Julian looked at the Duke, confused. He could understand the Duke taking Lucius since he was his son, but him?

Why was he being dragged along?

He was just a tutor. What exactly could he do on their journey to the south to make up for his debt?

After trying his hardest to get away from the Capital, now he was being dragged back?

No, no, he didn’t want to get involved with the plot... Not even by accident. And more than that, he was worried that he’d have to travel in the same carriage as the Duke, even at night.

If they were in the same carriage even when the sun came up, he would wake up every morning with the Duke in front of him and that meant... He gulped... He couldn’t even begin to imagine their reactions.

He wanted to make an excuse, a valid one, just so he could get out of it, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, the system chimed,

[MANDATORY QUEST UNLOCKED]

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

Julian stared at the flickering purple screen with a look of pure betrayal.

> [MANDATORY QUEST: The Trip To The South]

> Goal: Accompany the Grand Duke and the Young Lord to the Capital and the Southern Provinces.

> Condition: Ensure the Young Lord’s safety and maintain the Duke’s emotional stability (Affection must not drop below 10%).

> Penalty for Failure: Permanent loss of "Teacher" status and immediate [Execution] by the Imperial Guards.

> Reward: 300 SP, ’Imperial Favor’ Rank 1, and the recipe for the [High-Tier Soul-Stabilizing Potion].

Julian’s mouth hung open. The system wasn’t just nudging him; it was holding a knife to his throat. ’Immediate execution’ was a very effective way to ruin his morning.

"Is there a problem, Astrea?" Alaric asked, his eyes narrowing as he watched Julian’s face go through several stages of existential dread. "You look as though I just sentenced you to the gallows rather than a trip to the most scenic part of the Empire."

"Not at all, Your Grace," Julian squeaked, quickly closing the system window before the Duke could wonder why he was staring at thin air. "I was merely... overwhelmed by the honor. It’s quite a long journey, and I’ll need to prepare the Young Lord’s curriculum for the road."

Alaric let out a huff that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "Curriculum? We’ll be on horseback and in carriages. Leave the books for a while. Let him see the world."

Julian had a feeling this triple was the Duke’s way of trying to make up to Lucius for the amount of time he had wasted during the years.

But then... Why did he have to involve him?

The Duke turned back to Lucius, who was looking at Julian with eyes so wide they were practically sparkling. The boy reached out and tugged on Julian’s sleeve, his face glowing with a silent, desperate question: ’You’re coming too, right?’

Julian looked down at the child. He saw the ’55% Affection’ hovering over Lucius’s head and felt a pang of guilt. If he stayed behind, the ’Lingering Peace’ he had fought so hard to build in this house might evaporate the moment they crossed the border.

"Of course I’ll be going too, Lucius," He whispered, patting the boy’s hand.

Lucius gave a small, sharp nod and a grin that finally reached his eyes.

> [Target: Young Lord Lucius — Affection: 60%]

> [Milestone Reached: ’Trusted Guardian’]

The Duke watched the interaction, his expression unreadable, though Julian’s ’Empathic Resonance’ picked up a strange, low-frequency hum of satisfaction mixed with wariness.

"Three days," the Duke repeated, standing up and towering over the table. "The Butler will provide you with whatever funds you need for traveling gear. Don’t pack too much because we’ll be moving fast."

As Duke Alaric strode out of the room, his mantle billowing behind him, Julian collapsed back into his chair. He felt like he had just survived a whirlwind, only to realize he was being sucked into a hurricane.

Julian thought that his trouble at the time was just going South to the Capital and getting sucked back into an unknown plot.

However, he failed to realize that there were bigger troubles to pay attention to.

Duke Alaric was the Emperor’s brother. And for the Duke to head to the Capital, of course he would have to meet with the Emperor—Aurelian, the brother who ’devoured everything he set his mind to.’

If Julian was lucky, he’d remain a nameless tutor in the background. If he was unlucky... He might meet the Emperor.

’I need better gear,’ Julian thought, his eyes darting to his SP balance.

He had 225 SP.

He planned to save, but how could he save when he was being dragged into a danger zone? He had to use his points if he wanted to have a higher chance of survival.

Julian stared at the shimmering shop interface, his finger hovering over the screen with a tremor of pure anxiety.

There were two items he had his eyes on.

The [Veil of the Commoner] was a necessity.

If he had the veil, he could hide himself without really hiding himself. Those nobles who liked to sniff out gossip and engage in fake chatter wouldn’t walk up to him.

He wasn’t there for any of them, so he had no reason to reveal his identity if they didn’t recognize him, and he would be far from their drama.

But 150 SP was a massive dent in his savings.

Then there was the [Advanced Alchemy Set].

Without it, the recipe he was about to earn from the mandatory quest was just useless ink on parchment.

Every morning he woke up drenched in cold sweat, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He needed that Soul-Stabilizing Potion to keep his own mind from fracturing under the weight of this world.

But it cost 100 SP.

Since he couldn’t afford the potion itself, he would have to make it, but... What if he failed at making it at all?

He was no alchemist and his points were suffering too. If he went ahead to squander 100 SPs now, then...

He looked at his points again.

[Current Survival Points: 255]

[Option 1: Veil of the Commoner - 150 SP]

[Option 2: Advanced Alchemy Set - 100 SP]

He shut his eyes, thinking.

’This is for the greater good.’

He had to at least try since he did not have any other options to help him settle his problem—not like this would settle his problem right away either.

’If I buy both, I’ll have exactly 5 SP left,’ Julian thought, biting his lip so hard he tasted copper. ’I’ll be bankrupt. One emergency, and I’m dead because I couldn’t afford a basic survival item.’

He looked over at Lucius, who was busily drawing a more detailed version of the ’Ice-breaker’ ship, completely unaware that his tutor was currently negotiating with a cosmic system for his life.

"Fine," Julian hissed under his breath. "Survival first, sanity second. But I’m definitely going to regret this."

He tapped the screen twice.

[PURCHASE COMPLETE]

>[Items Acquired: Veil of the Commoner and Advanced Alchemy Set (Stored in Inventory)]

>[Remaining SP: 5]

He wasn’t going to equip the veil yet until it was time to leave.

He looked at his remaining survival points and felt that if he didn’t get any hidden quest reward in the three days before they departed, he was going to be in very big trouble if he came across a situation he could not navigate without the system’s help.