?Chapter 1226:


    After all, they had looked down their noses at Christina—now they were probably kicking themselves.


    The three elders exchanged nces and, in a sh, bowed.


    “Miss Jones, we were blind and mouthed off. Please, forgive our big heads.”


    Bowing to a true master wasn’t a walk of shame, and Magnus had done the same thing himself.


    Christina set her tools down and peered at them from above.


    Her brow creased slightly.


    “You don’t have to do this. I’m not holding a grudge,” Christina said.


    They had been harboring a prejudice against her, so their words had stung a little, but they hadn’t done any real harm. With their apologies, the score was settled.


    But the elders stayed still. One of them hesitated, then said, “Actually… we’ve got a bold ask.”


    As soon as the words left his mouth, all three turned red as tomatoes, clearly uneasy.


    “You can straighten up before you spit it out,” Christina said, frowning.


    “No, no, let us be. It feels right—like penance for our cocky attitudes, our ageist pride, and our puffed-up egos,” they said.


    The elders shared another look, then bowed lower.


    “Please, Miss Jones, take us on as your students,” they said in unison, their voices ringing with rock-solid determination.


    “You’ve got some nerve!” Magnus exploded. “You swore you’d never ask her for guidance, and now you want to be her students? Fat chance!”


    One elder begged, “We’ll take any punishment you name.”


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    The other two chimed in, “We’re in, too!”


    “You’ve got no shame,” Magnus growled, seething.


    He had known these old-timers would see Christina’s brilliance and pull something like this—and he’d called it. He was about to lose his coolpletely when, out of nowhere, the rest of the restoration crew all bowed.


    “Please, Miss Jones, take us as your students!”


    Their voices boomed together, loud enough to shake the mural’s very foundations.


    Magnus liked to think he could take anything, but even he was caught off guard by how fast these people flipped their attitudes. He was so mad he could have burst into mes. His hand shot up like he was about to smack the three elders—but he stopped himself, worried he might actually snap their brittle old bones.


    How dare they try to steal his mentor?


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