She expected Ayden to frown, but instead, Ayden gave a nod as though he expected it.
“And this was why the original Cassiopeia couldn’t explain how she healed the infected people in the novel,” Ayden said. “She had this innate feeling for healing that she couldn’t explain. I believe that innate talent for healing is what makes a Saintess.”
Cassiopeia was taken aback. She hadn’t connected her act of healing that person to her status as a Saintess so explicitly. It made her feel a lot better—yes, there were many changes in the world now, but some things remained the same. The confirmation of her status as the Saintess give her a boost of morale.
“Have you tried healing common ailments like that?” Ayden continued.
Cassiopeia shook her head. “That time, I just felt what I should do.”
“Because you did something different that time, right? You didn’t diagnose and cast the relevant spell right away.”
Cassiopeia nodded uncertainly. “That sounds right.”
“Do you think you could try intuitively healing next time?”
Cassiopeia wasn’t sure. She looked down, avoiding Ayden’s gaze.
“Can you directly manipulate healing magic?”
Cassiopeia shook her head.
“Try it, learn it,” Ayden said. “Consider that your short-term goal. Then we can talk again about what you can do with direct healing-magic manipulation. How about another meeting in a month?”
“Okay.” With a goal imposed upon her by someone else who seemed to have confidence, direction and plans, Cassiopeia felt less lost.
“Now, since this is an association-related meeting, what have you been doing in the past year?” Ayden asked.
This, Cassiopeia was prepared for. “I’ve been volunteering at the Schauss branch of the Royal Healers’ Association. I’ve also volunteered at the charitable clinics in the Schauss fief,” she said. “I go every week, and I heal around five and fifteen people each time.”
“Good. Do you have any questions to ask me? Any problems?”
Cassiopeia hesitated, and then shook her head. She had questions, but she wasn’t brave enough (or foolish enough) to ask.
“Then I have a question to ask you,” Ayden said. “Your past world had mobile phones and electricity and the internet, didn’t it?”
Cassiopeia didn’t expect this question, but she admitted that this was something she was curious about. She didn’t have anyone to talk about her past life. She nodded. “Yeah, it did! I thought you had mobile phones too, those communication mirrors. I’m surprised you didn’t call them phones.”
“Where would the word ‘phone’ originate from in this world? Wouldn’t it be too suspicious to call them that?”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
“But you didn’t have a zombie apocalypse, did you?”
“Eh???!!! You had a zombie apocalypse?”
Ayden nodded. “Yeah, a few years before I died, there was a zombie apocalypse. I killed myself after I became infected, so that I wouldn’t turn into a zombie.”
“That’s…wow…I just got hit by a truck…”
“Quite cliché. As expected of a main character,” Ayden said.
Cassiopeia giggled, half from the joke and half from all the stress.
After that, they started trading off things about their old world (before the zombie apocalypse in Ayden’s case). Cassiopeia told him that this novel had been a novel in her old world; Ayden didn’t know if this novel existed or not.
Both their past worlds seemed to have the same technologies and innovations. Even the histories seemed to be the same.
But it was hard to tell if they had come from the same world at different times, since Ayden didn’t know the famous contemporary figures that Cassiopeia knew, and vice-versa. This could be because their worlds had diverged at some point, or it could be because they had different interests and thus knew different figures. Not to mention, famous figures can change a lot in just five years.
It was easier to talk about what technology their past world(s) had.
“—Ugh, you know, I tried to recreate some of the technology but it’s not as easy as it looks! How do you do it?” Cassiopeia said.
“I don’t do it alone,” Ayden said. “The Rosewood fief has numerous workshops and teams who work on developing these products. Most of the time, I just provide them with ideas and let them figure it out. It’s only on a fraction of technologies that I personally work with Prince Rian to develop new suitable spells. He’s quite good at them.”
Cassiopeia suddenly felt a bit cheated. “So, you didn’t do it by yourself.”
Ayden shook his head. “There aren’t many things that you can do by yourself. If there is a piece of technology you want to re-create here, try asking your friends and working on it together.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Lw, P’ii atlcx jybea la.”
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Jjrrlbqflj yilcxfv. Qlatbea gfjilrlcu la, atfs tjv ajixfv obg jc tbeg. Vtf rtbbx tfg tfjv. “P’ii ub yjmx jcv ifjgc vlgfma tfjilcu wjulm.”
