Understanding he had been caught, Lucas promptly opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing his still aching nose.
Ordinarily, he would have gotten to his feet right away as lounging on the floor in front of his Master was definitely quite rude; but right now, his head was still spinning, so he didn't want to risk falling over by standing up too quickly.
Fortunately, Celestina really didn't care about what most nobles considered 'proper etiquette'; additionally, right now, she was far more interested in what the Hell had happened.
After taking a moment to steady himself, Lucas looked up and immediately lowered his head, "I apologize for disturbing you, Master."
Waving her hand, Celestina took a seat on the nearby bench and dismissed the young boy's concerns, "It's fine. It's not like you acted with ill-intent."
Pausing for a moment, she then continued, "Now, explain to me how this whole mess came about. I've never seen that girl so wound up or angry before, much less running around chasing after a boy, trying to beat him up."
"Err…" Lucas didn't quite know how to begin, but mulling over the events of the past hour or so in his head, he concluded that he hadn't really done anything wrong, so his best option was to just lay out all the facts as they were.
As such, Lucas started at the beginning.
Right away, however, he came across an issue. Was he supposed to reveal his knowledge of 'Tina's' true identity, or should he feign ignorance?
Glancing up as his Master's face, Lucas hesitated for a moment before realizing he probably couldn't lie to her and get away with it anyways, so he simply blurted out, "It was unintentional, but it seems I embarrassed the princess to the point she wanted to beat me up so I would forget everything."
Celestina's brow rose slightly as she asked, "That girl told you who she really is?"
Shaking his head, Lucas explained, "No, she told me her name was Tina and that she was from the capital, but…"
Lucas then delved into the details of the story, the various twists and turns making for quite an exciting tale. Eventually, it all culminated in him seeking refuge here, only to be decked by Eris.
By the end of it, Celestina had a cramped look on her face, like she was trying to decide whether to feel exasperated or to laugh out loud; quite possibly both. In any case, she now understood the gist of the situation.
The long and short of it was, Lucas had done his best to be polite, but he accidently revealed something he shouldn't have, which set Christina off. Then, being far too perceptive and intelligent for his age, Lucas somehow put together a bunch of small, random clues and deduced the princess' identity, further complicating matters.
As for Christina's stomach growling and Lucas trying to brush the matter off to avoid embarrassing her, only to do the exact opposite, Celestina wasn't quite sure who to blame for that.
Regardless of who was at fault here, Celestina had to admit that she was partly to blame as well. As the one who had guided both the current and previous king in cultivation and the art of war, everyone had assumed that she would also act as a teacher for the Rockwell Family's young genius princess; however, ever since Christina became aware enough to ask to become her Disciple, Celestina had adamantly refused.
Just as Celestina was mulling this point over in her head, Lucas suddenly spoke up, "Master, when I mentioned I was your Disciple, that violen… that girl became quite agitated. Is there some special reason for that?"
This boy is really too smart for his own good, Celestina thought to herself before explaining, "Ever since Tina began cultivating, she has wanted to become my Disciple, but I've always said no. That's probably why she reacted so strongly to hearing I took you as a Disciple."
This revelation came as quite a surprise to Lucas.
Although he hadn't known his Master for long, Lucas was well aware of her passion for teaching and guiding the younger generation. Given that, he couldn't see any reason she wouldn't want to take Christina as a Disciple.
Lucas had heard from various people about how his Master had never taken any formal Disciples before coming to Redwood Town, so he knew that she must have special criteria which needed to be met. However, Lucas had no idea what the criteria was.
Obviously, it couldn't just be about innate cultivation talent, as both he and Eris were by no means exceptional in that regard. This idea was only further reinforced now that he learned Celestina refused to take Christina, the most talented genius in the kingdom's history, as her Disciple.
Unable to figure it out on his own, Lucas hesitantly asked, "Is… is there something wrong with Tina? Perhaps something about her personality or mentality?"
*Whack!*
Suddenly being hit over the head, Lucas winced and recoiled, "What was that for, Master?"
"That's for not knowing when to keep your mouth shut and your curiosity in check!" Celestina scolded.
