Lucke’s Plan

After listening to Alice and Khan's conversation, Amori was left shocked. Despite being present in the kingdom during the war that occurred five years ago, she was confined indoors while chaos reigned outside.

Even though she hadn't witnessed the war itself and only saw its aftermath, it filled her with absolute terror due to the many casualties.

Realizing that another war might occur because of the Red Scarlets and Magret, Amori became very worried. She remained silent and kept watching .

As Khan was about to leave the garden, Alice called out to him.

"Wait, Khan, there's a question I've always wondered about," she said.

Upon hearing this, Khan turned around and asked, "What's the question?"

"I'm sorry to bring this up, but I've always wondered why you declined to become the king of Luric after Gabriel's...," Alice began.

"It's okay. I'm not entirely sure what happened to Gabriel, but I haven't given up on finding him. The reason I didn't accept the position as king of Luric after he disappeared is because, as the eldest of my three brothers, I believe it's my responsibility to protect them when they need my help or support," Khan explained.

"I will continue searching for him. Maybe he's still out there. He was a very kind-hearted and optimistic person. In fact, Alexander takes after him. Among the four of us, I was the serious one, and our differences in personality often led to fights," Khan continued.

"I heard about that from Alex," Alice replied.

"Well, I can only hope you find him eventually. I've only met him twice, but he left a good impression. He truly is a nice person," Alice expressed.

After bidding farewell to Alice, Khan exited the garden. Unbeknownst to him, Amori was hidden so well that he didn't notice her. Eventually, she stopped hiding and walked through the garden entrance, where she found her mother sitting at a round wooden table beneath the tree.

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As Lucke walked through the sewers, many thoughts crossed his mind.

I wonder what forbidden symbols are and why the creator of the magic guidebook warned us not to use them so much. It seems that forbidden magic is simply magic that is not allowed, and he mentioned his friend using forbidden magic and losing his life as a consequence. Does that mean that all forbidden magic has extreme requirements for its use? I might need to explore forbidden magic further, as he mentioned his friend's attempt to enter the mirror realm, which suggests that it may be possible to return to Earth or travel to another realm. The only issue is the requirements or consequences associated with using forbidden magic.

Hey guys, have you ever thought about what would happen if we just kept walking straight through the sewer?

Upon hearing this, Reko turned to Cleo and said, "Well, I think I heard that there is a lower level down here that is blocked by water. So maybe if we keep walking forward, we might end up finding that place."

Interesting, I didn't know about that.

After hearing this, Lucke pondered, "Wow, that's interesting. I guess that's why he is considered the smart one of the group. Somehow, he knows a lot about the kingdom."

They reached the steps that led out of the sewer and walked up. Ivy was in front and she pushed open the small entrance door before stepping out into the alleyway. Reko, Cleo, and Lucke followed behind her. Ivy closed the small entrance door and placed the small wooden barrels back onto it.

They all walked through the small alley and once they were out of it, Reko stopped and turned to the group.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you guys next time," he said.

"Okay, next time," replied Lucke, while Cleo did the same. Ivy remained silent as Reko walked away.

After watching Reko leave, they started walking back towards the house.

"Why didn't you say goodbye to him?" Cleo asked Ivy.

Upon hearing this, Ivy remained quiet and simply continued walking towards the house. Although she didn't say anything, Cleo and Lucke could already tell why she didn't say goodbye to Reko.

"I guess she's still upset with him for what he said about the Red Scarlets," Cleo remarked.

While walking through the sewer Reko had been given three of the 12 pieces of jewelry found in the mysterious room in the sewer,two golden watches and a gold chain.

After a while of silence Ivy spoke the words that were stuck in Lucke's mind.

So, what are we going to say to Luna and Emma? If we show them the jewelry, they will surely think we stole them. And it's not like we can just tell them we found them on the street, because that's not feasible. Also, we cannot mention that we've been in the sewers, as they don't want us going there.

Hmm... both Lucke and Cleo paused for a moment but couldn't come up with a solution.

Because they were so lost in thought, they didn't even notice the homeless people and continued walking until they eventually reached the house.

As soon as they arrived at the house, Lucke shouted, "Oh, I have an idea!"

"What is it?" both Cleo and Ivy asked, and Lucke began explaining his idea.

After explaining the idea, he entered the house with Ivy and Cleo and saw Luna sitting on one of the wooden chairs.

"Where are you coming from?" Ivy heard Luna ask. Ivy stopped and replied, "Oh, we decided to go and visit Reko."

Upon hearing this, Luna leaned back on the chair while Ivy, Lucke, and Cleo went upstairs.

Stopping at the first door, Lucke knocked twice but received no response. He slowly turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Inside, he saw Emma fast asleep on the bed with sunlight streaming in through the window.

Quietly, he walked across the room, being careful not to wake Emma, while Cleo and Ivy remained by the doorway. When he reached the side table, he opened the drawer, placed the jewelries inside, closed it, and left the room, slowly shutting the door behind him.

"If she ends up searching inside the side table and finds the jewelries, she'll immediately suspect us. However, if we keep denying it, she'll eventually stop because it's not possible to find golden jewelries anywhere in this crazy kingdom," Lucke explained.

After hearing this, both Ivy and Cleo looked at Lucke for a moment, and after a while, Lucke said, "Well, it's a good plan, right?"

"Um... I'm not too sure about this. We should have asked Reko for a way out of this situation, because this could end very badly," Cleo said.

Agreeing with Cleo, Ivy nodded and added, "I agree."

"So what, do you have a better idea? I'm waiting," Lucke challenged, but in the end, they couldn't think of anything and simply returned to their room.

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Hi there, my little princess!

Good morning, Mom. Amori greeted Alice as he looked at her sitting under the tree in a long white dress, her white hair tied in a ponytail, and her beautiful blue eyes focused.

Upon hearing this, Alice's face lit up with a lovely smile as she opened her arms and said, "Come and give your mother a wonderful hug." Amori slowly walked over and leaned in for the hug.

Okay, take a seat.

No, I'm fine. I'm good, Amori said.

Oh, my little princess is too grown up to sit on her mother's lap now. It's a bit sad, isn't it?

Hearing this, Amori sighed and sat down on her lap.

So, how is your new magic instructor, Miss Light?

Well... she's not bad. In fact, she has shown me a way to better control my energy, which could help with my problem of controlling my energy and understanding fire symbol magic better, as well as increasing the power behind them.

Did you already know about this method, Mom?

Um... you could say that, although I don't really use it as much anymore.

Why? Isn't it supposed to be very helpful even when you've already gained control over your energy?

Alice twisted a strand of Amari's hair and said, "Well, sometimes you lose a reason to become stronger than you already are."

So why didn't you tell me about this method if you already knew?

Because I wanted you to discover it on your own. It's much better to find something out by yourself than to be told by others, even though technically you were told in this situation.

Upon hearing this, Amori remained silent, and noticing this, Alice asked, "So how has school been?"

It's been interesting. Many of my friends are really good at symbolistic magic, which is why I want to improve as quickly as possible. I have friends cheering me on.

Upon hearing this, Alice fell silent, and her smiling face turned serious.