Lucius was walking toward the Garrans, but he was worried as he looked at Luna''s current condition. She was still trembling while hiding behind Liora.No?v(el)B\\jnn

    Luna had tried to calm herself down, but it was not easy as her fear was still rooted deep, an emotional anchor from her past that held her back.

    Lucius thought that this would be troublesome later on, so he decided to fix it immediately. There was no need to wait for her to take a few days to calm down.

    Lucius turned towards the system and said with his mind. "Hack her. I want her fear to turn into confidence, but keep it first and release it after a day to instantly replace her fear with confidence."

    ---

    [Hack Initiation: Fear Conversion to Confidence Over Time]

    [Trigger: Fear Accumulation Transformed into Confidence After 1 Day]

    [Cost Required: 20 Hack Points]

    [Execute?]

    [YES] [NO]

    ---

    Lucius was satisfied after seeing the prompt and let the system execute the hack. The system then reduced 20 points for the cost.

    The hack was quite simple, as it was designed to transform Luna''s fear into a huge mass of confidence, but it will be kept by the system and would not be released to her.

    The system would only keep it for a day and would release it after her fear peaked and collapsed under the weight of her huge mass of confidence, leaving her bolder than ever.

    Lucius turned back to Luna and smiled as he murmured, "You''ll thank me for this later." He then turned back to the Garrans and was ready to meet them.

    Lucius ignored most of his words and turned around. "Fine. I''ll retrieve the core and complete the evolution, so I can get out from here fast."

    Lucius left the hall, but suddenly, Dorian looked at Luna more clearly and said, "Sadrina... is that you?"

    Lucius was a bit surprised after hearing Luna''s real name and turned to face the patriarch. He also looked at Luna, who was now trembling while clutching at her dress.

    Kalidorn was also surprised after hearing that name again. He immediately turned to Luna and after looking at her more, "It is really Sadrina."

    Luna, who was trembling, stepped forward and tried to talk to his family after a long time. "Father..."

    But the truth was different. Dorian frowned and scolded, "Who is your father? I have no daughter. Not one who is talentless and worthless."

    The words hit Luna, making her shoulder slump and her body tremble even more. She wanted to say something but she could not. She could only go and hide behind Liora again.

    Kalidorn also chuckled after seeing his sister. He crossed his arms and smirked. "So, this is what you''ve become—a slave to some young master. How fitting for someone as useless as you."

    Kalidorn then stepped forward and laughed while looking at the trembling Luna. "Tell me, Sadrina, are you good at groveling? I bet you''ve gotten really good at playing the obedient little dog."

    Luna flinched after hearing what her brother said to her. She clenched her fists at her sides, trying to calm down as the weight of their ridicule was threatening to crush her little resolve.

    Lucius, who had been silent up to this point, took a slow step forward. He began to smirk after hearing all of that and suddenly raised his hand to stop them.

    Lucius turned to Kalidorn, then Dorian. "It seems the Garran family has a hobby for wasting words on matters that no longer concern them."

    Kalidorn frowned as he turned to Lucius and mocked. "What''s this? Are you offended, young master? I was merely pointing out the truth about your... ''maid.'' Surely, even you can see she''s not worth—"

    Before he could finish, Lucius took another step forward and smirked. "Be careful, Kalidorn. You''re stepping on a narrow path between arrogance and stupidity, which can be dangerous."

    Kalidorn frowned after hearing what Lucius had just said. He was the young master of the Garran family, and he didn''t want to be mocked by a measly student. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire