Chapter 76

Chapter 76

It wasn't until their return that Eve learned Cecil was actually going to "stay for a few days with the Oliver Family."

Upon hearing this, she immediately felt a pang of discomfort: "How many days is he staying?"

"I don't know, but he's just here to handle some family business. It probably won't be long."

Lorca lounged on the sofa, his long legs crossed comfortably, intently reading a book. Despite being the subject of these negotiations, he acted as if it had nothing to do with him, his tone indifferent: "He's representing the Medici family to discuss the matter of Miss Luo Lin breaking off our engagement. The talks aren't going smoothly, so it'll probably take a few more days of back-and-forth."

Eve said "Oh." Although she knew it was unlikely he had come for her, she still couldn't help feeling that Cecil was like a lingering ghost.

She didn’t dwell on Cecil for long. After all, she had just upset Ludwig a couple of days ago and was grounded for the month. By the time Cecil left the Oliver Family, she would probably still be "grounded."

However, she had almost forgotten that this person beside her still had a verbal engagement with Luo Lin.

"So, what does your family think about this marriage alliance?" Eve asked curiously, perched on the chair by the desk with her legs crossed. Based on her time with the Oliver Family, it was hard to imagine his family would actually be willing to send Lorca into a marriage alliance. "I think your family cares about you a lot. They probably wouldn’t really send you to become someone's son-in-law through marriage, right?"

"Not sending me—I’m going voluntarily."

Lorca turned a page of his book, correcting her without looking up.

"Huh?"

"My family has treated me well all these years. Because of my poor health, they’ve spent precious medicines on me as if they were water, even though they showed little effect. No matter what, I should repay the family in some way."

He sighed and said, "Besides, I’ve heard that Miss Luo Lin is very different from her brother—she’s a quiet girl who also knows something about Alchemy. I’m not very familiar with her, but my mother likes her a lot. If that’s the case, Miss Luo Lin must be quite beautiful. If we really do marry, I wouldn't be getting a bad deal."

"...You certainly have a deep understanding of Mrs. Luo," Eve said, unable to muster any other response.

She didn’t comment on Lorca’s filial piety and loyalty, but his view on the arranged marriage made her feel uneasy: "Even if you don’t mind the arranged marriage, have you considered whether Luo Lin would accept it? Not everyone has your sense of self-sacrifice. For example, you think it’s a happy coincidence that Luo Lin knows Alchemy—but what you don’t know is that alchemy is difficult to master. If she didn’t have a talent for it, she would have been burdened by it for life."

"Sorry, what I said was indeed inappropriate," Lorca smiled gently. "But since I can’t even control my own life, worrying about her matters seems a bit unnecessary."

His words were spoken lightly but tinged with sadness, leaving Eve speechless for a moment, at a loss for words.

"I’m not trying to criticize you," she said slowly. "Even if you can’t completely control your own life, you should still try to take control. No one has it easy. Take Luo Lin, for example—you might think she’s lucky to have escaped being controlled before you did, but—"

—But she also put in a lot of effort. If she had treated learning Alchemy as just a task assigned by her family and perfunctorily dismissed it, she wouldn’t have earned Gu Zhaoxi’s appreciation. If she had been weak-willed and let others arrange her life, she would have had to rely on her brother for survival. Even if she escaped one danger, she wouldn’t have been able to handle the hidden threats that followed.

Eve could understand Lorca’s melancholy and listlessness, but that didn’t mean she agreed with his attitude toward life. In the end, she just irritably ran her fingers through her hair, turned away, and said, "Forget it, it’s your life. It’s already late—you should get some rest."

Thanks to Ludwig’s house arrest order, Eve only appeared publicly during meal times. No matter how eagerly Cecil looked at her, she would leave immediately after eating, resolutely ignoring him.

After several days, even Ludwig noticed something was off. One evening, he called Eve to the balcony.

The fragrance of roses lingered in the night air. The well-groomed blond youth stood by the marble railing with his arms crossed, first giving her a critical look, then frowning and asking, "Do you know Cecil?"

There was no way she could admit to knowing him. After turning it over in her mind, Eve concluded that he probably hadn’t recognized her, but she still didn’t understand why he was so inexplicably friendly toward her.

After all, the female lead Alice was sitting right there—though Alice wasn’t paying him any attention either.

After thinking for a moment, she said, "No, he probably just thinks I’m pleasant to look at."

"Who would find a weirdo who goes around wearing a mask every day pleasant to look at?!"

Ludwig was utterly speechless. He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Forget it. What do you think of him? Even though your house arrest isn’t over yet, Cecil is an honored guest of the family, and he’s from the Medici family. If you want to spend more time with him, I can temporarily lift your restrictions."

That was completely unnecessary. Eve immediately refused: "No, thanks. I’d rather stay grounded. I’m not interested in sucking up to people."

"Huh?" Ludwig raised an eyebrow, looking at her suspiciously. After all, it was well-known that the Medici family was more powerful than the Oliver Family.

But Eve looked completely sincere and unwavering. In the end, he just snorted, said, "At least you’re loyal," and walked away. As Eve followed him out, she happened to see Cecil standing behind a thin curtain.

