Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

Gordon encouraged her along the way, but Charlotte had a more fun idea in mind.

After passing through the front door and returning to the bedroom, Charlotte and Gordon went back to the mirror.

"Give me a more perfect Gordon." Charlotte used her power on Gordon's face.

The light flashed by, but nothing happened.

"Failed?" Gordon looked in the mirror. He saw that he looked much the same as before, even the small scar was still there.

"That's strange, it should be useful." Charlotte pondered for a moment and used the Perfect Manifestation on her face.

The light lingered for a moment, then quietly faded away.

Gordon looked at her and thought Charlotte was exactly the same as before, unchanged, which was very strange.

The two people stared at each other for a long time.

So far they have seen steel balls, statues and stupid dogs imbued with the power of perfection, but their faces have remained unchanged.

"There's a problem." Gordon stroked his chin. "I could at least be a little more handsome."

"Then let's leave it at that." Charlotte placed her hands on his shoulders, tilted her head slightly, and said, "This shows that in my eyes, you are the best just the way you are."

"This also shows that the most perfect Charlotte should be just like this."

Gordon gently pulled Charlotte into his arms; the two people in the mirror were very close, with no gap between them.

After all that teasing, Charlotte felt both confused and curious.

She didn't know why her body was experiencing so many changes—it felt hot, warm, and a little itchy.

However, premarital sex remained an overly expensive and impulsive adventure. Charlotte wondered just how far she could go with Gordon.

Charlotte has been really eager to see the size of the Golden Roots in person ever since she saw them last night.

After a while, the maid announced that guests had arrived, and they tidied up and went out, bringing Charlotte's wild thoughts to an end.

In the small reception room on the first floor, they saw Cecilia.

She wore a lake-green dress, and her chestnut curls were styled under a beautiful top hat with a white feather pinned to the brim.

She was cute and pretty, a bit more mature than Charlotte, but equally lively and elegant.

In less than a fraction of a second, she could tell from Charlotte's lips, cheeks, and the details of Gordon's body that the distance between the two had far exceeded the boundaries that ordinary friends should have.

"Good, well done. Let's keep going like this," Cecilia thought to herself.

"Good afternoon, Cecilia," Charlotte said, stepping forward.

"Happy birthday yesterday," Cecilia greeted Charlotte. "Congratulations! Now you possess the crown of summer, the crimson potion, and a man that all of Lundenim is asking about."

"I don't 'own' him."

"Of course, I mean, it seems he's gotten quite used to staying at your house," Cecilia said mischievously.

"Monford's cakes are delicious," Gordon explained.

"I see." Cecilia nodded. "Charlotte, it seems your charm has been defeated by the cake."

"Cecilia..." Charlotte raised her elbow menacingly.

"Do you have afternoon tea?" Cecilia asked, changing the subject at the opportune moment.

The maids brought black tea, cakes, and cookies.

Cecilia then naturally steered the conversation toward Gordon.

"Gordon, news of last night has spread. My father is also very curious about the Crimson Alchemist..." she said tactfully.

The FitzRoy family is one of the nine ducal families, and for now, it is the family that Gordon is somewhat familiar with. They seem to have a lot of influence in the Imperial Navy and play a pivotal role in military factions.

"Oh, what are the prospects for cooperation?" Gordon inquired.

"The Fitzroy family would love to meet a young alchemist who can create miracles, but I'm just here to extend goodwill. We know how to deal with a rising star," Cecilia said impeccably.

Then, she took a long, narrow, dark blue gift box from her handbag and pushed it in front of Charlotte.

"This is..." Charlotte opened it and saw a brooch made of sapphire, with tiny silver pieces inlaid on the tips of its wings.

"Your birthday present," Cecilia explained. "As for the formal dealings between the FitzRoy family and Mr. Vic, we can discuss that later."

"Thank you, I like it very much." Charlotte handed the brooch to Gordon. "Put it on me."

"Okay." Gordon carefully pinned it to Charlotte's collar.

After putting it on, Charlotte picked up the hand mirror, looked at herself, and nodded in satisfaction.

"That's wonderful, that's wonderful," Charlotte said happily.

Cecilia's smile grew even warmer.

As the eldest daughter of a duke, she was very adept at navigating such situations and could easily build rapport with others.

"So what's your relationship now? Friends? Classmates? Partners, or... some kind of new relationship that needs a new word?" Cecilia picked up her black tea.

"What do you think, Cecilia? You have three seconds to guess." Charlotte grasped Gordon's hand.

"I guess it's called 'Don't Let Others Judge'," Cecilia said, pursing her lips.

"You guessed right."

"You've read today's newspaper, haven't you?"

"I saw it, but Gordon didn't."

"What did the newspaper say?" Gordon asked curiously.

"I suggest you have some tea and calm down first. The newspapers are exaggerating quite a bit today. Some say your alchemy indicates that humanity is about to enter a new era of source material industry, some say you are an alchemical genius that comes along once in a century and may change the power structure of the entire empire. Others say you are the pride of impoverished students..." Cecilia said slowly.

"That's terrible." Gordon retrieved today's newspaper.

As he wished, the newspaper was printed in as large and bold a font as possible:

The Crimson Alchemist Emerges: College Student Gordon Vick Makes History

Gordon read it with satisfaction.

The article portrays Gordon's poverty as a testament to his strong will to work and study, exaggerates his character, and boasts about the dazzling special effects of the real red radiance on set.

Please bookmark the only official website for Deqi Novels: www.deqixs.org. This is the only website; other websites may be discontinued at any time.

Later, they were interviewed by Master Bradshaw and "Mercury Sage" Herman for their evaluations. Both of them acknowledged that the quality of Crimson is the ultimate level that is impossible to attain in the world of alchemy, and they looked forward to meeting with Gordon to deepen their exchanges on alchemy.

"Why didn't anyone mention my gratitude to society or the empire for nurturing me?" Gordon flipped through the pages. "Public opinion always wants us to say that, but when it's time to record it, they feel that saying it that way isn't legendary enough."

"It is said that since the Noon War, there have only been four documented instances of Crimson Refining in history, and last night was the fourth one..." Cecilia sighed.

"Then I'll have to be more careful. From now on, I'll only use 10% of my strength." Gordon shook his head. "It's not good to refine too much Crimson quality alchemy. Alchemy is like business; things that are too easily obtained tend to depreciate. We need to create the greatest scarcity demand of this century."

"I'm starting to understand why Charlotte likes you..." Cecilia looked at Gordon curiously.

"Cecilia," Charlotte warned once more.

"Okay. I love tea."