Chapter 7 A Failed Marriage
Chapter 7
7.1
In fact, Lorenz was taken aback: "Tissi?"
Ouli Desi is a lady who strictly abides by aristocratic etiquette. She is used to arming herself with rules and etiquette, and would never directly say something as vulgar as "Do you want to do it?"
But now, she looked at him and said lazily, "I want it now. Do you want to do it?"
Lorenz blushed for a moment.
He was really confused.
"You...what did you say..."
"Ah, you're not going to do it?" Oledsi said regretfully, "Forget it if you don't want to do it."
I thought I could be happy one last time before the engagement was broken off, Olidesi thought.
However, Lorenz blushed and still extended his hand to her.
…
It’s indeed quite happy, thought Euridsi.
She held Lorenz's strong arms, and Lorenz lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead.
"Are you thirsty? Do you want something to drink?" he asked her, his voice still a little hoarse.
Olidisi thought for a moment and said, "I want white wine. I don't like your red wine."
Lorenz was not surprised. He nodded, put on a silk robe, walked to the wine rack, and took out a bottle of aged white wine.
He poured the sweet wine into a tall crystal glass, shook it slightly in his hand, and handed it to him.
"You... really surprise me." Lorenz said.
Oledsi picked up the wine glass, took a sniff, and smiled, "Really?"
Lorenz shook the wine glass in his hand slightly and laughed. "I know you don't like the word 'lady', but, Tisi, you have indeed always faithfully adhered to the so-called 'virtues of a lady'... You have been like that since we met."
Euridice and Lorenz met at Themis Academy.
Lorenz is the popular apprentice at the academy, and it's obvious why: he's handsome, kind, humorous, brilliant, and naturally likable.
On the other hand, Oulidsi was a calm and unremarkable apprentice, so calm that he was a little cold.
Lorenz could no longer remember how he had noticed Euridice—the alchemy master's apprentice, the mysterious and aloof girl.
For some reason, he could chat and laugh with others easily, but he didn't dare to talk to her.
The first time they met was when they were assigned to the same potion group by the alchemy master to work together to create a healing potion.
He remembered that he had prepared for a long time that day, and had memorized the proportions and production procedures of the medicine firmly in his mind. However, when he walked to her side, he still couldn't say a word.
She sat there looking at the conical flask intently, her brows slightly furrowed, her eyes like the glass of the conical flask, cold and transparent, isolating herself from all warmth.
Lorenz called out softly, "Miss Aquitas."
Olidisi hummed, and Lorenz, for some unknown reason, said, "Do you... hate me?"
These words made Oulidsi's eyes move away from the conical flask.
She looked at him strangely, as if she didn't understand Lorenz's sudden topic.
She said, "You are not a bad person, I don't hate you."
"Ah," Lorenz said, a little embarrassed, "Well... maybe I'm mistaken. I don't know why, but I always feel that you are particularly cold to me."
Olidisi's fingers paused slightly.
At that time, Euridice Arquitas was still a young man, possessing the straightforwardness and cynicism that only young people have.
She looked at Lorenz Ebrard, this outstanding young nobleman, and said, "Do you want to hear the truth?"
Lorenz nodded slightly, and Oulidesi smiled: "I don't really want to have too much contact with your noble family, that's all."
Lorenz was startled, then realized: "You mean..."
Olidisi shook her head slightly. Although her expression remained calm, there was a hint of sarcasm in her words.
"Your brother," she said, "has clearly shown the ways of a 'great nobleman.'"
She meant Lucian. Lorenz understood.
Young Lucian had just entered the academy and had already quickly demonstrated all the qualities of a "great noble":
He treated the civilian apprentices around him like servants, having them copy his homework for him, while he himself only appeared before the master during reports and received the highest scores.
The master's surname was Wu An, and he talked about the great principles of "peace and friendship" all the time, but everyone knew that in every ethereal era, he could collect a small "tutoring fee" from the Abrad family's wealth.
If Lucien was just not diligent in his studies, it would be fine. However, during an alchemy experiment class, Lucien mistakenly poured a tube of potion into the copper furnace, almost causing an explosion, but he immediately put the blame on the girl next to him, saying that she "did not understand order and should not mess around near the noble's laboratory table."
The girl's fingers were burned by the splashed potion, but she still had to bear the master's punishment.
As for "hiding the manuscript of the answers he had obtained in advance in his sleeves and bringing them into the exam", Lucian had done this countless times. However, when the master in charge of the exam saw it, he could only pretend not to see it and walked away.
