Mixed Blessing System

The next day...

In the middle of his routine at the Morning Star Academy, Lothur suddenly had a surprise in his day.

After leaving Anneke's room, where he had stopped by to chat with his former teacher, Lothur ran into Larissa at one of the exits from the academy dormitory.

When he saw her, he greeted her with a nod. Still, that woman seemed interested in talking to him, heading toward him with a serious expression.

"Are you busy right now? Can we sit down and talk for a moment?" She asked him without courtesy, getting straight to the point.

Lothur expressed his surprise on his face, but since he had no reason to refuse this beautiful woman's request, he agreed to hear what she had in mind.

"Yes, I have about 10 minutes free now. What's this about?"

Before she answered his question, Larissa pointed in the direction of the dormitory, and Lothur understood that she wanted to talk to him in her room.

He smiled and then started to follow, not taking long to realize that the people in the surrounding area were looking at him even more hatefully.

'These people here are very jealous...' He thought. 'Every time I walk with a beautiful woman, dozens of hateful glances are cast in my direction!'

'What fault do I have if the beauties of this city keep attracting themselves to my person?' He wondered as his enemies thought of things slightly different from what Lothur judged.

Some were actually jealous of Larissa, others jealous that young Ritter was so lucky in life. But most were just showing the hatred they felt for Lothur and for the very position they were in.

It was hard enough to act against Lothur these days, but if he were allying himself with that woman, then things would only get harder!

As such, the students watching these two could not help but be irritated!

'What is he doing with Miss Carstensen?' Caroline Waldeaur wondered upon seeing this after leaving her room in that academy dormitory.

She initially liked Lothur since this fellow put the Frost family to shame and also had a refined appearance. But after losing to him at the Province Conference, she had begun to feel bad about this fellow.

And considering how much she knew about her family's recent troubles with Lothur, she was naturally concerned about the possibility of this person approaching House Carstensen.

Others in the surrounding area kept an eye on Lothur. Still, this young man had no idea about this and soon entered Larissa's room in one of the best spots in the academy dormitory.

"I didn't know you were staying here..." Lothur commented as he observed that place that looked better than a small luxury apartment. "But now I can understand a bit of why that is."

Larissa smiled at him and said. "My family is not in Peters City, so I need a place to stay. Luckily the accommodations at the academy are very tasteful."

"For some, yes..." Lothur joked, seeing what the difference in status could give someone.

She did not continue the subject and answered Lothur's earlier question. "As for a reason for this conversation, well, I heard that you signed up for the test for new members of Ice Feathers. Is that true?"

Lothur stopped watching his surroundings and ignored the sweet feminine smell of that room. He then sat in front of that white-haired woman around a small glass table. "Yes, Viktoria is my wife, after all."

"Hmm, that makes sense." She did not insist on making him change his mind. But she was not willing to give up her goals.

"Anyway, I still have things I want to talk to you about."

"Oh? About what?"

"Ritter Motor Company."

Hearing those words from this woman's mouth, Lothur was silent for a moment, looking into her eyes and wondering where this person had heard of this company.

Only his business associates and future business partners knew the name of this company, so it was a surprise to Lothur to hear it from this woman's mouth.

On the other hand, he was no fool and knew that the origin of a person like this could not be simple. That way, her means must have been excellent, and thinking about it, considering the number of people involved in this project, finding out this information would not be that difficult.

"What do you want to know?" He asked, not wanting to waste time questioning her about how she had obtained such information.

"Lothur, don't think the worst of me. I was not spying on your meetings with local leaders. It's just that my family has a bit of influence with some of these powers, and I got information about it without asking for it." She said so he would not think the worst of her.

"I see... Some of those families or people have obligations to your organization." He commented in a low voice.

"Not just one." She smiled and then got to the point she wanted to address. "My family will already benefit in some way from your company because of those families and people who are associated with you. So I'm not here to talk about my family and you but about you and me."

"Miss Carstensen, I am a married man..." Lothur joked, knowing that she was not talking about that.

Larissa was not bothered by Lothur's flirtation and said. "I am very interested in joining your society. But, unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to be invited to the auction a few days ago, so I hope I get a second chance."

Even if Lothur had invited her, she probably would not have gone to the auction in question. But after what this young man had tasted at that hippodrome, this woman could not ignore this budding enterprise.

As for Lothur, he would not invite someone like this woman in those days. After all, besides not knowing her, the history of the Carstensen family was too complicated for someone like him to read correctly.

He then said. "Really, that is an unfortunate mismatch... Anyway, in the future, I will sell some more shares of the Ritter Motor Company. Still, the current shareholders will have a preference in the auction. However, I may open the possibility for other individuals and organizations to join the auction."

"In the future? When?" She asked, interested to know how much she could enjoy if she became one of his partners.

"When the company reaches the entire empire, and I no longer need to have control over it to make this business work." He said, wiping the smile off this beautiful woman's face.

"But that's too far away!" She said, realizing that by this point, most of the growth in Lothur's company would have taken place, and the investment would no longer be so good to make.

It would certainly be an excellent business to generate dividends, but not to get a significant future appreciation, as she had wanted. So Larissa was somewhat disappointed to hear Lothur's words.

"Think about it. Isn't there another possibility? I'm willing to pay a lot to own some fraction of the Ritter Motor Company." She said as she clenched her fists.

Lothur saw this across the table, seeing the way she was sitting on the other side of it, and thought about what to do.

...