Why hadn’t she realized? With him being so out of contact, and everyone surviving that major accident without a single death, of course Luca must have pushed himself tremendously.
She felt disgusted at her own stupidity.
“Don’t worry too much, Maria. According to Noah, Luca received treatment and has stabilized now.”
Maria couldn’t hear a word Emily said. Even though they were meant to comfort her.
Emily said Luca had saved not just Maria but everyone there. Everyone owed him a debt and should be grateful, but Maria could only nod blankly.
After tea time with Emily ended, Maria had no choice but to clutch her head in worry the entire way home.
‘Why do you have to make people so uncomfortable?’
She was grateful he’d saved everyone, but on the other hand, she couldn’t believe that foul-tempered man had sacrificed himself to that extent to save people.
When had he been so cold and cutting? Why had he done that after she’d passed out? Had people’s conditions been that bad?
What made Maria most uncomfortable was that regardless of what feelings he’d had when saving people, she herself had begged him to please save Sylvie.
‘No way, surely not……’
No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t seem like he’d used magic because of her pleading. Luca wasn’t a man with enough humanity to harm his own body like that.
It felt more like he’d granted one small request since she was his supplier.
‘Right, he might have done that much.’
Even after reaching that conclusion, Maria couldn’t easily fall asleep.
Somehow she felt his illness was her fault, and that made her uncomfortable, sorry, and troubled. Why did you have to be such a complicated person?
In the end, she had no choice but to spend the night with her eyes wide open.
The Glass Palace boasted the most splendid appearance among all palaces in the Kingdom of Samoa.
Within the Glass Palace was a garden the king cherished, and that garden was so massive it could be called the entirety of the Glass Palace.
Despite the garden’s front being made entirely of glass, through proper UV and temperature control, the kingdom’s garden never wilted. All this was possible thanks to the blood, sweat, and tears of countless royal mages’ research in Samoa, called a magical powerhouse.
Luca found the sunlight filtering softly through the glass walls and the plants so fresh they seemed to glow slightly burdensome.
The fragrant flowers and plants that should have their natural appearance felt excessive. In a word, the garden was an incredibly luxurious place.
This place was generally used when foreign dignitaries visited or as the king’s retreat. But unfortunately, dignitaries and the King of Samoa couldn’t visit often due to busy schedules, and the Prince of the Kingdom of Samoa used it most fully. He occasionally enjoyed privately summoning those with whom he had connections to the Glass Palace for conversation.
Luca gazed indifferently at the garden, now somewhat tiresome, and reached the place where the garden’s plants grew most densely.
Even this density must have been achieved through thorough calculations by mages and gardeners. On the prince’s chest as he lay leisurely in a hammock strung between two massive trees rested a book he’d been reading until just moments ago.
Luca sat gracefully at the tea table already prepared right in front of the hammock. Though there was no particular movement, Luca’s motion was flawlessly elegant.
“Why did you summon me?”
Unlike his elegant movement, his slightly furrowed brow revealed his uncomfortable mood. If anyone had seen him—the flower beloved by all—responding so prickly to the prince, they would have doubted their eyes, wondering if this was really the Luca they knew.
He always gave everyone a bright smile like a flower and never showed uncomfortable emotions to anyone.
But the only person here was merely the Prince of Samoa, and the prince, completely marked by Luca due to several past incidents, couldn’t receive such smiles from Luca.
“You know why I called you.”
Prince Liam of Samoa replied with a pleasant laugh. Liam emerged from the hammock and sat before Luca.
“Don’t summon busy people back and forth.”
Luca’s brow furrowed even more. A sight no one else would ever believe, but one Maria would have shouted was his true nature if she’d seen it.
Even at his prickly tone, Liam didn’t look particularly affected. Rather, he laughed emptily as if amused.
“I’m well aware my Sir Clodence is busy. As a royal mage, you must conduct research, write papers, and on top of that, save people in crisis.”
“Don’t pick a fight.”
“How is this picking a fight? I’m only stating facts.”
“Everything Your Highness says sounds like picking a fight to me.”
When Luca glared coldly, Liam finally clutched his chest as if hurt. Of course, even this could be seen as completely ineffective due to his eyes full of mischief.
