After reading through the journal a few more times and copying everything over to his own parchments, three hours passed in the blink of an eye.
He could finally head over to Venton's manor to get his gold crown.
Truthfully, the reason he wanted to go there was less about gaining access to the circle of nobles.
Before, it had mostly been about the influence and money he could get from cozying up to them.
Nobles all over the kingdom were connected, and those at the very top were important figures of the Empire itself.
The Empire was made up of six key territories, and the Astor Kingdom was one of them. Most of those territories had their own governments, but they were still monitored by the Church.
Luca wanted power, and it most definitely wouldn't be good to simply stay in Carinthia for the rest of his life.
His connection to the nobles became his most important priority after reading the Count's journal.
It wasn't only magical knowledge he had gained. Count D'Escoli had also been competent and good with people despite his declining social standing.
Not long after awakening, D'Escoli realized he was probably not the only noble to experience something like that. After all, countless nobles had been executed for practicing magic, like Erina's aunt, Carla Venton.
He inferred that many more nobles had avoided the Inquisition so far, so he prodded carefully and uncovered a whole community of noble mages apart from himself.
And now, he had left Luca with a long list of noble mages. Some to con, others to watch out for.
It was all too convenient, which made him suspect that Noctiel was also a noble, though one neither the Count nor Luca knew.
Whoever this was, he was playing a very large game of chess.
But for now, Luca was only a pawn on his board.
"Still, I'll play the game."
****
A while later, after a lengthy walk to the center of the city, Luca found himself in front of the large gate of the Duke's villa.
The bars were made of sleek dark metal, and a large circular disk was engraved with the Venton family crest.
Two uniformed guards holding spears stood dutifully, both wearing the crest as well.
Through the bars of the gate, he could see a vast garden with a massive fountain of water in the center.
Farther in was the mansion itself, painted in a regal white.
Duke Charles Venton, Erina's father, was one of the most powerful men in the kingdom. Carinthia, the crown of his territory, was the kingdom's second largest city after the capital.
All in all…
'This is a pretty nice starting point to play the game from.'
He took a step closer to the gate and—
"Halt! Step back and state your business," both guards said with practiced expressions.
Luca wore a small smile and did as they said.
"I'm here to meet the young miss. She requested me earlier."
Both men faltered for a second and looked at each other before breaking into loud boisterous laughs.
"Hey, good one, kid, but you gotta stop joking around and state what you actually came here to do. We aren't hard-arses like the inside guards," the first guard said, wiping a few tears from his eyes.
Luca was taken aback, mostly by the fact that they weren't stuck-up at all.
"I'm serious. She did request me a few hours ago."
The second guard laughed.
"Aw, come on kid, you can't be serious. What're you really here to do? Clean? Cobble shoes or something? We can't be seen talking or the butler's gonna freak out."
At first, Luca had planned to show them the token right away, but they were so funny that he decided to speak with them a little longer.
Finally, he decided to get it over with.
"Ah, fine, fine. I believe this is what I need to get entry," he said, pulling out the token at last.
"Bah, you're insane. Why didn't you show us from the start?!"
Luca rolled his eyes. "Sun Father forbid I try to have a little conversation."
Both guards shook their heads and dragged open the wide gates until an opening wide enough for Luca appeared.
"You're a rowdy one, but come back sometime and we can get drinks."
Luca smiled. "Sure, I don't see why not."
He bid them goodbye and walked down the paved stone path through the garden. It was a beautiful scene, and it marked the beginning of his journey on this massive chessboard.
The maids welcomed him into the manor's anteroom, where guests waited. Soon enough, a short man in a sophisticated suit came to meet him.
He was a stiff-looking man with greying hair, which showed that he had served the noble house for a very long time.
A small grin escaped Luca's control.
"You must be Alfred the butler," he said.
The man's eyes lit up immediately. "Yes, that's correct, sire! Did the young miss mention me?"
Alfred addressed Luca as sire, assuming that any guest of the young miss must be someone important, even though he didn't recognize him.
Luca blinked. Erina had never mentioned Alfred at all. It was the two guards who had. Still, he nodded, which made the stiff-looking man very happy.
"The young miss said I should escort you to her room."
His heart skipped.
"Her room?"
"Yes, right this way."
Luca followed with apprehension as Alfred navigated the large house with ease. It reminded him of the city itself, so he didn't find it difficult to follow.
If anything, he was surprised Erina had never made that realization.
While he was deep in thought, they finally stopped at Erina's door. It looked like every other one in the house so far: large, golden, white, and very expensive-looking.
"I'll be leaving now."
Now Luca was alone in the long hall, illuminated by dozens of light crystals.
'Well, here goes nothing.'
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come in!" said a voice from inside.
It was Erina's.
Luca grabbed the door handle and opened the door.
The first thing he saw was the blonde-haired young miss taking off her shirt.
****
Normal timed chapter! I'm having a lot of fun writing this, so I probably won't stop writing unless something happens. I hope you all supportand give me the motivation to continue.