Their glasses were once again replenished, and Constantine was now somewhat curious about what Shiller's next topic would be.
In fact, there was not much to talk about Constantine himself. He was already a mature adult with a well-formed worldview and consistent logic. Although he was a mess, he wasn't insane.
Given the extent of pain that Constantine has experienced, psychological therapy would be of little use. Even if he sought a psychologist to spill his grief to, it certainly wouldn't be Shiller, as his recent agony had largely stemmed from him.
Unexpectedly, Shiller reached under the coffee table and brought out another glass. Just as he finished pouring the wine, a "bang" came from the balcony, as if something had crashed to the ground, followed by a clatter and a squeak.
The window was pushed open, and Zatanna rushed in quickly, picking up the glass that had just been put down by Shiller and pouring the wine into her mouth.
Miss Magician wiped her mouth with her wrist, and Constantine looked up at her in surprise.
Zatanna wasn't wearing her magician's outfit but rather a woolen overcoat, a pink silk shirt with mother-of-pearl buttons, a tight-fitting long skirt, and even a pair of pointed high heels.
"Good Lord, you're dressed like you just came back from the Spanish street float parade!" Constantine exclaimed dramatically.
Choked by the spicy alcohol, Zatanna started coughing, but she didn't forget to slap Constantine on the back of his head as a warning for him to shut his mouth if he had nothing nice to say.
Constantine looked at Zatanna's face with surprise, and he had to admit, Miss Magician was quite beautiful. Her features bore a Latin flair, her hair and eyebrows were densely black, thus highlighting her deep-set, three-dimensional facial features. The practice of magic gave her a particularly focused gaze, and her unique station in the mystic world endowed her with a certain precious quality. Even while choking and coughing, she didn't appear raucous or irrational.
What astounded Constantine was that Zatanna had put on light makeup today. While many people presume that Zatanna wears makeup every day, it's merely because her eyelashes are so thick that they resemble applied eyeliner. Constantine, who had been in intimate contact with Zatanna, knew that Miss Magician was practical and too lazy to put on makeup most of the time.
Constantine had no choice but to lean towards the other side of the sofa, away from Zatanna. He raised his voice and asked, "Just like the sun coming out in Gotham today, where did you come from?"
"The sun in Gotham has been out for a while," Zatanna retorted annoyedly. She froze in place for a second and then lowered her arms, revealing a dejected expression before sitting down on the single sofa between Shiller and Constantine with her bag in hand.
"I attended a banquet, terribly awful," Zatanna pursed her lips. "I mean, I was so out of touch."
Miss Magician covered her forehead with her delicate fingers, leaning weakly against the back of the sofa and said, "I had forgotten that all the banquets I've attended have been held in the magic realm where nobody would offend me, and I could chat about anything."
"But I didn't expect that there are so many rules in normal socialite banquets. Those verbose topics shouldn't have been raised at all. I embarrassed everyone and even made my friends lose face. It was just terrible."
Shiller squinted his eyes as if he had thought of something. He gently tapped the glass rim with his fingertips and asked, "Although my conversation with Mr. Constantine is not over yet, I think he won't mind joining me in listening to your troubles, Miss Zatanna."
"Oh, Professor, I mean... Doctor?" Zatanna wanted to confirm the title hesitantly.
"What's wrong with you? Zha?" Constantine straightened up and stared at Zatanna, "Who cares if he's a professor or a doctor? Since when has Shiller cared about this? And when did you start worrying about people's titles? Are you going to start calling me Lord Constantine?"
Zatanna covered her mouth in astonishment, "You're a lord?"
"I'm British, naturally serving the Royal Family is inevitable. Also, my ancestors were close servants of Queen Victoria, so would it be weird if I had a title? All of St. Elizabeth Street is filled with lords."
Zatanna spread her hands open, revealing a despondent expression, "Of course you guys wouldn't care because you're my friends. But what if I messed up the titles of strangers in a formal setting?"
Then she turned her pleading eyes to Shiller and asked, "Doctor, how am I supposed to differentiate the titles of you scholars? Why was a professor so surprised when I addressed him as such, as if he'd just seen me grow a third eye?"
Shiller pondered for a moment and said, "If my friends' habit of addressing me has misled you, I apologize. Generally speaking, you can call any scholar 'Doctor,' but indeed not every doctor wants to be referred to as 'Professor.' It could stir some unpleasant memories from his academic career."
Zatanna looked at him with wide eyes. Shiller sighed and said, "The reason I'm here is because the shredder at Gotham University broke down, and I couldn't handle the non-recyclable wood reconstructive fiber waste handed to me by my students."
"The majority of scholars take pride in their academic achievements, and a lot of the genius scholars with significant academic achievements don't know how to interact with students whose intelligence doesn't even come close to theirs. This process tends to be unpleasant. Calling him that way could easily trigger his stress response."
