Chapter 136: Madame Rose

Chapter 136: Lady Rose

"Teacher."

Evelyn spoke softly.

"Oh."

Levi, having received his answer, turned and took two steps forward—then suddenly paused. Something felt off. He snapped back to awareness.

Rota clearly adored her. Yet Evelyn wasn't Rota's lover?

She was his teacher?

Wait—

Rota was thirty-five this year. If Evelyn was his teacher, how old could she possibly be?

Curious, Levi glanced back at Evelyn over his shoulder.

She appeared a mature yet youthful woman—fair-skinned, beautiful, not a single crow’s feather at the corner of her eyes. She looked astonishingly young—certainly not older than Rota. In fact, Rota seemed far more aged than his own teacher. Their roles should have been reversed.

Evelyn set down her smoking pipe and met Levi’s gaze. "What is it? Any questions?"

Levi well knew the peril of asking a woman her age.

He quickly said, "No, nothing important. I'm just surprised—you look so much younger than Magus Rota."

Evelyn smiled faintly. "You’re quite the flatterer."

"All women love beauty. I’m merely skilled in preservation."

Even so, Levi caught the quiet pride beneath her words.

Seizing the moment, he offered a few more compliments.

"It’s not just about preservation. It’s your natural grace. Even without care, you’d still be breathtaking."

Pleased, Evelyn laughed lightly. Then, meeting his eyes, she said, "If you truly wish to help Rota, go to the Pumpkin Manor outside the city tomorrow afternoon."

Levi froze, startled. He hadn’t expected a simple compliment to land him with an errand.

Then again, he had come here seeking to resolve matters, not avoid them.

He didn’t hesitate long.

"Should I prepare anything?" he asked.

"No. Just be there." Evelyn smiled faintly.

Levi nodded. As he turned to leave, he asked one last question.

"Do you know who I am?"

Evelyn looked at him, smiled—but said nothing.

And in that silence, Levi understood.

She had known his identity from the start.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have waited until after Rota left to call him down.

Levi departed.

Evelyn emptied the ashes from her pipe, then turned to the old woodsman seated beside her.

"Won’t you meet him?" she asked.

"I already have," the old man replied.

From beginning to end, Levi never noticed the figure sitting in the courtyard.

Walking back, Levi pondered as he went.

"How was my identity revealed?"

Two possibilities.

Someone had told Evelyn beforehand.

Or Evelyn had heard of the commotion he caused at the Mage Association—and recognized him.

"Hmm… Why do I feel like the waters of Feihua City run deeper than they appear?"

An uneasy sensation crept over him.

He missed the free, easy days of Maple City.

"Better finish this quickly—before more trouble finds me."

Back in his room, Levi glanced at Rota’s door.

Rota had returned.

Now lying in bed, sleepless.

"One-sided love never bears fruit," Levi murmured, shaking his head before lying down himself.

He entered the dream realm.

Practiced illusion arts for a while—only to find first-rank illusion magic now several times harder to master.

Wanting to sharpen his blade at the last moment, he decided against grinding through such a tough challenge.

"Time to refine the Invisible Armor spell."

Night passed.

[Invisible Armor (First Rank, Approaching Mastery)] 7812/10000

As proficiency grew, the layers he could stack increased—from nine to eleven.

His defense strengthened considerably.

So far, no enemy had broken through all layers.

The Ant King might have managed it—

but Levi had incinerated it with a charged fireball before it got the chance.

Defense, naturally, kept rising.

No one ever complained of being too well protected.

On the third day, the Mage Exchange continued as scheduled.

Guzer invited Levi to tour the event, but Levi declined, choosing instead to stay behind and train in the inn.

Gu Ze went once more to invite Rota, only to find him already gone in the early hours of the dawn.

He was left with no choice but to wander the exchange convention alone.

Amidst the bustling gathering, Gu Ze crossed paths with quite a few familiar faces.

"Mage Wylde?"

"Mage Lilith, it has been a long time."

"Good morning, Archmage Allen."

...

Allen looked upon Gu Ze and inquired, "Are you all by yourself?"

Gu Ze replied, "Levi remained at the inn to cultivate and did not come. As for Rota, I know not where he has wandered."

"Levi came as well?" Allen remarked, surprise coloring his voice.

Gu Ze nodded and said, "Yes."

Allen asked, "Is Levi participating in the tournament?"

Gu Ze answered, "The Tower Master has slated him for the next session."

Allen nodded, understanding dawning upon him.

Word of Torres Tower taking Levi as a disciple had long been spread throughout the Mage Tower by Gu Ze.

Allen was well aware of the matter too.

"If Levi is not participating, then representing Maple City this year will only be Wylde and Lilith," Allen noted.

Gu Ze turned his gaze toward Lilith.

Lilith was preoccupied with her food, paying no heed to the conversation between the two.

Wylde's countenance had been sour the entire time, his eyes cast in a shadow of gloom.

He had yet to recover from the devastating blow at the Kovada Mine.

He had nearly lost his life, managing to escape and be found only through sheer luck.

By afternoon, Levi departed from Flower City and arrived at the Pumpkin Manor on the outskirts.

The Pumpkin Manor grew pumpkins and vegetables, serving as one of the vital grain supplies for Flower City.

The Seto family, holding the very lifeblood of Flower City's sustenance, once enjoyed no small status.

Yet after enduring bouts of turmoil, the Seto family had fallen into deep decline.

Now, even this vast field of the Pumpkin Manor was on the verge of being lost.

They stood at a precipice, a time of life or death.

Should they lose the Pumpkin Manor, the Seto family would exist in name only.

When Levi arrived outside the Pumpkin Manor, he beheld vast tracts of land lying barren, untouched by any plow.

The colossal manor stood desolate and solitary amidst a sea of wild weeds.

Even the vegetation creeping up the stone walls was left untended.

It was plain to see just how low the Seto family had fallen.

At the manor's gates, Levi spotted Rota's silhouette.

Catching the sound of approaching footsteps, Rota turned his head, his face registering a touch of unexpected surprise.

"Levi, what brings you here?"

Levi walked to his side, tilting his head to look up at the manor's signboard.

The lettering had already faded into obscurity.

"Is this Mage Rota's home?" Levi asked.

Rota nodded and murmured, "Yes. I have not returned for eighteen years."

Creak!

The harsh sound of friction rasped through the air as the manor's grand gates ground open.

Several figures rushed out in haste, crying, "Uncle Rota, you must save the Seto family!"

Levi turned his gaze and noticed two figures he had seen before.

After a brief moment of reflection, he remembered the two youths he had encountered at the Mage Association two days prior.

At the time, they seemed to be pleading for an audience with a certain mage.

Clop, clop, clop!

The sound of galloping hooves echoed from afar.

The individuals pleading with Rota fell silent and stared into the distance.

A contingent of riders approached on horseback, pulling hard on their reins to halt right before the crowd.

The dust kicked up by the flaring hooves billowed straight into everyone's faces.

The Magistrate of Flower City sat astride his mount, looking down upon them with a haughty air.

He declared, "The Seto family is no longer capable of maintaining the normal operations of the Pumpkin Manor. In accordance with the regulations signed between Flower City and the nobility, effective today, the City Lord's estate shall reclaim ownership of the Pumpkin Manor. All individuals who are not members of the City Lord's estate must vacate the premises without exception!"

"This is the final ultimatum. If you linger and refuse to depart, do not blame the City Lord's estate for deploying the military to evict you."

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through.

A great deluge of flower petals materialized in the sky.

As the petals drifted down, a solitary figure manifested before the gathered crowd.

The Magistrate stared at the newcomer, gasping in shock, "Madame Rose!"