Half his body was bathed in moonlight, his expression unreadable.

He must have heard everything she said—and this could only have been arranged by one person. Eve turned around and met Ludwig’s eyes gleaming with mischief.

"......"

Eve was the one who finally broke the awkward atmosphere. She glanced at the other two, coldly said, "Boring," and turned to leave.

This prank orchestrated by Ludwig was, at most, a minor incident in Eve’s life. Compared to the limited threat posed by two half-grown boys, she was more concerned about the Oliver Family’s use of Zerg extract to produce poison.

Eve wasn’t sure whether the Oliver Family knew that Cecil was purchasing their poison to harm his own sister. But since Cecil could still buy it, it meant this type of poison hadn’t disappeared into dusty archives after the family rebellion over a decade ago.

Clearly, the Oliver Family adhered to the typical calm and profit-first mentality of a great family. After the rebellion was settled, they made some improvements to the poison and continued selling it.

But if they held the formula for the poison, why had they never told her, Lorca’s ostensible Chief Alchemist, what poison he had been infected with?

Eve considered two possibilities: first, the Oliver Family knew that using Zerg extract in medicine was too reckless, so they chose to keep it secret from the alchemists who came to treat him; second, the poison formula they currently retained might be different from the one originally used on Mrs. Luo.

If she were Louis, knowing that her life and fortune depended entirely on whether Lorca survived or was fully cured, as long as she wasn’t out of her mind, she would definitely destroy the original poison formula to delay the preparation of the antidote as much as possible, then do everything in her power to keep him alive to prolong her own survival.

To be fair, the likelihood of either scenario was about equal—or both could even be true at the same time.

As she pondered this, Eve’s footsteps halted. Light and shadow fell from the window, cutting across her cold silver mask. She realized she had been thinking of the Oliver Family as too benevolent.

A family that built its foundation on poison was like a venomous snake lying in ambush. It might appear docile and approachable, but no one could ever know when it would strike and bite you hard.

She took out her communication Alchemical Tool, a new one she had made after giving her original to Qin Mengde. Thanks to the teachings of Agnes and Gu Zhaoxi, her skill in rune conversion had improved significantly. What was once a simple ear cuff had been replaced by a long ear stud engraved not only with communication arrays but also with enhancement runes for speed, defense, and more—far more useful than the previous one.

As her spiritual energy flowed into it, a dedicated communication channel opened. The other party was shown as offline, which didn’t surprise Eve. After all, not everyone was like Luo Lin, who was practically available 24/7.

She simply lowered her eyes, input her request, and sent it.

"Knock, knock."

A knocking sound came from outside the bedroom door. Eve turned her head and called out, "Who is it?"

"It’s me." It was the steward’s voice.

She walked over and opened the door. The steward bowed respectfully and said, "Miss Lu, the head of household wishes to see you."

What did he want with her now? If he had called for her a few days earlier, Eve might have thought it was about the conflict with Lud. But now, it really left her puzzled.

"Alright," she said, her gaze shifting to the handsome face behind the steward. "Good day, Young Master Cecil. Do you need something too?"

It was Cecil who had come with the steward.

His demeanor was much more restrained here in the Oliver Family compared to his own home. Even though Ludwig had humiliated him a few days prior, he still maintained his composure when facing Eve.

The young man gave a slight bow, his silver hair neatly tied back, revealing his strikingly handsome face. He said politely, "I was just chatting with the steward earlier. Since she was coming to find you, I thought I’d accompany her."

Eve paused and finally took a proper look at Cecil. It was rare to see him behaving so normally. Now she finally believed Luo Lin’s description—Cecil actually had some brains.

He knew that coming alone would get him nowhere, so he simply tagged along with the steward, who was there on the head of household’s orders. It wasn’t a particularly clever trick, but in the past, the young master would never have stooped to cozying up to a steward just to meet an ordinary alchemist.

Eve's eyes flickered with unclear meaning as she let out an ambiguous "hmm."

Walking side by side with three people wasn’t just about crowding—it looked downright strange. The butler had received orders from the Young Master earlier; unlike his brother, Lorca didn’t have as many mischievous ideas, and noticing Eve’s apparent dislike for Cecil, he had instructed the butler to minimize their interactions.

But ever since running into Cecil on the way, the butler had been stuck with him, and now, she had been pushed to the front while the Young Master walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Eve.

To be precise, he was the one doing most of the talking, while Eve chimed in with a few perfunctory lines.

Cecil asked everything from the basics—her name, background, how she came to the Oliver family, and even her hobbies to pass the time. As his questions dragged on, Eve grew too lazy to bother with him, yet he continued talking to himself as if her input didn’t matter.

What should have been a short walk felt endlessly long under this barrage of noise. Both Eve and the butler finally breathed a sigh of relief when they reached their destination.

The butler excused herself to notify the family head and left ahead. The corridor outside was now empty except for the two of them. Just as Eve was about to send this noisy pest away, her eyes locked onto Cecil’s left hand.

She hadn’t paid him much attention before and only now noticed... he was wearing two exquisitely shaped, unique rings on his left hand.

