After Jayce left, Viktor soon walked in.
Both of them had come to speak with Luke, just for different reasons.
"You look much better. Have you been sleeping well lately?"
Luke glanced at Viktor's face and asked with a smile.
"Yes, thanks to Your Highness." Viktor slowly sat in the seat Jayce had just occupied and said, "After taking those pills, I rarely suffer from insomnia anymore. My condition is indeed different from before."
Luke nodded slightly and asked again, "So why did you come to see me this time?"
Viktor's eyes flickered. "I wanted to ask if Your Highness still has more of that medicine. If possible, I would like to purchase some more, or exchange something of equal value for it."
The effectiveness of those pills had far exceeded Viktor's expectations. Ever since he started taking one pill a day for several consecutive days, he had not suffered from insomnia again, and even the number of times he coughed had decreased.
His condition seemed to have returned to how it had been many years ago.
"Every medicine carries some poison, Viktor."
Hearing this, Luke only spoke in a calm tone.
"Those pills can indeed slow down your condition, but they cannot remain effective forever. Sooner or later, your body will adapt to their medicinal properties. At that point, you would need to take them more frequently, but doing so would place a burden on your other organs."
After listening to Luke, Viktor's face paled slightly. He forced a smile and said, "It's all right. In any case, my body cannot last much longer."
He understood his own body. If things continued like this, he definitely would not be able to hold on for long.
But he wanted to live. He still had so many ideals he had yet to complete. He had yet to see the Hexgates he and Jayce invented spread across the globe.
He had yet to see his own inventions change the world.
He possessed the same lofty ideals as Jayce, yet fate had played a joke on him.
But if possible, Viktor hoped he could face all of this in a whole and healthy state.
Luke's pills had given him a trace of hope. Though from the start, he had known that these pills alone could not change the state of his body.
But he did not have many lifelines left to grasp, and he did not want to let go of a single one.
Seeing his determination, Luke sighed softly. "What I mean is, this is not the only method. There's no need to rely only on pills to force yourself to hold on."
Those words left Viktor somewhat confused. He said directly, "I do not quite understand what Your Highness means."
"Let me take your pulse first. Give me your wrist."
Luke raised his hand and gestured to Viktor.
Viktor lifted his right hand and placed it on the table according to Luke's instructions.
Then Luke placed his fingers on Viktor's pulse. After only a few seconds, he spoke. "As expected, it's not far from what I guessed. Your pulse is weak, floating and powerless, thin and frail. It shows deficient vitality and blood, with damage to your foundation. And it is a fairly severe case. To put it in a way you can understand, if a normal person's baseline constitution is ten points, then yours is only four."
Toward the end, Luke used a description Viktor could understand.
"Those ten points represent the foundation. You were born missing six points of that foundation, and that is the direct cause of your frail body."
Luke looked at Viktor's slightly pale face and continued frankly, "You already have a congenital lung disease. On top of that, your later high-intensity work, lack of sleep, improper diet, and overdrawing of your liver and kidneys have all compounded the damage. Three of your five major organs are severely depleted. Barring anything unexpected, your body can support you for at most a little over a year. And that is only an estimate. In your condition, you could collapse at any time and never get back up."
But the most fundamental problem was still that lung disease.
Because he had contracted it as a child, and by now it had already become increasingly severe.
In truth, Viktor had already guessed everything Luke said. He also knew Luke was not lying to him, after all, he understood his own body.
His lung disease had already reached the stage where he coughed up blood. Every time, it felt as if he was about to cough his heart out. He had only been forcing himself to endure so Jayce would not notice.
He truly felt as if he could fail to hold on at any moment.
But when he learned that he had at most one year left, his vision still swayed, and he went a little blank.
After coming back to his senses, he could not help asking, "The method Your Highness mentioned is…"
"The pills I gave you are also called Vitality Recovery Pills. Simply put, they replenish vitality, blood, and spirit. They are for urgent use, and their effects do not last long."
Luke spoke unhurriedly. "If there is an urgent method, naturally there is also a slow method. The foundation you were born missing compared to others does not mean it cannot be replenished. As for the depletion of your organs, as long as they have not completely stopped functioning, they can naturally be repaired as well. It's just that this process will be very long, and you must persist. One day of slackness, and all previous effort will be wasted."
His words allowed Viktor to see hope once again. A faint light rose in his eyes, and he could not help saying, "The slow method is…"
Luke smiled slightly. "In a moment, I'll write you a prescription. You must strictly follow the proportions on the prescription when gathering the medicine. The timing and proportions cannot be off at all. If there are ingredients you cannot find, come to me. Aside from drinking the soup brewed from these medicines every day, I will also teach you a set of Vitality Arts movements. Remember to practice them diligently. Finally, there is the medicinal bath. I will give you another formula for that. With your constitution, soaking once every three or four days will be enough."
"Persist in this whole process for one month, and you will see results."
After finishing, Luke poured a little wine into his glass and took a light sip.
The most serious issue with Viktor's body was his lung disease. Too much time had passed, so even with Luke's medical skill at the highest level, he could not completely cure it.
However, reducing the harm caused by that lung disease to the lowest possible level was still something he could do.
