If everything is going well, it means something has gone wrong.
Right now, warning bells were screaming inside Lowell’s head.
The brief peace he had felt only a few days ago, exchanging jokes with Chloe, evaporated without a trace before the name Lumina Felicium.
The Chronos Lumina Trading Company she carried on her back.
On the surface, it was dazzling.
A shop that monopolized the supply of nearly every material in the Academy, used almost obligatorily by nearly every user thanks to its reasonable prices and credit.
But that was only the sunny face it showed to the world.
The true terror of this trading company lay in the shadows.
If a competitor appeared who obstructed their profits, they would remove them by any means necessary—a massive organization that effectively ruled the underworld.
And the woman burying herself in my sofa like a cat before my eyes was one of the co-owners of that ruthless company.
The standard strategy guides circulated in the original work’s community flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.
[Notice] Newbies Must Read: No matter what route you take, absolutely do not get involved with Lumina.
The moment you got entangled with her, the game’s difficulty literally soared to hellish levels.
Because you would be plagued by political struggles more exhausting than a simple boss fight, assassination threats, and twisted obsession.
And yet that disaster was now lying barefoot on the sofa in my hideout, giving me a languid smile.
“It’s our first time meeting, Senior, isn’t it? Or should I call you… Mr. Lowell von Adrian?”
Unlike her voice, which sweetly tickled my eardrums, cold sweat streamed down my spine.
The fear that this brief peace I had built as Lowell von Adrian could collapse at this woman’s slightest whim washed over me.
Her pale bare feet, languidly stretched beyond the sofa, looked defenseless at first glance, but at the same time, it was the habit of the strong—someone who could be this relaxed even in an unfamiliar space.
The moment my gaze met those red eyes glittering through her black hair, I understood instinctively.
If I wanted to live, I could not allow even a single slip of the tongue here.
I swallowed dryly and stared at her as she observed me with an arrogant smile on her lips.
And in the next moment, I stopped thinking.
There was only one answer.
Do not get involved.
Without offering even a word in response, I turned my gaze away as if no one were there and calmly crossed the living room.
I picked up the pitcher in the corner, poured water into a cup, and ignored her completely.
“…?”
Lumina’s eyes visibly wavered.
She knew her own beauty better than anyone.
While handling the affairs of the trading company, she had already brought countless men to ruin with that beauty alone, obtained the information she wanted, and reaped enormous profit.
Especially if it was that Lowell von Adrian of the rumors, she had expected him to rush at her with lecherous eyes the moment he saw her, or at the very least become flustered and bite at her offer.
But Lowell perfectly ignored the fatal, venom-laced charm she exuded.
Clink.
Only the sound of the cup being set down rang through the silent practice room.
As Lowell tried to head straight into the inner room, Lumina, who had been lying languidly on the sofa, sprang upright like a coil.
“Excuse me, Senior? Can you not hear me right now?”
A voice tinged with confusion chased after him, but Lowell did not stop.
In the end, the leisurely air of the predator vanished without a trace, and Lumina, forgetting that she was barefoot, hurriedly climbed down from the sofa and began following Lowell.
Faced with thorough indifference for the first time in her life, confusion and a strange competitive spirit began to settle simultaneously in Lumina’s red eyes.
Lowell finally stopped at the sound of footsteps persistently following him all the way into the room.
The gaze filled with bewilderment behind him felt almost prickling.
He let out a deep sigh and slowly turned to look at Lumina.
“If you came to discuss business, there was no need for such a cumbersome performance.”
At Lowell’s indifferent tone, Lumina’s eyes stirred greatly once more.
In that brief silence, he had already sorted out in his head the real reason she had come here in person.
Thinking about it logically, from the perspective of Lumina, who dealt with countless nobles and held the continent’s wealth in her hands, the pocket change Lowell had entrusted to her or some mana-infused wood cut from the forest could not even be considered objects of interest.
There was only one thing that could move her feet: the elemental compound he had used in his duel with Chloe.
A new value that did not exist in the market.
When Lowell looked at her as if he had seen through her intentions, Lumina showed a trace of bewilderment for a fleeting instant.
But she was, as expected, a ruler of the underworld who had been through every hardship imaginable.
In an instant, she erased her confusion and, instead of the false seductive smile hanging on her lips, showed the cool and intelligent expression of a business partner.
“Oh my… You’re much easier to talk to than I expected.”
