wjnovel Chapter 212 212: 6.22 - Focus On Tasks At Hands First
Chapter 212 212: 6.22 - Focus On Tasks At Hands First
'What tricks are you playing on me now, Voice?' Lucian rocked his son back and forth to calm him.
He didn't need another manipulating factor in his life. He had enough of them already.
The points began to rise the longer he held his son in his arms. It stopped at 80, and no matter how much he rocked or tried to entertain his son, it refused to rise any further.
The idea that something was reading his mind and spitting out data in return for someone else to see, made him feel icky all over.
'How do I turn it off?' he asked Voice, kissing his son's head, 'How do I destroy it?'
Lucian deactivated his shackled powers, the area around his eyes began to puff and swell. He looked like he had cried for days, and the skin was peeling off.
The numbers were still there, so he tried to downgrade his eyes back to their previous stage.
'Good riddance,' Lucian hissed in pain from the burning feeling around his eyes, but still happy to be rid of the numbers. It felt like his views were becoming more human again.
Not that he was a fan of his species, but he didn't want to be an object for others to play with, and the numbers were making him feel like a piece in a game.
A game where he couldn't even understand the rules, the goals, or the stakes.
'No time to overthink, focus on the task at hand,' he kept chanting to himself.
His son's little hand reached out to touch his face, as if to console him.
"You just cried yourself hoarse, and now you want to console me?" Lucian leaned in to kiss the tiny palm, and his son smiled, revealing his two little bottom teeth. "Yes, you are so good at cheering your father up, aren't you?"
The boy moved up fast from his little grudge and wanted to play with his father again.
"Let's go for a walk," Lucian grabbed a head piece that covered the whole face, which was used by the southerners to protect themselves from the sandstorms.
His son protested, not wanting his face covered, trying to pull the fabric off, so Lucian placed him in the crib as if showing they were going nowhere without covering his son's face.
The child kicked the air in protest, refusing to let his father see the world without him. But Lucian ignored him and changed his clothes.
He picked up a few items, like his son's baby bag, pretending he was about to leave him alone.
The baby whined and grunted, and tried to climb out of his crib, but his father still ignored him. He began to cry, little tears rolling down his cheeks, his little hands holding the bars tightly, "Abuuu."
Lucian tried to place the head cover on his son a few more times, who refused to let it stay on his head for more than five seconds.
"Looks like you won't be joining me today," Lucian sighed, throwing the headpiece into the crib, and went for another recovery nap.
The restless feeling of not doing enough made it hard to stay idle, so he started to think about how to bind Celine to him through the astral plane like the southerners. It looked much more possible now.
The baby in the crib watched his father with big, teary eyes. He hiccuped a few times, rubbing his eyes, then slowly reached out for the headpiece in the crib.
He then looked at his father, who was sleeping on the bed, and threw it over his face in a clumsy manner. He raised his arms in the air, making "Eeeeh" sounds to attract his father's attention.
Lucian opened one eye and looked at his son, who was proudly sitting in his crib with the headpiece crooked on his head. The baby patted his chest as if to say, 'Look at me, I'm wearing it.'
A smile broke on Lucian's face, and he got up, walking towards the crib, "Now, isn't that a brave adventurer? Are you ready to go on a trip with your father?"
He put on his mask and picked up his son, correcting the headpiece before they went out of the room together. He ordered two of the ferals to watch their chambers while they headed toward the stables.
He passed the gold stage so now it was time to get started on the gold knight rank.
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One month later…
Lady Rose and Lady Lily had moved to their permanent residence outside the gold mines, similar to Scythe's.
The gold mine's compound was not suitable for a northern woman to live, so they moved after a month of living there.
Beside them, there were eight other women. They all had made a deal that Lucian would provide two thousand gold coins toward his advancement. The payments would be made in installments rather than all at once. Whatever remained after his rank was secured, would be considered a gift they could share among each other.
Which meant, the more effective the blessings, the less resources he would have to spend on it, and they would get a bigger share of the rewards.
The women had no idea that Lucian's advancement costs were ten times more than a dark haired person when his men did the blessing; fifteen times more when done by the male priests (most didn't want him to succeed). Female priests were coveted by the big houses, so he had no idea how much would it cost.
Women could bless him from a distance, unlike men, but he would still show up before them once in a while. He needed faithful followers, and that required his presence.
Lucian was drinking tea in the Elegant Pavilion in the middle of a garden, wearing the most comfortable and finest clothes that the south had to offer.
His son was sitting in his lap, playing with his teething toy behind the head piece.
Ten women surrounded him, sitting on the couches and armchairs, some even on the cushions on the floor, right next to Lucian. All were dressed in their finest gowns, their hair styled in intricate braids, and their faces adorned with delicate makeup. They were all beautiful, charming, and eager to please.
A chest of gold coins was placed on the table, its contents glittering in the sunlight.
They would pick the coins from the chest after every blessing, writing down the numbers to keep track of the amount.
"Mr. Arclight, your son is adorable," Lady Rose said after she was done with her blessing session, admiring the little boy from a distance. "May I hold him?"
╔═══ Author's note ════╗
I used to live off pirated content as a broke kid, so I don't really plan to make every chapter a dummy. That's my childhood right there. Authors needing money to write was the least of my problems, now I understand more. 😭🙏
If I reach 1000 fans on Villainess before completing it, and gain top 100 readers with a fan value over 100, I will keep it free forever. 🤣 That's if it doesn't die midway.😭🙏
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