Chapter 135: Chapter 128: Meeting the princess

The next morning, Lucien once again climbed the endless stairs of the Tower of Stars.

Unlike his previous visits, however, his thoughts weren’t occupied by demons, ancient invasions, or the Supreme Mage Council.

Instead, they were occupied by a princess.

Which was somehow more troublesome.

The Royal Guardian’s words from yesterday echoed in his mind.

"Come back tomorrow."

"I think it is time you met Elena properly."

The old mage had looked entirely too amused while saying it.

That alone was enough to make Lucien cautious.

People did not survive centuries by finding amusement in ordinary situations.

Eventually he reached the summit.

The familiar wooden door stood before him.

After a brief knock, he entered.

The Guardian sat exactly where he always seemed to sit.

A cup of tea rested in his hand.

Several books lay scattered across the table.

Nothing unusual At first glance.

Then Lucien noticed he wasn’t alone.

A young woman sat near one of the enormous windows overlooking the capital.

Sunlight streamed through the glass behind her.

Several documents rested on the table before her.

Unlike most nobles, she wasn’t pretending to read them.

She was actually reading and occasionally making notes,occasionally crossing out sections and occasionally muttering under her breath.( Too much occasionally things the author says)

The Guardian looked up.

"Ah."

A smile appeared.

"Here you are."

The young woman also raised her head.

Her eyes immediately settled upon Lucien.

The moment she saw him, something changed a brief flicker of surprise followed bycuriosity.

Then something else.

Something Lucien couldn’t quite identify.

The Guardian gestured between them.

"Lucien."

Then toward the young woman.

"Princess Elena."

The princess continued studying him.

For several seconds neither spoke.

Eventually Elena broke the silence.

"You really are different."

Lucien blinked.

That wasn’t quite the greeting he expected.

The Guardian immediately became interested in his tea.

Which meant he was listening to everything.

Elena stood.

Slowly walking around the table.

Still studying and observing him.

The sensation was oddly familiar.

Like being inspected by an intelligence officer.

Finally Lucien spoke.

"Different from what?"

For some reason, that answer seemed to surprise her.

The princess tilted her head slightly.

Then a small smile appeared.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The Guardian looked suspiciously entertained.

Elena eventually sat back down.

"Nothing."

Lucien doubted that.

The princess gestured toward an empty chair.

"Sit."

For several moments he considered refusing purely on principle.

Then decided that would be childish.

He sat.

The Guardian immediately pushed a cup of tea toward him.

Apparently the old mage believed every important conversation required tea.(Author agrees)

The conversation began simply enough.

First questions about Elarion.

Then about production.

Followed by industry.

Yet unlike most nobles, Elena’s questions were specific.

Painfully specific.

"What limits steel production the most?"

"Transportation."

Lucien answered immediately.

The princess nodded.

As though confirming something.

Then another question.

"Could factory output double within five years?"

"Possibly."

"Without expanding the workforce?"

"No."

Again she nodded.

Making another note.

Lucien began noticing a pattern.

She wasn’t asking questions because she lacked information.

She was asking because she wanted to verify information she already possessed.

That realization made him considerably more interested.

The conversation continued.

Rail systems,Agricultural reforms,Military logistics,Supply chains.

The topics shifted naturally.

Hours passed surprisingly quickly and lucien found himself actually enjoying answering her questions.

Then Elena casually said:

"You hate court politics less than before."

The statement immediately caught his attention.

Lucien frowned slightly.

"Before?"

The princess looked up from her notes.

"Yes."

A brief pause followed.

Then she seemed to realize something.

The Guardian suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.

Very suspicious.

Elena’s gaze returned to Lucien.

For several moments she simply observed him.

Then said:

"You don’t remember."

It wasn’t a question.

Lucien felt an uncomfortable sensation.

Because technically she was right.

Not in the way she believed.

But right nonetheless.

The princess continued.

"We met several times."

The answer explained everything.

Immediately also the familiarity.

The way she kept comparing him to some invisible standard.

The comments about being different.

Of course.

She knew the original Lucien.

Meanwhile he possessed absolutely none of those memories.

The situation suddenly became much clearer.

"I see."

Elena leaned back.

For several moments she appeared thoughtful.

Then she laughed softly.

The reaction surprised him.

"What?"

The princess shook her head.

"Nothing."

Her smile widened slightly.

"I was just wondering if you’d forgotten."

The Guardian finally spoke.

"To be fair, most of those meetings were terribly boring."

Elena pointed at him.

"That is not helping."

The old mage ignored her completely.

Lucien remained silent.

