In the afternoon, Luke returned home from the palace.
At noon, he had drunk a little with Jarvan IV, and by the time he got home, he was already slightly tipsy. However, the alcohol soon wore off.
Lux and the others had indeed gone to prepare gifts. They had probably gone to the streets and carefully picked them out.
Although he had already been somewhat prepared, receiving gifts still felt very nice.
Just like that, time passed until dinner.
Luke took out the birthday cake gifted by the system. When he pushed out a large three-layer cake, it immediately drew several pairs of eyes.
The cake was covered in a snow-white outer layer, but atop it stood rows of buildings. There were three tiers in total, and each one was different. On closer inspection, the architectural style was completely different from Demacia's.
In terms of appearance, this cake was absolutely a work of art.
However, at this moment, Lux cared more about its taste.
But since it was something Luke brought out, the taste could not possibly be bad.
So everyone used less than an hour to wipe out the huge three-layer cake, along with the specially prepared dinner.
"It's delicious, sure, but there's too much chocolate. It kind of hurts my teeth."
Lux held her slightly swollen belly and lay contentedly on the sofa, looking very comfortable.
The buildings had been made from chocolate, jelly beans, and other ingredients. When she shoveled into them, there was a strangely satisfying feeling of destroying a city.
And when she ate them, they crunched loudly, like a monster chewing through things.
The result was that the more she ate, the more energized she became. With her delicate little teeth, she ate more than half of the chocolate.
"I'm stuffed. I'm going out to digest a bit."
Luke stood up and stretched lazily, intending to take a walk outside.
After he left the courtyard, the sky had already darkened. A few stars had quietly climbed into the heavens, setting off the peaceful night sky.
He had only told the people closest to him about his birthday, so today had not actually been lively.
But even just this was already enough to leave Luke very satisfied.
Being able to smoothly spend his first birthday in Runeterra was still very nice.
The May evening breeze was extremely comfortable, blowing away the fullness from dinner. He wanted to enjoy the wind a little longer, and thought that he would soak in the hot spring later.
So he sat on a chair in the backyard and looked up, admiring the night.
Before long, a figure gently sat down beside him.
He turned his eyes and saw Fiora.
She slightly lifted her head, revealing her exquisite side profile. Her cool, clear eyes looked toward the night sky, faintly shimmering at this moment. "How strange. I've only known you for about a year, but it feels as though time has passed very quickly, and yet also as if a very long time has gone by."
Luke smiled. "Doesn't that mean every day by my side is very fulfilling?"
Fiora paused, then suddenly smiled. "Yes, very fulfilling. Before, there were times when I felt you were completely out of place in my world. But somehow, two people like us fit together perfectly."
Two people who should have belonged to separate worlds now shared the closest bond in the world, one that allowed them to speak about anything.
Fiora took the initiative to hold Luke's hand, clasping his palm with hers.
Her hand was not as large as Luke's, and it felt very delicate in his grasp. As their palms pressed together, they gradually began to warm.
From the warmth of each other's palms, they both seemed to feel the other's beating heart.
"Oh, right. I prepared another gift for you later."
At this moment, the corners of Fiora's lips curved slightly. She turned her head to look at Luke, her eyes shining with a moving light.
Luke was a little curious. "What gift?"
"You'll know later."
Fiora's breath was soft and fragrant, and the mysterious air around her made Luke's heart itch a little.
The two did not have much time alone. Soon, Lux and the others came to the backyard as well, and next came hot spring time.
Luke lay in the hot spring pool. Thinking of Miss Duelist's eyes from earlier, which had looked so intense they could almost spin silk, he realized that tonight's great battle was probably unavoidable.
Late at night, in order to celebrate Luke's birthday, Lux forced herself to hold out until the very last moment before curfew before going home.
She felt that today had been very happy. Or rather, as long as she was by Luke's side, every day seemed to be very happy.
The only pity was that she had not prepared Luke's birthday gift in advance. Today's gift had still been somewhat rushed.
However, Lux silently remembered the date, May 1. Next year, she would be able to prepare a grand gift for him ahead of time.
Lying in her own bed, Lux thought of the sky full of fireworks that guy had prepared for her birthday, and her heartbeat quickened unconsciously.
Before she knew it, she fell asleep.
