Free Web NovelChapter 255: Small Banquet - Idol
While Audrey Carlson was so excited that she even forgot to address him as ’Young Master’, Lucas didn’t care about such minor things. In fact, he preferred her speaking to him casually than in a stiff, formal tone.
Rather than feeling surprised, however, Lucas just found himself laughing at the young girl’s behaviour.
A month ago, Lucas was nothing more than a slightly smarter kid from a remote countryside town. It would have been a miracle if the favoured granddaughter of a Count even knew he existed.
During the last half-a-month, Lucas had made something of a name for himself, but there was still no way for that small bit of fame to have reached as far as the upper echelons of Iron Rock.
What, then, could explain Audrey Carlson’s enthusiasm to get close to him?
Lucas didn’t believe Audrey, who was just a few months younger than Eris, was some kind of master actor or cunning fox who was simply feigning interest in him to win his favour.
No, there was something about him that was of great appeal to her; something unique to Lucas that drew her interest.
As for what made Lucas special, there was his boyish smile, his charming good looks, his disarming wit, his steadfast determination, his righteous heart... but all jokes aside, it was him being the First Disciple of Celestina Balfour.
Although Lucas wouldn’t mind being adored by a pretty young girl just for being himself, he knew better.
From the bits and pieces Lucas heard from her earlier this evening, he knew Audrey wasn’t just a pretty face, she was also very diligent in her cultivation, already reaching the Tenth Step Body Tempering Realm.
From the feel of the calluses on her hands, Lucas could also tell that this girl used pole-arms, most likely spears, as her primary weapon.
Putting this all together, Lucas was pretty much certain that Audrey thought of his Master as her idol, which wasn’t surprising at all.
Celestina Balfour was the strongest female Cultivator in the Rockwell Kingdom, a powerful Marquess and General, and a mature beauty who turned heads wherever she went. It would be strange for her to not be the idol of most of the young noble girls in the kingdom for one reason or another.
So, when Audrey finally asked Lucas to tell her about his Master, her eyes filled with eagerness and excitement, the young boy wasn’t the least bit shocked.
Lucas had no problems telling Audrey a few stories about his Master, causing the young girl to go starry-eyed with wonder and amazement.
Audrey also had a ton more questions, such as what his training was like, if Celestina had any other Disciples, and how he became the Marquess’ Disciple in the first place.
Out of consideration for the help she had given him so far, Lucas did his best to answer all of Audrey’s questions, earning him quite a bit of favour with the Count’s young granddaughter.
Of course, Lucas left out the part about his unique Soul, his inherited memories, and all the other sensitive, secretive subjects, but the rest was basically public knowledge, so he had no reason to hide anything.
As Lucas was explaining how Celestina found him in Redwood Town and made him her Disciple, though, Audrey, for the first time, snapped out of her idol-worship mode and stared at him in shock, unconsciously blurting out, "Wait, so, you’re a commoner?"
"Huh?" Lucas, being suddenly interrupted by this unexpected question, tilted his head for a second before nodding, "Yes. That’s right. My Mom is... was, Captain of the Town Guard, while my father was a blacksmith."
Audrey’s jaw dropped when she heard this, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at Lucas.
Seeing this noble daughter react this way, Lucas’ brow began to knit slightly, wondering if Audrey disliked or looked down on commoners like him.
If that was the case, while Lucas wouldn’t blame such a young and inexperienced girl for having such a prejudice, it certainly would lower his opinion of her, as well as the Carlson Family as a whole.
"Wow! That’s amazing!" Audrey explained loudly, throwing her hands up and cheering more enthusiastically than ever before.
Whelp, seems like I was jumping to conclusions again, Lucas thought to himself, slightly embarrassed at his own small-mindedness.
Rather than this naïve young girl being the one pre-judging others and stereotyping commoners, it was actually Lucas who was being paranoid and even a bit petty towards the noble class, I need to remember not to rush to judge others in the future.
Setting such serious thoughts aside, Lucas was now faced with a new question.
Why did finding out he was a commoner cause Audrey to literally dance around and celebrate.
