Night at Wayne Manor.
Lily hummed a tune as she passed the study and reached the end of the corridor. She tiptoed back to the study, holding her breath as she leaned against the door to eavesdrop.
Without any soundproofing enchantment, she could hear the exchanges of the tutoring session inside the study, clear as day.
It was a very standard tutoring lesson, with none of those ambiguous sounds.
Lily frowned in confusion. Her instincts told her there was something major going on with her senior recently, yet after several investigations, it seemed like there was no issue at all.
Perhaps her senior was a good girl, someone who neither fought nor vied for attention, but with her beauty and inability to reject others, being in each other’s company day and night meant there was no reason for Wayne not to make his move.
Definitely, the investigation wasn’t thorough enough!
Lily decided to listen in a bit longer, intent on reporting to Veronica immediately if she found evidence, then sit back and reap the benefits as the titans clashed.
Just as she was pondering, footsteps sounded from the staircase.
Philark stood at the corner of the corridor with a smile, silently watching Lily as she eavesdropped on the door.
Lily gave an awkward smile, pointed towards the room, made a few hand gestures, then, like greased lightning, dashed away from the scene.
Philark chuckled and shook his head, his task complete, and returned to the first floor.
Inside the study, the student showed great respect to her teacher, all while pressing him against the textbooks to pour out her heart’s affection.
Chriss was both amused and annoyed, pushing the lecher’s face away from her chest and pointing towards the door, "Why don’t you let Lily hear clearly? Do you have designs on her?"
Unsurprisingly, the senior had a sharp mind.
Wayne shook his head with a serious expression, "Chriss, you’re wronging me. Even a blind person could see that it’s Lily who has designs on me. If it weren’t for my self-discipline, she would have taken my first kiss long ago, and you wouldn’t have had your turn."
"So, Lily lost her parents at a young age, she’s both pitiful and adorable. If she knew we were together, she’d definitely be heartbroken. I can’t bear to hurt her, so I’ll keep it a secret as long as possible," Wayne fibbed with his head down.
Chriss’s cheeks warmed as she muttered, "liar," and it took a considerable effort to push Wayne away. She tidied her disheveled clothes, told the student to pay attention, and not to touch the teacher during the lesson.
Chriss knew Wayne’s true intentions very well. With Veronica, a formidable enemy, already losing ground, and Lily easy to deal with, she was in high spirits and couldn’t be bothered to expose Wayne’s lies.
It was less about Wayne’s lies and more about Chriss’s true feelings. She was too kind-hearted, unwilling to disclose the full extent of their relationship to spare Lily’s feelings, hoping that Lily would discover the truth and bow out silently.
Given her personality, once she became the lady of Wayne Manor, there would likely be a parade of victory flags outside.
"The High Priest asked me to pass on a message. There’s something very important he needs to discuss with you. He wants you to visit the library soon." After dragging out the lesson for an extra thirty minutes, Chriss finally managed to wrap up for the day.
Wayne’s brow arched. What did Philomena want with him? Was it getting cold and she was in need of some warmth?
No, that couldn’t be it. It was something else!
Suddenly, Wayne remembered that Philomena had mentioned advancing to become a Legendary Mage and needed his assistance. Judging by the timeline, it was about time.
Whenever it came to magic, Wayne was full of enthusiasm, "I’ll make some time. Tell the High Priest I’m at his beck and call, even if it means losing sleep."
"What does the High Priest want with you?" Chriss asked curiously.
"What else? To seduce me, of course."
"Is it related to the Magic Department?"
Chriss didn’t believe him. One had to interpret Wayne’s words in reverse; if he said seduction, there was certainly no seduction involved—it must be a matter of great importance.
Even if you take a step back, the High Priest’s tricks weren’t worthy of being called seduction.
Wayne glossed over the subject. He still had the task of being the Brand Ambassador for the Magic Department. With Ob catching the traitor and the Moonlight Church having a tug-of-war with the Magic Department, there was a lot on both sides’ plates, so he didn’t need to check in with Philomena every day.
Wayne had proved himself quite useful during his time as a guide, shutting Philomena up and giving the Magic Department a breather at the negotiating table.
If something works, use it to death!
Unsurprisingly, the role of Brand Ambassador would keep him busy with long-term tasks.
The Magic Department, as a gesture of goodwill, tied Wayne to Philomena, and through her, hoped to change the Moonlight Church’s stance. If possible, the Magic Department wished to forge a deep and soulful physical connection that would last.
Ideally, they wanted to replicate Ob’s classic case and turn Philomena into Dorin.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Chriss opened a drawer and mysteriously pulled out a poster, spreading it out in front of Wayne.
The movie ’King Kong’ was about to premiere!
This film, hastily put together in just two months after starting in August, was scheduled to release on December 15th.
The newspapers and radio were all hyping it up, and ambitiously, it would premiere simultaneously in Windsor, Frank, Prussia, and other places.
Wayne found the production shoddy, feeling that the props were average at best, the lead actor not a professional, and with the rush job, the screenplay underwent numerous changes during production, plus the director used methods better suited to arthouse films for a commercial movie...
With so many drawbacks lined up, it was bound for failure.
Putting Wayne’s hindsight aside, in that era, having a monster movie to watch was already a big deal. Why nitpick at everything?
If you’re so good at finding faults, go pick bones out of fish; what are you doing watching movies?
Especially since Austin, the film’s financier, poured a large sum into the project.
Back then, Austin couldn’t stand Wayne for all sorts of reasons, and although it was still the case now, there was some improvement.
Originally, Austin tried everything to drive Wayne away, starting with sending a beautiful spy, appointing the big star Lily Hayworth as the lead actress, and sparing no expense for the purpose. More precisely, he never intended to make a profit from this movie.