Meanwhile, in Luke's room.
He had already prepared himself to stay up late. While feeling a little strange, he was also somewhat curious.
For some reason, Fiora had asked him to return to the room first, saying she would arrive a little later.
At this kind of time in the past, Luke would already have drawn his sword and chosen the road for the charge.
Just then, faint footsteps sounded outside the door, making Luke's mind stir.
But very quickly, he realized that those footsteps did not sound like they belonged to only one person.
The next moment, the door was pushed open. The first to enter was Fiora in a simple outfit. With just a gentle tug on the thin string at her collar, her entire white top would fall away.
And in her hand, she was holding another soft, delicate hand. As she tugged gently, Sona's figure appeared in Luke's eyes.
The blue-haired girl had almost buried her head into her chest. Her entire adorable face was now so red it seemed about to give off steam.
She had always been more timid and shy than Fiora. For this kind of thing, she might still be able to gather a little courage when she was alone. Usually, when nothing special was happening, she and Fiora also tacitly took turns, one day each.
However, today, Fiora had suddenly come looking for her and broken the tacit balance between them.
Just thinking about what was about to happen made the heat in Sona's face refuse to fade.
She had also been carefully dressed. At this moment, she wore a simple long dress that highlighted her proud figure.
The two beautiful women standing there together were simply a stunning nighttime scene.
Luke looked at the sight before him and froze. All at once, he realized what gift Fiora had prepared.
Fiora had already closed the door, cutting off Sona's final path of retreat.
She leaned close to Sona's ear and whispered something unknown. Finally, two pairs of moving eyes lifted at the same time and locked onto Luke.
A great battle was unavoidable.
Deep into the night, the sky brought the first rain of early summer.
The rain was not light. It fell in a steady patter, splashing against the trees, walls, and roads. Paired with the rising wind, the two blended together like a symphony.
Water soaked every place it touched, and judging by the rain tonight, it would likely not stop anytime soon.
The next day, Luke woke up very early.
Or rather, he had barely slept at all, yet he had already needed to wake up.
Dragging his sleepy and exhausted body, his legs slightly weak, Luke went downstairs and practiced Vitality Arts once. After washing up, he finally felt a little more energetic.
It had rained last night, so the courtyard was now covered everywhere with traces of water. Thinking of the two girls still sleeping soundly in his room, the smile tugging at Luke's lips turned a little bitter. Then he pounded his sore thighs.
Even he had not expected Miss Duelist's prepared gift to be this.
It was indeed the greatest surprise of his birthday. It had simply been too much of a surprise.
Luke felt that this girl must have realized she could not win one-on-one anymore, so she had specially called in reinforcements.
Now he had become the disadvantaged side again. Fighting one against two really left him somewhat unequal to the task.
The reason he had gotten up so early was because Luke remembered that he had to visit the Mage Association today.
Some time ago, Frey had told him that there had been new progress in research, and they had agreed that he would go take a look today. For nearly half a month, Luke had not paid much attention to the Mage Association's progress.
He wondered what Frey had developed after all this time.
It was definitely not because he was afraid of those two girls. It was really because he had business to handle. There was no other way.
After having Yurna prepare the carriage, he set off directly toward the Mage Association.
On the road, inside the carriage, Luke slept beautifully. No matter how the carriage jolted and swayed, he still slept sweetly.
"Your Highness, we've arrived."
Yurna lifted the front curtain of the carriage. Seeing that Luke did not respond, she entered the carriage.
Luke was lying on the long bench inside the carriage, his face sound asleep.
However, Yurna did not proceed to wake him. Instead, she quietly looked at his sleeping face.
Luke's sleeping face showed just how lethal that face could be when it was quiet. Even without revealing those special eyes, he was still extremely handsome.
His facial contours were clear, his brows were long and refined, his lips were thin, and the bridge of his nose was slightly high.
Before she realized it, she had already been serving by his side for a year.
Yurna gradually leaned closer, getting closer and closer to that face. Then, at a suitable distance, she stopped. As long as she leaned forward, her chest would touch his arm.
She did nothing else. Yurna only continued watching him quietly, but in those purple eyes, an unknown emotion flickered.
She reached her hand toward Luke's thin lips, as if wanting to secretly touch them. However, halfway there, she changed her mind. Instead, she placed her hand on Luke's shoulder and shook him gently, saying softly, "Your Highness, we've arrived."
