Chapter 183: An Invitation to a Date

The early morning sun carried a hint of warmth, shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the floor littered with parchment.

Lia sat cross-legged in the center of the rug, a half-eaten piece of buttered toast dangling from her mouth.

In front of her were two of the latest academic reports; the one on the left was from the distant Electromagnetic Mage, Remidi.

The one on the right was a follow-up discussion on Herman’s theory.

Klein walked over carrying a cup of coffee, gently nudging aside a stack of old books with the tip of his foot.

He placed the coffee in the only empty spot beside Lia.

“Thanks,” Lia mumbled indistinctly.

She pointed to the report on the left, her brow furrowed into a tight knot.

“This Remidi is a very interesting person. He’s discovered a phenomenon that is deeply unsettling for anyone with obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

“When he inserts a magnet into a stationary coil, a current is generated in the coil.”

“The explanation for this is: the changing magnetic field creates an electric field, which then drives the electrons.”

“However, when he keeps the magnet stationary and moves the coil over the magnet, a current is also generated in the coil.”

“But the explanation for this becomes: the moving charges in the magnetic field are subjected to the Lorentz force.”

Lia swallowed the toast and brushed the crumbs from her hands.

“You see, it’s clearly the same event, just a matter of which moves and which doesn’t.”

“But within the current system, these are two completely different physical mechanisms.”

“Nature shouldn’t be so schizophrenic.”

Klein sat down on his exclusive sofa, his long legs crossed.

He had an extremely keen sensitivity to such phenomena.

“You mean that whether the magnet moves or the coil moves, the essence of it should be the same.”

Lia nodded emphatically.

“This implies that there is no such thing as ‘absolute rest,’ only ‘relative motion’.”

“If the laws of physics are the same in all inertial frames, then this asymmetry in the mechanisms shouldn’t exist.”

This was another huge signpost pointing toward the theory of relativity.

Like the principle of the constancy of the speed of light, it was frantically hinting that the old era’s concept of absolute spacetime was a lie.

***

Just as the two were staring blankly at the coil and magnet, a series of loud crashes erupted from downstairs.

It was immediately followed by Adèle’s scream.

“I’m not going back! That blind date of mine has nothing but mush for brains! He actually asked me why I don’t learn some ladylike embroidery instead of—”

Lia and Klein exchanged a glance.

A sliver of tacit understanding flashed in both their eyes.

It seemed today’s academic discussion was about to be forcibly interrupted.

Adèle stormed upstairs, clutching a crumpled letter in her hand.

Her face was flushed, though it was unclear if it was from anger or embarrassment.

“Lia! I need to request a leave of absence! That old-fashioned father of mine said that if I don’t go back for some family gathering, he’s going to cut off my funding for alchemy materials.”

Lia raised an eyebrow.

“Do you need our help?”

“Like hitting your family castle with a space quake?” Klein added coolly from the side.

“Or perhaps tossing that blind date to the polar regions to cool off.”

Adèle shivered.

Although she really wanted to nod, her reason told her that these two were fully capable of doing it.

“No, thanks! I can handle it myself! I’ll just go back, show my face, and maybe scare those old fossils with my new inventions.”

Adèle quickly began packing her luggage.

There wasn’t much to pack, really, mostly just several large boxes of dangerous alchemical reagents.

She stuffed bottle after bottle of liquid fire element into her spatial bag.

“I’ll probably be gone for about half a month. The mage tower is in your hands during this time. Just try not to demolish it.”

Adèle rushed towards the top of the stairs like a whirlwind.

Halfway there, she suddenly stopped and glanced back.

Her eyes darted back and forth between Lia and Klein.

“I wish you… um, a pleasant academic research.”

Adèle tossed out the sentence and quickly ran off.

As the main door slammed shut, silence returned to the mage tower.

Lia turned her head and found Klein looking in the direction of the door.

The corners of his mouth gradually turned up.

“She’s finally gone.”

Lia blinked.

“Adèle is usually quite diligent.”