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Cassiopeia nodded. “I think it’s fine.”
They walked downstairs to where Cassiopeia’s father was waiting.
“Thanks for waiting, Your Grace,” Ayden said. “Cassiopeia, see you in a month.”
Duke Schauss’s heart jolted. See you in a month?!!
Cassiopeia wasn’t stressed though, as they boarded their carriage. In fact, she felt excited and motivated. She had apologised to Ayden, she had been able to talk about her old world with someone else, and she had future life direction!
“Cassiopeia…” her father started.
“The meeting went well,” Cassiopeia said. “Father, don’t worry.” She propped her chin on her hand and gazed out the window.
How could Duke Schauss not worry about his baby daughter? Look at her, she was all absentminded!
Cassiopeia was thinking.
What could she do with direct manipulation of healing magic? After speaking with Ayden, she started thinking about what had been possible in her old world again. Direct manipulation of healing magic would be the ultimate personalised medical procedure. Could she cure cancer? Conduct gene therapy? Cure the common cold?
Inevitably, she thought about Ayden’s appearance.
Ayden used to be Alyssa. But he looked nothing like a girl.
Something sparked in Cassiopeia’s brain. Medical transition!
Ayden was trans. But he couldn’t be the only trans person in the country. Ayden must have used magic. But wasn’t it unfair that only he got to transition? Cassiopeia would have definitely heard if Ayden had created a gender transition clinic. And what about male to female magical transition? She could develop it!
How would it work? How could Cassiopeia do it? Possibilities and challenges appeared in her mind.
Cassiopeia almost asked her father right then and there about whether transition healing magic existed already, but she stopped herself. Instead, she asked, “Father, I realise that I need to learn a lot more about the human body. May I get some more books from your library at home?” Home being the house in the Schauss fief.
Her father gave her a searching look but nodded. “You may.”
“Can we go back tomorrow?”
“We can.”
Cassiopeia smiled happily. “Thank you, Father!” Yes, she was going to become a great healer and develop new magical procedures!
While Ayden was meeting with Lady Cassiopeia Schauss, Hadrian was in his assigned workroom, frowning.
Scattered across his desk where at least two dozen hand-sized pieces of glass. Some were made by others through traditional non-magical and magical processes, while some were made by Hadrian.
With Ayden’s help, Hadrian had made some progress in analysing and categorising different glass types, especially flat glass, based on their properties and production methods.
The non-magical glassmakers would make flat glass by blowing glass into large cylinders, cutting them open, and flattening them. They could also make flat glass by using metal rollers to flatten the glass, followed by additional grinding and smoothing.
Meanwhile, fire mages or earth mages could create larger smooth glass panes by using metal moulds. Normally, metal would cool down faster than glass, causing the glass to crack. By using magic, this could be avoided, and adept mages could even float the glass a tiny bit above the metal mould to reducing risk of cracking, using the mould as guide to keep the bottom layer of glass smooth—though the bottom surface was never quite as smooth as the top surface. That glass would usually be magically reinforced before being installed.
This was all well and good, but what Hadrian actually wanted to do was to make smooth strong glass that could be used for entire walls.
He had three problems: making glass smooth, making glass strong, and scaling it up.
He was stuck on the first problem.
All the three current methods didn’t produce perfectly smooth glass. Since he was meant to be innovating, he should make glass that was smoother.
The magical method had examples of the smoothest glass…but it required a lot of magical energy and skill.
Ayden had suggested on floating glass on molten metal. Hadrian had tried it, but it wasn’t easy to maintain metal and glass in a molten state. If anything, the glass that Hadrian made trying to do this was worse, with bits of metal stuck in it.
Hadrian tried to move onto the next problem, making glass strong. He thought about changing the composition and having different heating and cooling temperatures and speeds. But would he know it was strong enough? How could he trust it? Hadrian felt they were all too easy to punch and break.
As for the last problem, scaling up, Hadrian felt helpless. He couldn’t fathom the amount of fuel and magical energy that would be required.
At this juncture of being blocked in all directions, Hadrian retreated to documenting what he had done and preparing for his next meeting with Ayden.
The arrival of the Lūpiter carriage put a temporary end to Hadrian’s work. He went downstairs to greet Prince Pollux.
