Midnight, at the old lighthouse beside the Silver Moon Canal.
The sea breeze tugged at Diana Chenxi's hood, sending a few strands of golden hair fluttering in the moonlight.
"You're here." As a slender figure emerged from the darkness, Diana spoke, her voice weary.
Weilin Klein stopped a few paces away from her. "Countess, you asked to meet me privately before our formal meeting. Forgive my obtuseness, but I don't understand your intentions."
Diana fell silent for a long while, as though gathering the courage to speak-or struggling with herself.
"Veylin." She turned around, her face indistinct in the shadows. "The Klein family's decision... I understand that this is a terrible humiliation for you."
She lifted her chin slightly, trying to maintain her dignity as a countess, but her voice trembled in the sea breeze. "The Dawn Territory's situation is far worse than anything you've heard. I... cannot let it collapse in my hands."
"But I won't dissolve the engagement entirely." She paused, each word painfully difficult to force out. "I intend to take you as my 'Side Consort.'"
Taking a Side Consort was a special right commonly exercised by female lords, intended to produce as many children with bloodline powers as possible.
"This way," Diana said, averting her gaze from Weilin and looking toward the churning, ink-black sea, "the Klein family can preserve some dignity, and the Dawn Family will have an explanation to offer the public. As for me..."
She closed her eyes, unable to suppress the humiliation in her voice. "It will give me some breathing room to find allies capable of supporting the Dawn Territory."
Rather than offering a favor, she was laying her wounds bare.
From her tightly clenched hands, Weilin understood the clumsy kindness behind her offer.
But... a Side Consort? Before transmigrating, Weilin had joked online about wanting someone else to support him, too. Yet now that the choice was actually before him, he still had to weigh the pros and cons.
Throughout history, many renowned scholars had relied on their wives' support when they were still nobodies-commonly known as living off a woman. Becoming the countess's "kept man" and using the Dawn Territory's resources to research bloodline powers was hardly a bad option.
But... if I get results later, who gets first authorship? What will history call me? Lady Dawn?
No.
A real man couldn't spend his life languishing beneath someone else!
The engagement had to go!
As for the next step, he needed to figure out how to get the best price for himself. Veylin began plotting.
I could play on her feelings, then sell her a grand vision. The tricks I used on my advisor should work.
As Diana watched Weilin remain silent, her guilt grew heavier and heavier. Just as she was about to say something, he slowly spoke.
"Diana," Weilin said in a low voice full of concern, "when I heard that your parents had died in an accident, I grieved for a long time, too. Especially for you. At eighteen, you had to shoulder the burden of an entire county and look after two young sisters. I imagine the Dawn Family's cousins haven't been easy to deal with, either?"
Diana's shoulders abruptly stiffened.
She had anticipated his anger, his despair, even his desperate pleading.
The one thing she had never expected was for him to say this.
Even now, he was still worried about me?
Veylin looked straight into her eyes, his tone grief-stricken.
"For an 'unawakened good-for-nothing' to become a countess's Side Consort-that would humiliate me more deeply than breaking off the engagement."
Seeing that he had indeed stirred Diana's emotions, Weilin pressed his advantage, scouring his memories for fragments about her.
"I remember," he said, taking a step forward, "you told me more than once that your dream was to become a hero like your father, someone who could protect your people from a dragon's claws."
"And now, your sisters and the entire Dawn Territory need you to be that hero far more than I do."
Veylin worked to make his tone sound accepting, playing the part of someone making a sacrifice to perfection.
Diana's defenses crumbled. Her eyes rapidly reddened and filled with tears.
A switch had been flipped.
"You don't know..." Her voice began to choke as she could no longer contain her helplessness. "After my parents died, the entire Dawn Territory fell on my shoulders alone. So many nights, I held the account books and cried until dawn. So many times, when those people made things difficult for me, all I could do was force myself to endure... So many of my decisions were made because I had no other choice!"
As though clutching a lifeline, she poured out the vulnerability hidden beneath her countess's shell.
Veylin waited until her sobs eased a little before speaking softly, his voice gently coaxing.
"We're both trapped, Diana. You're trapped by a heavy title, and I'm trapped by being bloodless. We both long to break free of our shackles and protect the people we cherish." He paused, letting those words linger in the night breeze, before gazing at her with utter solemnity.
"So let's dissolve the engagement. I don't want to become your burden, much less a shameful footnote on your future path to becoming a hero."
Diana stared at him in a daze. The young man before her seemed both familiar and unfamiliar. When had he shed his youthful awkwardness?
"You... really feel that way?" she asked uncertainly.
"Of course." Veylin did not hesitate in the slightest.
Then he moved closer, until they could almost feel each other's breath. His direct gaze made Diana instinctively retreat half a step.
"But, Diana, I need your help. I've spent the past few years studying ancient texts, and recently I found a way to improve my bloodline. I intend to attempt a third awakening!"
The more Weilin spoke, the more he got into the role, and he began exercising his imagination. "Do you remember my sister, Lilia? Ever since my awakening failed, the family has set its sights on her. Leonard has even tried several times to lure her into secluded rooms under the pretext of visiting her..."
Veylin went no further, leaving Diana to fill in the blanks herself.
"We both need power, Diana. Help me!"
"I need ten grams of primordial blood crystal powder." His voice was quiet. "Whether I succeed or fail, I, Weilin Klein, will never forget this kindness! If I awaken, the Dawn Territory will gain far more than an incompetent Side Consort! It will gain a true ally-a blade that can cut through the thorns in your path!"
Yes, Weilin had asked for a double portion. It was a researcher's instinct.
Ten grams! Diana was taken aback. Fifty Gold Suns-that was an ordinary baron's surplus for an entire year!
For a countess, that amount was a minor matter, but the Dawn Territory's current circumstances did not permit careless spending.
She silently studied Weilin, looking at the unmistakable determination in his eyes, the fighting spirit that had once been so familiar to her.
The night breeze brushed Diana's hair as conflicting emotions passed over her face.
After a moment, she seemed to let something go. "All right. I agree. I'll get you ten grams of primordial blood crystal powder as soon as possible. Our engagement is hereby dissolved."
She paused, her voice growing much softer, colored by emotions even she could not quite explain. "If... if you fail," she said, biting her lower lip, "the Dawn Territory still needs a learned clerk, and the territory's potion workshop needs experienced hands, too. As long as you're willing, there will always be a place for you in the Dawn Territory."
Perhaps this was the last thing she could do for her former fiancé, and for those long-gone days they had spent growing up together.
Having finished speaking, Diana pulled her hood tight, turned, and swiftly vanished into the night, as though fleeing.
Veylin remained where he was. He lowered his head and rubbed the rough grooves on the Dawn crest.
Phase one experiment: research funding secured.