The atmosphere in the festival area suddenly turned into a battlefield of high-level panic.
With swift but hurried movements, Roveniel picked up Lucien’s limp body and carried him out of the crowd to the VIP rest area at the back of the festival area.
Followed by Seilas, Rayland, Rose, and Reichardt who were breathing heavily, the luxurious room immediately felt suffocated by a thick aura of tension.
Meanwhile, right on the VIP balcony floor, fries were scattered from the package Lucien had been holding, lying in a miserable state.
A nearby guard was about to step forward to clean them up, but Seilas stopped him with a firm wave from the doorway.
“Don’t touch it directly,” Seilas ordered in a serious tone.
Wasting no time, the guard approached cautiously.
Wearing clean white gloves, he pulled a pair of small silver clasps from his pocket.
The guard carefully held the fries as if they were alchemical explosives ready to explode at any moment.
He then placed them on a special tray that was immediately covered by a transparent magic dome, creating a protective shape resembling a small glass box with a magical glow, and handed them to Seilas.
Before anyone could catch their breath, the door to the room slammed open.
The court physician, whom Kaelen had summoned entered, panting and his robes slightly disheveled.
Roveniel immediately grabbed the healer’s hand, asking him to examine Lucien, who lay on the velvet bed.
The healer immediately took out a magic detection crystal and carefully directed the light over Lucien’s body.
His brow furrowed for a moment, causing everyone in the room to hold their breath in complete silence.
However, after a few seconds that felt like an eternity, the healer took a deep breath and shook his head.
“There’s nothing unusual,” the healer said in a confused tone.
“His pulse is stable, his mana flow is normal, there’s no magical poison or curse.
He…
he’s just in a deep sleep.
His body is completely fine.” Everyone in the room was instantly stunned.
The tense expressions on their faces turned into mass confusion.
Seilas, who was standing closest to the small table, glanced at the magic-protected glass box containing the fries.
“Wait…
if he’s physically fine, what about the food he was holding before he fainted?
Check that.” The healer nodded obediently, then directed his analytical magic at the tray of remaining, magically protected fries.
A golden light swirled around the poor fries for a few seconds before finally extinguishing with a soft thud.
“The analysis results show…
this object is one hundred percent safe,” the healer reported with an incredibly awkward expression.
“Pure boiled potatoes that are cut, given a little salt, then fried in commercial cooking oil that looks like it has been used many times.” That statement caused the entire room to freeze.
Roveniel, who had been on the verge of declaring war, thinking his brother had been poisoned by a political enemy, suddenly became intensely awkward, not knowing what to do with himself.
His face, pale with panic, turned slightly red from embarrassment.
He cleared his throat loudly to hide panic, while the healer quickly excused himself, feeling his presence was no longer necessary for the cheap fries.
Just as the door was about to close behind the healer, a flat voice interrupted the awkward silence.
“Don’t disturb my sleep, Reichardt…
the bowl of noodles is five short…
please discount the mattress…” Lucien was delirious with his eyes still tightly closed, his head moving slightly to find the most comfortable position on the soft pillow.
The delirious voice immediately broke the tense atmosphere.
Roveniel, whose embarrassment had just subsided due to the fries incident, suddenly found a new outlet.
Still with a trace of awkwardness on his face, he immediately turned around and glared at Reichardt.
It was the deadly stare of a possessive older sibling, ready to judge anyone who dared to trouble his younger brother.
“Reichardt…” Roveniel called in a low, piercingly cold voice.
“What did you do to him during your time at the academy?
Why is he dreaming about bowls of noodles and not getting enough sleep?” Roveniel pressed suspiciously.
Seilas and Kaelen immediately nodded in agreement, taking advantage of the situation to find a scapegoat for the emotional turmoil they had just experienced.
Rose, who had been standing by the bed with worried eyes, also snorted in annoyance at Reichardt.
“That’s right!
Lucien wouldn’t be this stressed if it weren’t for the pressure at the academy!” Rayland, standing in the corner, unconsciously got swept up in the atmosphere.