“Your Highness, Ayden is still meeting with Lady Schauss,” Hadrian said.
“I know. I wanted to talk with you,” Prince Pollux replied.
A Rosewood servant quietly showed them to a meeting room, served them tea, and left.
Hadrian sat on the sofa, too nervous to drink.
“Hadrian, I’m sure you’re curious about my frequent meetings with Ayden,” Prince Pollux said.
Hadrian shook his head. “I’m not, Your Highness. That is your business, Your Highness.”
“Well, I’m telling you now. They’re healing sessions. Ayden believes that I will be able to walk again in a few years.”
Hadrian’s eyes widened. “That’s wonderful, your Highness.”
“However, Ayden’s method requires a healthy reference person,” Prince Pollux said. “I hope that you can assist me. I believe that you’re the most suitable person.”
Hadrian nodded. “It will be my honour to assist your Highness.” He paused. “What does my assistance entail?”
“You simply need to sit,” Prince Pollux said, “and allow Ayden’s magic to probe you.”
Ever since Prince Pollux came, Hadrian’s emotions had been going up and down more than usual. “I—I see…”
“You can bring a book to read. Ayden will be using your body to help heal mine. It won’t be painful for you at all.”
It wasn’t as though Hadrian could decline, but it felt a lot like selling his body (?). Nonetheless, he nodded. “I understand.”
Prince Pollux smiled. “Thank you, Hadrian.”
Hadrian’s chest inexplicably tightened. He quickly lowered his head. “It’s my honour,” he repeated.
“So, tell me, what have you been working on lately? Or is it a secret?”
“It’s not a secret,” Hadrian said. “It’s certainly not a secret, given that I haven’t succeeded in anything yet…”
Hadrian explained his three problems, and Ayden’s suggested solution to the first problem. “I’m sure Ayden can create and maintain molten metal, but…” He sighed, with a hint of frustration. It was meant to be his research. If Ayden helped with everything, then what was his use?
“How did you previously try to create molten metal?” Prince Pollux asked.
“I used fire spells,” Hadrian said. “At first, I powered them myself. I started trying to use a magic crystal instead but it’s not hot enough.”
“I could create a spell that melts metal directly, and we could get Ayden’s assistance in powering it with magic crystals,” Prince Pollux said slowly. His lips curled up. “I’m not bad at making spells to manipulate metal.”
Hadrian’s brows drew together. “Your Highness, you don’t need to—”
“But I want to. I’ve had enough tours around the city and want something else to do,” Prince Pollux said.
“—Then, I’m grateful for Your Highness’s assistance,” Hadrian said. “…Could you show me how you create new spells?”
“I can.”
After the Schausses left, Hadrian and Prince Pollux emerged from their meeting room.
Ren Xiyang exchanged greetings with them.
“Hadrian has agreed to be reference, so he’ll be coming too,” Prince Pollux said.
Hadrian nodded. “Yes, I just need a minute to get a book to read.”
Ren Xiyang glanced at Hadrian. “Alright.”
Hadrian was a few years older than Prince Pollux, and he was also taller and stronger.
Hmm, if Ren Xiyang hadn’t had Rian already, he wouldn’t have minded using Hadrian as a reference either. Maybe he’d be taller than Rian, not to mention being bigger in certain parts…
After a detour to Hadrian’s work room, they went to Ren Xiyang’s office. With Prince Pollux’s servant’s help, Prince Pollux and Hadrian took a seat on the same sofa. Ren Xiyang moved a chair close to them.
“So, how have you been, Your Highness?” Ren Xiyang asked.
“Keeping myself busy,” Prince Pollux said. “My sister, Queen Aurelia, is planning to gather a small group of healers to come and learn from you, Ayden. Once I have more details, I’ll give them to you.”
“Thank you.”
“And there hasn’t been any extra pain.”
“Good. Since Hadrian is here, I’ll need to first assess his physical structure and compare it to yours. Otherwise, the process will be the same as previous.”
Prince Pollux nodded.
“Be at ease.” Ren Xiyang closed his eyes and sent his magic out.
Prince Pollux closed his eyes too—he didn’t read or do anything else to occupy himself during the healing sessions.
Hadrian hesitantly opened his book.
Ren Xiyang’s magic entered Hadrian first. He also split some magic into himself and into Prince Pollux.
