Chương 43: Outclassed and Ignored

Lucius could not believe his eyes.

'How is this possible?

He had already stopped trying to control all the spells he started. His entire focus was on one spell only and it was the easiest spell for Lucius since ages, a simple spark of fire. But no matter how much he tried, he could not make it work. His spell was always canceled at the last second, the spark of fire never appearing.

He never felt something like this before. This feeling of futility. When he witnessed Eliseline fighting with Savine, he felt that it was impressive that the two of them could cancel each other's spells before they even take effect, but that was that. He only felt impressed. He never really felt the helplessness of losing something you took for granted.

Lucius looked down on Savine when he first heard about her. He felt she was a hack. A scammer who lied her way into the nobility of Fest, and was now worming her way into Eliseline's head using those same lies.

But after he met her in person, he was forced to change his opinion of her. Savine was not a cheat, not at all. She was the most honest person one could meet in their lives. In fact, she was so honest, the word felt like it didn't suit her at all.

Despite realizing all this, Lucius was stubborn. He did not want to accept her. He convinced himself that Savine was the enemy and that she was out to kill him. He tried to get Eliseline on his side, but he was too late. It was already over after they spent so much time together.

Eliseline had changed too much, and she was even aware of it. But the problem was, she herself loved those changes.

However, Lucius was still stubborn. He wanted Eliseline back. And of course, he went about it in the worst way possible. Not only did he fail to get her back on his side, he helped Eliseline realize just how firmly she stood on Savine's side.

Even after all this, Lucius refused to learn. He felt wronged that his own sister was taking the side of a stranger, felt jealousy that problems that haunted him for three years were now being solved, and felt infinite hatred for Savine, the main perpetrator of these changes.

This hatred of his clouded his judgement and made it so that he was ready to lash out at any moment. So, when hearing Savine threaten him like that, he snapped. He decided to kill Savine and snuff this calamity at its early stages.

Lucius knew that Savine's mana was far from reaching its full potential. If he overwhelmed her now, she wouldn't be able to fight back. However, this fight now, no, this one-sided humiliation he was receiving, was finally showing him what's what.

He was a fool for trying to deal with Savine. He didn't know what she was, but he knew for certain that she wasn't going to let this matter go.

The air Savine took control of was already in front of the duke, ready to be ignited. Since Lucius couldn't even create a single spark of flame under Savine's watch, there was no way he could prevent Savine's spell from succeeding himself. And seeing the girl's calm, impartial gaze, Lucius knew there would be no mercy.

The time Lucius spent thinking resulted in this outcome. Thinking was a luxury in battle. It was as if he simply blinked and was now suddenly on the verge of death.

All of his loved ones flashed past his eyes. His deceased parents, his sister, his wife, and finally his son.

His heart beat with fear. Was he really going to die like this? This meaninglessly and idiotically?

'NO!'

His entire body rejected the notion. But his senses told him that a thought from Savine would guarantee his death. He was already surrounded by explosives. He was a mage, but he was still human. The things that could kill them could still kill him. And right now, even his identity as a mage was useless. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't do anything about the spell. He was simply outclassed.

He held his hand up in front of him, bracing for impact… but the explosion never occurred.

Confused, he felt around himself, but learned that the masses of air that were gathered around him were nowhere to see. He looked at Savine, and saw the girl putting away her Vasa.

"But," she started speaking from where she left off, her tone without fluctuations. "I am indebted to your highness. Though my acceptance into nobility was something that occurred rather forcefully, I will always be thankful for your highness's generosity and wisdom. If I could help it, I'd rather do this with together with you."

Through all this, Lucius's eyes were fixed on Savine. He saw how she walked around, carefree and almost lazy. He heard her speak, her words clear yet her tone emotionless, and he saw her eyes, the disappointment and annoyance clear inside them.

And in the room, she was the only one who was acting normal.

Sylvester was looking between the two of them, his eyes asking countless questions. He wasn't that great of a mage, but anyone that could feel mana would be able to tell something. It was the same with the man who shamelessly called himself Architect of the slums. He immediately felt that something was off the moment Lucius started casting his spell and tried to run away.