An apprentice angrily mentioned these things, but the master smiled wryly and said, "A large portion of the academy's income comes from donations from the Abrad family... If we only relied on the support of the administrators, we wouldn't be able to cover the academy's expenses."
At that time, Oulidisi was sitting at the end of the long table in the library, listening to these discussions, but he just kept writing his paper on the parchment scroll without changing his expression.
She didn't speak, not because she was indifferent, but because she knew too well:
There was nothing she could do.
Under the Queen's encouragement, the academy and its masters worked diligently to impart knowledge and skills to all apprentices of commoner origin. However, not all apprentices could afford the tuition, and the cost of running the academy was always a problem.
Therefore, the college had to accept the donation from the Ebrard family and take care of Lucien Ebrard.
Euridsi understood all this, but she was just a little apprentice and could do nothing.
She could only watch from afar as the noble boy in his expensive robes smiled recklessly and scattered a handful of silver coins in front of the academy's pond, asking the apprentices of common origin to jump into the mud in the pond to pick them up.
All this, Euridice didn't need to say, Lorenz also understood.
Therefore, when Oulidisi said, "I don't really want to have too much contact with your noble family."
Lorenz could only lower his head in shame.
"Indeed," Lorenz whispered, "Lucian, he really does have a terrible personality. No matter how hard I beat him, he remains the same... It seems the more I beat him, the more he hates me and the more he wants to rebel against me."
Lorenz's self-blame was genuine, but Euridsi shook his head.
She said: "He is him, you are you, you are not his father, you have no obligation to teach him. You are not responsible for his behavior."
When Oulidisi said this, Lorenz couldn't help but look up and asked, "Since you know that I am different from him, why are you still hiding from me?"
Oledsi didn't want to answer at first, but when she looked into Lorenz Lake's green eyes, for some reason, she said inexplicably, "Because you are a noble and I am a commoner, you are born with power over me. Even if you are a good person, the insecurity brought about by this power imbalance still prevents me from getting close to you."
Lorenz was slightly startled, and seemed a little confused. Euridsi thought for a moment and explained with an example:
"It's like a wolf and a sheep. Even if the wolf repeatedly assures the sheep that he is a good wolf, will not harm the sheep, and will protect the sheep forever, can the sheep really become friends with the wolf and live happily together?"
Lorenz stared at her, lost in thought.
"No," he whispered, "because wolves have claws and fangs, and sheep don't...that's the imbalance of power."
"Yes." Euridice pursed her lips. "If we want to live together, we have to wait until the wolf loses its claws and fangs, or the sheep grows claws and fangs. Only when both sides are equal can equal feelings arise. Do you understand, Lorenz? This is why I don't want to get close to you."
And Lorenz murmured: "So, this... is why I like you."
Olidisi was stunned: "What did you say?"
Lorenz suddenly came to his senses and became panic-stricken. His face flushed red.
"Oh, no, no," he stammered, "I mean, I don't—er—no, that's right, but that's not what I meant—"
Oulidsi looked at him in a daze: "You, like me?"
Words spoken are like spilled water, irreversible. Feeling a bit hopeless, Lorenz simply closed his eyes and spoke his true feelings in one breath.
"Is... you like me, right?" he said. "I've always felt that there's a magical charm about you that's always drawn to me, and I can't quite explain it. It wasn't until you said this to me today that I finally understood, Miss Aquitas... Euridice."
“…”
"You appear cold on the outside, but I sense a flame burning within you. You possess a clear conviction and a resolute will. I always sense that you are always ready to heroically throw yourself into a flame, sacrificing everything for your convictions and will."
Lorenz said this with a slight tremor in his voice.
"You are a flame forged from ice," he said. "I...can't help but look at you."
Everyone thought that the marriage between Lorenz Ebrard and Euridsi Aquitas was a financial transaction between the Ebrard family, which had lost its source of tax revenue from Oprunsi, and the wealthy Aquitas Chamber of Commerce.
Only a very few people know that this marriage was requested by Lorenz Ebrard himself from his mother and father.
The relationship between him and Euridice is not only a heart-pounding young love that happened in the academy, but also like-minded fellow travelers, each other's closest partners and most loyal comrades-in-arms.
When Oulidsi thought about all this, he felt a little melancholy.
Aren’t you sad?
Actually, it’s not sad.
However, she had more important things to do after all.
Therefore, Euridice looked at Lorenz's back and said abruptly:
"Let's break off the engagement, Lorenz."
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