Chapter 170: The Royal Academy of Sciences

The day of the seminar, the weather was so gloomy it felt like the sky was about to collapse.

The dark clouds hung low, and snowflakes mixed with cold rain enveloped the entire Royal Capital in a gray hue.

At the entrance of the Royal Academy of Sciences, the usually solemn griffin stone carvings were covered in a thin layer of ice, looking listless.

An all-black magic carriage stopped at the entrance. There was no crest on the door, but the hellfire snorting from the four Nightmares pulling it was enough to display the owner’s status.

The carriage door opened, and Klein stepped out.

He was wearing a well-tailored black formal mage robe today, the collar neat, and the silver cufflinks reflecting a cold, hard light in the dim weather.

He didn’t walk away immediately, but turned and extended a hand into the carriage.

A small hand wearing a white lace glove rested on his.

Then, Lia, holding her skirt, stepped down gracefully.

She had chosen a deep blue long dress today, the hem embroidered with fine silver stars.

Over it, she wore a velvet cloak of the same dark color, the edge of the hood lined with a circle of soft white fox fur, which made her already fair face look even more exquisite.

The Academy attendants responsible for receiving guests stared in awe.

The couple stood together like the King of the Night and the Goddess of the Stars from a myth, their aura so powerful it seemed to thin the very air around them.

“Let’s go.” Klein held Lia’s hand tightly.

Lia nodded and let him lead her up the steps to the main hall of the Academy.

The main hall was a huge circular domed building, capable of accommodating over a thousand people.

At this moment, it was already packed.

Mages, scholars, nobles from all over the kingdom, and even a few envoys from neighboring countries had gathered here, waiting for the opening of this conference of the century.

The front rows were clearly divided.

On the left were the particle camp, led by Henry. They stood tall and proud, their eyes sharp, like a group of soldiers ready to charge.

On the right were the wave camp, led by Victor. Although their morale was low due to the appearance of the V-shaped track, they still sat there stubbornly, ready to defend their last shred of dignity.

Lia and Klein’s seats were in the very center of the front row, specially reserved for them by the organizers.

Beside them sat Samuel, Horace, Eleonora, and Laplace.

“I thought you two weren’t coming.”

Laplace handed over a small bag of roasted chestnuts. “Freshly made, still hot.”

“How could we not come?” Lia took the chestnuts and peeled one, popping it into her mouth. “It would be a waste not to watch such a lively event.”

“Be careful,” Laplace gestured with his chin in a certain direction. “That old fellow Laurent looks like he’s ready to eat someone today.”

Lia followed his gaze.

On the main stage, Laurent de Ville sat upright.

He was dressed in a white and gold ceremonial robe representing the President of the Royal Academy of Sciences, his silver hair impeccably combed, his face gaunt, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle’s.

He seemed to sense Lia’s gaze and slowly turned his head, his eyes meeting hers in mid-air.

There was only a cold calmness in that gaze.

A chill ran down Lia’s spine.

It’s not the barking mad dog you fear, but the silent one.

This calmness was more unsettling than any hysterical roar.

Dong!

A long, drawn-out bell chime echoed through the hall.

The seminar officially began.

A master of ceremonies in a royal uniform walked onto the stage and recited an opening speech with a fluctuating tone, nothing more than platitudes like thanking the royal family and looking forward to the future.

Lia was drowsy from listening, resting her head on Klein’s shoulder and nibbling on chestnuts.

Finally, the master of ceremonies left the stage, and the spotlight on the main stage focused on one person.

Master Laurent stood up.

The entire hall fell silent instantly.

“Thank you all for coming here in this wind and snow.”

Laurent’s voice, amplified by a magic array, was clearly transmitted to everyone’s ears.

His voice was old, but full of vigor and a commanding presence.

“Recently, the debate on the fundamental nature of matter has spread from the halls of academia to the streets and alleys, and has even caused some unnecessary conflicts.”

“Truth should not be born from fists and feet, but should manifest in rigorous logic and irrefutable experiments.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the hall, finally landing on Lia and Klein.

