Episode-714
Chapter : 1407
"Have you tried to cleanse it?" Lloyd asked.
"We tried," Valerius said despairingly. "I used the Grand Dispel. The faculty combined their power. It didn't work. The curse... it adapts. It feeds on the cleansing magic and gets stronger."
Lloyd frowned. An adaptive, corrupting curse that targeted technology (or magic items). That sounded familiar. It sounded like the kind of asymmetrical warfare Firefly would design. Or the Seventh Circle.
"Why come to me?" Lloyd asked. "You have the Royal Mages."
"The Royal Mages are bureaucrats," Valerius spat. "They will quarantine the school. They will shut us down. They will treat the symptoms, not the disease. I need a surgeon. I need someone who understands the structure of magic. I need you."
Valerius looked at Lloyd with pleading eyes. "You are the only one who sees the patterns, Lloyd. You fixed the Golem Heart. You built the logic engine. You see the gears behind the spell. I am begging you. Save my school. Save my students."
Lloyd looked at the old man. Valerius was proud. He was powerful. Seeing him beg was disturbing.
"Is there anything else?" Lloyd asked sharply. "You're holding something back. A curse is bad, but you look terrified."
Valerius hesitated. Then he leaned in close.
"The curse," he whispered. "It couldn't have breached the outer wards from the outside. The shields are intact. The perimeter is secure."
Lloyd understood instantly. "It came from inside."
"Yes," Valerius nodded grimly. "Someone planted it. Someone placed the seed. There is a traitor, Lloyd. A traitor in the faculty. Or the student body. Someone is poisoning us from within."
Lloyd sat back. A traitor. Another traitor. It seemed his life was infested with them.
"If there's a mole," Lloyd said, "then no one is safe. If I go there, I'm walking into a trap."
"I know," Valerius said. "But you are the only one I trust. You are the White Mask. You are the variable the enemy cannot predict."
Lloyd rubbed his temples. He had so much on his plate. The Aegis suit was only 30% done. The Envoy was breathing down his neck. Rosa was threatening nuclear war. And now, a cursed school.
"I can't just leave," Lloyd said. "I have... obligations here. My research. The suit."
"Bring it with you," Valerius offered immediately. "I will give you the Old Tower. It's isolated. Secure. It has its own mana well. You can set up your lab there. No one will disturb you. You can work on your project and investigate the curse."
"A private lab," Lloyd mused. "Away from the estate. Away from the Envoy. Away from Rosa."
It was tempting. Incredibly tempting. It was an escape hatch. A way to get out of the pressure cooker of his home life while still being productive.
"And Mina?" Lloyd asked. "I need my assistant. She's vital to the project."
"Bring her," Valerius said. "Bring anyone you need. Just come."
Lloyd thought about it. The Academy was dangerous. But staying here was political suicide. And if the curse was connected to the Devil Race, which it almost certainly was, then investigating it was part of his war.
Plus, Airin was there. The ghost. If the school was dangerous, she was in danger. He couldn't leave her unprotected.
"Okay," Lloyd said. He stood up. "I'll do it. I'll come to the Academy. I'll find your traitor. I'll fix your curse."
Valerius let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for days. "Thank you. Thank you, Lloyd."
"Don't thank me yet," Lloyd said grimly. "If this traitor is who I think it is... things are going to get messy."
He walked Valerius to the door. "Go back. Don't tell anyone I'm coming. I want to arrive quietly. I want to see the rot before it hides."
"Understood," Valerius said. He bowed and disappeared into the night.
Lloyd closed the door. He leaned against it.
"Well," he said to the empty hallway. "I guess I'm going back to school."
He had a plan. He would move his operations to the Academy. He would take Mina. He would escape Rosa's glare and the Envoy's elephants. He would solve the mystery, save the students, and maybe, just maybe, find a moment of peace to build his robot.
It was a good plan. Or at least, it was better than staying here and waiting for his wife to destroy him.
"Ken!" Lloyd shouted. "Pack the bags! We're moving out!"
He walked towards his bedroom, his mind already racing with theories about the curse. Was it a biological agent? A spiritual parasite? A memetic virus?
