Wednesday morning.
Inside the Intis Embassy, in the special envoy's office.
After instructing his secretary to send away a Loen diplomat who had come to negotiate, Mr. Owen returned to his seat.
After taking a sip of coffee, he picked up his pen again and calmly began drawing something.
A moment later, the secretary with the neatly trimmed mustache came back into the office. He closed the door and spoke in a low voice, "Mr. Owen… the calls within the Loen Parliament to severely punish the culprit and demand an explanation from us are growing louder. It's even become one of the Conservative Party's bottom lines… If this continues, I fear the New Party won't be able to hold them back much longer…"
"Tell them that Intis is also conducting an internal investigation and ask them to wait another week or two… I trust that Loen's Prime Minister is capable of handling such a small matter," Mr. Owen said casually, taking another sip of coffee.
"Loen has already instructed MI9 to slow down the investigation… but even so, two weeks is the absolute limit.
"If we fail to provide a satisfactory answer by then, war isn't out of the question… at the very least, there'll be a proxy war in the colonies with considerable intensity.
"And we're not ready for that yet… If a proxy war really breaks out, you'll definitely be implicated," the secretary warned.
"Don't worry, I've already coordinated with the right people back home. As long as the timing is right, we'll immediately move against the Surrey family!"And next week's year-end conference is the perfect opportunity.
"By threatening the fate of his entire family, we won't have to worry about our dear Chief of Arms refusing to take the fall." Mr. Owen chuckled.
"Next week… I'll try my best to stall until then." The secretary nodded, then hesitated for a moment before asking, "I've noticed Mr. Surrey treats his granddaughter very well… why not use her to force his compliance?"
"Heh, no matter how much Surrey dotes on his granddaughter, he won't place her on the same level as the family… After all, once he confesses, his entire family will be tainted.
"Only by putting his family in crisis can we force him to willingly shoulder the blame.
"As for his granddaughter… she could be used as the final tool to break his defenses.
"To borrow Roselle's words—she'd be 'the last straw that breaks the camel's back.'"
At that point, Mr. Owen dropped the subject and instead slid his newly finished sketch across the desk to the secretary, smiling as he asked, "Do you know who she is?"
The secretary took the paper and saw a portrait of a strong, striking woman in military uniform. After thinking for a moment, he said uncertainly, "That's… Her Highness Vera, the youngest sister of His Majesty George III?"
"Exactly! Her Highness is no ordinary figure—she has both ability and ambition!" After all, even "Pride" had suffered a setback at her hands.
Of course, Mr. Owen didn't say that last part out loud.
"You drew a portrait of her because…?" the secretary asked in confusion.
He was starting to struggle to keep up with the envoy's train of thought.
"What do you think—if I proposed a marriage alliance with Her Highness the Princess, would His Majesty George III agree?" Mr. Owen gently stroked the face of the woman in the portrait, countering the question with another.
"Uh…" The secretary clearly hadn't considered such a possibility, but he steadied himself and asked, "Which gentleman do you plan to recommend to marry Princess Vera?"
"Why, myself, of course!" Mr. Owen laughed, putting the portrait away. At the same time, an illusory mask appeared on his face—its eyes situated halfway down the bridge of the nose, as if gazing upward at others.
It was the mask of "Lust."
…..
At Backlund University Library, Miss Fanny—granddaughter of Mr. Surrey, one of Ebner's close friends, and now a "Savage"—had just finalized plans with her best friend, Miss Emma, to attend a certain Beyonder gathering over the weekend before getting up to leave.
After she left, Emma, who was just about to resume her reading, suddenly heard a voice in her ear:
"If I were you, I'd stay far away from her."
Emma didn't seem surprised by the voice. She simply raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why?"
"There are at least three Beyonders watching her—one of them even a mid-sequence. She's definitely gotten herself into trouble." The voice replied again.
Emma fell into thought for a moment, then asked again, "Are they really just watching? You're not just saying that because you can't read their thoughts, are you?"
"For now, it is just surveillance… but that may change…" The voice stopped abruptly and then complained, "I'm not your pet. Our contract doesn't include providing you with intelligence on unrelated individuals."
"Without me, would you have realized the downsides of possessing animals? You owe me." Emma smiled sweetly.
"But I've taught you so much already—I'm practically your teacher. Can't you at least modify that damned 'contract'?" The voice was growing increasingly emotional.
"Teacher? I'm not as easy to fool as Hazel. You think I don't know you're up to no good?If you didn't have such a twisted mind, and if your intelligence hadn't dropped so badly from possessing animals, you wouldn't have fallen into my trap."
