Chapter 81: Anomaly

Chapter 81: Anomaly Caroline frowned deeply upon realizing that her action had brought deep trouble this time. She had thought she had calculated everything when initiating her attack. But she could never have imagined the person in front of her to be the Crown Prince. "I only wanted to teach those scum of society a lesson." She lamented, her eyes subtly gazing at Leonard. "I never intend to harm the Crown Prince, much less the royals of the Aldros Empire." Who didn’t know the power of the ruling empire in the Valdoria Continent? Even behemoths and those who sought to cause chaos had to tread carefully when dealing with the Aldros Empire. "Sir, please forgive her. She never intended to cause real harm to you." Mirelle pleaded, her body tensed up. "Do I look like some tyrant?" Leonard rolled his eyes. He wasn’t angered by Caroline’s action because she didn’t know who he was. Not to mention, she already stated that she planned on using a Restoration Potion after inflicting damage. In other words, she merely wanted to teach his "disguised" self a lesson for being so cruel. The reason behind it was a far cry from Claudia’s action, who sought to ruin his entire plan intentionally. Moreover, the value between Caroline and Claudia was as clear as night and day. "Mirelle, scout the surroundings for any people coming here to rescue me. I doubt they will take your words for it, so warn them to behave if they wish to meet with me." Leonard commanded and handed over a token to her. "Just flash the token if anyone arrives, and they should stop their advance." After saying so, he turned to Caroline. "As for you, Researcher Caroline. I can forgive your ignorance, but being ignorant doesn’t make one innocent. You get my point, right?" Knowing that a price must be paid, Caroline nodded her head in understanding. Sometime later, Mirelle exited the room to take preventive measures. Meanwhile, Claudia was ordered by Leonard to shut down her system, literally. Her eyes were shut, her ears were disabled, essentially becoming no different than a comatose patient. When Caroline saw the situation, she no longer found it surprising or even ruthless. For someone of his status, such meticulousness must be required if one wishes to survive in the royal family. "Speak, what do you want from me?" Caroline questioned. Her arms were crossed, clearly showing that she had gotten over the shock factor of his true identity. Although the Crown Prince status was prestigious, it didn’t warrant her to be submissive. She was a researcher and had many contributions to the Research and Development Association, an independent institution, but very connected to the Mage Association. "What I want is quite simple. Firstly, the Restoration Potion that you invented. I hope you can refrain from publicizing it at the time being and give me a large batch. Secondly, I wish to see your research documents." Leonard listed out two conditions off the bat. Almost immediately, Caroline’s expression darkened. "I can agree with the first one, but you can forget about the second condition." She uttered coolly. Research documents were equivalent to the life of a researcher. They were precious papers, ones that had most of her life dedicated to writing and recording them. As if she would simply give them away to Leonard for free. No, even if the latter offered a heavy price for them, she would still refuse adamantly. Not even the Research and Development Association would demand a researcher for their papers! Having already anticipated that his second condition would be rejected coldly, Leonard proceeded with the last condition. This particular condition was his true objective. When wanting something, one should never reveal it right away. "Since you don’t want to offer me the research papers, then you can help resolve the anomaly around me." He said. "Anomaly around you?" Startled, Caroline nearly tripped on her steps. "What kind of anomaly are you referring to? Your ruthless nature or your cold heart?" Unfazed by her sarcastic remarks, Leonard opened his palm and began to absorb the surrounding mana. As the surge of mana condensed around his palm and turned into a somewhat spherical orb, it started to lose control once again. Despite Leonard’s attempt to stabilize the orb, the effort was futile. POP! Like a bubble being popped, Leonard panted softly as droplets of sweat formed around his forehead. While this showcase lasted only for a few seconds, Caroline’s expression had already turned solemn. Her brows were knitted, and she stared at Leonard with a profound gaze. "How long has this been happening?" She asked. "Since I was born, I suppose." Although he transmigrated, he retained most of Leonard’s memories. "You suppose? That means you aren’t sure either." Caroline frowned and went to her desk, filled with piles of papers. While she flipped through multiple papers, she continued to raise her questions. "Besides the failure of condensing your mana properly to form a magic spell, do you feel anything was amiss?" "Nope, everything’s alright besides that." "Did Mirelle mention anything about your condition?" By now, Caroline seemed to have understood why Leonard and Mirelle came to meet with her. If it weren’t for Mirelle mentioning her in regards to such an aspect, then she highly doubted the Crown Prince would come all the way here. "She only mentioned I have a high mana sense. As for the rest, she was helpless and suggested bringing the issue to you." Leonard answered honestly. There were times when one needed to deceive or conceal information, and there were times when one needed to be honest. In this particular instance, he had to be honest if he wished to resolve his predicament. "A high mana sense, huh..." Caroline murmured. "Seems like it’s not the Mana Rejection Syndrome then." She concluded. A mana rejection syndrome was, like its name stated, the rejection of any mana from coming in contact with them. Although there were cases where such people with this condition could still absorb mana, it was only for a brief moment. Hence, it resembled Leonard’s earlier display, but added with the fact that he had a high mana sense, it effectively eliminated this possibility. A person with Mana Rejection Syndrome couldn’t possibly have a high mana sense. "This is somewhat tricky," Caroline muttered before spotting an old paper. ’Eh, this paper is?’ Her eyes widened as she hurriedly grabbed the paper and browsed through the content.