When Eugene went out of their bedroom wearing formal attire, Lucian unconsciously raised his eyebrows in inquiry.
Eugene smiled at him. "I'm going out."
"To meet with Mr. Wright?" Lucian guessed, leaning his elbow on the chair's arm. "Take care then. I'll be going out as well."
"For the printing press?" Eugene tilted his head at him as he fixed his cufflinks.
Lucian simply nodded in response.
"That would be great. Be safe on your way, Lucian."
"You too," Lucian replied as Eugene gave him a swift kiss on the lips before heading out.
Lucian couldn't help but think that the Lucian that he was last week, the whiny and clingy one, was just a result of his rut. A part of him felt shy just from reminiscing about it. For him, that was certainly a ridiculous thing. He had to thank Eugene for not bringing that up and for still giving him the attention that he needed during those times.
Eugene was indeed a sweet man.
Feeling lucky today, Lucian picked up his signature cane and suitcase to complete his business look. He went out of their apartment, said goodbye to the attendant in the lobby, and rode a carriage heading to the plaza. He was starting to get used to the roads and commercial buildings; thus, the plaza could be considered a familiar place for him.
Lucian has been here before, together with Eugene. He was already aware of where to hire people, especially mechanics, to create the printing press. It had to be personalized since it was usually rare for others to sell it in stock.
Having been introduced to the building, Lucian expertly made his way through the double door. He held the pitch black door knocker, a ring that is attached to the door, and used it to make just the right sound to attract attention from the people inside.
The door hurriedly clicked open as a stout man came into his view. The said man was wearing a blue undershirt, a coarse brown vest, and large brown pants. He was wearing a hat as well. If one looked closely, they would certainly notice that not a single strand of hair lay on his head. He was a bald, stout man.
But his bright smile threw off all the negative descriptions of him. He had a friendly demeanor as he greeted Lucian. "Good morning, sir. Is there anything that we can do for you?"
"Good day," Lucian replied, removing his silk top hat to place it on his chest as a gesture of polite greeting. "May I come in? I would like to talk about it inside."
"Yes, yes. Please come in, sir." The man made way for Lucian, his arms stretched out to guide him in which direction the alpha should go. He gently closed the door before he followed after him. "The name's Bob Rossman. I'm a mechanic working under the apprenticeship of Professor Loren."
Lucian kindly smiled at him all throughout their short walk. "I am aware. I purposefully came here in hopes of seeing the great professor. Is he around?"
"You arrived at the right time, sir! The Professor has just come back from his travels. He's right here." Bob giddily guided him to a door painted in pure white. After hearing that Lucian himself knew his professor, Bob felt proud on behalf of his mentor.
He gently knocked at the door.
"Professor, you have a visitor," Bob exclaimed, a wide grin planted on his face.
Lucian quietly corrected him: "Tell him I'm a customer, and that my surname is Montague."
Bob looked back at Lucian before nodding. "Actually, he's a customer with the surname Montague, Profe—"
The door suddenly swung open, grabbing inside Lucian before it snapped shut right in front of Bob's nose. He was left dumbfounded outside.
He wanted to whine. 'Why does my mentor always do this? He never wants me to come inside!' he huffed and puffed at first before he stomped away from the professor's office. 'That Montague gentleman was lucky to have a glimpse of my distinguished mentor,' he sighed in lament.
Meanwhile, the lucky Lucian was currently sitting on top of the professor's table with crossed legs.
"How did he become your apprentice? He was far from what I expected," Lucian asked, boredly resting his chin on his hand. "Also, the travel bullshit you told Bob had almost got me gagging in front of him. He was such a sweet guy, but you dared to lie to him."
Professor Loen—no, Lieutenant Aiden Scott—chuckled guiltily. "You know I had to."
"And out of all the occupations you wanted to use as an undercover, you picked this? A mechanic? Seriously?" Lucian looked at him teasingly. Deep inside, Lucian had to admit to himself that he certainly missed this man.