He folded his arms across his chest and stared at Reichardt with a judgmental gaze, as if he were a top-tier criminal.
Amidst the stares from all corners of the room, Rayland suddenly blinked.
In his heart, he suddenly thought, ‘Wait a minute…
why am I putting on this stern face?
Wasn’t I just curious to come here?
Why am I getting carried away and blaming Reichardt like them?’ Rayland cried out inwardly, feeling stupid for getting dragged into this drama.
Reichardt, assaulted by a barrage of glares from the entire room, gaped in confusion.
He raised his hands in surrender, feeling like the most wronged victim of the day.
“How should I know?!” Reichardt defended, half-screaming in frustration.
“I used to wake him up at the academy, just trying to keep him on time for class!
If left alone, he’d sleep for dozens of hours a day like a living corpse!
Why am I the one getting blamed?!” ”Excuses!
You must be bothering him and giving him too much work!” Roveniel snapped in disapproval.
”There’s no homework!
He’s my eternally lazy little brother!
I love him, there’s no way I’d be mean to him!” Reichardt retorted sharply.
”Both of you, keep your voices down!
You’ll only make his physical condition worse!” Rose hissed, glaring sharply at them.
”She’s right, your pointless bickering is getting us nowhere,” Seilas added with a cold, unamused sigh.
”If you’re supposed to be taking good care of him, why does he always look like a soul leaving its body every morning?!” Roveniel shot back aggressively, refusing to back down.
”That’s just his default facial expression since birth!
You’re just in total denial because you refuse to accept what he’s really like!” Reichardt yelled back, completely losing his patience under the unjust pressure.
The unnecessary arguments and commotion continued with increasingly deafening shouts of retort.
The argument between Roveniel and Reichardt finally began to penetrate Lucien’s subconscious.
The teenager’s white eyebrows twitched, disturbed by the noise that ruined the beauty of his dreams of cheap mattresses and instant noodles.
In his half-conscious mind, Lucien felt like his life was being truly tested by this group of idlers.
How could a trivial matter of fries and a nap turn into a grand noble trial?
If he had known this festival day would end in such a mental mess, he swore he would have locked himself in his dorm room and slept for three days and three nights without interruption.
Slowly, Lucien opened one eye.
His gaze radiated a lazy sharpness, scanning the room with the most irritated look in the world.
He was ready to hurl verbal curses or shoo away all the noisy creatures in front of him so he could resume his long-delayed sleep.
Before anyone else could start a new wave of useless drama, Lucien let out a long, heavy sigh that clearly showed how much he couldn’t stand the sight of everyone currently standing in his field of vision.
Seeing that Lucien was conscious, they all immediately crowded around the bed with cries of relief.
“Lucien!
Are you awake?
Does your chest feel tight?” Roveniel asked anxiously.
“Don’t move yet, let me prepare a calming potion,” Seilas said quickly.
“Lucien, please rest a little longer,” Rose coaxed, her eyes sparkling with worry mixed with relief.
Lucien snorted softly, rejecting all the outstretched hands and excessive concern outright.
Without a word of explanation, he immediately rose from his position, straightened the slightly disheveled clothes he had borrowed, and prepared to leave the room.
“You guys are too noisy,” Lucien muttered dryly, massaging his aching temples.
“I’m going back to the academy now.
Just find another victim to drama with.” They all immediately refused in unison, insisting on forbidding Lucien from walking in their version of a “weak” condition.
”Don’t be reckless!
You just fainted, Lucien!
Rest at least until night!” Roveniel shouted in panic as he stretched out his arms to block the door.
“That’s right, Lucien!
Your blood pressure must be unstable!” Rose chimed in, pleading with him.
“You’re not allowed to walk to the academy now!
If you want to go back, I’ll take you!” Seilas added in a firm, authoritative tone.
However, Lucien’s cold gaze was far more deadly than any argument.
Ignoring Roveniel’s continued protests or Reichardt’s subsequent scolding, Lucien strode out of the room and headed for the academy, leaving the elite nobles still standing in a daze amidst the lingering aroma of festival fries.