There was a flash of delight and interest in Empress Carolina's face as soon as she heard Alicia's words.
Finally, after so many months of suffering from the painful backlash, there's something that gave her hope.
Ever since the discovery of the Spectre's abduction activity, not one of her schemes went well!
From scheming against Tehila during the renewal of treaty, to cursing her in the temple, she gained nothing!
Even the hope she had for the subject of the oracle was a fruitless plan.
After the Emperor's visit to the temple, the news about the oracle mysteriously died down. She waited everyday from her bed for any news about the movements of the temple, but not one expedition was sent to search for the new priest candidate.
Because of the unknown accident, she was rendered immobile for more than six months. She was not able to fully exert her efforts in scheming as she could not handle the extreme pain whenever her body was moved.
The only thing she was able to do was to contact the Spectre and warn them about the clearing operations. She thought that she would actually see the Emperor's minions make a fool of themselves, but never did she expect that Valentin would swiftly retaliate fast and strong!
Also, she really wondered who came up with this irritating scheme that really caught her, the Vesalas and the Spectre, off guard.
The moment she was finally free from the pain, she immediately worked to analyze what really happened that led to the announcement and implementation of the decree.
She found out that the legendary grandmasters openly gave their support towards the Emperor, by giving their consent to partner with the inventor they had recently sponsored, Eli!
Knowing this, Carolina became worried. She has been laying down everything smoothly because she knew that the grandmasters were really abstaining themselves from the matters of the palace. But now that they did, it will be harder for her to deal with them.
She should find a way to contact the Spectre and warn them about this development.
The next thing she needed to do was to get acquainted with the inventor.
It would really give them so much benefit if she was able to let Eli join their camps! This mysterious inventor was able to shake the whole empire with her creation on a random day! Her abilities proved to be formidable.
Carolina knew that having Eli as an ally would bring her and Kazimir priceless benefits!
"That's good to hear! What is her background? I want to know more about her!" She asked Alicia, demanding for an answer.
"This… actually all I know about her today, was her given name and the role she is about to take in the institute. The meeting with her was rather brief and Grandmaster did not even give any additional information about her origins." Alicia replied with a careful tone, afraid that she would disappoint the Empress.
"But I checked earlier, I found out that she was currently staying in the Farauld estate because she arrived and took off using the Farauld's official carriage." She desperately continued when the Empress showed no sign of emotions.
She prayed that she would not lose the Empress' favor when she was not able to satisfy her with the little information she had.
"I see, she might be temporarily staying for a while until the matters are settled down on the institute's side." She excitedly looked towards Alicia and continued, "It would be nice if Alicia could befriend her and invite her for a tea time with us soon!"
"I'll try my best, Your Majesty." Alicia replied stiffly.
Although she knew that it was definitely the Empress' order, she couldn't help but feel unpleasant because she viewed Eli unfavorably for being close with Zeke.
"Good!" Empress Carolina happily squinted her eyes. Finally, the hope to salvage the situation appeared!
After catching up, the tea time with the Empress ended uneventfully. Aside from the matter with Eli, the Empress only had them share the recent happenings in the capital.
"Why do you look so gloomy when the meeting we had with the Empress was smooth?" Madame Vesala noticed Alicia's downcasted face as soon as they boarded the carriage.
"Aunt, you wouldn't know! That Eli was actually close to my nemesis Zeke! How could I find motivation to befriend her? I also deeply believe that she is a person of no background! Why would I lower myself for her?" Alicia started to vent her frustration the moment Madame Vesala asked her.
"Besides, she was just someone who was lucky to invent something that made the Grandmasters sponsor her work! Without the Grandmasters, her invention would not even be renowned so highly!"
"Sigh, my dear niece... How many times should I say to you that your explosive attitude would definitely be your weakness in the high society!" Madame Vesala gracefully closed her bejeweled fan and stared at Alicia in a stern manner.
Judging from Alicia's behavior, Madame Vesala could already deduce that her niece was not able to stop herself from running her mouth on her first day of meeting the famous inventor.
"How many times do I have to teach you to hold your disdain in! Alicia, there are so many ways to uphold our noble's pride, but that attitude of yours is the very last in the list. You will lose a lot because of that!"
"I know my mistake now Aunt. I apologize!" Seeing that her aunt would start a nagging barrage, Alicia chose to immediately accept her mistake to stop her aunt from the endless sermon. Instead, she diverted her Aunt's attention to the next topic.
"Aunt, seeing that the Empress wanted me to get close with the inventor, do you have any suggestions on how I could do that?" She asked.
"Hmm, it's too early to be thinking about how to approach her. You can never be wrong with observing what kind of person she is at first. Then you can go on planning what you have in mind." Madame Vesala answered.
"You can also try to take advantage of being in the field of education earlier than her. If the opportunity arises, you can befriend her by helping her around the campus, so that she could get used to your presence easier." She continued, afraid that Alicia will not be patient enough with her first proposal, she recommended a way she can do safely and immediately.
"I see! Thanks Aunt! I'll do what you have suggested next week when she officially starts." After getting her aunt's advice, Alicia became happy.
"Hmm, do your best in getting this task right. Should the Empress be pleased, she might recommend you to be the program head at the Vanderford Institute in the future!" Madame Vesala's expression softened upon seeing Alicia's submissive attitude.
"Vanderford Institute!!" Alicia's eyes glistened in delight.
Vanderford Institute was one of the few institutions who could rival the prestige and renown of the Farauld Magic Institute. Getting a program head position in the Vanderford Institute would be equivalent to a dean position in the Farauld Magical Institute!
She couldn't help but to feel excited upon hearing her Aunt's words, her heart kept pounding so hard as her blood boiled with excitement and desire to defeat Zeke.
Meanwhile, Eli was already in her cottage, completely transforming from her corporate woman aura to being Little Han's mother.
She felt so surreal as she didn't expect that she would also experience the feeling of being a working mommy! Only in this life did she have a chance!
It was only a visitation day, but Eli couldn't help but feel worried about stepping into this new chapter of her life as a working mom. Fortunately, Grandpa Ben and Zeke allowed her to render only a minimum of 4 hour consultation session each week.
With this, she can spend time with Little Han more, especially in his crucial period. Besides, Eli's main goal to enter the institute was to strengthen her background. She need not to exhaust her time for serious work.
"Baaa!" Little Han clumsily crawled into the cushioned carpet in the living room upon seeing Eli appearing in the teleportation array.
Smiling with his toothless gums and with his pinkish cheeks puffing so cutely, he looked like a little black sheep in his sheep themed onesie. His hoodie had a cute pair of little white ears.
Eli couldn't help but find it funny seeing the crawling Little Han in black and white onesie and Baobao in the background. They looked like siblings due to the monotonous color!"
"Baaa! Baaa!" Little Han still kept smiling as he tried his best to crawl to his mommy's side.
"Little Han! Mommy's back!" She knelt on the floor a few inches away from Little Han and stretched her hand out, patiently waiting for her baby to finish his laps.
"Baaa! Baaa!!!" Finally reaching Eli's palms, Little Han laid on his tummy and used his chubby little hand to hold Eli's hands.
Eli's heart melted. She immediately scooped Little Han in her arms in a warm embrace and showered him with kisses.
All the weariness from today's matters were immediately washed away by her baby Little Han!
