"The Shadow Kingdom—it’s beginning to advance to the Epic Rank."
Malcolm looked him dead in the eyes and repeated every word carefully for him to hear.
"Otherwise, would I have been defeated? Sigh..."
Malcolm mumbled as if annoyed about something. Then, as if he had resigned, he suddenly waved his hand and took out a clear marble from his storage.
"This is the Memory Orb. It has all the records of what happened inside that Domain. Now, can you give me the invitation?"
Malcolm asked as if this was the most he could do. But he also knew it was enough.
"Haha... okay, okay... why didn’t you say it earlier then? Aren’t you a Merchant? Why are you hiding key info from me?"
Sure enough, once he heard the news, Second Prince Dorian smiled from ear to ear, clearly delighted. His eyes glistened with brilliance.
As everyone knew, Dungeons in this world were classified as:
Novice → Intermediate → Advanced → Rare → Epic → Legendary → Divine → Transcendent
A Rare-ranked dungeon and a peak Rare-rank Domain nearing Epic were two very different things.
Although Dorian still felt that Malcolm was being a bit cunning, trying to hide such news from him.
’Did he want me to experience the same thing he did or what?’
He thought, but pushed the idea aside. After all, the situation had changed.
Now that he knew what he was dealing with, the invitation didn’t feel quite as valuable anymore.
"Here, this is the invitation you want. Now, give me my token."
Dorian said, throwing a slender crystal prism that shimmered with shifting runes toward Malcolm, who caught it deftly.
Lucien saw that the crystal prism shifted in color, cycling through shades of violet and blue like a living flame trapped in glass.
Malcolm examined the crystal prism with his mental power and, after confirming that it was genuine, waved his hand and threw both the Memory Orb and the Dark Token to Dorian.
"This concludes our deal. I hope Second Prince Dorian is satisfied."
Although Malcolm got what he wanted, he wasn’t particularly happy. After all, if he could, he would have kept that token to himself rather than exchanging it.
Dorian looked through both items briefly and nodded, relaxed. After putting them away, he didn’t leave immediately but looked at Malcolm curiously.
"But... before leaving this place, can you please tell me why you want the Circle of Nobility?"
Even after getting what he wanted, Dorian wasn’t satisfied. Like he said, to use the Circle of Nobility, you must have access to a Domain-type dungeon.
Although it would work even if it were a low-ranked one, finding and using even those was hard and not worth the hassle.
"Second Prince Dorian, our deal has been completed. I am not feeling well and cannot entertain you. Please leave."
But Malcolm was in no mood to explain. He directly evicted the guest with a somewhat polite tone.
However, with the increasing stillness surrounding the backyard Lucien was familiar with, it didn’t feel that polite.
"Haha... okay, no need to be so defensive. I was just curious, nothing more."
Dorian also felt the change in the atmosphere. He knew it was probably Velmara, Malcolm’s pet—another peak Weaver Rank power.
That’s why he had been so cautious from the beginning.
"But I must say, Sir Malcolm, if you can successfully join the Circle of Nobility, I would gladly welcome the Goldveil family into my faction. My Edoria royal family always has room for strength and talent such as yours."
Before leaving, Dorian faintly smiled and extended an invitation to Malcolm in passing. It was worth it, in his opinion.
"I will surely consider your offer, Second Prince Dorian."
Malcolm nodded stiffly, as if he understood, then watched Dorian’s figure disappear as faintly as he had appeared.
Even after that, Malcolm stood in place, silently staring at the spot Dorian had vanished from.
Lucien, who was standing at the corner, didn’t disturb him and cautiously remained where he was.
Just when he was getting impatient with all the waiting, a strong wind suddenly blew across the backyard, followed by a male voice he was familiar with.
"He disappeared once out of the mansion. I cannot find his figure."
The voice came from Malcolm’s shoulder, where a mysterious owl cloaked in swirling shadows perched silently, appearing out of nowhere.
