two extremes. On one side, Alice and Ludwig were chatting with Mrs. Luo. As they talked, Ludwig kept getting flustered by Alice, while Mrs. Luo seemed delighted to see her younger son occasionally embarrassed, simply watching the scene with amusement.

On the other side, the Family Head, Lorca, and Eve—each more taciturn than the last—exemplified the elegant practice of not speaking during meals. Aside from the clinking of cutlery, there was no other sound.

In such a setting, Eve couldn’t help but glance at Ludwig a few more times, finding it hard to reconcile his foolish appearance with the neurotic, gloomy male supporting character described in the novel.

But—she stole a glance at Lorca, whose posture was still graceful even while eating, and sighed inwardly.

Perhaps Lorca was the variable.

The death of a family member is often the first push toward growth. The death of his elder brother was the main catalyst for Ludwig’s descent into darkness in the novel. Now that Lorca was still alive, though Ludwig remained somewhat scheming and flawed, he was far from the utterly uncommunicative, paranoid madman of the story.

The moment of sentimentality quickly faded. Eve took a sip of the fruit wine beside her, calmly contemplating how to maximize the benefits of her stay with the Olivers. As she set down her glass, she noticed Lorca staring at her again.

Puzzled, Eve asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

Lorca: "Are you even of age?"

Eve, a current minor still holding her glass: "......"

If she could already work, couldn’t she drink too?

With a look of shock, she glanced at the wineglass in her hand, then back at Lorca, and hissed in a low, fierce voice, "I’m drinking it anyway."

Lorca paused, then slowly curled his lips into an ingratiating smile, bowing his head meekly as he said, "My apologies, I overstepped."

The dinner passed uneventfully. After the meal, Ludwig called out to Eve once more. The two stood in the shaded area of the outer courtyard. Eve squinted, feeling somewhat drowsy. After living a tense, fast-paced life for so long, suddenly finding herself in a new place that was beginning to feel stable made her feel both light and comfortable, yet also easily fatigued.

Ludwig simply took out his terminal, added her as a friend with a tap, and then sent her a document.

"What's this?" Eve asked instinctively, glancing down at the black-and-white text. The title indicated it was a three-year contract.

"It's a contract, ensuring you serve the Oliver Family for three years. We live under the rule of law now; forming an employment relationship requires a contract, doesn't it?" Ludwig glanced at her. "Not everyone is like the old-fashioned Medici family, employing people daily without contracts."

Eve said nothing.

She wanted to explain something, but upon reflection, it seemed the Medici family really did employ people without contracts—they didn’t even pay wages. Everyone in the family with a position basically held an official title or rank in the court. For example, the head of the family was a duke, the second steward was a count, and they received imperial stipends as their salaries.

It was a bit embarrassing to have her former employer exposed for not paying wages.

But then Eve thought about how, during her time studying with the Medici family, her teachers had often used other families as negative examples, and she felt at ease.

Yes, the four great families had always been like this—cordial on the surface but secretly mocking one another.

"Three years is too long," Eve pushed the contract back.

Her mask was still folded up, revealing the lower half of her face crisscrossed with scars, giving her an elusive aura. She had a cooling mint candy in her mouth, something like a mint but with a better effect for mental clarity. She had grabbed it from the snack pile after dinner and was now crunching it loudly.

"One year at most," she said. "If we work well together after that, we can renew, but I don’t want to sign for three years all at once. Imperial law states a three-year term is already classified as long-term employment."

Was she supposed to be an indentured worker for the landowning Oliver Family? Just the thought made her eyelid twitch.

Besides, in a year, she wouldn’t even be with the Oliver Family anymore. What’s the point of working then?

"This is the shortest contract we offer."

Ludwig was nearly exasperated. Usually, people begged to extend their contracts; no one had ever asked to shorten a contract with one of the four great families, the Olivers. "The shortest contract our family offers is three years. Don’t even…"

His words were cut off as Eve pressed a finger to his lips.

"Stop," she said firmly. "You’ve forgotten what I said again."

Remembering his earlier offense on the starship, Ludwig’s face flushed with embarrassment again.

Eve paid little attention to his change in expression. She had considered patting his cheek but felt it would be too forward, especially since they were still on Oliver Family grounds. She decided to show them some respect and instead pinched Ludwig’s cheek. His skin was tender and smooth, quite pleasant to the touch.

With an intimate and kindly demeanor, her pure white mask revealing only her slightly narrowed dark eyes, she stared at Ludwig and added thoughtfully, "But it’s fine if we don’t sign. You’ve already used this approach to sign with Alice, haven’t you? Just being able to establish this partnership with her is already a huge win for you."

—After all, that was the female lead.

"I’m only here to try and treat the eldest young master of the Oliver Family’s poisoning. If I succeed this time, I’ll have bragging rights for the rest of my life as an alchemist, and the reward is quite generous. To be honest, this contract isn’t very appealing to me in itself."

Ludwig gritted his teeth, too embarrassed to directly express how much he wanted Eve.

Although the Oliver Family valued alchemists, the main branch in power did not specialize deeply in alchemy. For example, the current head of the family was only a Three-Star alchemist, and Ludwig hadn’t even taken the alchemist rank exam.

The head of a robotic dog manufacturing plant doesn’t need to know how to bark.

Compared to alchemy—a high-barrier skill that is difficult to master and once learned, demands a lifetime of dedication—the main family’s more important responsibilities were to study strategy and political skills, as well as to pass on their superior bloodline.

The non-hereditary nature of alchemical talent inherently set the Olivers apart from the other three great families. In this ancient family, famous for both alchemy and poison, the latter was the core subject these power-wielding leaders truly needed to learn.

So, for Ludwig, an alchemist with exquisite professional skills, a bright future, and no lack of intelligence or sharp insight, yet with a sensitive background, was unique even among all the alchemists of the Oliver Family.

For this, he was willing to make certain concessions to secure her loyalty and service.

"Alright," Ludwig slowly exhaled, forcing a smile onto his angelically cute face. "I’ll bring you a new contract tomorrow morning, for one year. If you have any other demands, you can bring them up now, because drafting an alchemical oath is quite troublesome."

"Oh, so there’s an alchemical oath on this contract?"

Hearing this, Eve’s eyes began to blink rapidly, gleaming with curiosity. "—Then how about this: have someone teach me how to write this oath using alchemy. If I can write it myself, I won’t have to trouble you anymore, right?"

"…………"

Ludwig felt the muscles in his cheeks stiffen again.

At this point, it was hard to continue flatly refusing her request. Ludwig felt as though he had fallen into a trap, one that began the moment he conceded that first step to her.

From then on, it was one step back, then another.

After a long silence, though he knew it was a futile struggle, he said through gritted teeth with difficulty, "Let me think about it overnight."

He couldn’t just sit back and let her manipulate him entirely.

—Though Ludwig hadn’t yet realized that their roles had already switched.

Eve was now the one setting the terms, and he had become the one considering whether to accept them.