Lumina stood where she was without even searching for and putting on the shoes she had tossed near the sofa, then bowed politely.
Her earlier languid and provocative attitude was nowhere to be seen.
“My apologies for my rudeness. I have a bad habit of testing people. Allow me to introduce myself properly.”
She swept her black hair back and let her red eyes gleam.
“I am Lumina Felicium, head of the Chronos Lumina Trading Company. Senior Lowell—no… Mr. Lowell, owner of the formula. I came to formally propose a transaction.”
The air in the room changed in an instant.
This was no longer merely the relationship between an intruder and the owner of the house.
A life-and-death negotiation was about to begin between the owner of a vast trading company and a developer possessing exclusive technology.
Lowell still stared at Lumina with cold eyes.
The fact that a major figure like Lumina Felicium had moved in person was certainly threatening, but at the same time, he clearly recognized that, at this moment at least, the initiative was in his hands.
Information on the elemental compound was currently known only to Lowell, Professor Clayton, and perhaps Celestia—a piece of information literally inaccessible to anyone else.
No matter how much influence Lumina held over the underworld, Professor Clayton, a full professor protected by a massive organization like the Academy, and Celestia, a genius mage already praised as a monster, were opponents she could not touch recklessly.
In the end, the easiest gap for her to exploit would have been none other than Lowell, the notorious wastrel.
But Lowell was calculating the hand he held with precision.
He was a student of the Academy and a noble, which meant Lumina was not in a position to openly lay a hand on him.
Furthermore, because he held almost exclusive access to the core information regarding the elemental compound, to Lumina, the existence known as Lowell was indispensable.
Lowell took a sip of water from the cup, then spoke in an emotionless voice.
“It is too late today. It would not look proper to discuss important business with a barefoot guest this deep into the night.”
At Lowell’s decisive attitude, Lumina’s eyebrow twitched.
“Please return for now. If you set a formal date and visit again, I will receive you courteously as the head of the trading company.”
It was a clear refusal, and at the same time, a reasonable demand that she treat him with the courtesy owed to an equal partner.
Lumina stared at Lowell with a blank expression for a moment, then soon let out a small laugh.
Because she had become certain that this wastrel, upon whom neither her seduction nor the pressure of her trading company worked, was far more interesting prey than she had expected.
“Hehe, very well. It seems I was in too much of a hurry.”
Before leaving, Lumina took a heavy leather pouch from inside her clothes and placed it on the table.
The jingling sound of metal broke the silence.
“An apology for my discourtesy. I’d like you to think of it not as something from the head of the trading company, but as a bribe from a junior who wants to make a good impression on her senior.”
The golden glint visible through the opening of the pouch exuded a weight of an entirely different dimension from the gold coins he had given Chloe earlier.
But Lowell lightly pushed the pouch back toward Lumina.
“I refuse.”
Lumina’s eyebrow arched once more.
“This is not simply money. I know very well how many competitors you had to push aside and how fiercely you had to work in order to obtain these gold coins. When I can pay a price worthy of that value, I will formally accept them then.”
At the unexpected and courteous refusal, Lumina’s lips parted slightly.
Lowell’s attitude—drawing a line while acknowledging even the gold coins that symbolized her wealth and power as the fruit of her efforts—had completely exceeded her calculations.
In the strangely awkward air, Lumina could say nothing more and left the practice room after offering only a brief farewell.
Stepping onto the forest path filled with cold night air, Lumina stopped and took out the sharp dagger she had hidden inside her clothes, toying with it in her hand.
‘According to the rumors… he should have been a fat, greedy wastrel.’
The Lowell of the rumors was a pathetic man obsessed with women and luxury, so she had thought money and women would be more than enough to win him over.
That was why she had originally brought the dagger in preparation for Lowell trying to assault her or revealing vulgar desires.
But the Lowell she actually faced was, contrary to his appearance, terribly composed, and even courteous.
“How truly humiliating.”
Lumina looked down at her own body once, then burst into a faint laugh.
It was only natural that any man, if they faced her at this distance, would lose their senses.
A deep interest settled in her red eyes.
It was not simply because of the elemental compound, her original reason for coming here.
That strange composure of his, unshaken even before her beauty and power, was stirring Lumina’s desire to conquer.
“If you’re a man, you’ll definitely be drawn to me… I’ll see you again soon, Senior. Next time, I’ll come truly prepared.”
Lumina murmured quietly as she disappeared into the darkness.