The air was so heavy it felt as if you could wring water from it.
Luo Lan sat in this monotonous room, gazing at Yuna across from him. The lights of the royal capital filtered in through the high windows, casting flickering shadows across her face.
The girl lowered her eyes, her fingers unconsciously picking at the armrest of the chair. That guilty, evasive look—trying to muddle through—made the veins at Luo Lan’s temple throb again.
“So, you’re not going to say anything?”
The magic crystal token lay silently on the table between them.
Yuna’s eyelashes trembled. Her gaze drifted elsewhere as her body slid a little lower, as if she wanted to shrink into the chair.
“Trying to muddle through is pointless. Weren’t you quite confident when you came to get me just now? What, cat got your tongue all of a sudden?”
Luo Lan curled his lip in annoyance, stretching out a finger to rub at his temples, hoping to clear his dazed head a bit.
To think he’d actually believed her serious demeanor earlier—until he’d found that magic crystal token in his pocket, the one that had no business being there, and everything became clear.
“Speak.” Luo Lan’s fingers tapped lightly on the table. “Don’t force me to ignore your sister’s reputation and give you a good slap.”
Yuna lifted her face; her large eyes instantly filled with tears, lips tightly pressed together, a picture of being terribly wronged—she looked as if she might cry at any moment.
If Luo Lan hadn’t been the one to fall into this trap, he might actually have been fooled by her masterful acting.
But he also knew that the only reason he could question her so harshly right now was because she was in the wrong, and he temporarily held the upper hand. If it ever came to a real fight, who knew who’d slap whom.
“All right, all right, I just want to know—what’s really going on here?”
Luo Lan was the first to break the standoff, sighing helplessly.
“Since there’s no such thing as a second interview, you could at least tell me what all this elaborate effort was for. Why bring me here?”
Yuna, sitting across from him, flashed a conflicted look in her eyes. She twined a lock of hair around her finger, lips parting and closing, as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t, which brought Luo Lan’s barely subdued irritation bubbling back up.
“…It’s a little complicated,” Yuna said cautiously.
“Oh? You finally found your tongue? I almost thought someone had poisoned you mute.” Luo Lan shot her a look. “So, you’re not going to give me a reasonable explanation? Why did you slip the token back to me? Why use such an excuse to bring me here?”
Yuna first nodded, then shook her head.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Luo Lan was a bit confused by her contradictory gestures. “Exactly what do you mean?”
Yuna opened her mouth, seemingly finally steeling herself to say something, but just then, the door swung open from outside.
A figure entered.
It was an old man, dressed in a finely tailored and stylish robe, silver hair immaculately combed, a lazy smile on his face, eyes bright and clear, stride steady. In Luo Lan’s eyes, there was always something of a rakish flair about him.
Seeing him appear, Yuna seemed to be granted amnesty, nearly leaping out of her chair.
She shot Luo Lan a quick glance, bowed hurriedly in the old man’s direction, then darted out past him, even remembering to close the door gently behind her.
The click of the closing lock separated the inside and outside into two worlds. Only Luo Lan and the old man remained in the room.
The old man seemed utterly unconcerned about Yuna’s escape. He shrugged, then lounged in the chair Yuna had just vacated, sitting directly across from Luo Lan.
“Don’t be too hard on that child. If you want to blame someone, blame me. After all, it was my idea for her to accompany you.”
Luo Lan stared at him silently for two seconds, then spoke: “So, should I thank you?”
“That won’t be necessary.” The old man smiled genially, waving his hand. His gaze swept across the empty table. “Would you like a drink? Personally, I prefer some red wine… Certainly not the stuff from the banquet outside—can’t quite get used to those wines—”
As he spoke, he snapped his fingers crisply.
A silver tray suddenly appeared on the table, bearing a bottle of red wine, a steaming pot of hot tea, and a carafe of fragrant coffee.
“Oh, almost forgot to introduce myself.” The old man sounded slightly embarrassed. “I’m William Albert Wordsworth. Of course, just William is fine in most cases.”
Luo Lan looked up at the old man, who was pouring himself wine, and let out a long sigh.
“So, what’s the matter that brought the Dean of Altlas Academy here in person?”
“You know me?”
The Dean’s hand paused mid-pour, eyeing Luo Lan with mild surprise.
“Not exactly. But as far as I know, there’s only one person named William Albert Wordsworth in Valgard.”
“True enough.”
The Dean nodded, took a sip from his wineglass.
The rose-red wine shimmered under the light of the magic lamp, casting a blood-like, bewitching glow.
“So, what’s really going on? If there’s nothing else, please let me go back.”
Luo Lan sounded a little displeased, but the Dean only shrugged casually. He picked up the teapot and smoothly poured Luo Lan a cup of tea.
“Have some tea. Calm your heart.”
“In a situation like this, there’s no way I can calm down.”
Silence hung in the air for several seconds, the only movement the silent spirals of steam rising between them.
“All right.”
