Throne of Magical Arcana
chapter-176

"I have no idea either," said Chely. "But Jacques, I’m sure my father’s doing this for my own good. You know that I got no potential to become a knight, and that’s the comment from my training coach. I’m not good at running a business as well… I tried to put my hands on my family’s bank and I failed… My brother was quite pissed off."

"But you’re so good at other things…" Jacques tried to encourage his love, "The first time I saw you, you were sitting on the patio, reading a book… I can never forget that beautiful picture in my whole life."

"Except for my passion for reading, I haven’t achieved anything. I tried music, opera, painting, sculpture… but neither of them is my thing," said Chely depressingly, but then her tone got a bit more cheerful, "But you’re different, my love. You’re so versatile. Piano, painting, singing, swordsmanship… everything. You’re like the glorious sun."

"You, Chely, only you is all I want. You don’t have to learn this and that. You just marry me, and I promise you a lovely life." Jacques kissed Chely’s hand.

"But you’re not a real knight yet…" answered Chely sadly, "A noble can only marry another noble. And besides that, Jacques, I want to find my own value in my life as well. I want to develop my ability to be independent. I hope you understand, Jacques."

"I heard you…" answered Jacques in his low voice, "But… but how can you find your independence in a Holm’s convent? And what if when I finally awaken my Blessing, you’re already married to someone else? Wait… Is it correct that the true intention of the viscount sending to you Holm is to let you marry a noble there?!"

That totally made sense to Jacques, since this alliance could bring many benefits to the viscount and even to the Church, that could build a relationship with the conservatives across the strait.

"I don’t know… I really have no idea…" murmured Chely, "My father… He never mentioned this."

"Can you wait for me another three months, Chely?" Jacques’ voice was full of depression, "I know that your parents love you a lot, and you love them as well. But can you give me three years? If I’m still not able to awaken my Blessing in three years, I’m not good enough for you."

"I will… I will, Jacques." Chely was deeply moved, "For three years, I’ll be waiting for you. And… and if those three years end, if you don’t mind… I, I can be your secret lover."

Jacques embraced Chely in his arms, "Chely…"

When Annick was listening to their conversation with great interest, his ears got covered by Lucien.

"That’s too much for you…" Lucien mouthed to Annick.

After a long, cheesy conversation, Chely leaned against Jacques’s shoulder, "When we get a chance, can you play For Silvia for me?"

"Sure. I’ll play anything that you like for you," answered Jacques.

Lucien felt a bit awkward, since he had the impression that For Silvia was quite ominous, based on what happened between Natasha and Silvia, although no more than twenty people knew about this.

"I have to go now. My father might be looking for me," said Chely.

Then, both of them went back upstairs.

After a while, Lucien uncovered Annick’s ears.

"Mr. Evans, I’m not a kid anymore…" complained Annick.

"That was… Even for me, that was almost too much," answered Lucien seriously.

"But it wasn’t even close to the romantic operas…" Annick slightly slanted his head.

"That’s why I don’t like romantic operas," said Lucien directly.

...

In the cabin, Lucien was just standing there, listening to the roaring thunders and the splashing sound of the huge waves flapping the ship protected by many divine power circles.

Although Lucien was quite used to the noise already, the storm that day was still quite intimidating.

Somehow, as a sorcerer specializing in Astrology, although his Host Star of Destiny and his ability of fortune telling was still not impressive yet, Lucien had some kind of bad hunch.

"Is the ship gonna be destroyed by the storm?" murmured Lucien to himself, as he could not help thinking of the worst case.

Lucien could not use Astrology right now, since the storm was too bad.

He hoped his hunch was incorrect as usual, but he still stayed quite alert.

As Lucien was thinking, all of a sudden, a terrible thunder arrived, and Lucien almost lost his balance together with the ship.

"Waves? Or…?"

Lucien had no idea.

Then another bitter slam arrived, shaking the whole ship.

"The ship’s under attack!" Lucien immediately realized what was going on based on his fighting experience.

The whipping and lashing sounds kept going on and on, mixing with the loud bangs caused by bolts of lightning striking the divine power circles. All the apprentices, despite feeling quite sick, gathered in front of Lucien’s cabin, including Oimos, who was usually quite calm.

At this time, they trusted a real sorcerer.

Lucien opened the door and asked the apprentices to calm down, "No matter who’s doing this, they’re not coming for us. Let the knights and pastors handle them. We'll just stay here and wait."

If even the grand knight could not stop them, Lucien and the apprentices had no chance either.

The apprentices calmed down a bit, influenced by Lucien’s attitude.

Another spell bitterly struck the ship again. Many apprentices lost their balance and fell on the floor.

Something was cracking and squeaking outside.

Lucien’s brows frowned. He wondered if the divine power circles were going to be broken.

Then, a great heat was sensed by his spiritual power. The heat was so powerful that even the thunder and lightning could not overwhelm it.

Lucien once witnessed the leader of a group of night watchers fighting, so he could roughly estimate the power — this heat should come from at least a level five divine spell, which meant that there was at least a cardinal on the ship!

Together with the heat, a sudden powerful blow joined the fight, and the power felt totally different from the natural storm. Lucien was pretty sure that it was from Viscount Wright, as the viscount’s Blessing, Gale, was really well-known in Sturk.

Therefore, Lucien was a bit more relieved. A pastor and a grand knight should be able to handle that situation.

Although the whipping sound disappeared, Lucien and the apprentices heard the sound of fighting on the deck together with that of thunder, lightning and the waves.

Suddenly, a great wave attacked this side of the ship where Lucien and the apprentices were on, and one of the divine power circles was finally destroyed.

Then, Lucien and the apprentices saw water fiercely flooding into the cabin, mixing with white ocean foam.

Together with the water, creepy-looking creatures who had fish heads but human bodies also came into the cabin. Their bodies were covered with silver scales, and their seemingly thin and weak arms were holding aggressive, heavy tridents.

"Kuo-toans!" Lucien was very surprised.

Although these Kuo-toans were still against the Church, Lucien did not understand was why they were attacking the fleet right now.

All the apprentices’ faces paled.

Even Lucien started feeling nervous.

Fight? What if the knights, pastors and sailors came down later and found them here?

Run away? But they were in the middle of the ocean right now!

"What should I do?!" Lucien asked himself in his mind.