Lucian's voice seemed to drift up from the depths of an abyss as he answered faintly, "Piero, did you see the three ladies who were with Lady Sylvia?"
Now that he thought about it, Lucian realized he could no longer remember those two women clearly. Only the parting glance from the woman wearing the black veil hat — a gaze tinged with amusement — and those terrifying, dangerous pale-blue eyes remained deeply imprinted in his mind.
Such overwhelming power, Lucian had only ever seen in the fantasy novels of his previous world. Fortunately, the other party had never intended to harm him; otherwise, his soul would likely have been shattered and destroyed by now, or his consciousness dissipated, leaving nothing but an idiot.
Piero shook his head to indicate he hadn't seen them, but he quickly guessed what Lucian might have encountered, so he sighed. "Lady Sylvia is close friends with many noble ladies. You probably saw one of them, and she happens to be a knight whose bloodline power has already been awakened. Because you rudely stared at Lady Sylvia's legs, she suppressed you a bit with her aura."
"What a shame Lady Sylvia was born a commoner. Otherwise, she'd probably already be some nobleman's wife. Still, she's not someone we lot — people who haven't even passed the musician's examination — can dream of reaching. Unless you become a musician as outstanding as her, or a renowned, great musician whose name is etched into history!"
Since the first knight appeared, after the accumulation of countless generations, people had discovered that although humans couldn't be like dragons or other powerful creatures whose offspring grew stronger with age, and bloodline power had to be awakened through training and effort in later life, if both parents were knights or descendants of knights, their children were far more likely to awaken bloodline power than ordinary people.
Strength was the guarantee of status. So over the past several hundred years, in order to produce capable offspring, the nobility had chosen to marry into equally accomplished bloodline-noble families or unite with knight descendants. With the exception of rare Romeo-like figures willing to sacrifice everything for love, there were almost no cases of nobles taking commoner women as wives.
Ignoring Piero's lamenting, Lucian speculated to himself: "Compared to Sir Vein, whom John described and I saw with my own eyes, those two ladies were probably far more powerful. Could they be... could one of them be Princess Natasha, Lady Sylvia's rumored friend? And that terrifying middle-aged woman — was she the powerhouse protecting her?"
Natasha was a powerful figure just one step away from becoming a sixth-rank Heaven Knight. Anyone capable of protecting her would need at least Heaven Knight–level strength. Such a display was perfectly normal.
But after finishing his deduction, Lucian found himself amused: 【Why am I even thinking about this? Who cares what princess or powerhouse she is — what does any of that have to do with me?】
Beside him, Piero finished his own sighing and, with a characteristic leap in his train of thought, said to Lucian, "Lucian, focus on learning the piano. You may not be able to surpass me, but remember — music is the only thing that truly belongs to you."
……
Mentally exhausted, Lucian struggled on until noon, then declined Piero's invitations to have lunch together and to practice instruments in the fourth-floor music room afterward, opting instead to head home and catch an hour of sleep.
Descending the staircase at an unhurried pace, Lucian immediately spotted
Perhaps noticing Lucian coming downstairs, the young noble gave a graceful smile, bade Elena farewell, and brushed past Lucian on his way up the stairs.
Lucian and Elena were already fairly familiar with each other, so he joked, "Elena, don't tell me that's your sweetheart?"
Elena rubbed her cheeks and glanced toward the staircase. Seeing that the young noble had already gone upstairs, she lowered her voice. "How could he possibly be my sweetheart? That's Mackenzie Griffiths — the notorious philanderer of the Association, a student of Director
"Why did you have to force a smile? Couldn't you just greet him politely?" Lucian quipped, about to leave — but Elena's answer left him puzzled.
Elena spoke with undisguised disgust. "Because he has terrible private behavior and a very bad reputation. There are rumors that a commoner girl once rejected him several times, and he… How could girls like us possibly handle someone like him? Fortunately, he's rather arrogant — he believes his charm and status are irresistible to any girl. As long as you don't provoke him, don't treat him coldly or make him feel you're a special challenge worth conquering, there's nothing to worry about. After all, he's a busy man, always surrounded by vain, infatuated girls. Where would he find the time to focus on one commoner girl?"
The privileges of the nobility were especially potent in this world.
"But Elena, this only keeps you safe temporarily. If one day he suddenly takes an interest in you, won't you be in danger? A person's moods and thoughts — even they themselves can't always predict them." Lucian said with a trace of concern.