At the entrance of the villa, a carriage drove over from afar. A well-dressed couple with an outstanding temperament alighted from the carriage.
The servants behind them moved a wheelchair from the carriage and helped a little boy about ten years old into the wheelchair.
Mr. Skade, who was receiving guests at the entrance of the villa, was stunned when he saw the person. However, he quickly composed himself and squeezed out a smile to greet him.
"Mr. Auceptin, Mrs. Auceptin, and Will, welcome."
Mr. Auceptin, who was wearing a handmade suit and a top hat, sized up Skade before laughing. "I didn't expect you to be a butler here… As an old friend, why didn't you tell me? If I hadn't received Member of Parliament Macht's invitation, I wouldn't have known."
What old friend? When I went to look for you when I was down and out, you weren't so enthusiastic…
Mr. Skade cursed silently but did not show it. After checking the invitation that Mr. Auceptin had handed over, he dutifully welcomed the family of three into the villa.
At this moment, quite a number of guests had arrived in the villa. Mr. Auceptin seemed to have seen an acquaintance and immediately walked forward to chat. Mrs. Auceptin also entered the activity room provided for the ladies.
As for Will, who was in a wheelchair, he seemed to have been forgotten by them.
Mr. Skade knew that the couple did not like the child, but he did not expect them to ignore him. He frowned and walked up to them. "Do you want to go somewhere? Do you want me to push you to the restaurant?"
"Just put me in a quiet room." Will seemed to be used to being forgotten. As he played with the tarot card in his hand, he gave Mr. Scard a smile.
The smile sent Mr. Skade into a trance. He felt very much like his dead son.
When he came back to his senses, he looked at Will with a more amiable gaze. Hence, he pushed the wheelchair to a small room on the left side of the first floor of the villa and placed the child whose legs were inconvenient on the sofa in the corner.
As he lifted his body, Mr. Skade realized that the child's left calf seemed thicker than his right, which was why he could not move.
As expected, it's still a strange illness… We shouldn't have opened that door and looked at the mural… Otherwise, our children wouldn't have suffered like this.
Mr. Skade sighed and looked at the child who was skillfully fiddling with the tarot cards. He exhorted,
"Will, this room is actually my lounge. You can stay here and play by yourself for a while. If there's anything, call a servant to call me… Yes, after the banquet begins, I'll personally come and fetch you."
The kid named Will put down his cards and nodded obediently. He looked up and smiled. "Go ahead, Mr. Skade. I'll take care of myself."
An optimistic and strong child… Unfortunately, Mr. Auceptin doesn't seem to like him…
Mr. Scard could not help but recall his first meeting with this child.
It was because he hadn't been in Backlund for long, and he had spent most of his money. In a desperate situation, he had no choice but to visit his former superior, Mr. Auceptin, and pray that he would give him a vague job.
However, although Mr. Auceptin had received him, he had been perfunctory the entire time… Finally, just as he was about to bid farewell, only this child took out a deck of tarot cards and smiled for him to draw one.
And back then, due to his depression and confusion, he didn't pay much attention to it. All he did was casually pull out a Justice card.
Then, the child said to himself, "Sir, you will be helped by someone important."
And not long after that, he met Mr. Cullen and Miss Judy and joined the Church of Earth Mother.
Indeed, he had received help from a benefactor.
With this in mind, Mr. Scard was deeply moved. Of course, he did not think that his luck had changed just because of a child's casual remark, but this coincidence also left a deep impression on him. Hence, before leaving the room, he smiled again and asked Will,
"Can I draw another tarot card?"
Unexpectedly, the child named Will shook his head and said solemnly, "Don't be greedy, or there will be bad luck."
Mr. Skade was stunned for a moment before he fell silent. He did not pay much attention to it and just thought that the child was engrossed in playing and had his own principles. He shook his head and the two of them opened the lounge to work.
After Mr. Skade left, Will picked up the tarot cards again and continued to cut and shuffle them, enjoying himself. But soon, his hand suddenly stopped in the midst of cutting.
Will looked up at the garden outside the window and an apartment further away. He then sighed. "How unfortunate… That silly snake must have taken away too much of my luck…"
With that said, he took out a real Sun from the group card in his hand!
…
27 Kingst Street, Cherwood Borough.
In an empty bedroom on the second floor of the villa next to the garden where the banquet was being held.
A wave of fluctuation suddenly came from the pitch-black void, vaguely revealing an invisible door covered in complicated symbols.
Soon, a hand reached out from the door.
It was an extremely pale, bloodless palm that didn't seem to belong to a living person!
Just by looking at it, one could feel incomparable malice!
However, right at that moment, the palm that was about to push open the invisible door suddenly stopped. At the same time, an almost inaudible surprised voice came from inside the door. "The aura of 1-025 has appeared?"
As the voice faded, the pale white hand retreated back into the door, and then the invisible door completely vanished.
…
28 Kingst Street, in a corner of the smoking room of the villa, Ebner took out a strand of withered yellow hair from his pocket and waved it in front of Darkwill's eyes. He asked with a faint smile,
"Do you know what this is?"
Darkwill carefully identified it before his eyelids twitched. He looked around guiltily before asking softly, "That brown-haired girl is here too? Where is she?"
"Guess?" Ebner smiled brightly. For Darkwill, Judy could be considered a top deterrent.
"Tell me, what do you want me to do?" Darkwill took a deep breath and asked in a straightforward manner.
"Mind your mouth. Just don't mess up the banquet." Ebner smiled politely.
"Just for this, you actually used such a terrifying thing to scare me?" Darkwill asked in disbelief.
"Seems like you have no self-awareness!" Ebner glanced at him and said.