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Knowing this rumor was only a stopgap measure to keep the Chapter's lesser minions out of Lyria and Rivia's way, Gustave knew that, at the very least, it would keep them too busy dealing with the fallout from the news spreading out of the garden to interfere with the development of his beloved Twin Realms.
So he continued striking at the hearts of each delegation present by briefly glancing through the letters and books they had brought into Rivia, identifying their current problems and passing his insights off as soothsayer abilities. Once that was done, Gustave left his mother to iron out the finer details, make everything happen, and execute the necessary power plays.
After all, he considered himself far more an inventor and mechanic than a ruler. Strutting about and displaying dignity merely to sway others or secure their loyalty was exhausting work, and he preferred to leave such matters to his mother.
Just as with the rumors about his supposed Savantness—carefully shaped and controlled by his mother whenever he did something drastic to catalyze events or set the board of destiny, such as addressing questions about his transformation into a monster—this situation was no different. He simply left it to her to smooth over everything he had done that was rough around the edges.
If Lyria and Rivia were not still teetering on the edge of a red line, he would not have been present at this council in the first place.
However, there was one delegation he wished to focus on more than the others, as he had legitimate candidates—his own chosen political figures for a new Toussaint, one that diverged from the original timeline—whom he could place upon their homeland's throne.
Thus, after only a brief appearance in the courtroom, he excused himself to begin work on early versions of paddle steamers and rail wagonways—more sophisticated designs intended to deter theft and banditry of any kind.
And because everyone's eyes in the court garden were still on him, he deliberately conjured an Igni flame in his hand—its firepower no stronger than a small firework—and shaped it into various geometric and animal forms as practice for his pyrokinesis.
Using his knowledge of combustion, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, plasma physics, geometry, quantum mechanics, and more, he brought the fire to life—something that would have required years of meditation and study for a normal pyromancer.
Once he realized that quantum mechanics was the key to opening the door to the Ethereal Realm, shaping magic he already possessed became far easier. He only needed to combine modern scientific knowledge with intuition to weave the Igni spell however he wished.
Which meant that, if measured systematically in ratios, even if he possessed only 2 out of 10 in intuitive talent for shaping magic, the knowledge bolstering that intuition was closer to 1000 out of 10.
In other words, he possessed a systematic foundation that amplified itself through the interaction of many fields of study working together, whereas the people of this world typically held only one or two fragments of modern knowledge—selfishly gatekept and never shared or integrated with others.
As a result, he effectively held the expertise of an Archmage, despite wielding firepower no more impressive than a charlatan's Witcher Sign show.
This display was impressive enough that Triss and the other sorceresses present—including Alvin's Warden mages and the Twin Realms' mages—rose to their feet, gasping in shock at how effortlessly he shaped elemental fire.
They all knew that a single miscalculation could have burned his fingers to the bone. That meant each spark of firework he produced from a simple Igni required precise calculation and careful weaving, ensuring the entropy of chaotic magic did not destabilize the spell and blow back on him in the process.
But in the end, he did not care about the mages' reactions. Gustave's true audience was Vivienne de Tabris's father, who would become a crucial key in drawing Toussaint into the alliance he intended to build. Simply put, he did not want Toussaint to become a springboard for Nilfgaardian spies to infiltrate his own lands.
Rather than allowing Toussaint to become a nesting ground from which Nilfgaard could endlessly send operatives into the Twin Realms, he intended to make it free of Nilfgaardian influence from the outset.
Although he knew this would not be completely effective—given factors such as ancestral ties and long-standing customs of sending children to the Imperial Academy—it would at least hinder Nilfgaardian operations immensely, making infiltration far more difficult.
Even though he could monitor much of Rivia using his Elder Blood [Knowledge] ability by expanding all of his spirituality, he could not possibly cover the entirety of the Twin Realms alone.
The villages, forts, estates, and market towns scattered across Lyria and Rivia were simply too vast; he could not spend every day wandering the Twin Realms in circles just to catch spies, especially if he wanted any time left to invent anything at all.
So, to make it easier for his mother's intelligence network to defend against Nilfgaardian spies—already experienced and deeply entrenched across the southern Continent—he deliberately put on this display before the Toussaint delegations, making it clear that he was not bluffing when it came to magic.
"Prince Gustave, Prince Gustave!"
Turning his face toward Bellesoleil de Tabris while continuing to walk, Gustave—surrounded by guards and Lyrian First Degree Spellweavers, who stared in fascination at the inch-long phoenix-shaped flame crawling across his fingers—replied, "Yes, Monsieur Bellesoleil?"
