Chapter 006: Going Home

Mia shuddered, waving her hands frantically as she stammered, “Emily… I… I… I didn’t mean that…”
“I know you didn’t mean it,” Emily sighed. “It’s me… I still can’t calm down. Every time I think of that wretched face, I want to trample him underfoot and torture him mercilessly… That bastard… That bastard…”
As she spoke, Emily’s body trembled violently. Then, in anger, she waved her hand, and several small fireballs were shot out, one of which headed straight for Mia.
Mia was startled. It was too late to dodge. Just then, a faint surge of combat energy came from the door, followed by a soft sound as a blade of sword energy shot out, hitting the fireball head-on.
Mia turned her pale face slightly and couldn’t help but say, “Brother Aldas, you’re here?”
Aldas slowly walked in from outside. He glanced at Mia, nodded slightly, then turned to Emily and said, “Still can’t calm down?”
Emily nodded slightly, her body trembling continuously.
Aldas opened his mouth as if wanting to comfort her, but after sighing, all his words turned into one sentence: “Forget it. Father wants you to go over there.”
Emily nodded, suppressing her anger, and slowly walked toward the door. Just as Mia wanted to follow, Aldas put his hand in front of her and whispered, “There’s no need to comfort her. If she can’t overcome this, then she doesn’t deserve to be a Berlinger.”
Mia glanced at Aldas thoughtfully, unsure of how she felt.
…
Entering the study, Emily saw her father’s silver hair and felt overwhelming sorrow, nearly bringing tears to her eyes.
Duke Berlinger slowly turned to look at his daughter, his expression indistinguishable between joy and anger.
This man, who had controlled the finances of the Gavin Empire for decades, was just over fifty years old. But due to years of hard work, he appeared much older than his actual age. If it weren’t for his noble robes, people might have thought he was just an ordinary commoner.
“Still… can’t let it go?” Duke Berlinger smiled faintly, his wrinkles deepening.
Emily whispered, “Father… I…”

“Enough,” Duke Belinger waved his hand. “You child, you’re just too self-righteous. You don’t understand that there are always those better than you. After you came to tell me yesterday that the person spying in the church was none other than the most famous White Robed Priest in the capital, didn’t I advise you? If someone dares to do such things, can they really be a fool? Yet you refused to listen and even tried to threaten them on your own. Who is happy with this outcome now?”
Emily looked up at her father and snapped, “But that guy is so despicable… It was clearly him… him… and yet in the end…”
Duke Belinger slowly shook his head. “Who’s right and who’s wrong doesn’t matter anymore. If it comes to reputation, you, a little girl, can’t compare to him. If it comes to the people’s support, you, a fierce young lady, still can’t beat him. But here’s the thing—he’s a good-for-nothing, while you’re a second-level mage. Anyone with a little sense would believe him rather than you. So at times like these, no matter how much you defend yourself, it’s useless. The only solution is to downplay the matter. And…” Here, Duke Belinger frowned. “Archbishop Anthony has already sent word, telling us to handle this matter on our own. After all, this isn’t something that can be widely publicized for either our empire or the Church. It’s said that Du Fan has been ordered to retreat and meditate at home. As for you… I think you’d better not go outside for three years.”
“Father,” Emily suddenly knelt down. “I want to ask you for a favor!”
“Speak.”
Without hesitation, Emily said slowly, “I want to go to Roland Academy!”
Duke Belinger was momentarily stunned, then gave Emily a deep look before sighing, “Go then… go.”
Emily bit her lip and remained silent, as if a voice in her heart was shouting: I’ll kill you! I’ll definitely kill you!
…
“Achoo—”
Walking in the courtyard of Duke Green’s mansion, Du Fan rubbed his nose fiercely, looking extremely annoyed.
Chenchen sat on his shoulder and spoke in his mind, “What? Did you do too many wrong things? That’s why people hate you?”
“What are you talking about?” Du Fan rudely grabbed Chenchen’s cat ears and pinched them. “You should know that I’m going to be absent from the church for a while. I imagine many ladies are crying their hearts out. If it weren’t for being too busy, I would definitely visit them one by one.”

