Chapter 424: Earl Grey Tasting Green Tea

Everyone from Tulip Castle set out, including the Earl, Mary, the Countess, Levis, Lvera, Liszt, and Lytton. Only Penelope did not go due to her poor health.

"Liszt, my lucky one, please deliver this potted plant for me and tell that handsome young man, Meopo, that my potted plant has nurtured two spirit bugs."

Before departure, Penelope said to Liszt with great seriousness.

She was already aware that her fig potted plant had produced fig bugs, so she now took extra care of her potted plants and genuinely believed her potted plants were treasures.

"Of course, I believe my cousin will be delighted to receive your potted plant, and perhaps he too can get a spirit bug." Levis instructed a servant to take the potted plant.

Using the Magic Eye in secret to inspect the potted plant, there were no signs of magic power.

Penelope spoke with a matter-of-fact tone: "It depends on his luck. If he is as deeply favored by the Glory of Knighthood as you are, he will surely get a spirit bug. If he can't get one, then he can only blame himself for not being favored by the Glory of Knighthood, not that my potted plant is not valuable enough."

Liszt gave a faint smile.

At this moment, Lvera came over: "I can't help but feel envious of you now, why you always seem to have luck that others don't. I've carefully examined grandmother's potted plants and couldn't see any signs of a spirit bug being bred, yet in your hands, they've successively produced spirit bugs."

"You know, I am favored by the Glory of Knighthood, I am the child of honor." He had now learned to shamelessly boast about himself, and being high-profile on Coral Island wasn't a bad thing.

Lvera thought for a moment and sighed: "I wouldn't be surprised if you became the Earl one day."

"I wouldn't be surprised either."

"You've really grown up, I can't find a trace of the child you once were in you anymore."

"There still is; after all, I've been this handsome since I was a kid."

"Haha."

...

The ship sailed across the sea.

When bored, Liszt would spend his time at the ship's bow, setting up a backrest chair, a parasol, brewing green tea, and arranging a fruit platter.

Enjoying the cool sea breeze on his face.

"You really know how to enjoy yourself." The Earl came out of the cabin to the deck and saw Liszt lounging on the chair.

He couldn't help feeling a sense of resentment, always feeling that his life was different from his son's.

"It's too hot, the cabin is too stuffy, it's better to come out and enjoy the sea breeze." Liszt stood up and instructed his personal footmen, "Thomas, go and bring a chair."

"Yes, sir."

"Tom, brew a cup of green tea for the Earl."

"Yes, sir."

Thomas quickly brought a chair for the Earl to sit on, and Tom brewed a cup of green tea and placed it on the coffee table. Both the coffee table and the chair were brought by Liszt specifically, products of the woodworking workshop.

The Earl's gaze fell behind Liszt.

Storm and Flame were sound asleep.

"Are they Hiddleston's descendants?"

"Yes, one is called Storm, the other Flame."

"Do they take after Hiddleston or the Mastiff?" the Count asked casually.

Liszt replied simply, "Probably Hiddleston."

"Raising a few low-level magic beasts is not a bad idea... Wait, what did you just say? They take after Hiddleston?" The Count couldn't sit still anymore and immediately stood up, walking over to the two magic beasts, reaching out to touch one of them, Storm.

Storm was quite alert and immediately opened its eyes, seeing the unfamiliar Count, it prepared to pounce and bite.

But Liszt stopped it in time, "Storm, lie down and stay still!"

After a moment.

The Count's expression was still full of surprise, "This truly is the behavior of an intermediate-level magic beast. Its magic power dissipates very quickly, far exceeding that of a low-level magic beast... So, if Hiddleston has eight offspring, wouldn't that mean eight intermediate-level magic beasts?"

"Pretty much, but neither Hiddleston nor the eight little ones are powerful intermediate-level magic beasts, but tearing down a castle shouldn't be difficult."

After a while.

The Count returned to his chair and slowly said, "Liszt, do you know what this means?"

"It means that once they grow up, they could even besiege and kill a Sky Knight; or when the knight regiment charges, they could block several knights... It also means that I might achieve glorious military exploits before being promoted to a Sky Knight, even enough to be granted the title of Count?"

"Under ideal conditions, it is indeed possible. By then, I might still be a Count, and you could have the opportunity to establish a new family."

"I haven't thought about establishing a new family."

"Establishing a new family is nothing more than changing a surname; it is a glory belonging to the nobles. The Golden Ear and Golden Grain families, although separated, are still very close," the Count said. "If you become a new Count, I would be very willing for you to establish a new family."

Liszt still didn't quite understand the world's perception of glory, so he made a meaningless sound, "Hmm."

The Count didn't know how to continue either.

With nine intermediate-level magic beasts and such power, as long as nothing unexpected happens, it would definitely not be difficult to challenge for the title of Count, and challenging for the title of Marquis would only be a matter of time.

He prided himself on his strong talent, having struggled from a Viscount to a Count, and had even greater hopes of charging towards the title of Marquis, always arrogant.

Although he hoped that each of his descendants could achieve greater things, he always knew in his heart—his daughter aside, among his three sons, the one most likely to surpass him was Lytton.

This was also why he didn't fully support Liszt with resources to challenge for the Sky Knight.

He placed his hopes of "expecting his son to become a dragon" on his youngest son, so back then, because of a small mistake, he directly stripped Lytton's family tutor, Zanbuluota, a knight of the nobility, of his title—he was very much looking forward to Lytton's future development, if Lytton indeed had extraordinary talent.

Then, with two generations of father and son working together, challenging for the title of Marquis would be absolutely stable.

If Lytton's performance after growing up was not as good as when he was a child, then it wouldn't be too late to fully support Liszt with magic potions and promote him to a Sky Knight.

So his consistent belief was—Liszt could maintain the status quo, while Lytton represented hope.

As for Liszt, the older he got, the more useless he became—from hope to disappointment, until finally being indifferently granted a title, he had become the most disappointing creation in the Count's heart.

Yet, it was this son he had overlooked who now showed signs of surpassing him.

A seventeen-year-old elite Earth Knight was not particularly remarkable—but Liszt became an Earth Knight only after reaching adulthood, and it took him just over half a year to be promoted to elite, this talent was enough to be frightening.

In terms of strength, he was already so formidable.

What was even more incredible was his luck.

The earl no longer wished to provide examples to illustrate how much Liszt was favored by the radiant honor of knighthood. He took a deep breath, picked up his teacup, and sipped the green tea.

As the tea touched his tongue, he immediately frowned. "What kind of tea is this? It tastes so bitter."

Liszt explained, "This is green tea brewed from the leaves of the tea plant. It does have a bitter taste at first, but if you let it linger, you’ll notice a fragrant and aromatic aftertaste on your palate."

"Is that so?" The earl savored it carefully and indeed found that the green tea’s flavor was not merely bitter; behind the bitterness lay a surprisingly novel taste.

It mirrored his current state of mind—first shocked by Liszt, tasting the bitterness, but then, upon acceptance, savoring the sweet triumph of the apprentice outshining the mentor.

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