“Why are you like this, between us?”
When Liam spoke disgustingly, Luca’s expression grew even more fierce.
“Alright, alright. I’ll stop.”
“Just state your business.”
“How is your body, Sir Clodence?”
“Not good.”
“Then your mood?”
“It’s not good either.”
“Then your willingness to go to Geta as a diplomatic envoy this time?”
“I really don’t want to go to that either.”
When Luca rejected everything, Liam clutched his head in despair. And for good reason—this envoy mission was an opportunity Samoa absolutely couldn’t miss.
Geta had accepted the Allied Nations’ declaration of war. No matter how many nations allied, Geta would fight and win with Geta’s power alone. That was Geta’s way.
Normally, Geta would have dealt with such weak nations’ alliance by their own power, regardless of its scale.
But the scale of this war was gradually growing, and the threat level of the Allied Nations, thought to be weak, had also grown to a level Geta couldn’t ignore.
The Allied Nations used all available resources to gather weapons and knights. As a result, the Allied Nations’ military scale became powerful enough that even Geta’s outstanding warriors absolutely couldn’t ignore it.
Geta tried not to care, but that plan was completely rejected because of one person. This was because of Jackal, the younger brother of Geta’s new Emperor.
Originally, the new emperor lacked leadership but had tolerance, and Jackal, now a Grand Duke, was praised as the most outstanding warrior among warriors. He had yielded the throne to his older sister and simply stepped back to assist the emperor.
Everyone viewed this unfavorably, but Jackal carefully protected his sister. The new emperor viewed this war seriously and requested support from Samoa. There was much opposition to this first occurrence in Geta Empire history, but Jackal also quelled this.
If Samoa helped Geta and participated in this war, through this war Geta would be indebted to Samoa. Ultimately, Samoa would gain an easy opportunity to obtain their infinite resources.
So this diplomatic envoy mission absolutely needed the participation of Samoa’s military commander Claude and Luca, who’d created the weapons to support this war.
“I’ll give you Emrot Island that I own!”
“What would I do with an island without a single person?”
“D*mn, then even Kalua Villa!!!”
“I have more than enough money and villas.”
“Then even me!!!”
Liam winked at Luca and twisted his body coquettishly. When the muscle-bound man with a bear-like massive build acted disgustingly cute, Luca nearly gathered mana at his fingertips without realizing it.
“Please, please go.”
“Why don’t you just go instead of me?”
“How wonderful that would be. If that were possible, I’d naturally have kicked off my shoes and fled this stifling kingdom!!! But Father’s health isn’t good at all. I’m not in a position to leave. Plus, Geta specifically requested we bring Duke Aemon and you.”
Luca inwardly clicked his tongue and pressed his brow firmly. For this situation to occur precisely when his body was in this state.
No matter how frivolously Liam joked around, he wasn’t someone who lied.
Then the king’s condition was truly poor, and if he didn’t go, Geta, having already swallowed their pride completely, might truly take offense and even their relationship could worsen.
But Luca’s physical condition was too poor to handle all these matters.
Right now, Ian had somehow managed to make him able to stand. But what if something happened in Geta? What if his mana went berserk like that time?
All those hypotheticals chained together and held Luca back, so he couldn’t easily say he’d go.
Liam let out a deep sigh watching Luca’s expression darken rapidly.
“I know this is too much to ask when your body isn’t well.”
Luca’s complexion had indeed been poor from when he’d first seen him earlier.
If not for this situation, Liam would probably have made a fuss asking about Luca’s health. But as Prince of Samoa, he’d made an unavoidable choice.
“If this matter concludes well, I’ll also owe you a great debt, Sir Clodence. So tell me what you want. Even if it’s impossible, I’ll speak to His Majesty and make it all happen.”
Seeing the prince beg so desperately, Luca didn’t feel comfortable either.
No matter what, this was a request from a royal prince who’d bent his pride this far, so he had to consider his dignity too.
In the end, Luca could only sigh and answer.
“I’ll think about it.”
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Villainess No.121
I don’t get it why is he so stubborn?! They have done the deed before and he doesn’t hate her that much anymore so why does he go to such lengths just to avoid her?? Is he afraid of his own feelings and them getting closer, then she’ll hurt him again??