Chenchen gave a dismissive “Mmh,” adopting an attitude of not wanting to argue, and said, “So where are you planning to go now?”
Du Fan waved the box in his hand and smiled faintly. “This is the Milak potion that Princess Nina just sent over. According to you, with this, my progress in mastering combat skills and magic should speed up a lot, right?”
Chenchen replied, “This potion can change your aptitude, giving you a physique suitable for practicing combat skills and magic. Compared to who you are now, using it will naturally make your progress several times faster… But if you learn alchemy quickly, it can be even faster.”
Du Fan asked, “What do you mean?”
“You’re so stupid,” Chenchen said. “This Milak potion is also made through alchemy. If it can change your physique, then can’t other potions help you speed up your training? Never mind, you wouldn’t understand anyway. Just go buy some things as I ask, and I’ll personally prepare them for you.”
“No need to rush,” Du Fan chuckled lightly. “I haven’t been home in ages. I need to explore around a bit. Otherwise, how can I return their enthusiasm as a servant?”
As he spoke, Du Fan pointed around. The maids nearby, upon seeing him, all showed extremely strange expressions, seemingly wanting to greet him but too afraid to.
Seeing their attitude, Du Fan couldn’t help but sigh. “I never thought they’d still be so afraid of me after all these years…”
Chenchen asked in confusion, “What do you mean?”
With a face full of sorrow, Du Fan looked up at the sky. “When I was ten, after realizing I couldn’t become a magician or a warrior, I swore I would become the most famous artist in the entire continent. So I asked all the maids in the mansion to be nude models for me so I could paint a portrait of a hundred beauties. But for some reason, not only did they fail to understand my passionate pursuit of art, they betrayed me and went to my mother to report me… My artistic career was thus brutally stifled.”
Chenchen almost fell off Du Fan’s shoulder. That bastard charlatan—so he’s been like this since childhood. No wonder, no wonder.
After sighing repeatedly over the brevity of his artistic career, Du Fan finally arrived at the entrance of a small courtyard.

This place was deep within the Duke of Green’s residence, surrounded by utter silence. It was rare for Du Fan to restrain himself here. After stuffing Chenchen into his clothes, he knocked seriously on the door several times.

After a while, a faint voice came from inside: “Is it Xiao Fan? Come in.”

Du Fan responded with an “um” and obediently pushed the door open to enter, then said seriously, “Mother…”

The Duchess glanced at her son several times before suppressing a smile and saying, “Enough. Stop putting on an act in front of me. I’m not like those outside. I’ve watched you grow up—how could I not know who you are?”

Du Fan looked up at his mother. The woman before him, appearing in her thirties, had a delicate face and a calm expression. But upon closer inspection, one could see an unmistakable hint of cunning in the corners of her eyes.

“Mother is still as beautiful as ever,” Du Fan sighed. “Also, could you please stop embarrassing me like this? After all the hard work, I’m now a renowned White Robe Priest in the capital. You just tearing off my mask like that makes me feel uncomfortable.”

The Duchess smiled faintly, sizing Du Fan up from head to toe before saying after a long while, “Tell me, what exactly happened?”

Du Fan looked puzzled. “What do you mean, what happened?”

“What else? Of course, it’s about that lady from the Belinger family. Others might believe you were almost assaulted by her, but I absolutely won’t believe it,” the Duchess said firmly. “Did you take a liking to her and, fearing she might reject you, resort to such tactics?”

Du Fan smiled awkwardly and said, “Mother, can we avoid talking about this today?”

“Then what shall we talk about?”

A glint appeared in Du Fan’s eyes. He lifted the box in his hand and said, “I’ve now obtained the Milak potion, so I can practice magic and combat energy. From now on, the third young master of the Green family is no longer a good-for-nothing.”