Chương 27: Chapter 27: Lucian's Solution

"Please remove your shoes before entering, Ms. Hall Master."

"Are you… bringing me into your lab…!?"

Charlotte was already in her late 20s, and she thought of herself as having completely gotten rid of her embarrassing young phases and had already become completely professional, and yet for the past few weeks, she found herself squealing internally like a little girl ever since she found out about Lucian's true identity.

And right now, she was right in front of Lucian's apartment — the only thing she could really do was stand outside his door even though he had already entered the house.

"Ms. Hall Master, you can put your shoes there."

"R… right," Charlotte took in a small gulp as she quickly removed her shoes and placed them on the shelf right beside the entrance hall. She then followed Lucian inside, expecting all sorts of apparatus, materials, and whiteboards he used to formulate his medicines and all sorts of inventions, "This is…"

But it was a house. A normal apartment—no. It looked like an apartment that had just moved in, barely any furniture aside from the most basic ones; there wasn't even a TV.

"...This is really your house?" Charlotte blinked a couple of times as she looked around; the windows, for some reason, were completely shut by blinds — but the apartment was not dark at all, it was extremely bright and was even more immaculate.

"Yes," Lucian glanced back at Charlotte, "Would you like to take a bath first, or should I go ahead?"

"W…what?" Charlotte took a step back as soon as she heard Lucian's words. She then instinctively covered herself even though she was completely dressed, "What…That's not part of the contract! I'm not… I'm not going to sleep with you!"

"Why are you going to sleep with me?" Lucian tilted his head to the side, "We need to be sterilized before I can show you what I want to show you, Ms. Hall Master — there are several gowns in the bathroom you can wear after, they have also been sterilized."

"Right! R… right!" Charlotte could not help but just wince and look to the side, almost wanting to just kill herself there and then from what she just did, "I'll… I'll take a bath first."

So, this really is Lucian's laboratory — is what Charlotte thought as she looked at the bathroom. It was insanely clean, and just like with the outside, only the basic necessities were there. Charlotte wasted no time in cleaning and scrubbing herself before wearing the lab gown and face mask that was in the bathroom.

"Mr. Lucian, it is your turn next," Charlotte breathed out as she stepped outside the bathroom, only to see Lucian just having finished scrubbing the floor.

"Okay, please wait for me in front of that door."

"Okay," Charlotte could not help but get excited as she followed Lucian's orders. She did not even realize time passing, with Lucian already done taking a bath and opening the door in front of her.

"Ms. Hall Master. Please refrain from emitting any lith," Lucian said as he stepped inside the room.

"Of course, I won't risk contaminating any—"

And before Charlotte could finish her words, her steps just quickly halted. The fancy laboratory she was expecting was nowhere to be found — except, the scent of medicine mixed with a sort of rotting smell slightly entering her nose; if it wasn't for the mask she was wearing, she would have probably taken a step back there and then.

Instead, her eyes were just solely focused on the corpse lying on the bed in the middle of the room—no, not exactly; as the vital signs being shown in the multiple monitors surrounding the bed indicated she was still alive.

"Mr. Lucian, this is… are you doing human experiments?" Charlotte blinked a couple of times in disbelief. She had heard that there were sects who were using normal people to try their medicines, but that was inhumane — and not to mention evil. Did… she misjudged Lucian?

"This is Malenia," Lucian shook his head as he very gently and carefully approached the person on the bed, "My wife."

"Your wife…?" Charlotte did not really know what to do anymore; her legs, moving on their own as she also carefully approached the person on the bed; in truth, it was hard to tell whether it was actually a man or a woman from how rotten the flesh looked already, "Wait, she has… the Rot?"

"Yes," Lucian nodded.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Mr. Lucian," Charlotte could not help but hold her breath to stop the tears that suddenly wanted to fall from her eyes, "I… didn't know."

"She is asleep right now," Lucian checked on the vitals and the IV bag.

"Is… how long does she have?" Charlotte gulped, not knowing whether she should actually ask questions.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. It—"

"She has been afflicted with the Rot for 3 years now, Ms. Hall Master," Lucian then slightly glanced at Charlotte.

"3… 3 years!?" Charlotte truly did not want to raise her voice, but could not stop herself as soon as she heard Lucian's words, "3… years? The average life expectancy with someone who has the Rot is a week, Dr. Lucian… and some patients can live longer but—wait…

…You're trying to cure the Rot?"

The Rot has existed since the dawn of time and lith itself — and unlike many diseases or plagues, it is considered more as a natural calamity, something that can't be prevented or fought.

"Yes," Lucian nodded as he very gently brushed the back of his hand on his wife's cheek.

"Considering she has been like that for 3 years…" Charlotte looked to the side as she started to whisper to herself, "...You've already made a way to prevent the Rot from spreading further?"

"Yes."

"This… then why haven't you made your discoveries public—no," Charlotte could really only close her eyes as she remembered that he was trying to hide from something, "...And are you close to finding a cure?"

"I was in my first trial," Lucian nodded.

"Then—"

"But I am now getting further and further away from it," Lucian shook his head; no longer delving into it any further as he stepped away and gestured to Charlotte to leave the room, "Please, let us go in my living room to talk, Ms. Hall Master."

Charlotte remained quiet as she just followed Lucian outside, giving Malenia one last glance before heading to the living room and sitting on the sofa which felt like it hadn't really been sat on.

"Mr. Lucian… you said you were close to the cure in the first trial," Charlotte did not waste any time and quickly asked a question as she looked at Lucian, "What happened?"

"That is not something you need to know, Ms. Hall Master," Lucian shook his head, "The only thing you need to know is that it failed."

"Okay…" Charlotte looked down, "Why… did you bring me here?"

"Because you are a fellow alchemist and a man of science, Ms. Hall Master," Lucian slightly glanced at Charlotte, "And we are in a contract where you will lose your life if you hurt me or reveal any of this to the public."

"I… I will never hurt you or reveal any of this even without the contract, Dr. Lucian," Charlotte quickly shook her head, "You don't… you don't seem to understand just how much your existence actually means to me. You… you were a child just a few years older than me and yet… you were able to create things like magic. And trust me, I didn't believe it for one second that you killed someone with your medicine. And… and then they erased you and—"

"Ms. Hall Master," Lucian did not seem to care at all that Charlotte was on the verge of tears, "Please stop—"

"No!" Charlotte did not let Lucian speak as she stood up, "Work with me, Dr. Lucian — and I will provide anything you need to cure your wife. Aside from the initial payment for the formula you provided — I will now also be adding 50% of all profits to you. But… of course, I will still be getting something from this…

…once you cure the Rot, my sect will take credit for it. Along with any other pills."

"Hm…"

"I… I mean… you might think it's too suspicious if my side is not getting anything, right?" Charlotte cleared her throat as she calmed herself and sat back down, "And of course, we will also be hiding your identity as well — if I, or my father reveals your identity, we will die. And I would make sure the contract would have no drawbacks for you. So please, please… work with me. If… if that's not enough, then 75% would be yours. And… I would make sure that whoever it is you are hiding from—"

"The Demon Continent."

"Huh…?" Charlotte blinked as Lucian interrupted her.

"The people I am hiding from are all already in the Demon Continent," Lucian breathed out, "And they are no longer allowed to come into the land of mortals."

"You mean all of them… are in the Immortal rank?" Charlotte's eyes widened.

"Yes," Lucian nodded, "I made sure of it."

"What… do you mean?"

"So that they could no longer bother me…" Lucian let out a small sigh as he finally looked Charlotte in the eyes, causing her to flinch,

"...I turned them all into Immortals."