The Road Ahead

The Earl's study was somewhat quiet in the afternoon.

Perhaps the turbulent undercurrents within and beyond the manor lately had chilled many people to the bone. Even the servants who usually loved to gossip only dared to pass by in silence.

Utter silence, more or less.

At this moment, only Earl Will and Ronan were in the study, just as they had been two weeks ago, on the day Ronan first entered Yi Lin Manor.

"How are you adapting?" Earl Will was a stern man. It was difficult to see any unnecessary expression on his face.

Ronan nodded lightly. "Not too bad."

"Thank you on Wei Wei's behalf for what happened before." The Earl said in a deep voice, "She is still a child and does not know better. I will personally keep her in line."

The matter in question naturally referred to the assassination attempt.

In all of Yi Lin Manor, only Earl Will knew Ronan's true origins.

And in the entire Steel Empire, only three people knew the truth.

Thus, only the Earl himself knew how unfathomably powerful Ronan was.

How could someone who had survived fourteen years in Crescent Prison possibly be killed so easily?

Not to mention that he was the General's and Madam's child.

At that thought, a trace of tenderness appeared in the Earl's eyes.

Ronan could not understand the strange look in the Earl's eyes.

Still, hearing those words, Ronan should have been pleased.

However, he was not used to the Earl's attitude, nor did he wish to cause trouble for that girl, whose heart was not bad to begin with. So he gently shook his head. "I didn't take it to heart."

The Earl nodded slightly. "So, what brings you here today?"

Ronan got straight to the point. "I want to know exactly how you plan to arrange my future."

The Earl smiled, and the weathered wrinkles on his face all bunched together.

"Actually, you need not resist the General so much."

"Perhaps throwing a two-year-old child into a place like Crescent Prison was cruel. But from another perspective, he did withstand the greatest pressure and let you survive. And fourteen years later, he erased every trace of your prison break. Now, aside from Crescent Prison's guards, no one knows what the so-called fugitive looks like."

"He is, after all, your father."

The Earl's tone carried a trace of reverence when he spoke that final sentence.

Ronan knew that tiger was the pride of the Military Department. He truly had a way with leading troops, and subordinates like Earl Will were countless.

But none of that had anything to do with him.

So he merely stood there calmly, watching the Earl.

The latter gave a bitter smile. He hesitated to speak, but in the end, he said thoughtfully,

"Once this matter is settled, I will send you to Azure Ring Island. It is about a thousand kilometers from Bo Ning District. The Maglev train ride only takes half an hour."

Azure Ring Island?

Ronan was somewhat surprised. "You want me to study?"

The Earl nodded as if it were only natural. "Are you unwilling? I know you have many secrets, but secrets cannot be the foundation upon which you establish yourself at Yi Lin Manor. Sooner or later, you must integrate into this world."

"Azure Ring Island has Bo Ning Academy, the best secondary academy in the Emerald Star Region. Wei Wei studies there as well. I hope you can make up for some basic knowledge there. If you can get into university, or even an excellent university, I would be even happier to see it."

Ronan fell silent.

He did not resist further study, but he did not think there was anything he could learn at an academy.

With his extraordinary intelligence and learning ability, he had absorbed all the knowledge in Crescent Prison's library. Of course, no one would believe such a claim, and Ronan would not say it lightly.

Then again, the word university reminded Ronan of something.

"Even if you cannot get into university, it would still be good to make some friends."

The Earl spoke softly. "I do not know what you intend to do, but at present, this is the usual path for the Empire's noble children. Many people attend university merely to build connections they may need in the future."

Ronan naturally understood his goodwill.

He merely asked in confusion, "Is this your idea? Or his?"

The atmosphere in the study instantly dropped to freezing point.

Earl Will said calmly, "This is my idea."

"The General merely handed you over to me. His exact words were: Handle him however you like."

Ronan smiled and bowed to Earl Will.

"Thank you. I understand."

Then he slowly left the study.

Earl Will watched Ronan's departing back with a complicated expression. The words he had always wanted to say never left his mouth.

After leaving the Earl's study, Ronan returned directly to his room.