Lucien finally saw the figure of Velmara, who, surprisingly, looked quite ordinary. Only, he was so silent in everything that if he hadn’t spoken, Lucien wouldn’t have even realized he was there.
"Sigh... it is good that he is gone. It’s better to let him have that token. Now that everyone knows it was with me, I can no longer keep it."
Malcolm sighed, slightly irritated. Then, as if remembering something, he looked at the owl perched on his shoulder and ordered,
"Velmara, go and spread the news that Second Prince Dorian successfully took the token from my hand. Let this matter rest once and for all."
He didn’t want to have this pot on his head even after losing the token. Better to let everyone’s focus shift elsewhere.
The owl slightly nodded its head in agreement, then looked at Lucien with its big, unblinking eyes for a second before disappearing into thin air.
It was just like an assassin—coming and going as he pleased, leaving no trace behind. No one could ever pinpoint where he was.
"Hey, Grandpa, can we talk now?"
Lucien, who was already suffocating from being a third wheel the whole time, finally spoke as he walked closer to Malcolm.
To be honest, when his grandfather was about to hand over that token and the Memory Orb, Lucien wanted to stop him.
Not because he didn’t want him to conclude the deal, but because he considered using the same trick he’d used when Ruford came before.
Only, after thinking for a while, he decided against it. He might be able to fool them by acting like that once or twice.
But if he kept doing it, anyone would notice something odd, let alone someone like Dorian.
"Talk? What do you want to talk to this old man about?"
Malcolm relaxed his posture and smiled at Lucien. Then, he slowly walked into the mansion, signaling Lucien to follow.
"Just some stuff I’m confused about. I just awakened my class, and with all the weirdness going on in this dungeon and outside, it’s making me feel like I’ve been thrown into something way over my head."
Lucien followed behind, asking curiously.
In his memory, he only knew a few things about the world he was in.
He knew that this world was called Soren, and the continent where the Edoria Kingdom was located was called the Carag Continent.
Besides that, his knowledge was sporadic.
His previous self really didn’t care about any of it, to the point that he didn’t even know the basic geography.
He was kind of illiterate, honestly.
"It’s to be expected. You never showed any interest before, so how would you know?"
Malcolm nodded in understanding and sat on a luxurious velvet-cushioned chair beside a darkwood table, where an elegant porcelain tea set carved with golden vines rested, the teapot still gently steaming.
Lucien, being a good grandson, picked up the teacup that was still warm and poured it carefully for Malcolm. Then, he poured one for himself before putting it down.
His weird yet polite action successfully managed to raise an eyebrow from Malcolm.
"You brat, you’ve suddenly become humble. Did awakening a class really change your behavior that much?"
Malcolm was truly dumbfounded. Although he knew people changed after their awakening, it was never this fast or drastic.
He couldn’t help but look at Lucien suspiciously, as if questioning whether this was truly his grandson.
Lucien, of course, noticed the look of suspicion, making his heart beat a little faster.
Honestly, although he had transmigrated into this body, Lucien never really felt that way.
Instead, it felt like he had simply awakened another side of himself after dying in his previous world.
That’s why the thought that these parents and this family weren’t his never crossed his mind.
It was weird, he knew that, but no matter what, he couldn’t deny the feeling.
Still, it was just his feeling. He couldn’t show it outright.
To avoid suspicion, he had to give a reasonable answer.
"Grandpa, something happened in the dungeon."
Lucien sipped the tea he had poured for himself, met his grandfather’s eyes, and spoke a little solemnly.
"Oh? Tell me. What happened?"
Malcolm was surprised by his grandson’s sudden seriousness and gestured for him to speak.
He wanted to know what had happened in there that changed his grandson so much that he was having a hard time believing.
"It’s nothing too big. It’s just..." Lucien looked a little awkward.
"...I killed someone with my hands for the first time."
However, what his grandson said next left him completely stumped.