“If you’re still thinking about last night…”
Ai Lin raised her head, looking at His Blackstone.
“Then you can rest assured. I’m not petty enough to let something like that affect our relationship now.”
“Besides, I really was too hasty about that matter.” Ai Lin rested her cool, elegant face on one hand and said calmly, “After all, I am a member of the Knights Order. If we really did get married, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have much time to devote to the family. It’s only natural for you to have concerns…”
“No, no… that’s not what I meant.” His Blackstone quickly waved his hands.
“But I do think this Engagement will eventually reach a point where it moves forward, right?”
Looking at the faint smile Ai Lin forced from the corners of her lips, His Blackstone, who had wanted to say more, simply gave a heavy nod instead.
“Don’t worry, it definitely will.”
“Tsuku, you old bastard, don’t push your luck.”
In a room tucked away in a corner of the Estate, Old Kurd was furiously dressing down the merchant leisurely seated on the sofa before him. His voice was thick with anger, and even his beard began to tremble with it.
“And I’m the one pushing my luck?” Tsuku wasn’t the least bit intimidated by Old Kurd’s overbearing presence.
“Think about what you’ve done yourself. Asking you to keep my secret—is that really so much to ask?”
Looking at Tsuku, who was brimming with self-satisfaction and a hint of provocation in his tone, Old Kurd couldn’t help but clench his fists.
‘Once the potion is complete, you’ll be the first one I kill.’
‘No… tonight, you won’t be walking out of here alive.’
Perhaps having finally made up his mind, Old Kurd, who had been flushed with anger just moments ago, now revealed a faint, eerie smile instead.
“Fine, Tsuku, I accept your terms. But I must say, I admire your courage. Threatening me to my face like this—aren’t you afraid that once the potion is complete, I’ll come after you first?”
“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Hearing Old Kurd’s words, Tsuku burst into loud laughter.
“You actually think you can pull it off? That kind of potion is nothing but a thing of legends! Rather than worrying about you coming after me once you succeed, I’d say I’m more looking forward to seeing whether you can actually brew the damn thing.”
Tsuku rose from the sofa, cast a contemptuous glance at Old Kurd, and let out a cold snort.
“It’s precisely because you keep clinging to these bizarre notions that the Kurde Family has decayed to such a sorry state.”
With that, Tsuku turned and walked out of the room.
Before opening the door, he still took the time to sneer back: “Look at yourself—neither man nor ghost. Can’t even face the sunlight anymore, can you? Tsk, just looking at you makes me want to laugh.”
After breakfast, the Housekeeper, Saian, led His Blackstone and Ai Lin around the Estate. Keeping the promise he’d made the night before, he showed them several types of Alchemical Potions that the Kurde family had never put on the market.
“This is a ‘Mimicry Potion.’ It can alter a person’s form for a set period of time.”
Saian held the test tube in his hand and carefully presented it to the two of them.
“The meaning of ‘altering one’s form’ sounds pretty broad. Could you be more specific?”
His Blackstone examined the test tube closely and asked.
“That’s an excellent question—truly worthy of the Blackstone Young Master.” Saian’s face still wore his trademark squinting smile.
“There are many kinds of Mimicry Potions. The one in my hand here can change a person’s appearance for a short time.”
“Hmm… no wonder this can’t be sold publicly. If this sort of thing were widely held, it really would be a problem.” Ai Lin stood beside His Blackstone and nodded seriously.
“The Sword Maiden is quite right. I hear the Old Master poured a great deal of money into researching this, but since it couldn’t be sold, well…”
Saian shrugged and said half-jokingly.
Seeing him like this, His Blackstone couldn’t help thinking to himself how grateful he was that his own Housekeeper wasn’t the same type.
“You mentioned there are many kinds of Mimicry Potions. Besides the one that changes appearance, what else is there?” Ai Lin continued.
“Well…” Saian hesitated, which was rare for him.
After a long pause, he finally spoke slowly.
“There are ones that can turn a person into an animal, ones that can turn a person into a plant…”
As Saian listed off Mimicry Potions with various functions one by one, His Blackstone’s eyes grew wider and wider.
Until he heard about a potion that could turn a person directly into a puddle of water—at that point, he finally lost all composure.
“I never imagined Count Kurde had that many ideas, huh…”
“Haha, Father always did love tinkering with these sorts of things.”
His Blackstone turned around and saw Old Kurd’s son, Hark, descending the staircase to stand before them, offering a respectful bow.
“Father says another banquet will be held this evening, and he hopes both of you will honor us with your presence.”
“A banquet?” His Blackstone was puzzled.
“But wasn’t last night—”
“Oh, last night was to entertain the two of you. Tonight is to celebrate the long-term cooperation between our Kurde family and Master Tsuku.”
“Well…”
His Blackstone turned his head to look at Ai Lin beside him. The ultimate purpose of this trip was, after all, a date. They hadn’t planned to spend this much time here.
“Then we’ll gladly accept.”
Ai Lin, seemingly having no objections, went ahead and made the decision for His Blackstone.
“Ah, what a shame. If they’d sell me just one or two Mimicry Potions, maybe I could look into mass production when I get back.”
Back in his room, His Blackstone threw himself face-up onto the bed and sighed.
“Don’t be naive. The Kurde family has spent this long without getting marketing approval from the Kingdom. Do you really think you can?”
Ai Lin sat down on the edge of the bed beside His Blackstone and gently poked his cheek with her finger.
“Who said mass production has to mean selling them?”
“Then what are you suggesting?”
“Think about it—if this kind of thing were equipped for your Knights Order…”
Ai Lin froze.
She had never once considered that angle.
Though the primary mission of the Knights Order was still to face enemies head-on in battle, if Mimicry Potions were utilized, perhaps they could influence the War from a different angle…
“Well? Get it now?”
Seeing Ai Lin’s expression, His Blackstone knew his Fiancée had already grasped his idea.
“If you’re interested, I can ask Count Kurde about it tonight.”
“Forget it. After all, this is another family’s secret. We shouldn’t keep pressing the issue—it would make us look classless.”
“Alright, I’ll listen to you.”
His Blackstone smiled and closed his eyes.
“Mm… you really are something, you know…”
Seeing that His Blackstone showed no intention of getting up, Ai Lin decided to rise and walk over to the window instead.
She noticed that the sky, which had been clear just moments ago, had suddenly begun to drizzle with light rain.