It had been, what, months? Months probably passed by without Lucian seeing the lieutenant. He only became aware of Aiden Scott's new identity when Eugene accidentally caught a glimpse of the man while they were searching for possible mechanics.
"You're very devoted in this case, Lieutenant Scott. I had to salute you for that," Lucian winked at him. Despite the age gap between him and Aiden, the lieutenant was certainly one of the people that he could act 'super' friendly with. After all, the soldier was a lax lad.
Aiden playfully scoffed at him. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm Professor Loren," he answered, raising his eyebrows knowingly at Eugene before locking the door properly.
"Anyway, looking at you right now, I just realized that long, black coats really don't go well with your physique. You're too buff," Lucian commented on the professor's outfit, hopping off the table with a soft laugh. "It's like your coat is going to be ripped off any minute now."
Aiden gave him a 'shut-your-trap', deadpan look beneath his monocle. For Lucian, Aiden paired with a monocle was such a refreshing look—entirely different from the man's gruff appearance before. He looked like a scholar now.
Lucian sheepishly grinned at him as he changed the subject: "Do me a favor and start working on my printing press by tomorrow."
"My apprentice can handle it himself. You go plan it with him instead. I'll just have to go out again, do my 'travels', and leave the task in his care." Aiden nonchalantly waved his hand away, as if shooing Lucian out of his office.
Lucian dramatically gasped. "You're a horrible mentor!"
"I know. My apprentice hadn't even seen the walls of my office yet," Aiden replied, plopping himself on his chair with a sigh. "I miss the barracks," he added in a daze.
"Why aren't you letting Bob in, though?" Lucian inquired, sitting down on the couch to stretch his legs better. "Do soldiers normally have issues about trust and mistrust, or something?"
Aiden looked at him helplessly. "Sort of. You know how much we value privacy."
"Uh, huh. Just make sure to let him have a glimpse of this place at the very least."
"Fine," Aiden muttered, leaning his head on the chair to relax himself. "How's things on your side?"
"As we've told you a few days ago, we're on the move with spreading the information now."
Aiden thoughtfully nodded. "That's great. I'm also trying to sound them out last week."
"Them?" Lucian raised an eyebrow in askance.
"The foreign mechanics they sent to work in here." Aiden leaned closer to the table to whisper, "From the Northern Islands."
Lucian's mouth shaped into an 'O' as he slowly nodded in understanding. All three of them had strong doubts about the Northern Islands and their intentions towards the kingdom, particularly by starting here at the border.
"The problem is that, conversing with them was hard. They are very wary of people like me who aren't of Northern blood. They're a bunch of paranoid, cautious people. It's hard to penetrate and find intelligence at the moment," Aiden uttered helplessly, massaging the bridge of his nose as if he were carrying the biggest burden in life. Well, he was.
Lucian looked at him in sympathy. "It's not easy on your part," he said, a kind smile forming on his face. "But don't worry, we'll take care of the rest from here. We just need more time and effort to get to the end of this."
"Let's wish for the best results on our side then," Aiden grinned at him.
The noble smirked back. "It's 'hope', not 'wish'."
For 'hope' expresses a desire for something that is possible or likely to happen, while 'wish' expresses a desire for something that is unlikely or impossible to happen.
In Lucian's personal views and intuition, he was confident that the universe would side with them.
Thus, he stood up with a straight posture, bid goodbyes to the 'Professor', and went outside to talk with Bob Rossman.
"Consider the printing press as done, sir! I'll be on it right away!" Bob enthusiastically lifted his fist to cheer up Lucian. He was such a ball of sunshine and fireworks. Very hyperactive, even.
Lucian stared at Bob with a smile. "Then I'll leave it to your care." He bowed at the mechanic before he left the building with his chest puffed up confidently.
He had a feeling that things would definitely work out for the better from now on. Lucian just has to keep on going. In fact, he was blessed to have other people support him on this. He had Eugene, who was a cunning nobleman, and Aiden, who was a strong and mighty soldier, whom he could trust.
Why was his name Loren, though?
Lucian shook his head in amusement. Nevermind that. He's going to be busy in the next few weeks, that's for sure.