As for Eliseline, she looked surprised, but she had already contained herself. She knew what was happening from the beginning and by now, she had made her own conclusions about the situation… and had already picked the side to stand on, seeing as how she clutched her own Vasa and glared at Lucius.

Acting oblivious to all of this, Savine continued speaking.

"For me, it seems odd that you'd be so adamant to continue separating your city into two. Why can't you just accept the slums' demands at this point? It's not like it's a bad thing for you. The people there will rule over themselves, building even their own infrastructure and buildings, independently, while you just sit here, taking their taxes."

Lucius wanted to laugh.

'The slums did all those things all independently now, did they?'

They were just looking at the notes the great Architect and following everything written on it. They regarded his teachings as knowledge of the gods, but little did they know, the Architect they revered so much was Lucius himself.

The commoners would never think to revolt against the Grand Duchess. Even if they did, they wouldn't be able to do it correctly. They wouldn't know to hoard foods beforehand, to gather together right after the duchess leaves for the war, take over only the eastern part of the city and stop, to protest by burning half the crops and threatening to burn the rest.

Not only that, they didn't know how their actions impacted the entire Sovereignty, how the 2nd Prince's faction lacked the supplies they've been promised, and how the Architect spread rumors among the merchants how the Grand Duchess doesn't even know the true amount of crops they gathered, and how Lucius kept insisting that the duchy produced the standard amount of crops that year, which ultimately resulted in the 2nd Prince's faction losing the war, and the Grand Duchess losing her head.

The slums were all happy to believe in the myth of the Architect, a never-before-seen genius of the commonfolk, who thought of all these wonderful solutions and granted them, the commoners, a taste of true freedom, finally.

Lies, all of it.

The slums never ruled over themselves. They did not have the capacity to do that. It would've been a surprise if they managed to survive a month after their rebellion. They needed the careful guidance of the nobles, the way it's been for thousands of years.

Lucius looked at Savine. Did she know the true story behind it?

Lucius never mentioned the truth to anyone but his wife. Never kept records and even Eliseline couldn't know because she was stuck at the Sovereignty's head temple, putting out fires in the Fest duchy's stead.

But Lucius could never know when it came to Savine. The girl knew everything. If she knew all these inventions that could change the world a dozen times, a small matter such as Lucius's secret wasn't something so impressive to know about.

Though… thinking about it a bit more, Lucius realized that it didn't matter if she did or did not know.

As long as it allowed her to insist the slums managed to do all these things themselves, she was happy. Savine's goals were clear as day to Lucius. She wanted authority, and she wanted it quickly. She wanted the slums to be independent from the duke, because that way, she could order them about herself.

Everywhere she went, she tried to consolidate her control. She offered solutions, gave orders, and converted the people to her side.

And it all came to her as naturally as breathing. Everyone she talked to would fall into her rhythm and thirty minutes later, they'd be running her errands as if it was the most natural thing to do.

The adults forgot that they were talking to a child, the commoners forgot that they hated the nobility, and the violent and prideful criminals would shut their mouths and obediently do her bidding.

The slums, especially, would love to have someone like her at their top. They had Dred, the mercenary to keep them in line, but they didn't have someone to push them further. At some point, they'll finish implementing the ideas on the notebook and become stuck.

Sure, their lives are better, but at that point, they'd just be waiting to get their possessions stolen from them.

There was a reason why Lucius was so adamant about not letting the slums become independent. In the first place, they won't become independent at all. Some agent from another duchy or even another country will come and work as an advisor for the slums.

Without someone to protect them, they will only be prey for others.

'But now, Savine is threatening to offer the slums on a silver platter to the church.'

It wasn't hard to guess what would happen if Savine reached the Head Temple independently. From the side, she'll also get whatever benefit she could obtain, maybe even join the temple herself.

No, she was definitely going to join the temple herself. She switched her families like old shoes, why couldn't she do the same to the Fest Duchy?

"I want to talk with you alone," Lucius finally spoke.