Lucas returned to his room.
The night was already deep, but at this moment he couldn’t fall asleep.
Again with the so-called change of the times, again with the so-called future of Novalis…
‘Novalis could be better’…
Simply put, it was just an excuse for these people to push for independence…
Those guys were using the greater good to coerce him again…
But unlike thirty-six years ago, that young man back then was at least naive… at least daring to think and act…
And now all that remained was a decrepit old man, half-buried in the ground.
Even though a voice inside warned him that he was running away, that this was cowardly behavior.
But what was wrong with that?
He himself was just a priest now…
Why wouldn’t they let him go?
Why must he be the one to make choices?
Savoring the conversation just now, every minute and second made Lucas feel bitter.
He had clearly given up competing with them for power…
He clearly just wanted to be a priest in the church now…
Lucas slumped back in the wooden chair.
At this moment, his strong, masculine exterior couldn’t hide the confusion and pain inside.
No one knew what he was thinking at this moment, his hollow eyes stared fixedly at a corner of the desk, where a photo frame sat neatly.
In the frame was a young girl in her prime, wearing simple school uniform, laughing without reservation—the black-and-white photo couldn’t hide her liveliness and spirit.
“An… what should I do?”
The priest murmured.
“If it were you… what would you do?”
Lucas was stunned. He thought of Novalis.
Not the current Novalis that tormented him, this abyss of pain.
For him, Novalis had once been prosperous and beautiful.
—
In the 34th year of the Light Calendar, a boy named Lucas was born into a middle-class family in Novalis.
His mother was a female worker in a factory, and his father was the factory’s manager.
At that time, Novalis had already entered the golden age of technological invention.
Magic Steam Engines had been mass-produced and put into use.
Coupled with the rich ore reserves of the Chris Vein, Novalis had quietly become a rising star in Eseriel.
Thus, Lucas’s childhood was happy and beautiful.
His parents, family, playmates, and neighbors were all proud to be Novalis natives, members of this star city.
Lucas was also proud.
Whenever he introduced himself to others—mentioning that he was the son of a factory owner—no elder would fail to give him a thumbs-up, and no peer would fail to stare at him with envy and curry favor.
Because in Novalis, factories and machines were all synonymous with innovation and change.
As long as you or your family were involved in any emerging industry, you were seen as progressive and enlightened.
In contrast, churches, prayers, knights—anything related to the Holy Capital and carrying doctrine—were seen as the ‘tools’ of the Church to control Novalis—backward entities that should be criticized and reviled.
Lucas once thought so too.
Like other children his age, he was ignorant and feared the Church far to the north, viewing backward doctrines as a scourge.
Until he entered middle school, until he met that girl.
“Hello everyone! My name is An!”
The girl’s brown twin tails swayed restlessly along with her.
On the first day of school, An introduced herself like the other children.
The difference was that compared to other children her age, An was really too pretty.
Big eyes, long eyelashes, soft long hair, a face and clothes as beautiful as a doll—this was probably the best praise children of that age could give with their limited vocabulary.
Lucas was also drawn to her gaze.
Warm and friendly.
This was Lucas’s first impression of this graceful girl.
Perhaps it was fate that the girl named An also noticed his stare.
She gave him a warm smile in return.
An innocent, flawless smile like an angel.
It was the most beautiful smile Lucas had ever seen in his life.
—
During break, the children all interacted warmly with this girl.
Everyone actively played with An, and everyone liked her.
If nothing unexpected happened, An would soon become the most popular person in the class.
But the situation quickly took a sharp turn for the worse.
During a game with her friends, An inadvertently revealed her family situation—her father was from the Holy Capital and was a Holy Capital Paladin; although her mother was a local, she was also a nun at the church.
Although no one scolded her and no one said anything outright, An discovered that her previously close friends gradually stopped coming to play with her.
They avoided her like the plague.
They used their actions to tell her that she was a freak.
An said nothing, did not resist.
The lively girl disappeared.
She no longer actively sought out playmates, nor did she care about anything around her.
She no longer went home with others.
After school each day, An deliberately stayed until the very last minute.
Every day she held a book and huddled alone in a corner reading.
This was emotional cold violence.
The precocious Lucas understood this very well.
As a standard ‘child of Novalis,’ he should have distanced himself from An like others, but he didn’t.
For the first time, the young boy’s heart stirred with conflicted, painful emotions.
Lucas knew she was very sad…
He felt that wasn’t enough.
He also wanted to go over and comfort that hurt girl…
But Lucas, as one of the few middle-class children, was also a star figure in the class.
If he rashly approached her… would he also be regarded as an outcast by the children?
He was very afraid.
—
After countless days of mental struggle, countless times secretly watching the girl’s behavior after class, Lucas finally decided to act.
Even though the actions of those around him warned him that she was an ‘outcast,’ even though his upbringing told him that An was an ‘enemy,’ this might be very ‘dangerous.’
But the young boy’s heart told him: He cared about that girl very much.
Perhaps it was a child’s kindness and ignorance, perhaps it was absurd pity.
But he couldn’t bear to watch her all alone.
He wanted to understand her a little more.
He wanted to approach that originally lively and cute girl.
He wanted to see her smile again.
The school bell finally rang, and the students chatted and laughed as they walked out of the classroom.
His friends invited Lucas to go home as usual.
But this time, Lucas made an excuse about being on duty to decline.
He dawdled while packing up his textbooks, also secretly observing the girl.
She didn’t stand up, just quietly turned a page of her extracurricular book, as if the school bell and the noise of classmates had nothing to do with her.
After confirming that everyone had left, Lucas dared to slowly stand up and carefully approach An’s seat a little.
He was greedy. He didn’t want to be isolated by the whole class, yet he also wanted to take the initiative to approach and touch this girl who intrigued him.
“Um…” Lucas, who usually acted like a rich kid, embarrassedly turned red-faced.
The girl slightly raised her head and looked at the boy who had spoken to her.
Her eyebrows held both confusion and alertness.
“I… I’m Lucas…”
“I know… I recognize you—you’re famous in class.”
“…”
How strange. He had prepared so many words and excuses beforehand, but when he actually stood before An, Lucas couldn’t say a single word.
“I… could we get to know each other?”
Without explaining his purpose, the boy blurted out this sentence abruptly.
Lucas immediately regretted it.
This could be seen as rude in any situation.
However, to his surprise, there was no questioning, no abuse.
What awaited him was only a slightly hesitant reply.
“Okay.”
The boy raised his head in surprise and met the girl’s eyes, which held a hint of gratitude.