Chapter 824 Isabel's Growth
March 31st.
Avalon, the house of silver and tin.
Yulia was concentrating on tinkering with something in her room, wearing a monocle on her head that was specially used for focusing and magnifying.
But at this moment, there was a light knock on her door.
...Who is coming at this time?
She frowned slightly, put the tools in her hand aside, and paused her work: "Come in."
Yulia pressed a button, causing the alchemical glasses on her left eye to release their effects and pop up automatically.
If this were her own home, Yulia would have ignored him. But there was nothing she could do. This was the Palace of Silver and Tin...who knew if someone important or with some important matter would come to see her.
"Yulia~"
Just then, a voice that was extremely familiar to her came from the door.
Yulia's body suddenly stiffened and she suddenly looked up at the door.
Aiwass opened the door with a smile, then leaned against it with half his body hanging outside. "Did you miss me?"
She subconsciously took a step forward...but she reacted after just one step.
"...Your Majesty, are you bored?"
Yulia puffed up her cheeks and said angrily.
Just for a moment, she thought it was really Aiwass who came back!
But Aiwass usually calls himself Yuli and doesn't knock on the door so softly.
And Aiwass has no time to come back at this time...
"What's wrong? Isn't this also Aiwass?"
Isabel took off the mask on her face and threw it into the void, turning it into nothingness.
She came in with a few light steps, not forgetting to close the door.
Isabel then plopped down on the chair next to Yulia, hugged her and started to cry fake tears: "Little Yulia has become so unfamiliar and started calling me Your Majesty, wuwuwu..."
Yulia felt helpless and simply sat on Isabel's thighs and hugged Isabel's neck with her backhand.
For a "iron-blooded queen," this was an act of usurpation. But for Isabel, she particularly liked Yulia's affection for her.
Isabel's love for Julia has nothing to do with Julia's blood relationship with Aiwass... These two girls of the same age, who are both lacking friends, are kind and sincere. After spending so long together in the Temple of Silver and Tin, they have already become close friends.
As they spend more time together, their behavior becomes more and more similar to their true personalities.
Isabel was no longer as gentle, intelligent, generous, and considerate as she was at the beginning - in other words, she was no longer pretentious. When Yulia became Isabel's closest friend, Isabel loved to tease her, make a joke, or act coquettishly.
And Yulia is no longer the soft and sticky girl she was at the beginning.
Because her personality wasn't that gentle to begin with... If anything, she was simply stunned by the flame-rebellious butterfly and had no strength left. She spent every day in a drowsy, powerless state, which wasn't so much gentle as weak.
She continued to act like that, simply because the Julia that Aiwas knew had always been the same as before.
She didn't want her most trusted, closest, and favorite relative to suddenly feel that she had become a stranger - especially after Aiwass helped her escape a life-and-death crisis.
Or rather, she was instinctively afraid... afraid that Aiwass would distance himself from her because of this.
Whether from a rational point of view or from her understanding of Aiwass, such a thing would never happen - but she was still afraid. Because fear has nothing to do with reason.
But in front of Queen Isabel, who can see through people's hearts, Yulia's disguise seems so childish and thin.
She loved teasing Yulia, always getting her to snap without actually getting her angry. Whenever she lost her temper, she would comfort herself. After a few of these cycles, Yulia simply gave up on pretending.
"That's right, Isa."
Yulia said softly, "I have something to discuss with you."
Isabel said without hesitation.
"Not long ago, Master Nobel came to see me."
Yulia's voice dropped. "It's said there's an alchemist competition going on at Xingbi..."
"You want to go to Xingbi?"
Isabel immediately guessed what Yulia meant.
Her brows were slightly furrowed, lost in thought.
Yulia continued, "Teacher, he was ostracized by people in Leipzig a long time ago. He was once a very talented alchemist, but he was envied... But now, those who ostracized him are long dead, and everyone knows that Nobel was a genius who was ostracized by people who were jealous.
"But just then, an imposter appeared at Xingti's place—claiming to be Professor Nobel's only direct student, he patented all of Professor Nobel's formulas and presented a series of 'Nobel's inventions over the years.' However, almost all of these achievements were suspected of infringement...
"—Because that 'Nobel student' claims that they are all 'old inventions,' things invented by the teacher in the past. But each of them was invented earlier than other very similar inventions today. In other words, if his words are true, the inventors of these things will be replaced by the teacher..."
“…That will cause controversy.”
Isabel blurted out: "Isn't this just making Master Nobel hate you?"
She was naturally very intelligent, and thanks to Aiwass's conscious and unconscious training, she had developed an almost instinctive sensitivity to interpersonal relationships.
Especially now that Xingti had just been defeated in the war with Avalon, their original contempt and arrogance towards Avalon would have completely reversed. At this time, Master Nobel, who had once wandered to Avalon out of jealousy, would inevitably be met with hostility or flattery for this very reason.
The hostility was because his help must have increased Avalon's strength, thus tipping the scales of victory;
The reason for the praise is that if "he had not left Xingti for this reason", the outcome would still be uncertain!
If the media is willing and no one stops them, they can even exaggerate the importance of Nobel Prize infinitely from the perspective of public opinion, and through a chain reaction directly elevate it to the key factor in determining the outcome of the war - Isabel believes that at least this step can definitely be done.
In this situation, a "Nobel student" came out to "vindicate" him and wantonly snatched away other people's patents and reputations. If people became enthusiastic, anyone who stood up to stop him would also be labeled "jealous of talented people" and "the culprit who squeezed talented people out of the star."
