Chapter 118: Interlude 10 – Lisa

Chapter 118: Interlude 10 – Lisa

Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia; Song Medical Tower

Minutes after the impossibility called Sara Valterion teleported her back to her penthouse, Lisa Song spins up a Communication spell and aims for her private tutor of the day. He’s quick to pick up.

“Lady Song, what can I do for you? I’m just about to come over for today’s lesson.”

“Hello Peter, unfortunately, I have to cancel our meeting today… You’re still being paid, it’s just that something came up and I have to leave.”

“Oh, alright, then I wish you a good day, and I hope you’ll get your things resolved quickly.”

“Thanks, Peter, I’ll see you next week!”

The call ends and Lisa starts pacing. She kept her cool in those past hours, but now everything comes crashing down. Meeting a person, she didn’t even know existed, was not part of her plans for the day.

I can’t believe it… What are the odds? A third child of the Big Five in my generation.

A ping on her interface shakes her out of it. It’s a message from Bernd Schmidt, asking if she wants to come over after her private lesson with Peter.

Every other day, she would have happily agreed, but now?

Nah, there’s no way I could keep my cool in front of the others tonight…

She sends a quick reply that she’s got an appointment with her mother and therefore can’t join them tonight. Bernd of course is completely understanding. He knows the role people like them have to play.

And then there’s Sara… Chilling at FBC without a care in the world.

Just when she’s about to cast another Communication spell – this time aiming for her mom – another ping on her interface interrupts her. This time it’s something else, as there is an immediate pop-up, and she can’t swipe the message away.

Lisa gasps when she recognizes the symbol at the top of the message. It’s the Empress’s seal! Lisa gulps and starts reading. She’s never received a message from the Empress before.

Luckily, it’s nothing bad. It’s a message reminding her of the agreement she’s made with Sara: She’s forbidden from talking to anyone besides her parents or the other Dukes about Sara Valterion’s existence.

Holy shit! I’m barely back from Sara’s ship, and the Empress already knows about everything! Not that I planned to go back on my word, but still, this hammers it home. Now, I really need a drink…

She walks over to her bar and grabs a bottle without bothering to get a glass. Lisa just takes the bottle and takes a big gulp of expensive alcohol. Then she sits down on her couch and after removing her shoes, puts her feet on the table.

“Pfew…” Lisa lets out a long breath and takes a few minutes to calm down. A quick spell projects a mirror before her, and she puts a strand of black hair behind her ear. Then she smoothens her features as best as she can manage and cancels the Mirror spell. Lisa then sits up straight and casts a Video Call spell, aiming for her mother.

Xin Song, Duchess of the Song Duchy appears before her shortly after. Due to the Video Call spell, Lisa is the only one who can see the woman. Would someone else look at them, they would recognize the similarities between the two young-looking women. Lisa Song is a spitting image of her mother. She’s just a bit shorter.

“Hello, Lisa,” her mother greets her. “How are you?”

Lisa takes another breath and smiles at her mother. “Hi Mom, I’m not sure how to feel right now… But I’m mostly good.”

Her mother’s expression turns concerned. “What’s wrong dear?”

Lisa shrugs inwardly and gets directly to the point. “Sara Valterion…”

Xin Song’s eyes immediately open wide, and she almost gasps. “You found out?” She asks, and Lisa can hear the pride in her voice.

“Yeah, and now I don’t know what to do… I’ve already received a warning from the flippin’ Empress!”

Her mother is silent for a moment. “Do you have time? I think it’s best if you come home for a few days. Carl can jump you with the Dionis. Your father doesn’t need the ship right now. He’s tied down on the Moon.”

Lisa scratches her head and thinks for a moment.

Do I have the time? I’d have to ditch Friday’s lessons. But they’re not that important anyway. Bernd and Victor will probably ask why I’m gone, but I can handle it. Yeah, I think I’m going home for the weekend.

“Yeah, it should be fine. I can come home!”

“Good, just give Carl a call when you’re ready to leave. I’ll tell your dad in the meantime and give Carl a heads-up.”