"Pray forgive my breach of courtly form, honorable Prince. I would not trouble you so directly, but I find myself… I find myself without gentler recourse."
Nodding to himself, he continued, "Go on."
"It concerns my daughter, Vivienne. As you so perceptively surmised, noble Prince, she has indeed been cursed—yet no remedy has availed us."
"In my desperation, I petitioned for her placement at the ducal palace in Beauclair, that she might serve as Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Anna Henrietta, in the hope that the ducal court mage, Master Artorius Vigo, might render aid. Alas, all proved fruitless. My daughter remains bound to her affliction."
Knowing where this was going—since in Blood and Wine Geralt did exactly that—he remarked, "Even if there were a cure, it would either greatly reduce her lifespan to only a few short years, or transform her into a humanoid bird. Am I correct?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Master Vigo, for all his brilliance, devotes himself wholly to illusion; curses lie beyond his practiced Art. And though there may exist sorcerers elsewhere upon the Continent who possess the proper mastery, I cannot—I dare not—subject my child to such perilous travel. With each passing day, the curse tightens like a silken noose."
Knowing that Yaga's influence had made many witches across the world restless and more powerful—forcing Vivienne's curse to advance and shifting its onset from fifteen years of age to twelve—Gustave asked for confirmation, "And this began three years ago, is that correct?"
"Yes. With a father's deepest sorrow, I have watched my beloved Vivienne change over these past three years. Since the world slipped into turmoil—monsters laying waste to vineyard and village alike, witches striding openly beneath the sun—her transformation has advanced, and I find myself utterly at a loss."
Pausing to take a long, heart-wrenching breath, Bellesoleil continued.
"It was a matter once dismissed as a quaint birth omen, Savant Prince—one I should have heeded when my baby first drew breath. Now the curse has etched itself into her very being, and I must live with the knowledge that hesitation, not fate alone, sealed her suffering. That failure is my greatest regret."
Nodding to himself, Gustave finally spoke to the concerned father, "It's okay. You probably don't know that Leimoniad, the nymph of the meadow, still lives in Toussaint."
Thinking it through further and recalling his knowledge of this world, he continued.
"And considering that this dryad's version of the wildflower fields holds a deep grudge against humans for driving them to the brink of extinction, it might be the reason your daughter, Monsieur, was cursed in the first place—simply for enjoying family time together when that nymph appeared."
Upon hearing these tidbits of information he had not known, and thinking that perhaps the nymph had cursed him for a grave misdeed that even the Lady of the Lake might have faulted him for, Bellesoleil cursed her—and the entire nymph race—to the seventh hell, realizing it was all for such small reasons.
"Let Lebioda consign them to perdition, where fire and lament waltz without end!!! May they twist and burn through all eternity, their names unspoken and unremembered by mortal tongue!!! It is well, nay providential, that such creatures fade into extinction!!!"
Wanting to spit on the ground like a Northerner, after witnessing the barbaric culture of these lands for the past three years, he stopped himself, remembering that he came from Toussaint, a land already shaped by a more modern sensibility.
Instead, he hurled his banded chaperone's hat to the ground and bellowed, "All of them—elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, even those nymphs that curse my daughters—are nothing but parasites clinging to the fair face of the world!!!"
Stepping back and finally feeling the full weight of the Toussaintois people's prejudices firsthand, Gustave couldn't help but scratch his head.
Not wanting to imagine Bellesoleil discovering that nearly all the waterways in Lyria and Rivia were now inhabited by water nymphs—Naiads—who remained hidden simply because they did not wish to be seen, making encounters with them rare, Gustave simply shook his head.
Even if he explained to the Toussaintois, until his mouth was foaming, that these Naiads were allies and friends to the Twin Realms and inherently friendly, it would likely have been another pointless endeavor.
Feeling a headache coming on at the thought of any future discussions regarding non-humans in Lyria and Rivia—especially now that two racist countries were about to ally—Gustave decided to remain silent and let Bellesoleil express his racism and curse whomever he pleased.
At least he knew the solution lay with the dwarves. After all, in Blood and Wine, the only non-humans seen in Beauclair were dwarves, and even they appeared solely at the bank.
Excusing himself to work on his inventions, not wanting to indulge Bellesoleil any further, Gustave proceeded to find Zoltan to begin building early versions of miniature paddle steamers and rail wagonways.
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