In Runeterra, there were actually quite a few ways to defy fate and change one's life. Viktor, for example, would create the renowned "Glorious Evolution" when he had nowhere left to turn.
This was also why Luke valued this talent so highly.
Glorious Evolution was absolutely a shortcut for ordinary humans who wanted to obtain powerful strength.
And in Runeterra, most people were ordinary humans.
At this moment, while Viktor felt overwhelmed by the favor, he also remained calm. "From the time we first met, Your Highness has treated me very well. Now, I am also deeply grateful for Your Highness's help. If there is something Your Highness needs me to do, you may as well say it directly."
He naturally knew that in this world, there was no kindness without reason.
All the more when it came from someone of Luke's status.
From the very beginning, Luke had shown him a great deal of goodwill.
Viktor was grateful, but he also knew the other party must have taken interest in something.
For example, Hextech, which was now at the height of its influence in Piltover.
But after thinking carefully, this prince before him was now only one step away from forming an alliance with Piltover.
There was absolutely no need for him to obtain Hextech through Viktor.
"You're a smart man, but sometimes you're too smart. That only makes you overthink." Luke did not mind Viktor's frankness and smiled faintly. "Helping you is only a convenient matter for me. That is the fundamental reason. Beyond that, compared to the current state of Hextech, I place more importance on your future."
Viktor's eyes flickered slightly.
Luke continued, "My eye for people has always been accurate. Viktor, I don't mean to stir anything up. You and Jayce are very good friends, but I believe that in the future, your reputation may not necessarily be any weaker than his."
"A merchant invests in a product. You are not a product, but that does not prevent me from making a small investment, because I value your future more. I do not need you to repay me anything right now. I only hope that when you accomplish something in the future, you remember this day."
After speaking with such calm ease, Luke said nothing more.
Since the words had already been said to this extent, Viktor naturally understood.
He rose from his seat and bowed respectfully before Luke. "Your Highness's kindness today is something I will never forget in this life. If things truly happen as Your Highness says, and I achieve something in the future, I will surely repay this kindness."
For some reason, he felt as if tears were about to fill his eyes.
It was like grasping a lifeline just as his life was about to end.
He was truly afraid of dying. It was precisely because he knew how wondrous this world was that he was unwilling to leave it.
There were still far too many things in Runeterra that he had yet to witness. If he did not experience all of them, how could he possibly be willing to depart?
No matter what, he would keep what happened today firmly engraved in his heart.
"I'll say it one more time. Once you begin, you must persist. Even one day of slackness will waste all the effort that came before."
Luke gave one final reminder.
When he left the private room with Viktor, the twilight outside had already reached its end, entering the signs that came just before nightfall.
Heaven and earth were shrouded in a hazy gloom.
Jayce was waiting outside. At the same time, he was watching Lux and the others play Monopoly and found it rather interesting.
Seeing the two come out, he walked over. "We disturbed Your Highness today, so we'll be taking our leave now."
"Mm. Take care, I won't see you out." Luke smiled, then looked at Viktor. "I'll have someone send the things to you later."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Viktor bowed lightly once again.
The two soon left the shop. Sitting in the carriage, Jayce glanced at Viktor and smiled. "You've looked much better lately. Is it because the medicine His Highness gave you worked?"
"Mm." Viktor nodded. "Very effective. Today, he prescribed the next stage of medicine. From now on, things should be easier."
"That's good." Jayce let out a breath of relief.
He had faintly sensed that Viktor's condition was not right and had already gone looking for methods in private.
Now that the problem seemed to be resolved, he could finally put part of his worry down.
For this close friend who was like a true confidant, Jayce really did not want to see anything happen to him.
Inside the shop.
In the new round of Monopoly, Seraphine became the richest player, and her punishment was that the player in last place had to perform a monkey dance.
The unlucky Jinx was last place. After performing a monkey dance with a face full of unwillingness, she saw everyone else holding back laughter and heard Lux laughing out loud. Her face immediately turned bright red.
Seraphine covered her mouth and laughed quietly. She glanced outside, only to suddenly realize that the sky was almost dark.
"It's already this late?"
A feeling rose in her heart that time had passed so quickly.
"It's not that late. One more round!"
Jinx, still unwilling to accept defeat, planned to rally herself and fight again.
The others also looked at Seraphine.
"All right… no, I can't. I need to go home." Seraphine instinctively wanted to agree, but her parents' faces suddenly flashed through her mind.
She suddenly remembered that she had already been away from home for an entire day. By now, her parents were probably worried sick.
"All right."
Lux had not yet had enough fun, so her tone inevitably carried some regret. She said, "Same place tomorrow. Remember to come early. We'll continue then."
Seraphine nodded hard. "Mm-hmm."
She felt inexplicably happy inside. It was like when she was little and had agreed with a friend to see each other again tomorrow.
With that feeling supporting her, Seraphine practically skipped the whole way home, her steps light and lively.
On the evening streets, quite a few people in Piltover saw a cute pink-haired girl overflowing with youthful energy.
When she returned to the familiar neighborhood, greetings reached her ears.