Lisa nods and waves at her mother. “Thanks, Mom, I’ll see you soon.”

The call disconnects, and Lisa gets back up. She enters her sleeping room and grabs a small suitcase, then she starts packing a few essentials.

Twenty minutes later, she’s ready to go. She’s already talked with Carl and is just waiting for him to pick her up. A few minutes later, there is a flash of magic, and a middle-aged man steps out of the jump room. He smiles at Lisa.

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“Are you ready to go?”

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Location: Magicon Empire; Song Duchy; Song System; SMS Dionis

The trip was fast. Carl and the other Space Mages aboard the Dionis gave it their all, and so Lisa arrives back home late Friday morning. She thanks the crew and gets ready to disembark. This time, she’s going to use a shuttle, as all the Space Mages are very exhausted.

Her mother who’s an Archmage of course can’t pick her up either, as she’s in meetings all morning. That only leaves the traditional way of using a shuttle for Lisa. Not that she cares, as the trip was already much faster than she expected. Her appointment with her mother is for dinner. That leaves her with half a day for her own leisure.

The shuttle’s door opens, and the pilot welcomes her aboard. She smiles at him and sits down on one of the comfortable seats. The shuttle closes back up and leaves the Dionis behind. A big screen shows Lisa what’s up ahead, and she sighs when she catches sight of Jiā. Her home planet is breathtaking as always.

I can’t say it enough. Ancestor Li-Ming had every right to call that beautiful planet “home.”

The planet is a little smaller than Terra, but the giant forests and green expanses are easily visible from orbit. There is no industry polluting the planet, and only a few sparse cities can be found on the northern continent. Everywhere else is pure nature.

Lisa’s shuttle heads straight for the biggest city on the planet. Compared to Imperia, the city of Valenia is tiny. There are no giant towers or other colossal buildings made out of tristanium. Instead, every single building in the city almost blends in with the surroundings. Organic forms and big planes of glass are prevalent, and every roof is covered by plants.

One of the biggest building’s roof opens up when the shuttle gets closer, and shows a landing pad just inside. The pilot heads right there and sets down. Lisa thanks him and leaves the shuttle behind. As soon as she’s a few steps away, some Magitech comes alive and shields the young woman. Then the shuttle lifts again and disappears through the closing roof. As soon as the roof is closed, the Magitech turns off again, and Lisa enters the building proper through a sliding door to her left.

Through that door, everything changes. There is still that nature vibe everywhere but otherwise the interior of the building looks like what one would expect from one of the richest families in the galaxy. Lisa ignores it all and slumps down on one of the couches.

And now I wait. Who would have known that Carl and the others would be that fast? I could have met with Mom for lunch…

She flips on one of the rooms’ holoprojectors and starts a movie, then she leans back to relax.

Halfway through the movie, Lisa is interrupted by an incoming Communication spell. As it’s no Video Call, she doesn’t bother to sit up. She accepts and immediately hears Bernd’s voice.

“Yoo Lisa, what’s up? And where are you? You’ve been gone all day, and no one can find you!”

“Hey Bernd, I’m home… Something came up.”

“Bullshit, I’m standing right in front of your door.” His voice turns curiously. “Did you find a secret boyfriend?”

Lisa groans. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend, and you know that you would be the first one to know if I had one… No, what I mean is that I’m home home.”

The line turns silent for a moment until Bernd answers. “Oh… Something important then. Can you tell me about it?”

“No, unfortunately not… But I should be back on Monday at the latest.”

The cheerfulness is gone from Bernd’s voice. “Alright, see you then.”

“Bye, Bernd.”

Lisa resumes her movie but doesn’t pay much attention. She stares up at the roof, deep in thought.

Keeping it from Bernd might be harder than I thought… Since when is he so… So un-Bernd-like? He never cared about my whereabouts before…

She must have fallen asleep, as she’s woken up by an alarm on her interface, reminding her that it’s almost time for dinner with her mother.

Shit, shit, shit! I’m going to be late!

