"What’s going on? Are ads this brazen now? All I can say is, the Photoshop job is pretty good!"

"Just a quiet note... I saw him the other day. I can prove he wasn’t lying. The scars on his face are really gone!"

"For real? If that’s true, this beauty cream is practically a miracle drug!"

"I think it’s worth a shot. No harm in buying some to try, just in case, right? But I just checked, and it looks like this No. 1 Institute was just founded not long ago. The product isn’t even on the market yet!"

"So the product isn’t even for sale, but they’re already in a rush to advertise? They’re just here to fleece us. Real classy!"

...

The group’s reaction to the news was mixed, with some believing it and others not.

However, the group member who had kindly shared the news went silent after posting. He was getting too many private messages from people wanting to know about the beauty cream and couldn’t keep up with the replies.

Someone then reposted his message on a public platform, which is where Mai Lun happened to see the thread. Although they were all volunteers, they couldn’t see each other’s daily progress photos.

So he had no idea how the others were doing. But after using it for a week himself, the color of the burn on his face had faded significantly. At first, he thought it might just be a psychological effect, but as he documented his progress day by day, the difference quickly became obvious.

It wasn’t just his imagination—it was really working. Now, even his family had noticed that the scar on his face had faded a lot.

Now, having come across this thread and seeing the other person’s complete recovery after using the beauty cream, he was filled with even more hope for his own situation. It was as if he had suddenly regained all his confidence.

Although the thread was reposted on a public platform, it didn’t cause much of a stir. After all, there were plenty of similar posts, and most people just assumed it was an ad.

Only the volunteers who were actually using the beauty cream knew the true value of the No. 1 Institute’s product.

Lu Xia was still unaware of the situation online. As time passed, more and more feedback came in from the volunteers, and the official launch date for the beauty cream drew ever closer.

Finally, the weekend arrived. It was the day she had arranged with Graces to visit Duke Leslie.

Early that morning, Lu Xia got dressed and came downstairs. The old butler had already prepared a gift for their visit to Duke Leslie.

The item had already been handed to Graces.

When Lu Xia saw it, she asked, "Is anything missing?"

Graces replied softly, "This is more than enough. I should have been the one to prepare these things."

’For Lu Xia to be willing to visit Duke Leslie was already the highest honor for him, yet she had even gone out of her way to have the old butler prepare a gift in advance.’ 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"It’s proper to bring a gift on a first visit." Lu Xia didn’t say much more. After telling the old butler not to prepare lunch for them, she left the house with Graces.

On the way, Graces took the initiative to talk about his family. As the youngest child, Graces had two older female sisters and one older male brother.

And he was the family’s only ’defective’ younger brother.

Therefore, he had never been highly regarded at home. Even though Graces had worked hard to achieve his current status, in the eyes of everyone in the Empire, no achievement, no matter how brilliant, could compare to the glory of being a Gene Fusion Expert.

After getting a general understanding of Graces’s family situation, Lu Xia nodded. "You don’t live at home anymore. You don’t need to take Duke Leslie’s attitude to heart."

Graces’s heart skipped a beat. ’That was actually a word of comfort!’

Although Lu Xia had spoken in the calmest, most natural tone, her words were a genuine expression of concern.

It made the rims of Graces’s ears turn red without him realizing. "I understand," he said.

Lu Xia didn’t notice the impact her words had on the man beside her. She had just said it casually after hearing his story.

Soon, they arrived at the Leslie Duke Mansion. The Duke had instructed her butler to receive them at the entrance. Seeing them arrive together, the butler, with impeccable etiquette, took the gift from Graces’s hands and exchanged pleasantries with Lu Xia. "We received word from Young Master Graces that you would be visiting. The head of the family views this with great importance and commanded me to await you here since early this morning!"

After all, Graces had been sent to serve as Duke Lu Xia’s husband. Everyone in the Empire knew that a husband was nothing more than a low-status plaything.

Lu Xia could dispose of him as she wished, without even needing to inform Duke Leslie.

That was why Duke Leslie had been so shocked and incredulous when she received word that Lu Xia would be accompanying Graces on a visit home to see her.

And for the first time, she properly took notice of Graces, this person who, in her eyes, had always been her greatest failure.

’This useless-seeming youngest son... perhaps he wasn’t as worthless as she had imagined.’

’She didn’t know what method he had used to persuade Duke Lu Xia to come back and visit with him.’

’But regardless of what he did, being able to bring Duke Lu Xia here was a skill in itself.’

For Duke Lu Xia to visit with Graces, her husband, was undoubtedly a sign of respect toward their Leslie family.

’How could she not be happy? How could she not place importance on today’s meeting?’

Before long, she saw Graces and Duke Lu Xia enter, escorted by the butler. When her eyes fell on the gift in the butler’s hands, Duke Leslie’s mood improved even more.

’Very good. Not only did she come, but she brought a gift.’

Duke Leslie rose with a smile. "Duke Lu Xia, your complexion looks even better than the other day. Graces hasn’t been neglectful in his care, has he?"

"Of course not. Graces has been very good." Lu Xia sat down in the seat beside Duke Leslie. "I thought that since some time has passed, it was about time I brought Graces back to visit you. I should have come sooner, but I’ve been busy with a few things recently. I hope Duke Leslie won’t take offense."

"Why would I? I’m overjoyed that you could come. With the relationship between our two families now, we should indeed visit each other more often."

"I think so too." At this point, Lu Xia noticed Graces standing to the side and couldn’t help but say, "You should sit down as well."

Graces’s expression was natural upon hearing this. He simply glanced up at Lu Xia before taking a seat as instructed.

Duke Leslie took all of this in, a hint of surprise flickering in her eyes. ’It seems Duke Lu Xia truly values this male offspring of mine!’

This, in turn, made her even happier.

Lu Xia silently observed Duke Leslie’s expression and was also quite satisfied with what she saw.

’Since Duke Leslie is in a good mood, she’ll probably be quite willing to do a few things for me ^_^’