Chapter 53: Taina's Identity Revealed—The Count's Overture

“Ha! Taylor, is your brother not here?” Tana entered the laboratory shared by the brothers Terrence and Taylor, but it seemed he was specifically looking for Terrence.

“My brother went to a press conference. What’s up, Tana?” Taylor seemed preoccupied with his own work.

“I want to know if the bug on me has picked up anything unusual.”

“Oh? Want to check? That computer over there, go ahead and use it.” After glancing over, Taylor pointed to a computer nearby.

“All right!” Tana turned on the computer, found the deeply hidden program, and put on the headphones.

At that moment, the Count walked in.

“Hey, Taylor! Why does it feel like the last batch of medicine you gave me was a placebo? My subordinate still seems to be lying as always.” The Count stepped into the laboratory and spotted Tana sitting on a stool.

“Maybe he was telling the truth after all? Besides, you were the test subject yourself, and you took the bottle you drank.” Taylor continued with his work, unbothered.

“Huh? Didn’t you say Terrence went to the press conference? Then, he’s…”

“Oh, him? He’s Tana, my father’s apprentice. With Terrence away, he’s just covering for him.”

“Doesn’t seem like anything. Hey, Taylor! And also—” At that moment, Tana noticed the Count standing by the door.

“Hello, Count. Are you here for Terrence as well?”

“Uh, not exactly. I just came for some medicine. By the way, haven’t I seen you somewhere before?”

“You flatter me, Count,” Tana replied, turning his attention back to the computer.

“If you have seen me, it must have been at one of my exhibitions. Yet, overshadowed as I am by my two senior brothers, how could I possibly have left an impression?” After backing up something to his email, Tana deleted the other copies.

“No, you seem…” The Count pondered for a moment. “Never mind, I can’t recall which work it was.”

“If it was a famous piece, I probably had a hand in most of Cole’s works, so you might be confusing me with the former top scientist.” At these words, the Count suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, right! Cole—Royal Scientist Cole. You all look so alike that I can’t tell you apart. Can you still find Cole?”

The Count seemed quite concerned about Cole’s whereabouts.

“Sorry. As for Cole, I believe he disappeared in the second year after Prince Tracy vanished. Either a powerful assassination group got to him, or His Highness took him along. That is, if the prince isn’t dead.”

“Can you replicate the works you created with Cole?”

“That question…” Tana thought for a moment and then sat down on a chair next to the Y-alloy.

“If I could remember, there’d be no need for the current two chief scientists to decode them. I’ve already told them about the materials.”

“Ah, well! If one day ‘Angel’ is reconstructed, make sure to prepare one for the princess too. After all, she is a royal heir.” With those words, the Count quietly took his leave.

“So troublesome, just another person after the ‘Angel’,” Tana muttered, taking out a remote to shut the door of the laboratory and block all signal transmissions.

“If I say I won’t give it to them, do they think they can force me?”

“All right, Your Highness. Calm down. Good thing you reset the lab, or we’d definitely be under surveillance.”

“These materials—showing you the raw ingredients, yet you still can’t figure out how to make it! And the chief scientist isn’t even dead yet. Do they really think I haven’t made an improved version by now?”