Chapter 288: Testing

"A clown-looking man? What did he ask you?" Lucien frowned. He wondered if someone here had known the fact that he was a sorcerer already.

Grace shook her head seriously, "I have no idea who he is. His creepy look made me beyond nervous. I'm sorry, Mr. Evans... I failed to resist... He asked me how I met you in Sturk, how I got your help and how you introduced me to Mr. Christopher and Victor. Right... he also asked me whether at that time there was someone else with you... I'm really, really sorry, Mr. Evans... I was afraid that he might kill me, so I told him all of it. I knew this might bring you trouble, but I really could not control myself at that time..." apologized Grace sincerely.

Lucien listened carefully and slightly nodded, "In my eyes, this might bring trouble to you. Now, someone else has known that you once used my name to promote yourself without my permission. But since this thing happened a long time ago and now you're already a well-known musician, I can earn some good reputation out of it. Other people'll know me as being generous and forgiving."

Grace grinned and then she said, "Fortunately, I did not tell the clown that, in order to have your forgiveness, I was asked by you to send the message to Granneuve. Instead, I told him that you had mercy on me, and... and we spent a night together... I told him so because I was afraid that he would not believe it that you forgave me just because of generosity."

When she was saying, Grace carefully observed Lucien's facial expression.

Lucien responded seriously, "There was nothing really to hide. I was just trying to help a friend of mine reach Mr. Granneuve at that time. What you said can do no harm to my reputation."

As long as Viscount Wright was still there, and as long as Granneuve was still hiding his true identity properly, even if Grace told the stranger the whole story, they should be fine. Lucien told Grace to keep this a secret at that time mainly for being careful with Granneuve.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Evans. I was the one who had a dark mind." Grace hurriedly apologized again, "I thought hiding this secret for you was very important, as you asked me to do so."

"It's okay." Lucien's facial expression was kind, "I understand. Just don't do this ever again."

"You're definitely a generous and forgiving musician." Grace relaxed a little, "I have to go back to the living room now, or they would think there's really something between us."

Watching Grace leaving the corridor, Lucien's put on a calm smile.

In his mind, Grace was never a strong-willed person. Instead, although she was relatively talented in music and piano playing, she could fall prey to temptation from time to time. Also, Lucien did not think Grace would put her life under risk because of her appreciation toward Lucien.

Therefore, Lucien would not believe that Grace was able to hide the key part in front of the life-threatening danger.

Going into the washroom, Lucien thought to himself, "Night Watch? An investigator from the Hand of Paleness, or Argent Horn? An intelligence man from the duchy?"

Lucien reasoned that the man should not be an investigator from Argent Horn because Argent Horn would not wait until Grace came to Aalto.

Also, because the intelligence department of the duchy was now under Natasha's control, there was no need for her to investigate Grace.

For the remaining two, either Night Watch or Hand of Paleness came undoubtedly without good intentions. Still, since when they noticed the connection? What happened over the Feast of Death should only be among the necromancers and Viscount Carendia.

Therefore, Lucien made an rough conclusion. He believed that those people still had not got accurate evidence to prove that the great musician was a sorcerer, or he would not be able to enjoy the temporary peace right now.

Wiping his hands with the tissue, Lucien put aside his many thoughts and went back to the living room.

...

Over the pleasant lunch time.

"Lucien, so, aside from Moonlight and Storm, do you have other new compositions?" Victor took a sip at his wine and smiled, "I'm sure folk music has greatly inspired you. We're all looking forward to it..."

Hearing what Victor said, all of the people around the table looked at Lucien with great expectation, except Iven, who was still sticking to dinning manner in a restrained way.

"I do have another two pieces of symphony. One of them is almost done, but still requires some final touches according to the outcome of the band performance," Lucien answered, while thinking about what happened earlier. "Because the inspiration comes from folk music, the new symphony has a less strict structure. Maybe it will receive broad criticism."

Because of their conversation before lunch, Felicia now felt more comfortable talking to Lucien, "Among the many titles you have, Lucien, I like the Innovation the most. We're always expecting you to create something new, instead of sticking to the common path."

Three years later, she was now more approachable as a noble lady, and also more humorous now.

"Yes, Evans, I'm really looking forward to your new symphony. Your aunt and I grew up in the south of the duchy, and we've never really left Aalto after we had decided to live here. So I really don't have many chances of learning music from other countries." Talking about music, Joel felt sincerely happy, as his face was glowing with excitement.

As an common instrumentalist, Elena was still shy to talk in front of other people. After they all made their comments, Elena asked Lucien with a sweet smile, "What about the other music piece? Are you going to hold your coming-back concert until after you finish it?"

For a great musician like Lucien, as long as he wanted to hold a concert, the Psalm Hall was always available.

All of them looked at Lucien, and even Iven also put down his folk and knife.

"It's almost there, but I still need some time... Maybe two or three weeks..." said Lucien, whose mind was full of thoughts about the clown.

"Awesome!" said Grace excitedly. "There're countless people waiting for your second concert."

Lucien's relatives and friends around the table all grinned and nodded.

After this lunch, the news that the talented young musician, Lucien Evans, was going to hold his second concert in a month would be known by everyone in Aalto.

...

After saying goodbye to Elena, Grace came back to the garden villa she rented in Gesu. In Sturk, she had saved quite a sum of money.

Ignoring her servants' greetings, Grace hurriedly walked to her bedroom and locked herself in the room.

As soon as she closed the door, Grace collapsed in the bed. Extremely fine black threads retreated from her body like tides.

After a while, Grace left the bed and murmured to herself, "Why do I feel so tired today? Did I get too excited seeing Mr. Evans? Why was I acting like that toward him? In my mind, I was trying to... seduce him...? That's not right... Although I admire him, I'm actually also afraid of him..."

...

In a random house.

A grinning clown face suddenly took several gasps. It was very consuming controlling a person remotely for a long time.

"Leader, did you find anything?" A gentle female voice asked eagerly.