Mist Empire’s Rise: Fake Noble to Fog Queen

In the twilight, a griffin soared into the sky, gliding through the rosy clouds above Siria.

"Wow—"

Roman pressed both hands against the griffin's broad back, looking down at the miniature city and distant mountains and rivers below, letting out an amazed exclamation.

"Be careful, don't fall off." Luo Wei pulled him closer.

Troy glanced back at them and asked Luo Wei, "Should we fly higher?"

"No need, this height is perfect."

Any higher and their vision would be blocked by clouds; any lower and they'd risk being noticed by people on the ground.

"Roman, are you ready?" Luo Wei asked, looking down at him.

"Yes, I'm ready!" Roman took out a piece of parchment from his cloth bag and spread it across the griffin's back.

The wind was so strong it made the corners of the parchment flutter wildly. Luo Wei drew out her magic wand and cast a wind-blocking spell, calming the air around them.

The howling wind suddenly fell silent, as if the whole world had lost its sound. Only wisps of white clouds drifted overhead, along with the layered sunset glow in the distance.

Roman pulled several pieces of charcoal from his pocket and lay down on the parchment, which was nearly half his size, and began sketching the palm-sized academy visible below.

Luo Wei only glanced at the ground once before her blood surged - the patterns suppressed in her subconscious seemed ready to break free from their restraints and surface. She immediately averted her gaze, trying to focus on something else.

Troy stood steadily on the griffin's shoulder and neck, his black cloak billowing high, the brim of his hood blown back revealing fire-red shoulder-length hair.

After knowing him for so long, she still didn't know what Troy actually looked like - that iron mask seemed permanently welded to his face, impossible to remove.

"Troy!" Luo Wei called out.

Troy turned his head, his eyes questioning.

"Do you wash your face?" Luo Wei asked.

"What?" Troy took a couple steps toward her - the wind was too strong, he hadn't heard clearly.

"I said," Luo Wei raised her voice, "Since you always wear that mask, do you even wash your face?"

She'd been curious about this for a long time.

Troy: "..."

"Or do you just wash the lower half of your face?"

"..."

When Troy didn't answer, Luo Wei's pupils trembled in shock.

She never imagined that her gallant, mighty guard didn't wash his face!

He doesn't wash his face!

How long had it been - six months? A year? Two years?

What would someone's skin look like after not washing for two years?

Oil, dead skin, blackheads, masked-induced acne?

No wonder Troy wouldn't take off his mask. He'd told her before that his face under the mask was ugly - well of course it would be ugly if he never washed it!

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

And wearing a mask all the time - wouldn't his face end up with two different skin tones?

When he finally took off the mask, they'd probably find the lower half of his face and eye areas were dark, while the masked parts were pale... pfft, just thinking about it was funny.

Luo Wei lowered her head, her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

Troy: ...

What on earth was his employer imagining now?

They only had half an hour from sunset to nightfall, and Roman worked frantically on mapping out Siria Magic Academy.

Before they'd left, Luo Wei had instructed him to draw the large cathedrals and castles first, then the smaller buildings, and finally connect them with roads.

The patterns on the cathedral roofs could be drawn in detail, but the squares, gardens, lawns and lakes only needed rough outlines - no need to be too precise.

In reality, they were flying too high to make out many details of the buildings below anyway.

After dark, a few scattered lights flickered on in the city, but most streets melted into the night, and Siria Magic Academy faded from view on the map.

The griffin carried the three back to the ground. Troy casually scooped up Roman as he jumped down, dropped him off, then turned back to carefully help Luo Wei descend.

Roman lifted his head indignantly, only to realize he barely reached Troy's thigh, which made him even more dejected.

Hmph, he was still young - he'd grow taller than Troy eventually!

After this self-consolation, Roman jumped up and held out the map: "Miss, Miss, here you go!"

Luo Wei took the map and crouched down to pinch his cheek. "Thank you Roman. Come on, it's time for dinner."

She held Roman's small hand as they walked toward the garden. When they reached the main building steps, they ran into Hol and Rosie coming down from upstairs.

"Miss Luo Wei." Hol bowed his head in greeting.

Rosie's lifeless eyes fixed on their joined hands, her voice hoarse and dejected: "Miss..."

She wished she could hold hands with the Miss too.

Luo Wei didn't notice Rosie's mood as she was talking to Hol.

"Thank you for your hard work, Student Hol. I hope Rosie isn't taking up too much of your time and affecting your studies?"

"Not at all," Hol said with a bright smile. "Rosie is very clever - teaching her is easy. I often gain new magical insights from her too."

"That's good. If you ever feel troubled by it, please let me know. We're friends - don't hesitate to speak up."

"It's no trouble at all - I really enjoy being a teacher," Hol said with genuine sincerity.

Where else could he find such a good job after leaving Star Luo Residence?

Just moving his lips earned him amazing meals - much better than Laura and Theodore exhausting themselves working at the dessert shop.

After chatting briefly, they moved to the dining room and sat down together for dinner.

Hol had schemed daily to stretch out his teaching time just to get this dinner!

Luo Wei could see that Hol had a deep love for Star Luo Residence's food. Bella had mentioned more than once that Hol's appetite could rival Troy's.

In short, they were both bottomless pits.

Hol had probably never eaten his fill before, nor known that food could taste good, which explained his obsession with Star Luo Residence's cuisine.

Western people only ate one proper meal a day - lunch.

Dinner wasn't considered a main meal as they ate very little, and the church advocated light evening meals and night fasting. Anyone who ate a lot at night was supposed to feel ashamed.

Nobles typically had a light afternoon tea around 4pm. Commoners would simply gather around the hearth after dark and eat whatever they had - leftover wild vegetable porridge from lunch, crushed black bread - they wouldn't cook specially.

The Western world of this era had no concept of fine dining - food was just for filling stomachs.

Eating was more like a duty to them - they had to eat twice a day and pray before meals, reciting long hymns of praise.

When Luo Wei studied in Europe, she'd heard this saying: "God sends the food, but the devil sends the cooks."

One could imagine how unpalatable the food was in this era - eating was practically a punishment.

Perhaps they actually had the ability to cook delicious food, but the church considered enjoying food a sin that would corrupt one into a demon, so no chef dared to innovate.

After dinner, Hol returned to school first.

Watching him leave Star Luo Residence, Luo Wei turned and headed upstairs. "Rosie, come up."

"Yes, Miss." Rosie's eyes brightened slightly as she quickly followed.

The two entered the second floor study.

"Rosie, you've been at Star Luo Residence for about two months now, right?"

Luo Wei sat in the writing chair, her dark eyes fixed on the little girl's unfocused gaze.

"Two months and twenty-seven days," Rosie's hands were tightly clasped together. "Three more days until it's three months."

"Almost three months already?" Luo Wei mused. "Time flies. How long have you been studying dark magic?"

"Less than two months. Last month Teacher Hol left Siria for over two weeks, so I had no magic lessons then."

Luo Wei nodded and asked, "How are your dark magic studies going? Have you learned all the spells Teacher Hol taught?"

Rosie hesitated, "Teacher Hol says I recite the spells very well, but I haven't tried casting any magic yet."

"I see," Luo Wei opened a drawer and took out a Spiritwood wand. "Come here - this is the magic wand I prepared for you. Try holding it."

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