Farming in the Magical World

Inside the room, Lanny looked at the beautiful woman before him, but frowned and gently touched his forehead.

He felt a terrible headache, a very, very bad headache.

Melissa simply told him, "That's your problem," and then completely ignored the matter.

The frustrating thing is that although he's really struggling with this problem, he's completely unable to refuse the other person's request.

Whether he wanted to learn magic or had some other idea, he couldn't refuse this request.

If she were just an ordinary-looking person, perhaps the difficulty wouldn't be so high. But on the contrary, she is not only extraordinary, but also an exceptionally beautiful woman. Coupled with her indelible aristocratic air, she is simply too eye-catching. To quietly assign her an identity would be extremely difficult.

"You need to sort out your identity issue quickly, I don't want to eat in the room anymore, it makes the room smell like food! I want to eat with you tomorrow. Do you hear me, little brother?"

Melissa seemed to find it very amusing to bully Lanny at will, and she laughed heartily at his troubled and worried expression.

Even before Lanny was about to leave, he posed another difficult question to him: "Tomorrow, I'd like to have breakfast with you in the lobby. Is that alright, little brother? Isn't that asking too much of you?"

Seeing Melissa feigning grievance, Lanny slapped his forehead. This wasn't over yet. Did this mean they had to resolve this identity issue tonight?

Lanny felt a dull ache in his head again.

"Okay, I'll try... ...sigh!" Lenny sighed helplessly, got up and walked towards the door.

"By the way, hurry up with the paper matter, it's very important for the castle!" Just as he reached the door, Lanny realized that he hadn't even mentioned the main purpose of his visit. He could only stop at the door, turn around, and give him a word of advice.

After thinking for a moment, he added, "Let's see when we can go to that place you mentioned and bring back some alpine blue-green algae."

"What's the use of that thing? It won't generate any more magical elements, it will only waste my magic power!" Melissa didn't seem interested in the suggestion, and even seemed somewhat resistant to it.

As a mage who had been implanted with the "Black Vine Seed," the feeling of having her magic power absorbed by that thing was unpleasant, and it made her feel the loss of her life force.

“Better safe than sorry,” Lanny shrugged. “Maybe it can really solve your Black Vine Seed problem!”

After Lanny left, the room quieted down again, and Melissa's previously shy and excited feelings finally calmed down.

Having just made such a bold move, although her expression remained normal, she was actually very nervous and shy inside.

Even after Lenny had left, she still found it unbelievable and couldn't believe that she had done it.

Touching her slightly flushed cheeks, she felt somewhat bewildered by her sudden change.

Is it really time to give up on myself?

Melissa used to be a magical genius who had no interest in any men except for magic.

How was my behavior any different from those infatuated girls blinded by love? How was it any different from those pathetic women vying for the affections of noblemen?

Oh, aside from having unusable magical elements, I'm just an ordinary woman now, so it's alright!

In the end, she could only find such a flimsy excuse to comfort herself.

No matter how Melissa tries to bury her head in the sand, the problems she raises are genuinely troubling Lanny.

He kept thinking about how to solve this problem the whole way.

To say she was a magic tutor he hired? If Melissa hadn't asked to dine in the hall, this method would have worked, but since she did, it no longer works.

As nobles, there were etiquette and standards for dining and traveling.

Take, for example, Frank, the old butler, who had served the Wells family for decades. Or Tim, who was like a brother to August and was himself an heir to a noble family. Yet, none of them were qualified to dine in the hall with Lanny.

Why? In short, it's against the rules.

As an external tutor, he is even less qualified. If he insists on pushing this forward, it will only make the other people in the castle look at Melissa and himself with strange eyes.

To gain access to the hall for dining and to live openly in the castle, the only option he could think of was a distant relative.

Fortunately, communication was very inconvenient in those days, so as long as she exaggerated her origins, the lie wouldn't be easily exposed. The Kingdom of Cyoria, for example, would be a good choice.

Back in his study, he summoned Frank and Tim.

Aside from the mistress Tiffany, the only people he needed to reveal Melissa's identity were probably these two.

"Young master, is there anything I can do to help you?"