He had already asked clearly enough about the road ahead.

He understood that Earl Will had been sincere enough toward him, but all of it was built upon the fact that tiger was his father. And once Ronan accomplished what he intended to do, it would shake the heavens and the earth.

Even the small Emerald Star Region would not be able to contain news so shocking.

He did not want to drag Yi Lin Manor into it.

But for now, it seemed achieving his goal would not be something that could be done overnight.

Ronan was a patient person. He knew everything had to be done slowly.

Furthermore, to accomplish that, Noah had to successfully advance to the second stage. The second stage required not only a large quantity of Primal Stones as an energy supply, but also a fragment of the Kindling Tome!

There was only one place in this world that still possessed a fragment of the Kindling Tome: the secret base of Empire First Military Academy.

Only the best students from the best universities were qualified to enter that base.

Studying? Ronan did not actually dislike it. On the contrary, it was precisely what he excelled at most.

As it happened, there were only four fields in the Empire where he could legally and formally come into contact with the mecha he found most interesting after arriving in this world. The first was naturally the military; the second was the private armed forces of nobles; the third was academies. As for the last field, it was the spectator sport beloved across the entire Steel Empire: the A3 Formula Mecha Grand Prix.

He could not get involved in the other three fields for the time being. If he wanted to operate a real mecha at close range, the academy path was likely his only option.

Once he understood this, Ronan no longer had any objections to Earl Will's arrangements.

He only needed to wait for this period to pass, then head to Azure Ring Island according to the Earl's plans.

Night fell. After dinner, Ronan returned to his quarters as usual with nothing to do.

However, before he could enter a meditative state, the Dried Fruit phone that had remained brick-like ever since it came into his possession suddenly rang with a pleasant ringtone!

Ronan was somewhat surprised.

A string of unfamiliar numbers appeared on the screen.

After hesitating for a moment, he instinctively answered the call.

"Hello."

There was a long silence on the other end before a pleasant voice finally came through.

"Hello... are you all right?"

Ronan found the voice somewhat familiar, but he could not remember who it belonged to.

So he asked directly,

"Who are you?"

On the other end of the call, Su Xiao had secretly asked Christine for help and only managed to obtain Ronan's number from Wei Wei through indirect questioning. For the first time in her life, she felt like such a failure. Her cheeks burned as she bitterly regretted making this call.

That awful Ronan had actually forgotten her...

I gave you my number. It was one thing that you never called me, but now you are actually asking who I am?

For a girl who had grown up surrounded by admirers, this was practically an epic-level humiliation!

So she hung up without saying a word.

She waited for Ronan to call her.

And he did indeed call, but only half an hour later.

The instant the call connected, his leisurely voice came from the other end.

"Sorry, Miss Su. The piece of paper was already crumpled when I found it. I just compared the phone numbers to make sure I had not mistaken you for someone else, so I wasted a little time..."

The call ended abruptly.

This time, Su Xiao hung up directly.

She swore she never wanted to hear that annoying voice again!

Could he not speak properly?

She had risked being reprimanded by her family just to check on that reckless fool, and this was the mockery she received in return?

When had the young lady of the Su Family ever done something like this?

Even she felt wronged on her own behalf.

Yet at that moment, the phone rang again.

Looking at that hateful string of numbers, she seemed to hear once more Ronan's irritating voice casually explaining how he had carelessly tossed aside the note she gave him until the writing became illegible. She wanted to hang up immediately.

But then she recalled the three words he had calmly and unhurriedly spoken while standing between her and Xiang Feihu that night, and her heart began pounding.

Perhaps Ronan did not know what those three words meant to the young lady of the Su Family.

But the clever girl understood perfectly well. That was why, when Ronan had not called her, she had shamelessly asked Christine for help—because she wanted to know how Ronan was doing now.

"Do you care? Do you really care?"

Su Xiao lay curled up on her side on the large bed, clutching a teddy bear. After hesitating for a while, she finally pressed the answer button.

Outside the window, cold autumn rain fell. For Bo Ning District, summer had finally passed.

But in young hearts, that warmth would always take root and sprout, no matter what season it was.

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