—It was clearly his own invention, and he had done nothing wrong, yet he was attacked by fanatics for asserting his rightful rights...
Just thinking about it, Isabel, who has a strong sense of empathy, felt an indescribable discomfort and depression.
"...If I were one of these researchers, even if I knew he was a fraud, I would probably still feel disgust towards the Nobel Prize winner."
Isabel said softly.
Yulia nodded. "Many more people don't know about this, because they weren't familiar with Mr. Nobel to begin with. With Mr. Nobel's sudden rise to fame, many of these alchemy masters criticized him and urged people to calm down. With the appearance of this 'only student,' people felt they had realized the truth—they were motivated by jealousy and fear, and they tried to suppress the many efforts to clear Mr. Nobel's name.
"So when this news got back, Mr. Nobel was furious. He wanted to return to Xingbi to clear his name. Coincidentally, Count Leipzig was planning to hold an alchemy apprentice competition in Leipzig... So Mr. Nobel wanted to take me with him, personally transfer all his patents and property to me, and pass on his true connections to me."
"...This must be Xingti's conspiracy."
Isabel made a sharp judgment: "I feel something is wrong."
But she was still thinking, so she just hugged Yulia tightly while thinking: "Tell me first... What do you think?"
"—I also think this is a conspiracy."
Yulia said seriously, "If the teacher was secretly murdered, no one would be able to explain 'that person wasn't his student.' His death would further intensify the internal conflicts within Xingti and might even become food for that swindler."
"...No," Isabel frowned, "I just feel like there's something wrong with the whole thing. But I can't quite put my finger on what it is..."
So Yulia stopped talking and just waited quietly for Isabel to sort out her thoughts.
Suddenly, Isabel said, "Is it possible that those people are targeting you?"
"I?"
Yulia was stunned for a moment.
She had never considered this possibility.
And Isabel reacted: "When that succubus Emma attacked me, it was your face that I used... No wonder!"
In fact, she still hasn't figured out why Emma kidnapped Yulia.
At the time, she could only guess that it was a conspiracy against Aiwass. By kidnapping Yulia, they wanted to make Aiwass afraid to act rashly, thereby restricting or even winning over Aiwass, and then controlling herself and all of Avalon.
But now she finally realized that perhaps the original purpose of the Star Antimony people was to get Yulia!
If you use this as motivation, it all becomes clear!
"...Since the target is me," Yulia immediately became nervous, "Then I won't go. Otherwise, it might cause trouble for Aiwass..."
She had heard Isabel mention at dinner a few days earlier that the Star was now in a state of anarchy, with the monarch having died again and the first Red Prime Minister having been killed by "Miss Aleister"—the alter ego and alias of Aiwass. Considering the Theocracy hadn't caused any trouble, the Star's monarch likely died of natural causes, not Aiwass's hand.
In other words, the situation in Xingti has become so chaotic that even their own king may die suddenly.
And Yulia is just a third-level alchemist.
She hasn't even reached the rank of a superior transcendent yet, so she might even have trouble protecting herself...
“…No, wait.”
Isabel suddenly had an idea: "You can go."
"But……"
"—because I'll go with you, too."
Isabel replied.
Her eyes brightened. "Xingti has no monarch now. Only the former queen is ruling—and that queen was a friend of my grandmother's. She has met me before. It makes perfect sense for me to travel under the guise of a state visit at this time."
"It just so happens that the war on Xingti has ceased—just yesterday, the Narcissus Principality was established. And Xingti chose to acquiesce. So, the Black Hawk Principality should be established soon as well... Xingti is now suffering terribly from the internal chaos. With the death of the Red Prime Minister and the silence of the Black Prime Minister, I imagine they must have already fought each other.
"And at this time, my state visit can further muddy the waters. Whether it's Narcissus, Black Hawk, or Star Antimony, they all crave an ally. Avalon is a very credible ally—even though they were trying to invade Avalon not long ago, they are now willing to bow their heads for Avalon's goodwill and recognition.
"At the same time, for us, dividing Star Antimony into three parts will also be beneficial to the stability of Avalon."
In the past, this kind of thing was done by the Star Antimony people or the Iris people.
But Isabel felt that she might be able to do it too——
Her talent is imitation.
She had previously imitated Aiwass's thinking patterns, and also imitated Janice's piano playing and painting. As an artist, she probably wouldn't be able to achieve her own success. This is why she is currently stuck at the fourth level.
But as a monarch... her talent for imitation makes her grow even faster.
But if enough people imitate it, its own fruits will surely emerge.
"Since I'm going to visit Xingti, the Queen's Guards will naturally come with me. With the support of the Theocracy, the chaos in Xingti will naturally be nothing to fear—you and Master Nobel can be protected together."
Isabel's mood became cheerful.
But she still said cautiously, "But we have to wait a little longer - tonight is the promotion ceremony for Aiwass and Aleister, and the snow hasn't stopped yet. Anyway, we have to wait for the snow to stop before we can travel and the competition begins.
"Wait a couple of days, I'll confirm the specific details with Aleister in my dream first."
"Promotion Ceremony..."
Yulia was a little dazed for a moment: "Brother is about to be promoted to the fifth level? But I just..."
But she hasn't even reached the fourth level.
She bit her lip, feeling the urgency.
Even if she can't help much... she doesn't want to be left behind too much.
Thinking of this, Yulia raised her head and looked at Isabel.
She probably thought so too...
(End of this chapter)
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