Frank entered the room and greeted everyone in a very formal manner, his standard butler's tone giving him the air of a professional butler.

Just as Lenny was about to ask Tim why he hadn't arrived yet, Tim walked into the room, covered in sweat, and plopped down opposite him. Before Lenny could ask, Tim began talking about the recruitment of guards.

"We're recruiting new members tomorrow, and I've already arranged everything, so don't worry!" He didn't mind that Lanny had drunk from the teacup and started drinking from it in small sips.

Feeling the bitterness in his mouth, he spat out the tea leaves, looking incredulous. "It's so bitter, how did you get used to drinking it?"

But before Lenny could answer, he immediately brought up another matter: "I've revised the security work plan I showed you a few times. When can you take a look at it?"

"I called you here..." Lanny was about to speak when he continued, "By the way, you're handing over Team One, Team Two, and Team Three to Black Tiger, right? When are you going to hold a meeting for them? I still think it would be best if you announced the appointments!"

Lenny pouted, speechless as he looked at Tim, who kept babbling on and on. He thought to himself, "You weren't like this before, you were so composed! How come you've turned into a teleportation master just because you're in charge of something?"

After finally waiting for the other person to finish speaking, he said somewhat helplessly, "Uncle Tim, if you have something to say, you can talk to me right away. You don't need to wait for me to come to you first; it's easy to cause delays."

He couldn't bring himself to say anything more serious, after all, Tim was nominally his elder.

"What's being delayed?"

Tim shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "It's all going to happen in the next couple of days, no rush. Ugh, this tea seems pretty good, I'm used to it. It's really thirst-quenching. When can you get me some?"

Lanny opened the drawer, tossed a packet of tea to the other man, and said in a deep voice, "I know about the guards, but don't worry about that. I called you here today to discuss something else!"

After a moment's hesitation, Lanny slowly began to explain the origins of Melissa's identity.

From how her family was destroyed and she began her escape, to how she was recruited into the castle, to how her identity was accidentally discovered today, all the way to how she hoped that the other party could teach her magic.

What he said was true; at least he didn't make many changes to Melissa's description, only making minor adjustments to the timing of some key events.

To Tim, it no longer sounded like Melissa was actively pressuring Lenny to address her identity issue, but rather that Lenny was forced to resolve it himself.

"Hmm, it's just some unimportant news... It's nothing to mention, and I'm sure Tim won't mind, right?" Lanny thought to himself, looking at Tim's shocked expression.

Upon hearing that a great mage was hiding in the castle, Tim bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly jumping up from his chair, almost drawing his Dark-patterned sword.

Frank, on the contrary, remained remarkably calm, standing there motionless with an unchanged expression, not even his eyes showing any change.

Looking at Frank's calm demeanor, Lenny thought to himself, "Just as I thought. My grandfather from the previous life really was a magician, otherwise Frank wouldn't be so composed."

"Uncle Tim, don't get agitated, don't get agitated. She's been infected with the Black Vine Seed, she's just an ordinary woman now!"

Seeing Tim's agitation, Lanny reached out and pressed him down, signaling him not to get excited and calmly indicating that Tim was now completely devoid of magic and posed no threat.

"The Seed of the Black Vine? Really?"

Upon hearing this, Tim slowly lowered his hand from the longsword, clearly having heard of the forbidden technique.

“It should be true. Even if it isn’t, what can a knight do to a great mage?” Lanny shrugged.

"Oh!" Seemingly finally understanding the reason, Tim finally relaxed and sat down in his seat again.

"So what do you mean by telling us this now?" Tim, who had just sat down, suddenly remembered that Lanny could have just said he would hire them directly, why did he have to tell him this?

Lanny's idea is that Melissa's name will be changed to Melissa Wells from now on. She is a distant cousin of the Wells family in the Kingdom of Cyoria. Now that her family has fallen on hard times, she has come to seek refuge with her cousin Lanny.

After all, the two kingdoms were once united, and with the current inconvenient transportation, it would be almost impossible to expose them in a small, rural place like Castor.

But as the two people who know the Wells family best, they must be persuaded, otherwise they will be exposed in no time.