“Before new theories attempt to subvert our understanding of the world, it is necessary for us to review the solid cornerstones that support our magical civilization.”

With a wave of his hand, the curtain behind the main stage slowly drew back.

A huge and intricate instrument appeared before everyone.

It was a massive interferometer, even more complex than the one Klein had built in his experiment.

At the core of the instrument, a fist-sized, crystal-clear crystal was emitting a soft glow.

“The Tear of Light!” someone in the audience exclaimed.

“This is the instrument I used in my youth to prove the existence of the aether,” Laurent’s voice carried a hint of pride.

“I know that recently, some young people, with some novel, one might even say heretical, theories, have questioned the existence of the aether.”

“They believe that light does not need a medium and can propagate in a vacuum. They even believe that light is not a continuous wave, but discrete particles.”

His gaze pierced towards Lia like a needle.

“Today, right here, I will, in front of all of you, recreate the experiment from thirty years ago. I will prove to you all that the aether wind is real! That light must sail in the ocean of the aether!”

He walked to the instrument and began to adjust it himself.

The atmosphere below the stage became tense.

Everyone held their breath.

This was a head-on collision between the new and old eras.

“He seems very confident,” Lia whispered to Klein.

“Liars are usually very confident before they are exposed.”

Klein cracked open a chestnut and fed it to Lia.

The instrument was activated.

The strong light, amplified by the “Tear of Light,” was split into two beams. After a long optical path, they finally converged on the detection screen, forming a clear circle of interference fringes.

“Please look,” Laurent pointed to the screen. “Now, I will rotate the instrument. If the aether exists, the fringes will show a visible shift.”

The huge instrument began to rotate slowly.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the screen.

The members of the wave camp were so nervous their palms were sweating.

The members of the particle camp, on the other hand, had a mocking look of watching a good show.

However, a strange scene occurred.

As the instrument rotated, the clear interference fringes actually began to move!

Although the shift was small, it was definitely moving in one direction!

“It’s moving! It’s really moving!” someone in the audience screamed.

A thunderous cheer instantly erupted from the wave camp’s section.

“The aether exists! Long live classical theory!”

“You heretics of the particle camp, do you see? This is the proof!”

Henry’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

Samuel shot up from his chair, his face filled with disbelief.

Even Horace and Eleonora frowned.

“How could this be…”

Eleonora murmured to herself. “This is illogical.”

Lia was also stunned.

She looked at the moving fringes, then at Klein’s cold profile beside her.

She was certain that the result of their experiment was that the fringes did not move.

So where was the problem?

On the main stage, Laurent revealed a victorious smile.

He looked around at the faces in the audience—some shocked, some ecstatic, some despairing—and finally fixed his gaze on Lia.

“Professor Lia Farrien.”

He drew out his words, his voice filled with undisguised superiority. “Now, do you still believe that light does not need a medium?”

Lia did not speak.

Her mind was racing.

Something was wrong.

Something was definitely wrong.

Laurent could not possibly overturn a fact that had been verified countless times.

Unless… he was cheating.

But on such an occasion, in front of over a thousand mages, how could he cheat?

“What, nothing to say?”

Laurent pressed on. “A theory built on a false premise, no matter how beautifully packaged, is ultimately a castle in the air.”

He began to disparage Lia’s theory in a roundabout way.

“It’s understandable for young people to have some novel ideas.

But physics is a rigorous discipline, not a little girl’s playhouse. To imagine some non-existent ‘particles’ out of thin air, and then use some cobbled-together formulas to explain phenomena—this kind of behavior is not promoting progress, but creating chaos.”

“A person who needs to redefine the propagation of light, a person who tries to explain everything in the world with the collision of small balls—is her theory really worthy of our trust?”

His words became more and more outrageous, almost amounting to a personal attack.

Eleonora’s face darkened, and Horace’s beard trembled with anger.

Lia didn’t mind what she was hearing; these words didn’t hurt her.

But the atmospheric pressure around Klein, who was beside her, was dropping lower and lower.

A layer of ice had already formed in his blue eyes.

Just as Laurent was about to launch into his long tirade about “academic rigor.”

Klein stood up.

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