Chapter : 1408
He didn't know. But he was going to find out. The Professor was back. And this time, detention was going to be lethal.
The next morning was a blur of activity. Lloyd organized the transfer of his lab equipment with military precision. Crates of tools, raw materials, and the precious Lilith Stones were loaded onto unmarked wagons. The Golem Heart was secured in a special lead-lined box.
"We are moving the operation," Lloyd told Mina when she arrived. "To the Academy. Headmaster Valerius has offered us a secure facility."
Mina looked relieved. "The Academy? That is good. It is neutral ground. Away from... here."
"Exactly," Lloyd said. "It's a tactical withdrawal. And a new mission. There's a curse we need to break."
As they were supervising the loading, a carriage pulled up. It bore the crest of Zakaria. Princess Amina stepped out. She looked regal and determined.
"I hear you are leaving," Amina said, walking up to Lloyd. "Running away again?"
"Strategic relocation," Lloyd corrected. "I have a job to do. A crisis at the school."
"I am coming with you," Amina stated. "I am your fiancée. Where you go, I go. That is the deal."
Lloyd sighed. "Amina, you can't. The Academy is under quarantine. It's dangerous. There's a curse that eats magic items. Your jewelry would try to strangle you."
"I can take care of myself," Amina argued. "And I have business in the capital."
"No," Lloyd said firmly. He took her hands. "Listen to me. You need to go home. To Zakaria."
"Why?" Amina asked, hurt flashing in her eyes. "Are you sending me away?"
"I am sending you to negotiate," Lloyd said. "Your uncle is here. He is putting pressure on my father. He wants a wedding. I need you to go to your father, the Sultan, and talk to him. Tell him... tell him what you want. Tell him we need more time. Tell him the truth about us."
"The truth?" Amina asked softly. "That we are partners?"
"That we are partners who respect each other," Lloyd said. "But who are being forced into a corner. If we marry under pressure, it will be a cage. I want us to choose our future, Amina. Not have it dictated by elephants and contracts."
Amina looked at him. She saw the sincerity in his eyes. She saw that he wasn't rejecting her; he was trying to buy them freedom.
"You are right," she sighed. "My uncle is a blunt instrument. My father is the scalpel. I need to speak to the scalpel."
"Exactly," Lloyd said. "Go home. Manage the politics from that end. I will handle the war here. When you come back... we will figure this out."
"Okay," Amina said. She squeezed his hands. "But do not die, Lloyd. I have invested a lot in you."
"I'll try not to," Lloyd smiled.
"And Lloyd?" Amina added, her voice lowering. "My father... and your father... they have already agreed. The contract is signed. The wedding is inevitable. Just... know that."
Lloyd felt a cold weight in his stomach. "I know. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Or burn it."
Amina kissed his cheek. "Goodbye, partner."
She climbed back into her carriage. Lloyd watched her go. One problem managed. One Queen sent away.
He turned back to the wagons. Mina was waiting for him. She had heard everything.
"So," Mina said quietly. "The wedding is inevitable."
"Nothing is inevitable," Lloyd said stubbornly. "Except death and taxes. And maybe my bad luck."
"Lloyd," Mina said. She stepped closer. "We need to talk about reality."
"I hate reality," Lloyd grumbled.
"In this world," Mina said, her voice steady, "a man of your status... a Lord, a hero, a wealthy merchant... it is not uncommon for him to have multiple wives."
Lloyd stared at her. "What?"
"Polygamy," Mina said. "It is legal. It is accepted. Especially for powerful men who need to secure alliances."
"I know it's legal," Lloyd said. "But... Rosa? She would kill her. She would freeze her and shatter her into a million pieces."
"Rosa wants to be your wife," Mina said. "Amina wants the alliance. And I..."
She looked down. "I want you."
"Mina..."
"If you marry Amina," Mina said, "Rosa will be furious. But if you keep Rosa and marry Amina... it is a political solution. And if you... have me as well... perhaps, in time, it could work."
Lloyd looked at her. She was proposing the harem route. The route he had mocked. The route he thought was impossible.
"You would be okay with that?" Lloyd asked. "Sharing?"