People stuck around Vilgefortz for their own personal agendas, and so did Lydia. Sorceresses were also called witches, and as their names suggested, they only existed to be hunted down by Witchers. In some cultures, they believed that a witch would only bring misfortune and calamity.

Lydia did not use any illusion magic to conceal her disfigurement. She looked just like Freddy Krueger…[1]

Fortunately Olivia, or rather, Lady Zhao had been through such situations before. At such a crucial moment, she had to convince herself not look at that horrible face. A mother should be judged by pure love and sacrifice, not appearances…

Olivia may be young, but she treated everything fair and justly. She did not practice favouritism as other children did. She only wanted to hone her skills by earning more skill points through side missions. In this world of source magic, her life was filled with greatness.

Lydia was sensitive towards how others stared at her burnt face, but Olivia was never once disgusted and had treated her gently and politely. Such behavior touched her.

Other than the Devil himself [2], who would not wish to be accepted and recognized by others? Plus, Lydia did not have many friends, to begin with.

Each lesson that Lydia had with Oliva was a long moment of bliss. She was already treating them as a family of three. Such an idea had never crossed her mind before…

It has been every woman's dream to have children with the man they loved. Unfortunately, most sorceresses were barren. Some of them went across the world just for a recipe get pregnant.

Lydia was not alone in this predicament. Yennefer, the famous alumni from Aretuza the Sorceress Academy faced the same problem as well. She wanted to conceive a baby for some legendary Witcher, even she knew it was doubly impossible as Witchers shot blanks themselves. Hence, she had adopted a girl and treated as her own with love and hope.

That legendary Witcher was known as "White Wolf," Geralt. According to the "Law of Surprise," he would one day adopt Cirilla - who would fall into Yennefer's loving graces as well…

Perhaps one day, they would treat her like their own daughter and love her…

Emhyr and Pavetta were poor parents. Emhyr could only think about his revenge and the throne of Nilfgaardian. Pavetta was too busy attending banquets and b.a.l.l.s.

Therefore, Olivia had been entrusted to Vilgefortz and Lydia. Cirilla was taken under the wing of her grandmother, Queen Calanthe…

Olivia noticed the disappointed look on Lydia's face. Apparently, Olivia, despite all her genius and talents, fell short at meditation. Olivia wasted no time and spent a skill point on "meditation." Now she could enter the state of meditation with the press of a b.u.t.ton. She could even adjust the duration of her sessions! The sooner a source mage could enter meditation, the greater her potential. In a voice of forced calm, Lydia spoke softly, "You are still young, the potential in your blood still dormant. You do not have to rush with meditation; I could prepare some potions to help you enter the state of meditation, I … " Lydia paused in surprise. Olivia had amazed her yet again!

Olivia entered the state of meditation!

She could feel the elements surrounding her. Now, all she had to do was to familiarize herself with each of them. With the information inside the game directory, this would not be difficult to accomplish.

Lydia circled Olivia, trying to figure out how she did it. She was more perplexed than impressed. Even her first meditation had not been as early as Olivia.

Vilgefortz and Lydia had both agreed that Olivia did not have much magical potential in her. She was not a source mage, one that inherently had so much potential. They could achieve so much, even without magic. How could Olivia exceed their expectations, time and again, even after adjusting those expectations to her levels?

Of course, Lydia was delighted. Who would not want to be the teacher of a genius? Teaching Olivia was the greatest excitement she had in years, the surprises never stopped.

Lydia even hoped that Olivia could enroll into Aretuza, the Sorceress Academy on Thanedd Island. After all, Olivia might not share her elemental affinities. She had so much to learn…

With the game system on hand, Olivia could be the master of everything… if she had enough skill points.

That night, Vilgefortz and Lydia spent some time in private. Nothing fancy, just some bedtop sparring.

"Today I taught Olivia of meditation." Lydia spoke each word carefully, as if she was still distracted by her thoughts.

"Oh? Her bloodline considered, it would be a miracle if she could meditate at seven. Having her do it now would teach her nothing but disappointment." Vilgefortz took an elegant sip of his wine.

"Well, she did it today," Lydia seems to ignore the fact Vilgefortz was her superior.

"What? Impossible, she's just an ordinary mage…" Vilgefortz ceased his comments on his apprentice. She was unpredictable. Still, he had plenty of time to deal with her.

Lydia smiled gracefully. She hoped that such a life would last longer. To her, this was bliss.

Unfortunately, Vilgefortz was about to shatter her dreams. "Emhyr finally agreed with my plans. It has been too long we stayed in this boring Cintra."

"Heading back to Nilfgaadian?"

"That's not all, Cintra's prince, Dony has to die. He will become the prince of Nilfgaadian Empire, Emhyr…"

"I don't care about him, I just want to know, what about Olivia?"

"Her? She does not matter in our plan. Cirilla must follow her father."

"I don't want to be separated from Olivia. I'd like to see her off to Aretuza," Lydia was dead serious.

Vilgefortz thought about it for a moment. His cold-blooded secretary had changed.

Sigh. Women.

"Alright, we will take her with us. She could be an adorable pet, don't you think?" Vilgefortz smiled, as if he was still in control of everything. Such a charming man.

Translation Note:

[1] Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger (/ˈkruːɡər/) is a character from the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He first appeared in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as a burnt serial killer who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams, causing their deaths in the real world as well. In the dream world, he is a powerful force and almost completely invulnerable. However, whenever Freddy is pulled into the real world, he has normal human vulnerabilities.

[2] Tonicquill (ED): I personally believe that this is a reference to a line from the movie "The Usual Suspects:" The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.