Chapter 301

Chapter 301: The Luxurious Youth

“Chris, what would you like to eat?”

Lolan, dressed in a red and black gown, walked through the dining hall holding Chris by the hand. She glanced at various counters, looking at freshly cooked dishes that were still steaming. The restaurant inside Fortress Academy was not as extensive in its menu as the central school building; instead, it leaned towards serving noble dishes. The portions were slightly smaller but more refined.

“Can we have that?” Chris raised her finger and pointed to a dish shaped like a small boat, yellow in color.

Pineapple boat fruit salad? Lolan looked at the large pineapple cut in half and placed in the center of the plate like a boat, filled with small pieces of strawberries, lychees, bananas, and rambutans. It was colorful and vibrant. She wondered where they managed to find so many different seasonal fruits, perhaps they had some extraordinary preservation technique.

“Yes, but we need to get some main course and meat to balance it out. Eating just fruits won’t do,” the girl thought to herself.

After circling around the small dining hall, Lolan ordered beef sausage pizza as their main course, enough for both of them. Additionally, Chris ordered the pineapple boat fruit salad, while she herself ordered grilled rosemary lamb chops.

Lolan brought the pizza and pineapple boat to a table at the edge of the restaurant. These tables along the walls were where students usually ate. Each booth was separated by low wooden platforms, with one table and 4-6 chairs per booth.

They started by eating some fruits. Lolan asked Chris to sit there temporarily while she fetched the remaining lamb chops. Since the lamb chops were freshly made, it would take a moment.

On the iron plate, the lamb sizzled, cooked in olive oil with rosemary grains and a little salt and pepper. As the lamb chops were prepared, they released an enticing aroma. Seeing Lolan return, the waiter took out a clean white porcelain plate and placed it aside. Then he picked up the lamb chops and placed them on the plate, adding some prepared vegetables to complete the grilled rosemary lamb chop dish.

When Lolan was about to carry the plate back, she noticed a stranger sitting next to her table. He greeted Chris briefly before sitting down.

Seeing this, Lolan quickened her pace. Fortunately, her senses were sharp, and she could hear everything clearly. She wasn’t too worried yet.

“This beautiful lady, I am Dena Aston, a third-year student at Fortress Academy. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

When saying “Aston,” he emphasized it, giving it a unique accent and charm.

Seeing Chris appear somewhat nervous, the young man in black and red did not stop his incessant talking.

“You might be surprised by my appearance, but it is no accident. Every Wednesday afternoon, I come here because they sell crystal shrimp from the Northern Cold Mirror Lake. I have a certain preference for food, and dishes made from such ingredients are among the few I approve of.”

He then went on to talk about his trip to the southern part of the Empire during autumn, describing the grandeur of the cruise ships—huge steel vessels that people had never seen before, adorned with lights and filled with nobles and aristocrats from the Empire. While telling these stories, he casually showed off his cane and pocket watch, mentioning how fine the craftsmanship was, made by renowned artisans with a long history.

Chris nodded along as he spoke, which encouraged him further. It seemed to him that this exquisite beauty was his biggest fan, ready to enter a new and beautiful world with him.

“Hello,” Lolan carried the lamb chops over. Seeing Chris listening attentively, she didn’t want to interrupt abruptly. Instead, she waited until he finished speaking and then approached, placing the dishes in front of her and Chris. She addressed the young man who had been talking non-stop.

“I’m sorry, but since we don’t know each other well, could you please move away for a bit? My companion and I need to eat now, and there are plenty of empty tables in the restaurant. You can sit alone if you wish.”

Generally, Lolan wouldn’t speak so directly, but this young man clearly wasn’t someone who would take a hint easily. If she didn’t say it clearly, he might not leave.

“Hello, oh, how beautiful, like a rose under the moonlight.”

“I am Dena Aston, pleased to meet you. Coincidentally, I am also a student at Fortress Academy, studying the Demon Sequence. Though not at the top, I have my own understanding. If you have time, we can exchange more.”

Looking at Lolan’s beautiful and elegant face, the young man first admired her beauty and then tried to get closer, speaking eloquently.

Lolan didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she first put a piece of lamb chop on Chris’s plate and told her to eat only the meat, discarding the bones.

Then she looked up carefully at the young man.

Dena Aston was not handsome but decent-looking. However, his attire and accessories were clearly well-groomed, neat and fitting. Although he talked fluently, to Lolan, it was merely imitation and worship.

Luxurious experiences might be very attractive to innocent commoner girls, but they meant nothing to her. She had lived as a merchant’s daughter for half a year and seen many fine things, but she knew how much of it was just superficial.

Just like the wine sold by the Nisos family to the Verdant Empire, described as amber crystal liquid and claimed to be more expensive than gold by volume. But as a partner of the Nisos family, the Calrites family naturally knew that it was simply made from oranges harvested that year, with the promotion done by ordinary housewives rather than pure maidens.

Even if it was made more meticulously and filtered several times, making it clearer, the actual cost plus transportation losses amounted to only a few silver coins. Yet, when sold in the Verdant Empire, it was priced at 2-3 Exalted gold coins per bottle, making hundreds of times the profit. Such was the merchants’ tactics.

After seeing through this, Lolan no longer felt impressed by the so-called noble elegance. Though she appreciated fine and beautiful things, she didn’t consider them sacred.

Furthermore, during her friendship with Florasia, she rarely heard her friend mention those activities among the nobles. Once, she was curious and asked Florasia, who replied:

“What does Lohil think the life of a noble is like? Although outsiders envy their luxury, in reality, it is only enjoyed by most peripheral nobles. The true power holders are always scheming and competing. Some want to advance further in power, others seek rare resources, some aim to elevate their peerage, and some desire greater benefits.”

“The closer you are to the heart of the power struggle, the fiercer the competition becomes. When power and interests reach a certain scale, even family ties become fragile.”

“Therefore, the happiest lives are often those of the youngest sons in great noble families. They have parents who favor them and don’t need to bear too much responsibility. Because they are young, they inherit later and pose no threat. Their older siblings also don’t target them too much.”

Putting aside her memories, Lolan turned to Dena Aston again.

“I’m sorry, could you please move away for a bit? My companion and I need to eat, and we’re not comfortable being stared at by strangers.”

“This beautiful lady, you might misunderstand me. I came here only because of your companion,” Dena began to explain, thinking that Chris had listened so attentively, she must like what he described. If he brought up her companion, the later arriving beautiful girl wouldn’t be able to drive him away, since girls are generally reserved.

“I don’t know you, Lolan asked you to leave, why aren’t you listening? Are you a bad person?” Chris’s voice rang out.

Chris only listened to a few witches because they had a similar aura. To strangers, she saw them simply as good or bad people. Since Dena didn’t listen to Lolan, he must be a bad person.

Chris had been instructed to protect Lolan and keep bad people away. If a bad person attacked, she was supposed to burn them with fire.

Under this simple logic, Chris became wary of this ‘bad person.’ As her magic surged, a flicker of fire appeared in her pupils. Dena, who was being stared at, felt his soul boiling silently. Not having reached Sequence 5 and lacking the enhancement and fusion of an Exalted core, his soul wasn’t strong. Now, it felt like it was burning in flames, causing intense pain that prevented him from shouting. He instantly fainted, collapsing beside the table.

Oh no.

Thank you to Tangmen Infantry, a passerby, oO Golden Melody Oo, Cloud Dream Solo, Qidian, Star Melody, Night Ice Dream, and the 7 patrons for their support.

(End of Chapter)