As their former owner, Eve recognized them instantly—these were ring-shaped Space Buttons for Mythological Mecha, produced by the Luo family. The pale gold one was Apollo, and the silvery-white one looked strikingly familiar—wasn’t that her Hecate?

How did they end up in Cecil’s hands?!

Noticing that the alchemist, who had been ignoring him the entire way, was now staring intently at his left hand—or more precisely, the rings on his fingers—Cecil had a sudden idea.

He extended his hand toward Eve. The young man’s distinct knuckles and fingers, adorned with two distinct yet equally exquisite rings, created a great visual effect under the sunlight. With a grin that revealed two rows of neat white teeth, he asked, "Miss Lu, are you interested in these?"

"A little," Eve replied after a long pause, forcing out the words. "They’re quite uniquely shaped. I’d like to ask where you bought such beautiful rings?"

Mythological Mecha Space Buttons hardly differed from ordinary rings, and only those who had owned one could tell the difference. As an ordinary alchemist, she wouldn’t normally recognize the Space Buttons of Mythological Mecha.

"These aren’t just rings—they’re Space Buttons containing Mythological Mecha."

Cecil’s voice seemed laced with a hook, tempting Eve to drop her pretense and reach out to touch the cool metal. It also felt like a trap, testing whether the black-haired girl’s calm exterior hid a heart pretending not to know.

He didn’t know why he was so friendly toward her. She left no trace from his memory, neither in appearance nor personality, and she had been largely indifferent to him. Yet, he still found himself wanting to talk to her. "If you’d like to touch them, you can try the gold one... but not the silver one."

Eve: "......"

The audacity. Hecate had been her loyal mecha since its creation—since when was she not allowed to touch it?

She almost laughed in exasperation. Since she couldn’t reclaim it anyway, there was no need to satisfy that craving. Besides, he specifically forbade her from touching Hecate. She declined, "No need. I just thought they looked nice. I’m not that interested."

Hearing this, Cecil pulled back his hand, a little disappointed.

The butler had already notified the family head and, waiting until their conversation ended, quietly told Eve she could enter. Pushing the door open, they found Family Head Oliver standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a warm drink as he admired the vast rose garden outside.

Without turning around, still gazing out the window, he said, "Have a seat."

It was clearly setting up for a long talk. The butler, minding her own business, silently exited the office and closed the door behind her. Eve watched Cecil’s unwilling expression gradually disappear through the closing gap.

"Family Head, what did you need me for?" Eve asked proactively when Oliver remained silent.

He seemed to have been thinking it over for a while before responding, "You and Ludwig had a conflict?"

"That’s right."

Hearing her straightforward admission, Family Head Oliver turned around, studying the calm girl seated on the sofa.

Frankly, as someone accustomed to being in power, he disliked being refused. In the past, the moment Eve rejected his arrangements, he would have cut her off immediately.

But aside from that incident, Eve had handled everything else with perfect tact—complying fully with Ludwig’s somewhat arbitrary confinement order and clearly distanced herself from visitors from the Medici family.

Even seeing Cecil being given the cold shoulder for two days gave Family Head Oliver an odd sense of balance.

He couldn’t help but find his own pettiness amusing... he really was regressing, bothering to keep score with the younger generation.

Clearing his throat with a sense of mature magnanimity, he continued, "During the time Lorca has been under your care, his condition, while not yet that of a healthy person, has improved significantly compared to before. By rights, I should reward you, but I’m unsure what to give you."

"Money—I know you alchemists are hardly short on it. Power—you refused to join the Oliver family. Letting you participate in the family’s courses—you declined that too."

"Quite a dilemma," he rubbed his temples and asked, "So I called you here to ask if there’s anything you want."

"Can I ask for anything?"

"Yes, as long as it’s not excessive, I’ll try to accommodate."

Hearing this, the alchemist’s eyes behind her silver mask lit up. She said eagerly, "Then I’d like to learn the Oliver family’s poisons. Would that be possible?"

"That falls outside the 'try to accommodate' range."

Eve: "......"

Then what’s the point of offering?

The alchemist’s bright eyes dimmed almost instantly. Her eyes darted around thoughtfully, considering what else might be within acceptable limits.

Fortunately, she did have another request that required the Oliver family’s assistance.

"If not actual authority, then could I borrow some personnel from you?"

Family Head Oliver paused, his teacup halfway to his lips, a sudden bad feeling washing over him. "What do you need them for?"

Eve simply looked back at him with an expression of utter innocence. Frankly, that look made him even more uneasy.

"You know, given my... unique background, there are always people who want me dead," the girl giggled. "A defenseless girl like me needs some means of self-protection when out and about."

Family Head Oliver: "."

Something felt off, but her reasoning wasn’t entirely wrong—illegitimate children in great families did face harsh circumstances. Assuming Eve wouldn’t use Oliver family resources to attack her own family, he settled back into composure.

Setting down his untouched tea, Family Head Oliver waved a hand generously. "Very well. Come with me to see Ludwig immediately. I’ll have him assign you some personnel."