Lucius and Elara were finally downstairs.
The young woman with pale-blond hair was leaning against the reception counter, signing the last of the hospital release forms with her usual efficient grace.
Her hand moved quickly over the paper, each stroke of the quill flashing faintly as the ink bound her signature into the document.
By tomorrow, word would spread through the world like wildfire — Lucius von Hohenberg, the family's half-forgotten disgrace, had awakened from his years-long coma.
There were a lot of people that hated Lucius so they would turn up surely by tomorrow, some could even get the location to the mansion, that was how versatile the families were.
And given how gossip worked among the highborn, they'd probably add in a few lies for seasoning.
Which was precisely why they weren't waiting around to watch the storm build.
Lucius just wanted to get to their new place and then book a place for the awakening test, he would go the day after tomorrow.
Feeling bored just standing around, he started whistling.
Not a tune anyone in the lobby recognized — some old Earth song but loud enough to make the passing nurses exchange concerned glances.
One muttered something about "post-coma delusion."
'They say it like it's a crime to celebrate being overpowered.' He thought with a sigh.
Everyone automatically assumed he had Post-coma delusion and was a bit unstable, they even made Elara buy some medicine.
It didn't help that he was still wearing the pale-blue hospital gown with its untied back, his waist-length black hair messy and wind-tossed from the walk downstairs.
Earlier, after she returned, Elara had given him what was probably the harshest verbal scolding he'd endured in his thirty years — both in this life and his last.
Her "earful" would have made a drill sergeant cry.
His mother could learn a thing or two from her.
She signed the final slip, turned, and caught his eye.
"Done."
The receptionist gave a polite but relieved smile. "You're free to go."
Translation: Please leave before you traumatize the rest of the staff.
And Lucius wasted no more time here.
Elara grabbed his wrist and towed him toward the exit, sighing the way only someone who's been managing someone else's chaos all day can sigh.
"Alright, young master," she said as they stepped outside into the bright street.
A sleek black taxi waited by the curb — long, low, with faint blue glowlines running along its body from the embedded mana-core.
Lucius's gaze lingered. "This world's full of surprises."
Elara opened the rear door for him. "It's been three years so technology has changed since when you last saw it."
They slid into the back seat.
"Take us to the apartment," Elara instructed the driver, who nodded and pulled into traffic.
Lucius leaned back, feeling the hum of the mana-engine through the seat.
It was smooth.
Smoother than any car he'd owned back on Earth.
Back home, they'd predicted flying cars by 2030 — what they got were overpriced electric sedans that could barely hold a charge.
Here, they had magic-powered taxis.
Halfway into the ride, Elara pressed a small crystal set into the side panel.
With a soft mechanical shhhk, a wall of reinforced mana-glass rose between the driver's seat and theirs.
Lucius blinked. "A divider?"
"Soundproofing," Elara corrected, smiling faintly at his reaction. "Developed by the Eisenwald clan. Two years ago. You were still in a coma."
"I see…" he muttered, leaning back.
Then his voice dropped. "Did you do what I asked?"
"Yes, young master."
She reached down and pulled several paper bags from the footwell.
He hadn't noticed them until now.
"I sold the mansion," she began. "It went for thirty million royals — more than the family originally paid. I rented our apartment immediately after. Then I… did a little shopping."
Lucius arched a brow. "Shopping?"
"Your old phone is practically an antique. I bought you a new one," she said, a small, smug smile tugging at her lips. "And one for myself."
She waited for a reaction.
All she got was a faint nod.
"Fair. You earned it."
Elara reached into one of the bags and produced two small cartons.
She placed them delicately on her lap and, with the precision of a surgeon, unsealed the first.
The lid came off to reveal a phone that looked like it had been designed by a team of jewelers and battle-mages.
"This," she announced, "is the Runenblick Nova. Just released this month by Eisenwald Devices. It has a 2.6 thura-core processor, one terabyte of storage, and a six-lens adaptive camera array capable of capturing images in low mana-light, through fog, or even at a full gallop."
Lucius stared at it. "…Why is it so stylish?"
She blinked. "Stylish?"
"It looks like a peacock mated with a magic circle," he said flatly. 'Even iPhones weren't this desperate for attention. Six cameras? What's it going to do — see through time?'
Maybe he needed to apologize to the IPhone franchise, well if he ever went back to Earth.
Without waiting for her defense, his eyes drifted to the second phone.
It was matte black, plain but elegant, with only three small lenses arranged neatly in a rectangle.
"This is mine," Elara said when she noticed his gaze. "The Schwarzglas V3. Older model. 1.8 thura-core processor, 256-gigabyte storage. No adaptive lens, but solid performance."
Lucius reached out a hand. "I'll take that one."
She stared. "…Pardon?"
"You can keep the Nova."
Her brows drew together. "Young master, the Nova is vastly superior. It's—"
"—too much," he cut in. "Even if the specs are high, no phone needs that many cameras. This one feels like a phone. That one feels like it's about to open a portal."
Elara's mouth opened, then closed.
She looked at the Nova in her hands as though it had just been declared an unwanted gift by the emperor himself.
The taxi slowed to a stop in front of a tall apartment building of pale stone and steel, blue lamps glowing faintly along the building.
Lucius stepped out first.
Elara followed, gathering the shopping bags and tucking the Nova safely away.
"…Thank you, young master," she murmured, too quietly for him to hear.
She was grateful… yet she couldn't help but believe her master was spoiling her a bit too much.