At this point, Emma paused. She stopped provoking the other party and returned to the earlier topic. "Who are those Beyonders watching Fanny?"
"I didn't look too closely… I only know they were hired by a young man with a small mustache…" The voice struggled for a moment before finally replying.
"Draw me that man's face… Don't worry, I'm not using you for free. This counts as one of the 'constraints' in our contract."
…
In the Empress Borough, within the luxurious villa of the Earl Hall family.
The cold air was blocked outside the windows and walls. Inside, the warmth was like spring, and the fireplace elegant and comforting.
Miss Islante Ossisleka followed behind the maid Annie as they entered Miss Audrey's art studio.
This official member of the Psychology Alchemists looked very young, like a girl still studying in a college or grammar school. She had long, jet-black hair that reached her waist and lake-blue eyes. She was three to four centimeters shorter than Audrey.
At the moment, Miss Audrey was still being measured by the fashion designer, Mrs. Ginia, so the latter could tailor a new gown for the New Year's ball based on Audrey's current figure and temperament.
Meanwhile, Islante admired the paintings on the wall.
Mr. Sensi's Night of the Mind? Madam Casmo's Starry Night? Sir Glenn's Sunrise?Dear gods… these can't all be originals, right? Each one of these paintings is worth at least as much as a small-to-medium estate on the outskirts of Backlund…
Islante swallowed nervously, doing her best to maintain an elegant posture and avoid any expression that might seem uncouth in front of Audrey's maid.
Five minutes later, Audrey entered the studio. She found a reason to dismiss Annie and signaled to the golden retriever Susie to keep watch outside, then smiled and asked:
"Islante, any progress on the matter I asked you about earlier?"
Reluctantly pulling her gaze away from the artwork, Islante organized her thoughts and said, "We do have the potion formula for 'Ocean Songster,' but there's no reason to sell it unless the other party can offer something irresistible in return."
Willing to talk means there's a chance! Audrey's aqua eyes shifted slightly as she smiled softly and asked,
"What would you like in return?"
Islante smoothed her hair and replied as if already prepared:"Seven thousand pounds for the 'Ocean Songster' potion formula, or an equivalent-value mystical item."
So, you'd prefer a magical item and are even willing to lower the price for it… The Psychology Alchemists are one of the youngest hidden organizations—clearly lacking in that kind of accumulation… Audrey pursed her lips slightly and said:
"I'll relay the message, but I can't guarantee they'll accept."
Islante nodded, then took a portrait from her bag and handed it to Audrey. "This is someone a friend of mine is looking for. Do you recognize him? If you can identify him, my friend will offer a generous reward."
Audrey didn't care much about the reward. She simply picked up the portrait and looked at the man with the small mustache. He seemed familiar, but she couldn't recall where she'd seen him before.
After Islante left, Audrey called Susie in and showed the portrait to her.
"Isn't that the confidential secretary from the Intis Embassy? He visited the Earl once—I saw him in the parlor," Susie said immediately, recognizing the man at a glance.
Intis Embassy? Confidential secretary? Why is someone from the Psychology Alchemists inquiring about him? Though puzzled, Audrey maintained her composure and praised Susie, causing the golden retriever's tail to wag even more enthusiastically.
…
In a one-bedroom apartment on Black Palm Street in the East Borough, Ebner was organizing his recent teaching insights.
Though Lyon the Lion had said that the guiding principles for a "Mysticism Magister" were to "gather mysticism, create mysticism, teach mysticism—until the mystical becomes un-mystical," in actual "acting," "mysticism" wasn't limited to Beyonder powers.
Through his experiences over the past few days, Ebner discovered that even simple things—spelling tricks, shortcuts for math calculations, memorization techniques—were all forms of "mysticism" in life and learning.
After organizing these skills and teaching them to those few children, he naturally received some feedback in his role-playing.
"But if I rely only on this kind of acting… it'll take five or six years to fully digest the potion!"
Ebner sighed, though he knew this was the normal digestion speed for a mid-sequence potion.
Just as he finished preparing his next lesson and was about to enter the "Learning Space" to develop a new mysticism, a crimson light suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Klein needs something from me? Or is it Xio urgently contacting me?
With such thoughts flashing through his mind, Ebner allowed himself to be engulfed by the tide of crimson light.
Above the gray fog, the moment Ebner appeared beside the ancient bronze table, he saw that Miss "Temperance" and Mr. "World" were already there, waiting.
(End of Chapter)