Lisa jumps up and runs for her room. There, she opens the wardrobe and grabs some fitting clothes. Another dash later, she’s in the bathroom and takes a quick shower. A few quick spells have her body and hair dried and after putting on her clothes, more spells take care of some light styling and makeup. Then she’s ready, just in time!

Lisa returns to the shuttle bay at the top of the building and enters the shuttle that’s already been waiting for her. It takes off as soon as she’s taken a seat and heads for the city center.

Ten minutes later, the shuttle sets down on another landing pad. Lisa gets up and exits the shuttle. Someone is already waiting for her at the platform’s edge. “Welcome Miss Song, if you’d follow me? I’ll lead you to your table.”

Lisa nods at the woman and starts following her. Some 50 meters later, they enter a building and take the elevator down a few floors. After that, the two women enter a restaurant, where Lisa is led to a private room that overlooks the whole city below. Duchess Song is already sitting at the table, holding a steaming cup of tea in her hand.

Upon seeing Lisa, she sets down her cup and gets up to hug her daughter. “Lisa, nice to see you! Want some tea? They have a nice blend.” Lisa agrees and greets her mother back. Duchess Song points at her cup of tea and the attendant nods. A few seconds later, a second cup floats into the room.

“Please leave us,” Duchess Song says, and the two women sit down at the table. As soon as the door closes, the Duchess casts a Privacy spell around the room, then she looks at her daughter. “So, you found out, huh?”

Why does she look at me like I passed some test?

Lisa nods slowly. “I did… When you know what to look for, she was very bad at hiding it.”

The Duchess smiles and raises an eyebrow. “Is that so? Jasmine will be very happy to hear that, especially when I remind her that her idea backfired.”

Lisa is taken aback. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”

Her mother starts laughing. “Why do you think your new friend Sara is part of your class?”

So it really wasn’t random. But why?

“I don’t know… To get to know us?”

“Exactly! Jasmine thought it would be good for Sara to get to know her peers. So we decided to pull some strings and have her enter your history class as a new student. I warned her that it might be too suspicious, but Jasmine waved me off, saying her daughter would rock this. And now you’re here, having exposed her after the first lesson.”

Xin Song starts laughing. Lisa rarely heard her mother laugh freely like that. Once she’s composed herself again, mother and daughter continue to order food and do some small talk. Once they’re halfway through the second course, Lisa gets back to the actual topic.

“So what now? Do I just go on like normal or should I try to get closer to Sara?”

Duchess Song just shrugs. “It doesn’t really matter… Until the Valterions decide to introduce Sara to the wider Empire, the girl practically doesn’t exist. So it’s up to you what you want to do. Personally, I think it would be good if you manage to become friends with her, especially since the whole Earth adventure was made the way it is to accommodate her. I think you could benefit from that once you’re all there.”

So she wasn’t joking when she said the Emperor included other colleges besides RMA for her. Hearing it from Mom really drives it home. That’s crazy… Mom’s advice is probably for the best. Oh wait, I almost forgot!

“Thanks for the advice, Mom. I just remembered one more thing. Sara basically exposed someone else.”

“She did? Who is it?” Xin sounds very interested again.

“Sara said someone else on her team took care of her spot on the Earth competition. She said he’s a Noble in disguise but she doesn’t know who he is. So when we were talking and I mentioned the missing Timothy Silvani, she stopped in realization. Apparently, her teammate calls himself Tim Skadi… It would be fitting, don’t you say?”

The Duchess starts laughing again. “Oh, that’s just the cherry on top! I can confirm your suspicions, when we all learned about it, the bad disguise was the joke of the week. Still, you’re actually the first one to expose him and that is without even meeting him.”

Lisa joins in and they both laugh a bit. Then she clears her throat. “Well, actually it was Sara to expose him. I was just there with her…”

“True, but for the Silvanis, she doesn’t exist… So I think it’s your turn to capitalize on it. You can share with Sara later on if you want. Now, what do you think about a little shopping trip at the Silvanis?”

There are prizes for exposing someone? Is this all just a game to them? Crazy!

“Sure, I could use some new clothes…”