As the heir of the Sage family, Luo Ye had no reservations at all. He immediately grabbed the Sage’s notebook along with several manuscripts on the principles of magic and began flipping through them.
However, after just a few glances, Luo Ye tossed them back without a second thought.
It was only then that a thought arose in Luo Ye’s mind.
In cultivation novels, those protagonists who can instantly comprehend Heavenly-level techniques truly possess extraordinary talent.
It’s just like when you get to the end of calculus and there are no numbers left, only English letters and symbols.
“Is there any useful information here? Advanced magic can be learned whenever I want, but intelligence like this has to be used at the right moment to maximize its effect.”
Luo Ye muttered, flipping through the manuscripts scattered on the table.
Half an hour later, he finally found a piece of useful information.
There was only one line of messy, heavily altered writing. After careful scrutiny, Luo Ye read it aloud:
“I cannot confirm what level of existence it is, but the overwhelming pressure it exudes compels me to refer to it as ‘It.’”
‘It’?
A deity?
Luo Ye’s mind flashed back to what he learned during the first-year course at the Empire’s Magic Academy.
It was a class called “Fundamentals of the World,” where the professor once called on a student to answer whether gods exist in the world.
The student called upon was none other than Alysia.
“Gods exist, just as people fear ‘Oblivion.’ What cast a fleeting glance at me was ‘Memory,’ wrapped in the power of ice and snow.”
For mortals, gods were classified into several categories—
Order-Good.
Chaos-Evil.
Divine-Neutral.
And… a new classification marked as unknown on the manuscript by the Sage himself—“???”.
Coincidentally, the author of Fundamentals of the World was none other than Sage Cardia.
Luo Ye recalled that when he crossed over, the textbooks still hadn’t been updated.
So, Sage Cardia never discovered the truth behind the fourth classification before he died?
Luo Ye continued sorting through the manuscripts. After half a day, the amount of useful information he gathered was scant.
“Time to head back.”
Luo Ye sighed and rubbed his forehead lightly. Counting on Old Deng to drop some valuable gold was proving to be really difficult. There just wasn’t much useful intel.
At least there was some petty cash.
Luo Ye had turned Old Deng’s study upside down, even shaking the bottom drawer of notebooks three times.
The conclusion was clear—
There’s absolutely no useful information here!
“Old Deng, oh Old Deng!”
Luo Ye wailed into the air, heartbroken, “You’re dead and all, but couldn’t you at least drop some valuable gold? What the hell is this ‘It’ thing? The Riddler should get out of the capital!”
Apart from a few scrap papers smeared so badly even their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them, with notes like “So terrifying,” “Overwhelming pressure,” the rest was all cryptic runes, magic formulas, and the like.
Luo Ye’s eyelids drooped as if weighed down by a heavy blow to his intelligence.
“Forget it, forget it. I’ll go home and sleep. This lousy place isn’t even as comforting as my little shabby hut.”
He patted off nonexistent dust from his clothes—mainly to comfort himself—and decisively made his exit.
Outside, the sky was as dark as the bottom of a cauldron.
Just like Luo Ye’s current mood.
Thinking about facing a bunch of divine beauties while his own Old Deng was utterly useless, while others could just leech off their parents, but he had to clean up the mess left behind by Old Deng and endure all the noble families’ verbal attacks over his engagement—it was just exhausting.
He hadn’t seen such a useless father.
Luo Ye headed toward his small, slightly drafty but at least free dorm assigned by the academy.
“…”
For some reason, Luo Ye shivered instinctively.
Anna, that divine noblewoman, must have left too, right?
Even younger brothers need rest!
Just as he reached out to touch the crooked fence gate of his small courtyard, Luo Ye suddenly stiffened, almost crashing into a waft of incredibly pleasant fragrance.
Looking up—
Whoa!
What a stunningly beautiful elder sister! Her pale green hair shimmered like top-grade silk, and her figure… was like Lilith’s Plus Max Supreme Edition!
She radiated the aura of a supreme noblewoman, standing there as if she were glowing.
But Luo Ye felt no attraction—in fact, his heart nearly stopped!
Victoria?!
Isn’t she the Academy’s legendary actress-level noblewoman, Lilith’s mother?
In the real timeline, she barely knew him!
Luo Ye’s mind raced: The real Miss Victoria doesn’t have a simulation save file!
Right now, she’s just an extra… no, a background celebrity!
Victoria caught sight of Luo Ye’s wide-eyed, shocked face before he could even recover, and her red lips curled into a smile that could steal souls: “Ah, Mr. Luo Ye, what a coincidence?”
Coincidence? What coincidence!
Your countess wife is standing at the door of my drafty little courtyard at this hour as a streetlamp?
Luo Ye raged silently inside but forced a polite “shoo” smile: “Good evening, Lady Talia. It’s so ‘late,’ especially during the sensitive period right after the princess’s funeral. Did you come here specially to see me… for some service?”
He deliberately emphasized the word ‘late.’
Victoria’s bright, gorgeous golden eyes looked mischievous in the moonlight. She gave a gentle smile, her voice like honeyed red wine:
“Oh, why so serious? Young people need to learn to relax.”
“You look like you’re about to have an out-of-body experience from exhaustion… Come, there’s a new café just around the corner. Sister’s treating you to a drink. Chestnut cake is all you can eat, guaranteed to soothe your wounded little soul~”
Victoria’s invitation sounded as casual as “Let’s go watch a movie,” but those laughing eyes were like a hunting net, blocking Luo Ye’s only escape route completely.
An alarm bell rang loudly in Luo Ye’s mind.
The real-life actress blocking the door?
Trying to send me off with just a cup of coffee?
Does she think I’m stupid?
Victoria’s sudden appearance in the real timeline was definitely trouble!
And it was definitely more complicated than the simulation!
Luo Ye’s mental alarm blared at level ten.
But when he saw her flawless smile and looked down at his own pathetic state—no handy weapons on him—
Well, actually, he did have some magic, but there was no way he’d attack a noble outsider inside the academy.
Luo Ye could only force out a smile that said, “I want to kill you,” like a pitiful kid crushed by life:
“You’re right, madam… I really… do need something to warm my hands.”
“As Alysia’s fiancé, it’s an honor to be invited by you. If you don’t mind, shall we go?”
He emphasized his status, signaling a subtle threat.
This was the capital, many eyes on him. If you dare, invite me.
Victoria still smiled softly, that cunning smile fully satisfied.
She nodded, turned elegantly, and made a graceful “please” gesture.
The posture was perfect, but Luo Ye felt it as a silent warning: “This path is mine.”
Luo Ye followed the swaying purple silhouette toward the warmly lit café at the street corner.
He glanced at the shop’s sign and chuckled inside.
“‘Moments of Respite’?”
Yeah, right. I believe you.