CHAPTER 295: JEALOUSY!?

Grey felt that Lucy’s demeanour was slightly off. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he definitely knew that this girl was having distracting thoughts.

Instinctively, his pupil went towards Sophie, who was just silently following him.

"Hmm?" Sophie tilted her head in confusion.

A thought immediately clicked in his mind, a word that might have hit the nail and accurately described the condition of Lucy:

Jealousy!

Lucy was jealous, or a more appropriate term would be wary.

As Grey thought more about it, he was even more certain in his thoughts. At the end of his thoughts, which was only a mere blink of an eye, a sigh escaped his lips. ’This girl is thinking too much.’

At first, Grey had never held any romantic feelings toward Lucy. But now, uncertainty gnawed at him. He didn’t want to break her heart, and somewhere along the way, without even realizing it, he seemed to have developed some feelings for her.

Whether those feelings were truly love, he couldn’t say. Still, something was there.

As for the other woman, Sophie, their bond was nothing more than a mix of compassion and professionalism. To him, their relationship resembled that of employer and employee, she had hired him, and that was all.

But explaining this to Lucy felt impossibly difficult.

How could he put it into words? No matter how he tried to phrase it in his mind, everything sounded like empty words without weight, leaving him uneasy at heart.

Even if he told her the truth, it wouldn’t be convincing without action to back it up. Truth needs facts to back it up, no matter whether he said sweet words or not.

Grey also didn’t have much interest in manipulating people, whether it was for something that was true or not.

In the end, Grey silently walked away, and Sophie quickly followed behind.

Until the door was closed, Lucy was completely silent all the way through. Then, she sighed with an extremely tired expression, ’I am not even his lover... I shouldn’t worry too much. He has already helped me so much.’

Consoling herself, she quickly went back to work.

Grey and Sophie came outside and looked around their surroundings.

"Let’s go, shall we?" Sophie asked, seeing the absent gaze of Grey.

"Yeah, let’s go," Grey commented lightly, and a Grimoire with a cover imprinted with a fox drifted in front of him.

Then he raised his quill pen and was about to write.

"Why don’t you test my artifact?" she asked.

Grey paused, turned towards her, and nodded his head. "You’re right."

He pocketed his usual quill pen, which was already degrading from all the wear and tear, then he took the beautiful red quill in his hand.

First, he supplied his Spiritual energy into the quill. In an instant, it all gathered without a blockade.

He froze on the spot. With a normal quill, funneling spiritual energy into the pen had always been a tedious chore but now it flowed effortlessly?

Grey found it hard to believe his own eyes.

When he began writing in the Fox Grimoire, the difference became even clearer. Instead of the usual resistance that fought against him, the grimoire welcomed his strokes with a strange sense of familiarity.

Swoosh!

The air trembled as he inscribed the final words. A blue flame burst forth, descending to the ground and carving a perfect circle beneath them.

With a deep rumble, the platform detached and rose, carrying the two of them high into the sky. This was the Fox Grimoire’s newly awakened ability after its advancement, granting greater command over the blue flames.

They tore through the air with startling speed.

"This is amazing." Sophie’s voice was soft, carried away by the rushing wind. Her hair whipped about as she closed her eyes, savoring the cold breeze against her skin.

In mere seconds, their flight came to an end. The platform shuddered to a halt, floating steadily.

When Sophie opened her eyes again, her gaze fell on the towering, familiar castle before her. Her pupils flashed with a strange gaze.

"We’ve arrived," Grey said calmly at her side, as the platform began its slow descent toward the ground.

He looked as the guards came towards him with flattering smiles on their faces.

The leading guard bowed his head slightly and asked, "You should have told us that you were coming, Lord Grey, we would have prepared so much more for you."

"Hmm." Grey just casually nodded his head. "No need for pleasantries. Is the coronation ceremony tomorrow?"

"Yes, it is," the leading guard replied, a flash of confusion in his eyes.

"Good, then let’s go. I will also be participating in this coronation as this lady’s guard." Grey pointed at Sophie.

"This... this..."

"What’s wrong?" Grey asked with a frown.

"Who is she?" the leading guard rubbed the back of his head, completely clueless.

"I am the fifteenth illegitimate princess..." Sophie squeaked, barely above a whisper.

"Oh..." The leading guard made an enlightened expression before helplessly shaking his head. "I have no clue."

"I only came to the castle when I was a child, and there are so many children of the king, it is hard to keep up," Sophie explained, completely unaffected by it.

Even if no one knows, every single person who is qualified to compete for the throne must compete. This was the iron rule of this nation that could not be broken."

"I see. I will inform the king about it. Lord Grey, please wait here." The leading guard smiled, turned around, and went away with the other guards, leaving the two standing at the gate.

Just as Grey was feeling a little bored, a purple light flickered out of his body, materialising into the purple-haired woman.

"What’s wrong, Eve?" he asked.

"I can sense a Mythical Grimoire here," Eve said with a gleam.

"What, here!?" Grey exclaimed.

This kingdom was significantly weaker than Celstria Kingdom, so in his assumption, it was unlikely for there to be a Mythical Grimoire here.