"How can I still see you out so late, Seraphine? You look like you're in a good mood today."
"Mm-hmm. Good evening, Aunt Aneta."
Seraphine gave Aneta a bright and cheerful smile.
That made Aneta freeze for a moment. After a while, she laughed. "What's gotten into this child today?"
Seraphine could be considered someone Aneta had watched grow up. After the girl encountered some unfortunate things in childhood, Aneta had always felt rather sorry for her.
Whenever they occasionally met, the girl was also very polite, but her voice had always been as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Today, though, she looked full of energy. Seeing it, Aneta also felt inexplicably happy for her.
By now, Seraphine had arrived in front of her own shop. After pushing open the door, she immediately saw her parents' faces.
They had originally been wearing worried expressions, but when they saw her, they immediately showed smiles of relief and surrounded her.
"Where did you run off to without saying a word, you silly girl?"
"Your father and I searched all around the area. If you had come back any later, we were already considering going to the Enforcers."
"You can't do this again next time."
Even when the two of them were scolding her, their gentleness was plain to see.
As warmth filled Seraphine's heart, she revealed an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I would only come back this late either. I ran into something today…"
"Looks like it was something good."
Briya, who understood her, smiled.
"Yes. Today, I found that music master, and then I also met a lot of interesting friends. They even treated me to a special lunch. It's called hot pot. You use a hot pot and cook lots of delicious things inside."
Seraphine did not even know where to begin sharing the journey she had gone through today. Her little mouth chattered on and on, and the story came out in a messy order.
But Porter and Briya both listened patiently with gentle smiles. At the same time, they felt like tearing up.
Their socially anxious daughter had finally made new friends again.
When she was little, she had been very lively and good at making friends.
But ever since that incident, she had kept herself shut away at home and rarely interacted with outsiders.
"They invited me to go back tomorrow. Can I?"
When she reached this part, Seraphine looked at her parents carefully.
"Of course you can." Briya stepped forward and gently stroked her hair, speaking with a touch of emotion. "In the blink of an eye, you've already grown taller than me."
"You're already an adult. There are many things you can decide for yourself." Porter also smiled from behind. "We're both very happy that you're willing to interact with the outside world."
After receiving her parents' permission, Seraphine became even happier.
She returned upstairs to her room. After turning on the light, the first thing she did was carefully stick the precious autograph she had received today in the most conspicuous spot on her desk.
She made sure she would see it first no matter when she looked over.
After finishing everything, Seraphine wiped the nonexistent sweat from her forehead, let out a relieved breath, and slowly sat down.
Resting her arm by the window and propping up her chin, the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled upward, revealing a silly smile.
Today truly felt like an incredibly fulfilling and special day.
At that moment, she remembered something and reached up to touch the dampener on her ear.
A faint glimmer flickered in those clear eyes of hers as she looked at the people passing outside the window and gradually fell into a daze.
Elsewhere, at Heimerdinger's workshop.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Coming right away."
As the door was knocked, a rush of footsteps sounded from inside, and the front door soon opened.
Heimerdinger's small figure appeared. He was wearing work clothes and goggles, as if he had been in the middle of some invention.
Seeing Jayce standing at the door, a smile appeared on his face, and he moved aside. "Come in."
Jayce followed Heimerdinger into the house, then respectfully found a place to sit.
"Relax. This isn't some formal occasion."
Seeing Jayce's slightly restrained appearance, Heimerdinger smiled. He put on his goggles, walked to the workbench, hopped onto his custom-made chair, and continued tinkering and modifying things.
But he also continued speaking. "It seems you have made your decision."
"Yes, Professor."
Jayce took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "It's just that before making the final decision, I wanted to ask for your opinion."
Heimerdinger stopped what he was doing and turned to look at him. "If one day in the future I am no longer here, will you have to find me and ask whenever you face a choice?"
Jayce froze.
Heimerdinger smiled. "Your life has never needed someone else's opinion. You yourself are a bright and shining sun, so why would you need to borrow the moon's light? And don't look down on yourself too much, Jayce. You are very important. Important enough that even the council now must take you into consideration. Since you have already made a decision in your heart, whatever it is, go carry it out."
Jayce silently listened to the end, then took another deep breath. "I understand, Professor. I want to support the alliance between Piltover and Demacia."
"Is that so?" Heimerdinger nodded. "For Piltover, this is a brand-new direction. But just like science, we may as well give it a try."
As night arrived.
Inside Luke's shop.
Everyone was also preparing to tidy up and go home.
The distance between the two places was not very far, so going back and forth was quite convenient.
Before leaving, Lux prepared some "offerings," all snacks she especially liked.
Gummies, cake, cookies… she placed one of each in front of the bluebird statue she had brought back that day.
Then she pressed her hands together and muttered, "I hope you like these offerings. Please bless me tomorrow so I can absolutely crush everyone in Monopoly."
Only after praying with complete seriousness did she finish in satisfaction. "Let's go!"
Since she had taken the lead, the others naturally copied her and prayed in front of the statue as well.
After everything was finished, the shop door closed. Orianna only needed to turn a corner to get home, while the rest boarded the carriage and soon returned home as well.
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