“She’s too noisy.”

Klein stood up, walked over to Lia, and looked down at her.

A shadow fell over her.

Lia instinctively shrank back.

“Besides, with her here, she gets in the way.”

“In the way of what?”

The words had barely left Lia’s lips before Klein grabbed her by the wrist.

He pulled her up from the floor.

“In the way of me taking you out.”

Lia was stunned for a moment.

“Out where? The laboratory?”

“No.”

Klein’s fingers gently caressed the inside of her wrist, where the skin was soft and sensitive.

“On a date.”

“?”

Lia thought she might have misheard.

Or perhaps her brain had short-circuited from thinking about “relative motion.”

“A date?”

She repeated the word, feeling it was somewhat foreign.

In her past life, she was a research hound who lived in a lab.

In this life, she was a magic hound who lived in a mage tower.

An activity like dating was probably several light-years away from her.

As for the few times she had gone out with Klein before, they didn’t seem to fall into the category of a “date” in her mind.

Klein seemed displeased with her reaction.

He frowned, though the movement was very slight.

“What? You don’t want to go?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to.”

Lia answered honestly.

“It just feels a bit sudden. And we haven’t finished the blueprints for our particle accelerator. And the problem with the magnet and coil hasn’t been solved either.”

Klein directly ignored her excuses.

He led her by the hand towards the bedroom.

“Those things aren’t going anywhere. But winter is almost over. Today is the last day of the Royal Capital’s Ice and Snow Festival.”

Lia was pushed into the walk-in closet.

It was filled with all sorts of magnificent mage robes and dresses.

Most were either bought for her by Klein or forced upon her by Adèle.

Klein stood before a row of dresses, his expression as serious as if he were choosing the launch coordinates for a magitech cannon.

“Not this one, it’s too thin.”

He vetoed a blue, off-the-shoulder long dress.

“This one won’t work either, the hem is too long. You’ll trip.”

He then rejected a complex court dress.

Lia leaned against the wardrobe frame, watching the Eighth-Circle Archmage pick through a pile of clothes.

If any mage from the outside saw this scene, their eyeballs would probably pop out.

Who could have imagined that the dreaded Lord of Space was secretly a dress-up game enthusiast?

“I think that black one is quite nice.”

Lia pointed to a thick coat in the corner.

“That’s a men’s coat,” Klein said without turning his head.

Finally, he picked out a beige cashmere dress, paired with a short red cloak.

The color combination looked like a strawberry daifuku.

“Wear this.”

He handed the clothes to Lia, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Lia took the clothes, hesitating for a moment.

“Isn’t this a bit too… cute?”

“Don’t worry about it. I like looking at it.”

Klein pushed her into the dressing room and pulled the curtain shut.

Lia dawdled inside for a while.

As she changed, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Long golden hair, fair skin, and though her eyes held the wisdom of two lifetimes, her appearance was still that of a young girl.

She patted her cheeks.

When she came out, Klein had his back to her, adjusting his cuffs.

Hearing the sound, he turned around.

In that instant, Lia clearly saw a flash of light in the depths of his eyes.

“It’s acceptable.”

Klein gave an extremely restrained comment.

But as he stepped forward to adjust her collar, his movements were very gentle.

His fingers brushed past Lia’s collarbone, sending a faint electric current through her.

Lia felt her face heat up.

It was probably just too stuffy in the dressing room.

“Let’s go.”

Klein held out his hand to her.

He had changed into a dark grey trench coat today, which made him look even taller and more slender.

He seemed less unapproachably cold, and more like a refined noble scion.

“Aren’t we using teleportation?” Lia asked.

“No.”

Klein led her downstairs.

“We’re not in a hurry today. We’re going to be like ordinary people. We’ll take a carriage.”

Lia followed his steps.

‘Ordinary people?’

‘Two mages who, together, could blow the Royal Capital sky-high, are going to pretend to be ordinary people?’

But as she looked at Klein’s tall back, she couldn’t help but smile.

‘Whatever.’

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