"But calling you that is fine," said Constantine.
Shiller nodded. He had extinguished the cigar when Zatanna came in and was now placing it back in the box. He set the box on the table, and then spoke.
"I am an oddity, I value my role as a teacher more than my scholarly accomplishments. Teaching students is an indispensable experience in my career, whether pleasant or miserable, I am not ashamed to mention. However, not everyone feels the same way."
Zatanna took a deep sigh, curling her body into the soft sofa. She turned on her side, clutching her bag and said, "This is a disaster. I always said Professor Crane should not have invited me to their gathering, I messed everything up!"
Upon hearing this name, Shiller raised his eyebrows slightly, while Constantine had yet to respond, asking, "Who is Professor Crane?"
"A colleague of mine". Shiller preempted Zatanna's response: "A remarkable psychologist and chemist. I have collaborated with him at Columbia University and Gotham University, his professional expertise is commendable."
When Batman apprehended Jonathan, Gotham was in a state of chaos. Therefore, there were no public accusations, interrogations or trials, and his crimes did not jeopardize his social reputation. Thus, he remained a renowned psychologist, indistinguishable from ordinary people apart from his residence at Arkham Mental Hospital.
However, residing in Arkham Asylum is not a disadvantage; a gathering of psychologists can essentially be referred to as a meeting of the mentally ill. Studying psychology only has two endings, madness or death.
Zatanna glanced at Shiller, her expression becoming more despondent. Apparently, this naive girl believed Shiller's praise for Jonathan, causing her guilt at spoiling Professor Crane's banquet to intensify.
Yet Constantine's gaze lingered on Shiller's face for a moment, before asking Zatanna, "How did you get to know Professor Crane?"
Zatanna poured herself a glass of wine, took a sip to steady herself, then said, "Although my antilanguage magic requires no cost and does not require a significant amount of preparation like a regular mage."
"Thank you for referring to me as a regular mage."
Zatanna rolled her eyes at Constantine and continued, "But I still need to perform magic tricks. In other cities, I can buy pre-prepared materials."
"But you can also do that in Gotham, I can manage to buy everything. Did you go to the wrong shop?" Constantine interrupted Zatanna again.
Zatanna gritted her teeth and glared at him, "Yes, ordinary materials can be purchased, but the powders used for flame magic are not suitable. The rain and air in Gotham are strange, most of the ignition powders don't ignite here, and even if they occasionally do, the shape and effect are not what I want. So I had to attempt to mix my own."
"However, I couldn't possibly perform such dangerous experiments at home, and I had no acquaintances in Gotham. Don't look at me, it's already a lot if you can take care of yourself, Constantine."
Zatanna pouted, "I went to Gotham University to find Bruce, and I ran into Professor Shearer there."
After she finished speaking, she turned her gaze to Shearer. Shearer picked up where she left off, "I told her that Bruce was not in Gotham recently, but if she just needed a place to experiment, the chemistry lab at Gotham University would suffice."
"Then, I met Professor Crane there. He was very curious about my formula for making the powder. Though I thought an ordinary person would probably be of no help, I still showed him the composition."
"Unexpectedly, an ordinary person's chemistry knowledge was the real answer to this problem. He helped me adjust the composition, removing many unnecessary magical elements, just using a few simple elements to create a powder that's very well-suited to Gotham's weather."
"It was simply amazing, so I asked him if he could help me make some more, he said that the materials in the lab at Gotham University were insufficient. We then went to the patient activity center at Arkham Mental Hospital."
Constantine nearly spat out his drink, widening his eyes at Zatanna, "You knew he was hospitalized at Arkham Mental Hospital, and you still followed him there?"
"What's the big deal?" Zatanna shrugged indifferently. "Are there too few mentally ill people in Gotham? You and Bruce should both be living here. Or rather, those who have self-awareness and come here for treatment are safer. Those who are aware of their illness but refuse to seek treatment are the dangerous ones."
Zatanna stared pointedly at Constantine. Constantine silently turned away, avoiding her gaze. Zatanna sighed softly before continuing.
"Professor Crane is a very good teacher. He taught me a lot about ordinary people's chemistry, which was greatly inspiring to me. Later, he asked me what I was going to use the powder for, and I told him I would be performing magic tricks."
"I told him about my experiences as a street magician, which was new to him. He said he was an academic who had simply kept studying and was not familiar with these unorthodox pursuits. So I invited him to see my magic performance."
"Of course, it would be impolite to invite him to a street performance, so I scheduled a performance at Gotham Theatre. He arrived on time and praised my performance profusely, which made me feel a bit embarrassed."
"After a few days, I received an invitation from him. To return the favor, I put on a fantastic performance for him. He wanted to invite me to a regularly held party hosted by one of his old friends. Not as a date, but just as an ordinary friend."
Zatanna pursed her lips and looked down.
"Then, I messed everything up."