With three bodies, Ren Xiyang had a stronger understanding of the major common structures, including the important nerves. There should be no problem shifting to Hadrian as a reference.
Ren Xiyang: Ah, motivating students. A supervisor’s job well done.
Cassiopeia: Wait what.
Readers (?): Where is Rian??!!!
Rian: Yeah, exactly, where am I??
Rian: WAIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HADRIAN??!!
What can I say, I like research…
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Yeah, where is Rian?!
Also wow, Cassiopeia got really tolerant!
I wonder if there ever are going to be detransition cases. I doubt Cassiopeia will think of such a possibility, so that’s on Ren Xiyang to predict. Anyway I’m sure they can switch someone perfectly back.
I wonder if they meet non-binary cases who would want partial transition. Like, alter hormones, don’t do bottom change.
Also congratulations to Hadrian and Pollux on their upcoming romance arc! 🤣
Thank you for the chapter.
Maybe ren xiyang will suggest some type of counseling before the procedure or something, but i imagine that in quite low educated and slow information exchange society there wouldn’t become a trend and such a socialy strong group that would influence people that are attracted to the same gender to transition due to LGBTQ pressure stereotypes?
I think it would be more like a mass people who dont really understand what magical transition entails or rich people that are intrigued by the novelty of it, and a small group of people who really need it
Hmm, there are certainly other things to work out, aside from the healing procedure itself!
Poor, poor Rian 😆😆
Yeah, Cassiopeia is really trying hard!
I think detransitioning will not be a problem. A look at the academic literature finds that the vast majority of ‘detransitioning’ happens when people by family etc. to detransition. So, provided Ren Xiyang can enforce a positive environment, the rate will be very, very small.
Nonbinary cases is definitely something I should remember, I don’t have a single nonbinary person yet (?) in this novel (?????)
Hehheehe
Family pressure probably won’t be a problem, but possibly some hardcore fan-worship could occur. Remolding themselves in their idol image or something. People do crazy things sometimes.
😅😅😅
cassiopeia changed so much omg 😭 i’m so proud of her!!
Yeah!!!!
Rian… you better come hug your boyfriend before he runs away with experiments…
HAHAHAH
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Thank you for reading!
Cassiopeia lets go! I am rooting for you!
The research healing saintess is on fire!
Ren Xiyang’s researcher-influence is growing heheh
Random spy, “your Highness, Earl Rosewood has entered a private room with Prince Pollux and Hadrian Terra.”
Rian, “…”
👀
Duke Shauss is going to have a heart attack if his daughter opens up a trans clinic 😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Rian wishes that Ren Xiyang had more female friends (?) 🤣🤣
Oh, luckily Duke Schauss is a healer and so is his wife and sons and daughter 🤣🤣🤣🤣
RXY is totally going to make his body bigger 🤣
😏😏😏 hey hey hey, nothing wrong with that 😏😏😏
I was half expecting Duke Shauss to freak out when Cassiopeia said she wanted to learn more about the human body 🤣 like “WHAT DID YOU AND EARL ROSEWOOD DO IN THAT MEETING!?” or something
OMG MISSED OPPORTUNITY!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hmm, let’s pretend that Duke Schauss has such a healer-work-mode brain that the idea of understanding the human body better makes perfect sense 🤣🤣🤣🤣
ah Cassiopeia growing up from spitting out transphobic stuff to planning out trans affirming care… growth
Yeah!!
(sorry in advence for my bad english i’m french) I smell some new ship between Hadrian and Pollux, i know it’s too far fetched for now but i kinda want it to be true it will be great for Pollux who was deprieved of relationships before, in that regard he is actually doing great with the help of ren xiyang and alexius
It’s the first time i comment so i will say it now i love this novel and thank you for writing it
It would be nice to have a ship between Hadrian and Pollux, wouldn’t it? 😆😆😆
Thank you so much for commenting!!!!
Thank you for the chapter.
Thank you for reading!
I wish that all transphobes changed their minds as easily (in real life) as Cassiopeia did. Unfortunately tho, for some, even if you manage to convince them. The next day, they’ll be back on their bullsh!t (after watching transphobic YouTube videos or being on Facebook). But good for her tho, she’s becoming more open minded.
Cassiopeia did take a few years to change her mind! But she does mean well! Good on her indeed!!