"Lucas, tell me, what should I do for work?" Catherine asked, walking backward as she gazed at Lucas's handsome profile. "I can learn anything."
"Watch where you're going; don't trip," Lucas said warmly.
After his conversation with Princess Lucy, he had prepared to inspect Sedona City. He made it a point to regularly visit the construction sites to check for safety hazards. On his way through the dinosaur fossil forest in the backyard, he had run into Catherine and Euphy. At their request, he had brought them along for the walk.
"Mm-hmm," Catherine turned around obediently and walked closely by his side.
"What kind of work do you want to do?" Lucas asked. He already had an idea in mind.
"Me? I... I don't really know how to do anything useful," Catherine said, lowering her head despondently.
"Who says you don't know how to do anything?" Lucas chuckled, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Huh? What am I good at?" Catherine looked up blankly, her mind racing. It really felt like she lacked any practical skills.
"You're good at eating," Lucas said, struggling to suppress a laugh.
"Ugh..." Catherine was speechless. She gave him a resentful roll of her eyes and pouted. "What's that supposed to mean? I only ate a little more than usual at lunch! I usually eat very little."
Compared to the beastkin, Catherine did eat very little. However, she ate more than Nicole, Lucy, Jones, and Euphy, which was exactly why Lucas was teasing her.
"I'm joking." Lucas's lips curled upward. He looked toward a shadow puppetry shop nearby and asked, "When you see the shadow plays, what do you think of?"
"Shadow plays?" Catherine paused, her brow furrowed in thought. "You... you want me to learn shadow puppetry?"
"Uh..."
It was Lucas's turn to be speechless. Catherine learning shadow puppetry? He imagined her behind a screen, shouting and singing in a strained voice, and immediately shook his head to clear the mental image.
"Is that not it?" Catherine blinked her eyes. She actually thought learning the craft sounded quite nice.
"Of course not." Lucas sighed. Putting Catherine in a shadow play booth would be a total waste of her talents.
"Then what is it? Tell me!" Catherine grabbed Lucas's sleeve, shaking it playfully.
Her face flushed slightly as she stole a glance at him. In the past, she would never have dared to be so bold; she would have maintained a dignified, reserved distance. But being traded like a commodity for a marriage alliance by her father had broken her heart. During her months under house arrest, she had realized many things—chief among them was the importance of pursuing her own happiness.
A line from Lucy's novel, Notes on a Noble Girl's Romance, came to mind: Sometimes a noble girl must take the initiative, otherwise, a blockhead might miss you entirely. So, Catherine decided to be proactive. This was her limit, though; she couldn't bring herself to go any further, as her woman pride wasn't something she could discard entirely.
"..." Mina watched them from behind, her lip curling slightly as she grumbled internally: Is Catherine standing a bit too close to the Master? Euphy, too, stared with wide eyes. She had known Catherine for years and had never seen her act so intimately with a man.
"Alright, stop shaking me," Lucas said helplessly with a faint smile. "Have you forgotten what you're actually best at?"
"What am I best at?" Catherine pondered for two seconds before it burst out of her: "The lute! I'm best at playing the lute!"
"Mhm." Lucas made an affirmative sound. "Since you can play the lute, why are you looking for other things to do?"
"But..." Catherine said, a bit dejected, "there isn't a stage for performances here." Without a stage, her skills were just a private hobby, and she didn't see how that helped Lucas.
"A stage? Don't worry, there will be one very soon." Lucas smiled and led them toward a massive construction site.
"There's really going to be a stage?" Catherine's eyes lit up, and she hurried to catch up.
A few minutes later, the group arrived at the site.
"There. That area under construction is the future Grand Theater." Lucas pointed toward the site where hundreds of people were working.
With Sedona City's growing population, the demand for buildings was high. Major projects often saw hundreds or even thousands of people working simultaneously. Without the constraints of labor costs, the efficiency was breathtaking. The buildings changed noticeably every single day. If they didn't have to wait for cement to cure and perform rigorous safety checks, buildings would be going up even faster. Large-scale labor was a luxury Lucas used to the fullest.
"Wow! This theater is huge!" Catherine exclaimed.
"So, you need to practice your lute diligently. Many people will come to see your performance. I'm thinking of selling tickets for several hundred copper coins each," Lucas said with a hint of a smile.
"I will! I'll definitely practice hard!" Catherine said seriously. Being able to perform on a stage meant everything to her; she truly loved music.
"In a few days, I'll give you some other instruments," Lucas added. The Grand Theater was intended for many uses, and he planned to bring over various instruments from Earth.
"Other instruments? Like the drums from the shadow plays? Or that... what was it called, the Koto?" Catherine's eyes shone with excitement. She had wanted to learn those instruments for a while.
"More than those. There will be guitar, pianos, and the like." Lucas listed a few. He would need to buy these on Earth. He also planned to look up manufacturing techniques so they could eventually produce them locally. But most importantly, he needed sheet music.
"Really? When can I have them?" Catherine shouted happily.
"In a few days. They're still being... prepared," Lucas replied offhandedly.
He planned to form an orchestra and Catherine was the perfect person to lead it. He could already imagine the atmosphere of hearing high-quality music in the Grand Theater.
"I'll be ready," Catherine promised solemnly.
She finally felt like she wasn't useless after all.
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