This explained several things.

But it also raised new questions.

The princess seemed to notice his expression.

"The old you hated meetings."

The statement came casually.

As though discussing the weather.

"You also hated reports."

The Guardian nodded.

"True."

Elena continued.

"You once spent an entire diplomatic banquet trying to escape."

Lucien stared.

The princess smiled.

"You succeeded at last "

The Guardian laughed.

"He climbed out a window and then fell,cried for two hours afterwards."

Lucien slowly drank his tea.

There was absolutely no response he could give to that.

Elena looked entirely too amused.

"See?"

She pointed at him.

"The old Lucien would have argued by now."

The room became quiet.

Then she added:

"You’ve changed."

This time there was no humor in her voice.

Lucien met her gaze.

"People change."

The princess studied him for several moments.

Then nodded slowly.

"Yes."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"But not usually this much."

The statement lingered.

Fortunately the Guardian interrupted before the conversation became dangerous.

"Speaking of changes."

The old mage looked toward Elena.

"Have you informed him about your various crimes?"

The princess immediately looked offended.

"They were not crimes."

"Some definitely were."

"They were research."

The Guardian laughed.

Lucien watched the exchange with growing interest.

Clearly this wasn’t the first argument of its kind.

Then Elena said something that froze him.

"At least I never started a war."

The room fell silent.

The Guardian suddenly became very interested in his tea.

Again.

Lucien’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The princess seemed to realize her mistake.

A tiny mistake,One sentence but enough.

Because it connected to a memory.

A battlefield campaign and An unmarked letter.

The atmosphere changed.

Elena noticed immediately.

The Guardian noticed too.

Neither spoke.

Lucien set his cup down.

"The letter."

Silence.

Elena’s expression remained calm.

Tried to attend least but her clenched hand gave her away.

"The Coalition War."

The princess became very still.

The Guardian looked as though Christmas had arrived early and he had lot of preparation to do.

Lucien continued.

"The unmarked letter."

For several moments nobody spoke.

Then Elena looked like a theif trying to deny the crime,she had commited

The reaction alone told him everything.

Still.

He asked anyway.

"Was it you?"

The princess closed her eyes briefly.

Then opened them.

The Guardian looked delighted.

Which was the opposite of reassuring.

Finally Elena asked:

"Did it help?"

Lucien stared at her.

The Guardian burst out laughing.

The princess immediately pointed at him.

"Grandfather."

That only made him laugh harder.

Lucien, meanwhile, had received his answer.

"It was you."

Elena sighed again.

Then nodded.

"Yes."

For several moments the room remained silent.

The mystery had remained unanswered for years.

And now the culprit sat directly across from him.

Making notes and Drinking tea.

Looking mildly embarrassed.

The absurdity of the situation wasn’t lost on him.

Finally he asked the obvious question.

"Why?"

The princess considered the question carefully.

Long enough that he knew she was taking it seriously.

Then she answered.

"Because I was curious."

Lucien stared.

The answer sounded ridiculous.

Elena noticed.

So she elaborated.

"Everyone was talking about you."

The room became quiet.

"The nobles,The generals and The merchants."

She shrugged.

"Most were placing bets on whether you’d survive."

The Guardian nodded.

"Accurate."

Elena ignored him.

Meanwhile her gaze remained fixed on Lucien.

"I wasn’t interested in whether you survived."

That caught his attention.

The princess smiled faintly.

"I was interested in what you would do."

Silence followed.

Then she added:

"The reports coming from Elarion didn’t make sense."

"Neither did your decisions."

Her expression became thoughtful.

"So I wanted to see what happened next."

The explanation was simple.

Yet somehow Lucien believed her.

Because it fit.

Everything he had seen today suggested the same thing.

Princess Elena was driven by curiosity.

An alarming amount of curiosity.

Enough to secretly influence a war.

Enough to investigate an entire territory.

Enough to spend years following reports from Elarion.

The realization was mildly concerning.

The Guardian clearly agreed.

"She has always been troublesome."

Elena glared at him.

The old mage looked entirely unrepentant.

Eventually the conversation resumed.

But something had changed.

The mystery between them was gone.

And as the afternoon sun illuminated the Tower of Stars, Lucien found himself reaching an unexpected conclusion.

Princess Elena was far more interesting than he anticipated.

Meanwhile, across the table, Elena reached a conclusion of her own.

The face was the same.

The name was the same.

The voice was the same.

Yet somehow...

The man sitting before her felt like an entirely different person from the one she remembered.

And for someone as curious as Princess Elena, that mystery was impossible to ignore.