Free Web NovelChapter 289: Misunderstanding
Victoria Moore couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Although she had inherited the dream of lifting the Moore Family to the top of the Rockwell Kingdom from her ancestors, that was, ultimately, an external goal.
Personally, her dream had always been to break through to the Grand Spirit Realm.
This was a goal she shared with 99.99% of people in the world, but even for the head of a powerful Viscount Family in a Mid-Sized Kingdom, it was a difficult one to achieve.
Now, however, she was being told that if she loyally and dedicatedly served a 10-year-old boy who she had only just met a month ago, she could not only reach the Spirit Initiate Realm, but possibly even the Spirit Adept Realm!
How many Spirit Adepts were there in the Rockwell Kingdom?
How many Spirit Adepts had there been in the entire history of the Rockwell Kingdom?
Victoria wasn’t totally sure as many of those who reach such a Realm would leave the kingdom to further pursue their cultivation, but she was certain the number didn’t exceed 100; in fact, it probably didn’t even exceed 50!
This was a dream beyond a dream, something Victoria would have dismissed as bullshit had it come from anyone else other than someone of the stature of the woman sitting in front of her.
Even then, Victoria highly doubted the authenticity of this claim, but deep in the depths of her subconscious, if there was even a 1% chance, no no, a 0.1% chance it might be true...
Standing up from her seat, Victoria performed a noble bow to Lucas and Celestina, "If everything you have told me today is true, then I, Victoria Moore, of sound mind and free will, accept the terms of this pact. With the Heavens as my witness, I swear to obey your orders and dedicate my life to your service, from now, until the end of my days."
Glancing over at her First Disciple, Celestina gently nodded to him.
Understanding what this meant, Lucas also stood up and performed a similar bow, "I accept your oath, Victoria Moore, and swear to you with the Heavens as my witness, I will honour the contract between us and ensure that so long as you remain loyal and dedicated, you will never be slighted or want for anything that is within my power to grant you."
Straightening up again, Lucas extended his hand, which Victoria grasped firmly and shook.
In that moment, an unexpected partnership had formed, one that would last far longer and take the involved parties far further than either could imagine right now.
But that was a story for later.
.....
"I’ll draft a formal contract at a later date, which we can both sign," Lucas commented, "I assume you have no issue with my Master serving as the witness and guarantor of that contract, yes?"
"En," Victoria nodded.
Although it was obvious that Marquess Balfour would be partial to her Disciple, after everything she had experienced this past month together with her, Victoria had no reason to doubt Celestina’s honour or integrity.
Letting out a light sigh, Victoria declared, "Once that contract is signed, I will officially step down from my position as Viscount and cut ties with the Moore Family. I only request that, in the future, you treat them fairly."
"Pft, *cough cough* Huh? What?" Lucas, who had just taken a drink to wet his throat after the tension in the room finally faded, did a spit take when he heard this.
"Huh? Did I say something wrong?" Victoria was also taken aback by Lucas’ reaction, wondering why he had such a violent reaction when all she was doing was confirming she would honour their agreement.
However, this only confused Lucas even further as he blurted out hurriedly, "Why would you have to abandon your family? I never asked you to do that!"
"What?" Victoria gawked before arguing, "But you said... you said..."
Pausing here, Victoria carefully reviewed her discussion with Lucas, going over it, word for word.
A moment later, the ever-composed woman’s cheeks flushed bright red and she sheepishly lowered her head, "I guess... I misunderstood you."
"Ah, en... sorry about that," Lucas apologized awkwardly, "I never intended for you to completely leave the Moore Family; after all, I know what it’s like to... to..."
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Lucas did his best to keep a straight face, "I know what it’s like to be... forcefully separated from your family."
Pursing her lips, Victoria suddenly remembered that Lucas’ hometown had only recently been destroyed, and that both his mother and father had ’perished’ in the disaster.
In all her interactions with him up until now, Lucas had never shown any sadness or distress over this tragic loss, so it had been all too easy for Victoria to forget that he had, for all intents and purposes, just lost every blood-related member of his family.
