Jon did not lift the stage curtain to look behind. Instead, he quietly listened to the music while clapping along with the rhythm.
Both the pianist and Jon had realized who was behind the curtain by now, but they chose not to interrupt the peaceful moment.
Alda also came onto the stage and tried to peek through the curtain, but he was knuckled by Sunny again.
The music reminded Jon of his days about a decade ago, when he often offered to instruct instrumental skills to Angor. However, Angor was far from talented in music at that time to successfully learn anything.
Even though Angor couldn’t play well, he used to ask Jon to play One Summer’s Day because he loved this particularly cheerful song.
The summer’s breeze in their imagination came to an end as the last note of the music ended.
Seeing Jon’s consent, Alda and Sunny moved to pull the curtain aside together.
There, they saw a grand piano, as well as the blond gentleman sitting in front of it. His elegant and slim hands were still resting on the keys while maintaining the strict posture of a musician.
He turned his head to look at the three onlookers using a pair of deep-blue eyes, which also brought another smile to Jon’s face.
“Angor...”
For many times, Jon imagined what Angor would look like in the future in his lucid dream. Yet everything he came up with fell short of Angor’s real image.
Of course, he was more than glad to see the waist-level child turning into such a fashionable nobleman.
“Mister Jon.” Angor stood up, put a hand over his chest, and bowed.
Jon nodded but did not respond. There was too much excitement to bear. It was the sound of people leaving through the exit that reminded him that he and Angor were left alone in the theater.
“I told Sunny and Alda to wait outside,” Angor explained.
Jon moved ahead and wanted to rub Angor’s hair like how he used to. But then he noticed that Angor had grown much taller for that. In the end, he only put a hand on Angor’s shoulder.
“Now, that’s almost how Old Padt looked in the early years. Your eyes still resemble your mother though, as I said. How much have you grown? One point eight? I know both you and Leon have what it takes to look bigger. Although that one gained a lot more muscles than you, I’d say.”
“I’m skinnier, yeah. But not exactly weaker.” Angor showed a face-splitting grin. “I’ll find a chance and show you.”
“Just don’t. You’re a wizard already. No bullying.”
“Nah, never wanted to bully my brother. Leon’s going to join the wizarding world too, you know, and he’d probably become a very strong Bloodline User.” Angor’s voice lowered into a whisper. “Might as well try him out now, or I’ll never defeat him again in close combat.”
“Heh heh. Just no. And don’t drag Leon to this place unless necessary. You both have jobs to do out there, right? I know there’s a wizard watching us in the manor.”
What he didn’t know was that Leon’s teacher also came back, which made it TWO wizards.
“I know.” Angor nodded. “How was my play? Better than before, must be.”
“Definitely, but not perfect yet. Man, I wish I could demonstrate some skills if my hands can still move as I tell them.”
“Um, Jon? You can try something. Like, jumping.”
Jon didn’t understand what that meant, but he still complied.
His body moved and landed way steadier than he anticipated.
“You still have the same look as the real you, but you don’t have the disease anymore. Just like the other citizens, you’re healthy here.”
Jon considered. He sat on the piano bench and rested a pair of wrinkled hands of an old man on the keys.
Masterful melodies echoed in the theater.
Sunny, who had been feeling bored outside the entrance, suddenly looked back.
“That’s One Summer’s Day again. But... better. It does sound like something you’d hear in the summer!” Alda commented.
“We have a master pianist in the city?” Labor suddenly showed up. “Who is it? I gotta watch him play more often!”
“You again?” Sunny glared.
Labor scratched his head. “The city’s not big! I just... wandered nearby. Is that perhaps the old—I mean, Gramps Jon performing?”
“Humph. Take your guesses.”
...
Angor spent several more hours with Jon, talking about the basic situation in the dream wasteland and more stories in the wizarding world, before he woke up.
Jon should be fine with Freud looking after him. The city was developing at a good pace, and Jon would have no problem adapting to it.
“He’s looking good in the dream wasteland... Guess it’s time to do something about his body next,” Angor pondered while sitting at his desk.
Becoming a permanent resident in the dream wasteland was a desperate solution. He still would like to prevent Jon’s “bodily death” if possible. But right now, he had no clue how to remove Jon’s corruption yet. Even Thewis and Eureka couldn’t do anything about it. He wondered if he should find help from elsewhere as Thewis suggested. Surely someone like Master Mithra was insightful enough to provide a good idea.
Putting Thewis’ intention aside, Angor would admit that this might be necessary. Jon’s consciousness was almost safe now. Exposing him to other wizards didn’t sound like too much a problem right now. It would be a plus if his body could be cured.
Besides, the secret would get out sooner or later since Thewis and Eureka already knew about Jon’s presence. Surely the two wizards would share the message to someone else they trusted, and slowly, more people would know about it.
Before making the final decision, he still had to learn about Jon’s attitude first. Perhaps Jon had other opinions to say after being invited to the Foundation City.
For now, Angor would allow Jon some time to get used to the new life.
It was three in the afternoon. Time for his routine meditation.
...
Three hours later, he opened his eyes and sensed another huge improvement to his mana pool.
As his projected bloodline was enhanced, the efficiency of his meditation sessions had skyrocketed. He knew he would reach his next bottleneck really soon. But not so fast. He felt the final stage of level-3 was just within two to three days.
Again, he was worried that improving so fast without solid groundwork would leave him vulnerable, even though he didn’t feel anything like that yet.
The good news was, he could try taking another “dream rule” from the domain sphere soon.
“Just have to continue this path...”
He sighed and opened his door, where Auri was waiting for him with a piece of parchment in her hand.
“What’s the matter?”
“Viscount Leon woke up, sir. Miss Mana asked me to inform you.” The maid handed the parchment over. “This is from, um, Brulee. I’m supposed to show you this when you are done with your training.”
“I see.” Angor nodded. “I’ll check Leon in a minute.”
On his way, Angor briefly checked the parchment, which showed a simple sketch of a monocle.
Must have been drawn by Eureka.
There was a line of text beneath the picture
[Brulee’s original monocle was enchanted with Eagle Eye and Energy Detection.]
This meant he had to craft a monocle with two similar effects on it. It didn’t sound too difficult.
By the time he arrived at Leon’s room, he more or less finished the final design in his mind.
The door to Leon’s room was left open. However, instead of Leon, the first thing that came into Angor’s view was something bright red.
Angor stepped through the door and saw a two-headed hound standing on the windowsill while looking down at Leon.