Lucas' levels of insight, intelligence, and deductive reasoning were all incredibly high, but his inability to filter out what he should and shouldn't say was already getting him in trouble. If he didn't fix this bad habit of casually probing people's secrets and blurting out uncomfortable truths others wanted to keep hidden, it would surely cost him his head one day!
Despite not thinking he had done anything wrong, Lucas lowered his head and apologized, "Forgive me, Master. I'll be more careful in the future."
Knowing her young Disciple hadn't really gotten her point, Celestina snorted but didn't try to correct his thinking. This was a problem that only time and experience could fix.
Bringing the conversation back to its original topic, Celestina explained, "There's nothing wrong with Christina's talent or work ethic, but the environment she grew up in has… stunted her growth in certain aspects. In truth, I would very much like to take her as a Disciple, but if I were to do so, I fear she would miss out on some critical life lessons."
Narrowing her eyes, Celestina continued solemnly, "Some things cannot simply be taught, they must be learned through experience."
Processing these words over and over in his head, Lucas thought back on the princess' words and attitude and soon arrived at a certain guess. He opened his mouth to present his conjecture, but feeling the stinging pain in his head, he hurriedly stopped himself, not wanting to make the same mistake twice in such short order.
Not missing this reaction from her Disciple, Celestina was truly exasperated this time and let out a heavy sigh before grumbling, "Just spit it out."
Lucas' neck shrank slightly as he guarded his head. He really didn't want to speak up right now, but with his Master's eyes pressing him, he could only steel himself and guess, "Does Master think… Tina, isn't mature enough? That she needs to live through some kind of hardship or suffer a major setback in order to temper her will?"
Unsurprised that Lucas had read her intentions correctly, Celestina didn't even bother sighing this time and simply nodded, "That girl has never failed at anything in life; not really, anyways. Since her Innate Talent was discovered, she has received nothing but adulation and praise from everyone around her. Not that that praise was undeserved, mind you."
"Being a princess also meant she never lacked for anything, or had to suffer to obtain something she wanted. While it might not be an issue right now, I've seen countless young talents coast through the early part of their life, with all obstacles removed from their path by those around them, only to fail miserably when confronted with their first true challenge."
Pursing his lips, Lucas couldn't help muttering, "She was a bit haughty, but she didn't seem like an arrogant, spoiled princess to me. At the very least, she was way better than that Madison Roth… though she was a bit violent."
"Heh," Celestina chuckled at this comment and nodded, "If all that flattery had gotten to her head and warped her personality, I would never even consider taking her as a Disciple. Christina has her three worldly-wise mothers to thank for keeping her grounded and is fortunate in that sense. Though… while Natasha is quite sensible, Cynthia and Marianne have put some… strange ideas into her head."
Thinking back to how Christina had been muttering about how her mother told her a punch to someone's noggin would make them forget everything that just happened, Lucas couldn't even imagine what other 'interesting' lessons the Queens had imparted to her.
"In any case, loitering here isn't going to solve anything," Celestina declared as an idea suddenly came to her and she turned a bright smile towards her Disciple.
Seeing this smile, despite how warm it was, Lucas felt a chill run up his spine as he suddenly had a very bad premonition.
Darting his eyes around, the young boy instinctually sought an escape route, but while he may have been able to get away from the somewhat naïve princess, fleeing from his Master was nothing but a fool's dream.
Before Lucas even managed to get to his feet, he felt a hand land on his shoulder and firmly hold him in place. With tears threatening to fall from his eyes, Lucas looked up and asked, "What can I do for you, Master?"
Seeing her Disciple's distress only broadened the grin on Celestina's face as she said, "Your Master needs your help to solve a teeny, tiny, little problem that's been bothering her for some time now. You caused several 'small' problems for your Masters just now as well, so surely you won't refuse, right, my good Disciple?"
Lucas desperately wanted to shake his head, but under the near predatory glare directed at him, he knew nodding was the only option, so nod he did.
"Very good! Don't worry, your Master won't ask you to die… yet. Now, come with me!" Celestina nodded in approval while uttering those ominous words, grabbing Lucas by the collar and dragging him away, not giving him the slightest chance to back out or flee.