Before Victoria could apologize, however, Lucas shook off the gloom which had temporarily overtaken him and said, "I wanted you to prioritize your contract with me, and I figured there was no way you could do that while still being the head of the Moore Family; that’s why I set that condition. I should have made myself clearer from the start."
Waving her hands a bit frantically, Victoria tried to brush the matter aside, "Please don’t apologize, I was the one who assumed the worst without confirming things first."
As Lucas and Victoria apologized back and forth, Celestina and Allina exchanged a wry glance before shrugging their shoulders. The two of them had figured this out a while ago, but they had let the misunderstanding stand until now in order to test Victoria’s resolve.
They figured that, if this young woman truly intended to serve Lucas faithfully, she would agree to leave her family freely, without being prompted to do so. If Victoria was still hesitant or had other thoughts, however, they figured she would at least try to bargain to retain her surname.
Needless to say, Victoria had passed this impromptu test, the first of many which were sure to follow.
Only after Celestina was certain that this soon-to-be former Viscount was completely trustworthy would she allow Lucas to begin teaching her more of his core secrets, such as his new cultivation method based on the Unarmed Foundations Art.
Victoria was right to doubt whether she could reach the Spirit Initiate Realm in her lifetime. The Moore Family didn’t lack the finances necessary to produce Spirit Realm Cultivators, but it did lack the necessary heritage; namely, a Spirit Grade Cultivation Technique.
Using the methods they currently had at their disposal, no one from the Moore Family would be able to reach the Grand Spirit Realm unless they had extremely high Innate Talent and managed to undergo Awakening without relying on a specific Cultivation Technique, a so-called ’Natural Awakening’.
Victoria certainly didn’t have the necessary talent for that.
However, if Victoria were to use the Unarmed Foundations Art to re-forge her foundation...
In any case, that was a discussion for later.
Figuring it was about time for them to return to the banquet, Celestina was about to clear her throat to stop the seemingly endless back and forth going on between Lucas and Victoria, when suddenly there was a knock at the door.
Although the room was somewhat insulated against Soul Qi, Celestina could still pierce that protection with her High-Rank Soul Adept strength; however, since this was a public place and wantonly releasing Soul Sense was considered quite rude, she simply signaled to Allina, who casually got up and went to see who it was.
Opening the door, Allina was surprised to find a slightly out-of-breath soldier from the Raging River Legion standing there with an odd look on his face.
After the customary salutes, the soldier looked around awkwardly before requesting to be let inside.
The fact that this soldier wanted to make his report in private, away from the curious eyes and ears in the main banquet hall, made Allina realize that something had likely gone wrong, so she quickly allowed him inside.
As soon as the door was closed, the soldier, a mere Captain in the Core Formation Realm, gave another salute to Celestina before glancing towards Lucas and Victoria.
"There are no outsiders here," Celestina waved her hand, signaling for the man to continue.
"Yes, General," the soldier nodded before relaying the message he was entrusted to deliver, "We have an... odd situation at the main western gate."
"An ’odd situation’?" Allina raised her brow, "can you be more specific?"
Knitting his brow slightly, the soldier replied, "I think it would best if you see it for yourselves, Commander, General."
"Very well," Celestina swiftly agreed.
Normally, she would have disciplined this soldier for being so vague in his report, but she had been looking for an excuse to escape from the banquet for a while now, so she decided to seize this opportunity.
Allina, knowing exactly what her commanding officer was thinking, had to try really hard not to let out a sigh and simply nodded along. Since Celestina had already made her decision, there was no point in trying to argue with her.
And so, the two women stood up and moved towards the door, Celestina only pausing for a brief moment to instruct her Disciple, "Lucas, give our apologizes to Count Carlson for leaving so abruptly."
"Yes, Master," Lucas got up and nodded. frёewebηovel.cѳm
In truth, he wanted to ask if he too could tag along so he could undo the frustratingly tight collar of his shirt, but knowing that was impossible, he reluctantly kept that request to himself.
"Oh, and save some of the cake for us," Celestina added with a grin.
