The Herb King

Julie Irish and Grace left after Aethelwolf handed them the signed documents. Before they left, they kept on looking at Olivia.

On their way back to their mansion, Grace stared at her sister and asked. "Sister, that child has the same hair color as you. Could she be your daughter?" She chuckled in amusement.

Julie Irish flickered her forehead. "Stop speaking nonsense." She said as she removed her veil. When she removed her veil, her hair turned crimson red and a beautiful face that could topple the world was revealed. She had a pair of golden eyes that seemed to possess an ethereal charm. This was Julie Irish's true appearance that she had hidden from the world. Only her sister and her father had seen what she truly looked like without her veil.

Grace held her forehead as she looked at her sister's peerless visage. She still couldn't stop herself from falling into a daze every time she look at her sister's face. She was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen!

"If the others know what you truly look like, they might believe that you are Olivia's mother." Grace muttered silently.

Julie Irish glared at her and Grace immediately shut her mouth.

"This face will only cause us trouble so no one must see it." Julie muttered with a sigh. Because of her unparalleled beauty, her parents chose to hide from the eyes of the public to prevent her from being harmed. In a world where the strong prey on the weak, a beautiful face would only be a disaster. Even when their Urgel Household became one of the strongest noble households, Julie Irish still refused to remove her veil.

Grace looked at her in regret.

***

"Let's go to Sir Johann's mansion. You should call him Grandpa Johann, okay?"

"Okay." Olivia nodded her head eagerly. She could now go out with Aethelwolf without concerns and it made her very excited.

"Albert, prepare the carriage. You are coming with us." Aethelwolf said to Albert.

Albert acknowledged the command with a bow of his head. He then tied the reins of the carriage to Alba and Kerrin, the two King-Grade Equuses. For some strange reason, the two of them were silent.

When they entered the carriage, Olivia climbed onto his shoulders and whispered to him. "They also want to turn into humans. I heard them conversing earlier."

Aethelwolf had a look of realization when he heard her words. It looks like the two were jealous because Olivia was able to turn into a human. "I see. Your necklace isn't hard to make. Just that, the materials are hard to find. I even had to ask for Brian's help to procure them. It might take some time before I could get the required materials to make the same necklace for the two of them."

Olivia stared at him with a big smile on her face. "I know that you can get those materials soon. I will tell them that you will make their necklace once you have the materials."

Aethelwolf chuckled and rubbed her head affectionately. "Alright. Just don't let their hopes up since it might take a long time. The auction house of the Linaza Household would open soon. We might find some of the materials in the auction."

Olivia nodded her head happily.

Soon, they arrived at the mansion of Johann.

"Sir Aethelwolf, what brings you here?" Johann and Anna came to greet him.

Aethelwolf got down the carriage while holding Olivia's small hand.

Looking at the cute little girl who was walking beside Aethelwolf, Johann and Anna were surprised.

"Sir Aethelwolf, is this your child? We heard from Janrose that you have a daughter named Olivia. This must be her." Anna excitedly ran towards Olivia and carried the little girl into her arms.

Olivia wanted to punch Anna for suddenly capturing her, but she saw Aethelwolf shaking his head so she refrained from acting on her instinct.

"What an adorable little kid!" Anna rubbed her cheeks against Olivia's face which made the little girl pout her lips in annoyance.

Aethelwolf laughed lightly as he looked at them. He then moved his gaze to Johann and said. "I believe that you have already received the learning materials from Janrose."

Johann nodded his head. "Miss Janrose delivered the learning materials earlier. I have read some of the contents you wrote, but I still can't comprehend half of it. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to learn it, Sir Aethelwolf." He noticed that the knowledge inside the learning material encompasses the wisdom of a Level 4 Alchemist. It was very valuable to him and he could even sense that he was about to summon his Golden Pill Fire!

"That's good. I came here because I want to bring you somewhere with me. I want you to learn Alchemy from me together with an individual. The two of you are both peak Level 3 Alchemists so it's fine to hold your lessons together. It would also save us some time." Aethelwolf planned to bring him to the mansion of the Singler Household and meet Jade Kristine! Johann is a trustworthy person and they were now tied in the same boat. He has some motives for bringing him to Jade Kristine, but it wasn't time to reveal such matters yet.

Johann furrowed his eyebrows. From his words, he discovered that Aethelwolf was also teaching another Alchemist who has the same level of understanding as him in Alchemy. There was only a small number of peak Level 3 Espers in the Leone Empire and he was acquainted with most of them. He wondered who the person he was talking about.

"Alright." Johann nodded his head. It didn't matter to him as long as Aethelwolf will guide him on how to summon his Golden Pill Fire.

"Let's leave now so we can start your lesson as soon as possible."

Olivia immediately jumped off from Anna's embrace when she heard this. She then climbed onto Aethelwolf's shoulder with great familiarity.

"I'll go with you." She looked at him excitedly.