Luke had indeed slept very sweetly, perhaps mainly because he was a little tired.
Now that he had been shaken awake, he opened his eyes and saw Yurna's beautiful, cool face. She was crouching beside him, and he could immediately see the collar and neck of her maid outfit, along with the snow-white, delicate skin revealed there.
A faint fragrance came from her body. Yurna did not have a habit of wearing perfume, and this scent was also different from the smell after soaking in the hot spring.
It was a fragrance like purple orchids, carrying a hint of mysterious aura.
Luke's gaze moved to the ceiling of the carriage. He was dazed for a second before finally waking up. Then he sat up at once, yawned, and asked, "How long did I sleep?"
"More than two hours."
"More than two hours? Was it that long?"
"About that. I saw Your Highness sleeping very peacefully, so I called you a little later."
"Is that so?"
Luke got out of the carriage. After catching up on sleep, he felt that his mental state was much better.
Not far ahead was the Mage Association. After more than a month, many changes had appeared here as well.
For example, the style of the outer walls had changed. They no longer continued using the high walls from the old Mageseeker site. Instead, a wider and more imposing entrance hall had been newly built.
Walking up the stairs, Luke also encountered quite a few people along the way, including several mages. After seeing Luke, they all bowed and greeted him.
Luke nodded in acknowledgment and continued walking inside, looking toward a poster not far away.
Written on it was information related to the Mage Academy.
This was something the Mage Association had recently been planning. Because there were too many mages throughout the country, and among them, there were even more people with no experience in magic at all.
It had to be said that magic going out of control was a very troublesome thing, especially when it happened to someone with considerable magical power but no understanding of magic at all.
Sylas back then was one example, although his situation had also been rather special.
Because of that, the Mage Association wanted to establish an academy and send specialized personnel to teach inexperienced mages how to learn magic.
Among these mages, of course, there were also many who were young. They could be taught from childhood, and in the future, they would all become outstanding mages.
The matter of establishing the academy had already received the council's support. Recently, they were preparing to choose locations, and the posters had already been distributed in advance.
The Mage Academy would be established separately in three major cities, the capital, High Silvermere, and Terbisia.
When the time came, mages from across the country could go there to study.
Continuing forward, Luke saw a new department.
It was called the Petricite Colossus Research and Development Department.
The department head was someone from House Menck, and House Menck was descended from the famous Master Durand.
As for Durand's masterpiece, it was the towering colossus outside the city.
Its entire body was built from petricite, and no one knew what kind of core had been used inside. With Durand's assassination back then, much of the technology behind the petricite colossus had been lost.
Now, everyone knew that the statue he had built could miraculously awaken.
And magic seemed to be the key to the colossus's awakening.
For this reason, they had even specially invited Lux over to awaken Galio and ask him some questions about the situation.
However, the memories disturbed and brought out were far too ancient, so Galio had long since forgotten them completely.
As a result, House Menck could only use all the information they currently had and try to see whether they could replicate their ancestor's achievement.
If several more movable petricite statues like this could be built, that would undoubtedly be a significant improvement for Demacia.
The main people in charge were from House Menck, and they had also issued a nationwide recruitment notice, seeking outstanding craftsmen to come forward.
Before going to find Frey, Luke first entered the Petricite Colossus Department to take a look.
Someone noticed his arrival and immediately came forward. "Greetings, Your Highness."
"Hello, Director."
Luke looked at him and nodded in greeting.
The man before him was Wenward's younger brother, Smith Menck. He was also the director of the Petricite Colossus Department.
The Petricite Colossus Department occupied a large space. As soon as Luke entered, he heard the sounds of hammering, as if something was being struck against massive stone, ringing out with clear clangs.
He looked over and found that quite a few people were gathered around a small statue.
The statue was roughly five meters tall. From its posture, it looked like a four-limbed animal, perhaps a cheetah, or perhaps a fierce tiger.
"Is this the new petricite statue you built?"
"Yes." Smith nodded and looked over. "It has not been named yet, and we have not tested whether it can be activated. However, we spent so much time and made so many preparations. There must be a chance."
His eyes were full of confidence. After all, they had made ample preparations and spent quite a few resources before starting.
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