At last, the Dean set down his wineglass, leaning back in his chair. He cleared his throat, the roguish smile on his face fading a little.
“I know you have a lot of questions, but since I… mm, do have a lot on my plate, I can only… give you five minutes.”
He lifted his wrist and glanced at an imaginary watch.
“Within these five minutes, I’ll answer as much as I can.”
“Ha—”
Luo Lan did feel his throat had gone a bit dry. He picked up the tea and took a deep gulp, then set the cup back down with a thump.
“The timer starts now.”
The Dean helpfully reminded him.
“What exactly happened? Why am I here? The esteemed Dean of Altlas Academy wouldn’t have come all this way just to share a cup of tea with me, would he?”
“That’s three questions.” The Dean raised three fingers and waggled them slowly. “You should ask one at a time.”
Luo Lan felt the veins at his temple throb again. Gritting his teeth, he said, “…Fine. Then start by telling me: what happened?”
The Dean was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
“Sorry. On that matter… no comment.”
“No comment? Didn’t you just say you’d answer as much as you could?”
“I said I’d try.”
“Fine, fine, fine—” A surge of anger shot to Luo Lan’s head. He felt like he was going mad. “Then why am I here? There must be some reason.”
“Because you’re special.”
“How so?”
“No comment.”
“Damn it!”
Luo Lan couldn’t help himself; he slammed his right hand on the table, making the teacup jump.
“…Then next question: why are you here, Dean?”
At this, the Dean’s smile suddenly took on a deeper meaning.
“Ah, now you’ve finally asked the right question.” The Dean clapped his hands in satisfaction. “I came here… to kill you.”
As the words fell, every hair on Luo Lan’s body stood on end.
It was as if the man across from him had transformed from a carefree old rascal into a beast awakened from slumber. Even the slightest leak of his aura pressed the air thickly against Luo Lan’s chest, making it hard to breathe.
It was a suffocating sense of despair—as if with a mere thought, the man could erase him like dust.
—He’d die.
Before he could think, Luo Lan’s instincts kicked in. He almost reflexively activated his magic circuit to use “Conceptual Phantasm,” but when he looked up, his gaze met the Dean’s.
There was not a trace of killing intent in the man’s eyes, only a hint of amusement, as if he had seen something interesting.
In that instant, Luo Lan’s boiling blood and frantically running magic cooled all at once.
—If the Dean of Altlas Academy truly wanted to kill him… would he really be sitting here chatting so much?
With just a thought, Luo Lan probably wouldn’t even know how he died.
“Young man, don’t take things for granted.” As if he could read Luo Lan’s mind, the Dean took another sip of wine. “Although, before stepping into this room, I really was planning to kill you.”
“Why give up?”
“Because… seeing you reminded me of an old acquaintance.”
—Ha, so it’s some kind of doppelgänger story after all?
Luo Lan muttered inwardly.
“Lucky for you, you aren’t him, or I might not have been able to restrain myself.” The Dean shrugged. “But compared to him, you’re more interesting.”
“Interesting? I don’t think ‘interesting’ is enough for you to abandon your original plan.”
“No, no, no. For someone like me, interesting outweighs many things.”
The Dean seemed quite satisfied to see a flash of wariness in Luo Lan’s eyes. He clapped his hands, sitting up a little straighter before Luo Lan.
“All right, Mr. Luo Lan. Since we now know each other, let’s get down to business.”
As he spoke, he casually reached into his wide robe sleeve, then pulled out several neatly folded pieces of parchment and slapped them onto the table in front of Luo Lan.
The papers fanned out, the topmost ink clearly visible.
Luo Lan’s gaze landed on the sheets, his pupils shrinking slightly.
He reached out and pinched the top page. With just a glance, his breath caught.
It was densely packed with information about him. There were also notes and evaluations of his relationships with Chloe, Elia, Slude, and Yuna.
“Forgive my intrusion.” The Dean’s voice rang out at just the right moment. “It’s long been the rule at Altlas Academy to conduct thorough background checks on all students. After all, the Academy must ensure it isn’t nurturing a future threat.”
“Why investigate me?”
“I told you—because you’re special.”
The Dean propped his chin with one hand, tilting his head at Luo Lan.
“Luo Lan, claiming to be from Selis—” He read slowly from the paper, enunciating every word, “Seven years ago, appeared in the northern kingdom as if out of thin air. Then you sought out Grand Duke Lufinias and became his magical advisor… Am I correct?”
Though phrased as a question, it was clear the Dean expected no answer.
“In those seven years, you rarely left the ever-quieting Lufinias estate. After the former Grand Duke passed away, you naturally became that little girl’s magical advisor. Not only did you help her stabilize the magic circuits that had troubled so many renowned mages, you even managed to train her to the point where she could now enter the Celestial Crown Class.”
At this, the Dean finally looked Luo Lan in the eyes. In those usually playful or languid eyes now shone a hint of genuine admiration.
“I must say, in that matter, Mr. Luo Lan, you did a truly outstanding job.”