Before Lucas could ask Audrey what was going on, though, the young girl rushed back over, grabbed his hands tightly, and hurriedly said, "My papa is a commoner too! Mama fell in love and insisted on marrying him, even against Grandpa’s objections! I’ve worked really hard to prove that Mama didn’t do anything wrong, even enduring all of Grandma Elizabeth’s tough training, but if I could become a Disciple of Lady Balfour, no one would ever be able to look down on Mama and Papa ever again!"
Ah, I see now, it all clicked in Lucas’ head. frёeωebɳovel.com
To put it simple, if he, a pure commoner with no background to speak of could become a True Disciple of Celestina Balfour, why couldn’t Audrey, the talented granddaughter of a big Count, do the same?
Some might say that Audrey was looking down on Lucas by having such thoughts, but seeing the pure innocence and hope in the young girl’s eyes, Lucas didn’t think that was the case at all.
Which was why Lucas now found himself in an awkward position, hesitating whether to tell her the harsh truth.
Was Audrey talented?
Yes.
Was she hard working?
Absolutely.
Was she a good girl with a kind and noble heart? From what Lucas had seen so far, there was no question about it.
However, wasn’t the same true for Christina?
It was hard to compare something like who was ’kinder’ amongst two individuals when their behaviours didn’t differ greatly, but when it came to raw talent and effort, those were much simpler to measure, and in both those regards, Lucas was fairly certain that the youngest princess of the Rockwell Kingdom beat out Count Carlson’s granddaughter by a wide margin.
Lucas had fought with, and against, Christina, and had even trained beside her several times. He had seen how diligent she was, never taking her talent for-granted and always striving to improve herself. It was a level of dedication he found quite remarkable for someone so young.
Whether this was just Christina’s nature, or whether the events which had transpired in Redwood Town had sparked something new in her, Lucas couldn’t say for sure, but regardless, Tina’s efforts and determination were the real thing.
And yet, Celestina Balfour had categorically refused to make Christina her Disciple all this time.
That would likely change in the near future, if Lucas’ intuition was correct, but it had taken Christina nearly dying, and witnessing others die for her, to overcome that last hurdle.
Audrey was a good girl, at least from what Lucas could tell, but she likely suffered from the same shortcoming which had prevented Christina from becoming Marquess Balfour’s official Disciple, and that was not something that could be overcome so simply.
Still, with the girl’s expectant and optimistic face shoved so close to his own that he could feel her breath on his cheeks, Lucas was having a really difficult time breaking this kind of bad news to her.
Fortunately, after a few seconds of silence, even Audrey began to realize she had gotten a bit ahead of herself. She also realized how improperly she was acting, getting so close to a boy, a younger boy at that, that she had met no more than an hour ago.
Backing off like a frightened little animal, Audrey coughed awkwardly and smoothed down the wrinkles on her puffy dress, not that it made it look much neater considering all the frills and ruffles that were decorating it.
Audrey then lowered her head politely, "Forgive my rudeness, Young Master Lucas. I acted quite rude just now."
Shaking his head, Lucas smiled lightly, "There’s no need for apologies, Lady Audrey."
Thinking about it for a second longer, Lucas added, "You can also speak casually to me if you prefer."
Lifting her head, Audrey smiled sweetly and nodded, "Very well, Young Master... I mean, okay, Lucas."
"En," Lucas nodded back, before his expression turned serious, "As for becoming my Master’s Disciple, I’m afraid..."
Waving her hands frantically, Audrey stopped Lucas in his tracks, "No no no, don’t misunderstand. I know becoming Lady Balfour’s Disciple isn’t such a simple matter. I’m not that silly."
Pursing his lips, Lucas felt bad for the young girl, but knew there really wasn’t anything he could do to help her in this regard.
While Lucas and Eris becoming Disciples of Celestina might have seemed like something the latter had done on a whim, it was actually nothing of the sort.
Officially taking a Disciple was a huge deal; not something one did without a certain level of certainty and forethought.
Celestina might have been quick to accept Lucas and Eris, but that was because in the short time she had met them, she had judged that they met all the stringent criteria she had set out for her personal Disciples, criteria she had developed over centuries of consideration.