"Since she's no longer a great mage, why are you still keeping her? Even if you don't hand her over to the Qiao family, you could at least get rid of her."

Tim knew Melissa very little, so naturally he would side with the Wells family when problems arose. His statement wasn't exactly cold-blooded, but as a knight, he should and had to consider things this way.

“She was once a great magician, a great magician, Uncle Tim. Do you know how much it costs to invite a great magician? And it’s very difficult to invite one, okay?” Lanny naturally wouldn’t easily give up such a good opportunity.

Although Melissa had some doubts that he was one in a million "magic-immune" individuals, he himself did not want to admit it and wanted to try it out.

Tim was still somewhat hesitant. "But the risk of doing this is too great. Besides, we're not safe ourselves right now. Have you forgotten the pressure from the Earl and the threat from the Grummans? Are you sure you want to do this?"

“I’m sure,” Lanny nodded firmly, his eyes filled with determination. “I’m definitely going to learn magic!”

"Besides, as long as we don't say anything and handle the identity change between Granny May and Melissa Wells properly, no one will know. And she hardly ever leaves the castle, so there shouldn't be any problem."

At this point, he turned to look at Frank, who had remained calm throughout.

"Frank, go and arrange for Melissa to stay in the room next door now, and then prepare some aristocratic clothing for her."

During her escape, she lost most of her clothes; she really had a tough time.

Frank nodded. "Yes, sir!"

Watching Frank leave, Tim looked at Lenny with suspicion. "Hey, what do you think of Melissa? Could she be someone you...?"

Feeling the other person's suspicious gaze, Lanny awkwardly looked away. "It's just so-so. You know I have very high standards."

He waved his hand and emphasized again, "The important thing is that you can teach me magic. That's the most important thing. How much does it cost to find a magic tutor?"

Seeing Lenny's evasive answer, Tim had some guesses in his mind.

The kid was right about one thing: his standards were indeed high, but that only made him more curious about Melissa's appearance.

During this time, he thought that Lanny had reformed, but he didn't expect that after meeting Melissa, he would relapse into his old ways.

Did you stay because you wanted to learn magic?

Nobody would believe that. At least that's not the whole reason. If it really was that old and ugly Granny Mei from before, he wouldn't believe that Lanny would risk keeping her.

Feeling Tim's gaze, Lanny felt extremely uncomfortable, as if he were being pricked by a needle. He could only pretend to be busy and rummaged through the drawers, but even he himself didn't know what he was looking for.

"Okay, I was just curious, you don't need to be so nervous."

"But kid, I'm warning you, women can influence your judgment. Remember that!"

Although he knew that as his uncle, it wasn't appropriate for him to say too much about this, and that Lanny was maturing day by day and no longer the clueless kid he used to be, he still couldn't help but offer a few words of advice.

"Master"

At that moment, Frank pushed open the door and walked into the study, followed by a beautiful woman in a white dress, who was none other than Melissa, who had shed her disguise.

Seeing Melissa's beautiful and charming appearance, Tim's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Lanny with an "I knew it" expression.

Then, he looked at Melissa, who had just entered, with a warning expression.

Melissa, however, smiled broadly, ignoring Tim's warning and treating him as if he didn't exist, which infuriated him so much that he gritted his teeth in anger.

"Frank, what should we do about Granny May's identity?" Lanny nodded to Melissa before asking the housekeeper.

"Young master, I will tell the servants that Granny Mei has returned to Black Mountain Village!"

“But there isn’t a single Granny Mei in Black Mountain Village,” Lanni said, frowning.

"Yes, sir, you are worried about paper production, so you ordered me to go and retrieve Granny Mei first thing tomorrow morning. But unfortunately, Granny Mei was attacked by bandits on the way and her body has been destroyed. Only some small personal belongings were left behind. It's a real pity that I was too late!"

Frank spoke casually, but his expression was extremely serious, as if tomorrow a woman named Granny Mei would really die at the hands of bandits.

This serious-sounding nonsense drew sidelong glances from Lenny and Tim, while Melissa nodded in approval. Such a sensible butler was a rare sight.