"I was just trying to be cute, and that silly boy was completely captivated. He splashed out on a woad heart."
Angela smirked.
"Buy a woad heart?" Hubert frowned. "What else can it do besides a little help with wood magic?"
"How should I know?" Angela shrugged. "He probably wanted to show off his wealth in front of me."
"By the way, he's going to buy another one next week. He's already made an appointment with Olivia to meet at the dessert shop across from the market."
"Huh?!" Hubert suddenly became alert. "He wants to meet Olivia...alone?"
"Yes!" Angela noticed the hand under her skirt stop and pouted unhappily. "You don't think that guy has a crush on Olivia and wants to pursue her, do you? Come on, Olivia's easily influenced!"
"Be on guard."
Hubert pulled his hand away, his eyes returning to a cold expression. "Angela, tell me more about that young man's name and who he's his student of."
"He calls himself Allen, a violent warlock who's just been promoted to the early stages of the first level."
"Alan... I seem to have heard that name somewhere."
Hubert tapped the table, lost in thought.
After a moment, he suddenly looked up and asked Angela, "Is that young warlock named Allen of ogre descent?"
"He didn't say that. He just said he was studying at Pantheon's martial arts school," Angela recalled.
"A student of Pantheon? That's right! That kid!"
Hubert's face darkened.
Angela noticed his mood was off and quickly inquired, "Is there something wrong with Allen?"
Hubert was silent for a long time before speaking, "He was recommended by my senior sister, Sora. He originally wanted to become my disciple, but I rejected him outright because I thought his talent and bloodline were too poor. He then went to join Pantheon."
"It seems he hasn't forgotten my rejection and still holds a grudge against me!"
Angela blinked, a look of surprise on her face.
"Could he have deliberately approached Olivia, spending a fortune on woad heart, just to curry favor with her, hoping to seduce her and toy with her as revenge against you?"
Hubert remained silent, his expression growing increasingly grim.
He had poured all his energy into cultivating Olivia.
Not only because of her exceptional talent, but also because his niece's awakened bloodline was similar to his own, yet even stronger and possessing greater potential! With Hubert's inherent talent and bloodline, he could only reach the fourth level in his lifetime.
To advance further and break through the bottleneck, he would have to resort to extraordinary means.
Olivia was the key to his breakthrough and destiny!
In three years, Olivia would be sixteen, her potential fully unleashed.
He would use secret techniques to extract Olivia's bloodline essence, strengthening his own bloodline and gaining the capital to advance even further.
With her bloodline essence extracted, Olivia's vitality would be severely damaged, and her aptitude would be greatly diminished.
Her cultivation progress would slow, and she would lose her reputation as a genius.
But that didn't matter.
Even if Olivia lost her talent, wouldn't she still have a beautiful body?
After all, she had a strong foundation and excellent bloodline.
Besides, by then, she would have grown into a mature woman, old enough to bear children.
Hubert planned to infuse a closer relationship.
If Olivia bore his child, the bloodline would surely be even more remarkable!
This way, not only would he be able to defy fate, but he would also lay a solid foundation for future generations.
If a few more geniuses like Olivia emerged among his descendants, a new family of sorcerers would rise to prominence!
A family founded by him, Hubert, that would flourish and be completely loyal to him!
This was his ambition.
To realize this grand ambition, Hubert considered the long term and carefully.
However, before this plan could be put into action, he must be patient and keep Olivia under close watch!
What if this flower, cherished so dearly, was plucked by someone else before it matured and blossomed...
All his years of painstaking cultivation would be for nothing...
Hubert's rage boiled over at the thought of these horrible scenarios!
Olivia, no accident must happen!
Like being seduced and eloped by some wild boy.
It was precisely to guard against such accidents that he had placed his trusted confidant, Angela, by his niece's side.
To act as her eyes and ears, monitoring her daily activities.
"Angela, go find Olivia. I have something to say to her!"
Hubert's face was grim.
Angela stuck out her tongue and quickly slipped away.
...
"Olivia, you're not a child anymore. You need to be more sensible. Stop associating with those hopeless brats."
Hubert acted like an elder.
He lectured his niece sternly yet gently.
"Uncle, Allen and I don't have a personal relationship. We just get what we need from each other."
Olivia defended herself aggrievedly.
"You're so naive, child." Hubert sighed, stroking his niece's hair and kindly admonishing her. "You think it's just a deal, but you can't stop the other party from having ulterior motives."
"Olivia, a pure and kind girl like you is easily deceived by men with ill intentions. Once you're fooled, it'll be too late to regret."
"But... Uncle, I already had an appointment. I feel bad for breaking it for no reason," Olivia said with a bitter face.
"Silly child, it's just a small matter, isn't it easy to solve?" Hubert smiled and offered his niece some advice. "Why don't you give the woad heart to Angela and have her pass it on to that kid to complete the deal? Wouldn't that be just as effective?"
Olivia was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly asked, "Uncle, you're worried about me getting scammed, but aren't you worried about Angela getting caught in it?"
Hubert laughed heartily, patted her shoulder, and said, "Silly girl! Do you think Angela is as easy to fool as you are?"
"Don't be fooled by your senior sister's youthful appearance. After all, she's two years older than you and more mature!"
"It's just a brat. Angela can handle it. Don't worry about her!"
"Okay, Uncle, I'll do as you say."
Olivia said helplessly.
Deep down, she disapproved of her uncle's overreaction.
She vaguely felt that Hubert was being a little overprotective of her. However, Hubert was her uncle after all; there was no way he would harm his niece.
Furthermore, Hubert was a direct disciple of Vice Dean Russell!
With this background, even Olivia's parents had to act according to Hubert's wishes.
How could Olivia dare disobey her uncle's good intentions?
...
Sunday.
Angela walked into Hubert's office, carrying a wooden box.
Inside the box was a dark lump of wood.
"Yes, it's indeed a male woad heart."
After examining it, Hubert opened a drawer and pulled out a small glass vial.
In the vial, a transparent liquid held numerous pinpoint-sized golden particles.
"What's this?"
Angela asked curiously, staring at the reagent bottle in Hubert's hand.
"Poison." Hubert said coldly.