417 Partly Good and Partly Bad (1/2)
Adjusting the piece of monocle decorated with a fine silver chain on his nose, Lucien was about to activate Fernando's Electromagnetic Message. However, just at this time, Lucien received a call.
After the disturbance of the electric current noise, Lucien heard Natasha's voice, sounding both concerned and relieved.
”Lucien?”
Obviously, getting back into contact was a great relief to this young lady.
”It's me. I was about to call you as well.” Lucien could not hold back the smile on his face. Since Natasha's call came as soon as he arrived in Aalto, it was reasonable for him to assume that Natasha had kept on calling him for at least the past half an hour.
Unlike Lucien, who mastered the knowledge of Horoscope, Natasha could not tell if her friend was safe through divination. The many accidents that happened during their plan greatly worried Natasha.
”Good news,” said Natasha in great relief. ”I was worried about you since Dracula went back earlier than we expected—he never approached the bait in the mountains. But it seems that you did it, right? Was it because of you? —I'm talking about the scarlet moon.”
Lucien's connection to the scarlet moon was too obvious to ignore.
Lucien also felt relieved hearing Natasha's words. Apparently, it was some kind of special connection that Prince Dracula possessed with other first-generation vampires that helped him find out it was a trap, so he never really got close to Natasha. In this case, Lucien did not have to worry whether Natasha had been cursed anymore.
”I summoned the God of Silver Moon, but I've got no idea why the moon turned scarlet. So far, I can't say the task has been fulfilled, since I haven't heard anything from the other side.” Lucien could not confess to the Princess that he was in such a hurry to confirm her safety that he had not spared time to contact Rhine yet.
”Anyways.” Lucien paused with an unaware smile on his face. ”Thanks for your help, really. There was no way that I could do this without you. Dracula could have killed me like crashing a little bug… I'm so glad you're not in any trouble because of me…”
”Of course. I'm always trustworthy.” Natasha cut Lucien off triumphantly. ”Where are you? I'll give the mask back to you.”
Lucien, who had got used to Natasha's style, immediately informed the Princess where he was.
After less than ten minutes, Lucien saw Natasha in her fine milky-white full set of armor, followed by Camil. As usual, she was glamorous.
”It's a pity that the mask can't turn a male into a female,” said Natasha sincerely when she handed the mask back to Lucien while staring at him.
Lucien was speechless, so he decided to simply look up at the sky where the silver moon was still hanging when he took the mask back.
Natasha was just subconsciously joking. Seeing that Lucien was not into this kind of talk, she laughed and soon became serious again. ”I was told that Dracula is an expert in casting curses and nightmares. You probably want to have your teacher or Hathaway to check you out as soon as possible when you go back. Umm… I think you should go and find the Eye of Curse. He is the authority on these cases.”
”No worries. I was under the defense shield all the time. Before Dracula broke the shield, the God of Silver Moon was summoned and drove him away. I was not affected at all.” Lucien grinned again, feeling rather sweet and warm in his heart.
”Great.” Natasha nodded slightly and then looked at the sky. ”When you summoned Alterna, the black, white, and grey… the solidified colors, they were the same with what you saw beside Lake Elsinore, right? It's another dimension… I wonder if Mr. Rhine and the Grand Cardinal Sard have something to do with it…”
She was not digging into Lucien's secrets but was just putting forward questions without demanding for an answer. Meanwhile, she was also trying to remind Lucien that other powerful existences who experienced the collapse of the Grand Cross should have also figured out some pieces of the puzzle. After all, at that time, the silent world of black, white, and grey emerged out of the water. Although so far ”no one” had found the entrance to the world yet, it was easy for one to connect the two things together. Therefore, Lucien had to be even more careful in the future.
Natasha believed that she was so far the only one except for Lucien who had grasped something about Rhine and Sard, since Lucien had given her the reminders.
”You're right. To find the entrance of the dimension, Mr. Rhine decided to work with Sard, but he was betrayed by Sard, who definitely was hiding some secrets. Therefore, Mr. Rhine was trapped. To help him get out, I summoned the God of Silver Moon. But obviously, the secrets of the dimension are even more complex than I expected. So far, I have no idea whether I succeeded or not.”
Since Natasha had figured out much of the story on her own, Lucien generally explained the situation to her without touching the deeper secrets. Besides, Natasha's unconditional help made Lucien trusted her even more.
Natasha nodded solemnly. ”Since the fall of the Magic Empire, despite the ongoing conflicts between the South and the North Church, there have been no conflicts powerful enough to involve in the entire continent. In the dimension that attracted both Sard and Rhine hides the power that rivals that of Alterna. Maybe… this is the beginning of a new great era.”
Natasha put on a confident and bright smile. ”In every great era, there are great powers that ended up fallen, but there are also new powers catching up and exceeding the former. We shall work hard together, Lucien! I can feel that my blood's longing to fight!”
”I've caught up with you.” Lucien pretended to be quite aggressive. ”Perhaps sooner or later, my power will exceed yours.”
Natasha readily accepted the challenge, happy and excited at the same time. ”We'll see who becomes a level nine first, and who becomes a legendary first. If you lose…”
She put on a cunning smile, as if she was hiding some little secrets.