Over the weekend, Eleazar arrives at the Osiris family residence for a banquet.
Although I had always heard that Luna-senpai's family was rich, I didn't expect it to be such a big family.
Classical and stately, the imposing estate dominates the landscape.
The gate pushes open, and a row of green brick and stone pavement leads straight to the main house, with expensive flowers planted on both sides.
An uncountable number of servants traveled through the courtyard, tending to that maze-like lawn.
Several ancient statues stood on either side of the road.
The car went through the garden of the atrium, went up the side ramp, and came to a steady stop in front of the main house.
Several servants stepped forward, waving away the unpleasant exhaust fumes before opening the car door and welcoming the two inside.
"Welcome home, Missy."
Two male maids respectfully pushed open the hall door.
Luna casually handed her things to the maid, stopping a little to wait for Eleazar to approach, and whispered:
"My mom has a bit of a temper, so don't mind if you do later."
"Okay."
Eleazar nodded, then walked with her to the door, taking off his coat and handing it to the servant, and taking the proffered indoor shoes to change into.
He wiped his hands and cheeks with a hot towel, waited for the servant to flick off the dust on his body, straightened his hair with a comb, and carried out this set of procedures before he officially stepped into the hall.
Stepping on the soft carpet, surrounded by understated luxury furnishings, and walking up the circular staircase that arched over the statue to the second floor, the inner corridor had rows of family portraits hanging on the walls, with ornaments placed every ten meters, and on the outside was a parapet of mahogany wood, where a lustrous crystal lamp could be seen dangling down.
The mahogany door at the end of the corridor, which was a hundred meters long, was already open, and the two maids crossed their arms in the small of their backs and bent over slightly.
Hearing the movement at the door, a woman on the couch with long hair turned around, waving her hand and shouting, "You're back dear~"
The woman wearing a white halter dress sat on her knees backward on the sofa, revealing her snow-white shoulders and collarbones, her face was extremely similar to Luna's, her appearance was young and beautiful, but her personality was diametrically opposite, and she was even more unimaginative at the moment.
The several nearby maids and manservants all lowered their heads as if they were oblivious, and even the middle-aged man sitting across the table just sighed.
Luna broke into a happy smile, "Father and Mother-sama, I brought my friend over."
Eleazar lowered his gaze and said, without being overbearing, "Good evening, Honorable Monsieur le Comte, Madame."
"Eleazar-san right, make yourself at home."
After being greeted and seated, the servant brought up snacks and black tea.
Mrs. Sosia, who had grown as long as if she were two sisters, hugged her daughter and rubbed herself affectionately against her body.
Motley took a closer look at his daughter, whom he hadn't seen in a few days, and nodded with satisfaction after realizing that her body hadn't wasted away, then saw a pair of glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, and couldn't help but frown.
"Daughter, are you nearsighted?"
The frames were a little out of place for the contours of her face, and Luna subconsciously pushed them back.
"No, this one is decorated without degrees."
His father's frown intensified as he moistened his throat and educated, "As a lady, you should have to pay attention to how you look with your image, rough eye jewelry like that..."
Luna: "From a friend."
"Cough cough..."
Mottley coughed a few times at once and took the handkerchief the maid handed him and pretended to wipe his mouth to cover it, "But it accidentally matches you, your friend has a good eye."
Luna gave her father an odd look.
"Huh?"
Mrs. Sosia scrutinized her daughter's face for a moment, then inclined her head again and asked, "Are you good at crafts, classmate?"
Eleazar murmured a tone, "A little."
"What does the family do?"
"Sells clocks and watches."
Hearing him speak of his lowly birth without any qualms, the surrounding servants couldn't help but cast their eyes at once.
Mrs. Sosia, however, said with a smile, "The watchmaker's son couldn't save our baby from those bad guys, so it seems that his classmate still has unknown skills."
"May I ask Mr. Eleazar if you are engaged?"
"Mom..."
Realizing something was wrong, Luna interrupted in a hurry.
Mrs. Sosia said in a slightly aggravated tone, "But I want to meet Luna's friends too."
Mr. Motley also hastened to interrupt his wife's thoughts of another man.
"Okay, let's go to the cafeteria."
"Bailey, go inform the kitchen to prepare it."
The servant beside him bowed his head, "Yes, Master."
Eleazar is completely ignorant of the tedious etiquette of aristocratic dining.
Luckily, his powers of observation were excellent, and he was able to mimic the movements of others as he watched them. After completing the ritual of dinner without making a fool of himself, Eleazar was then invited back to the study.
Mr. Motley had his hands behind his back and was looking out the window.
"I heard about the disaster in your hometown, how about it, any plans to stay in the city and make a living?"
Eleazar looks at the collection in his study and replies a bit absentmindedly, "It happened so suddenly, I haven't thought about it yet."
"And have you thought about what you're going to do after graduation?"
Eleazar craned his head to look at another shelf, "Well, it'll probably be assigned to some kind of archaeological team."
Motley turned, "How is it that it's someone else's arrangement again, your idea?"
Eleazar paused in his tone, "If I had a choice, I'd probably be a history scholar traveling around."
"Traveler is it?"
Motley rubbed his chin in disbelief, "Same idea I had when I was younger."
"But my life experience has taught me that it's not enough for a man to be romantic; without a solid family background, it's nothing more than vagrancy at best."
"Gru Avenue, I have a watch store, would you be interested in going back into business?"
"I thank you, Mr. Earl, for your kind words, but I have no more thoughts of running a business."
"Oh? So what do you want?"
"You have quite a collection here, Mr. Earl."
Motley looked up meaningfully, "Pick any one of them then."
...
After the end of the reception, Luna walked him out the door.
"What did Dad tell you!"
"Didn't say much, just a quick family chat, and didn't I get out soon."
Luna thought for a moment and realized that they made sure to end the conversation quickly, and then let her heart drop.
Eleazar carried a gift box and exclaimed, "Mr. Earl is quite generous and gave me a valuable collection."
"What is it?"
Eleazar opened the box for her to see.
"Oh, it's that large ruby, that's something mom loved too, often hiding it herself and then lying to everyone that she lost it, causing the entire mansion's servants to come out and look for it, and then the head maid finding it in her checkroom every time."
"Do you think it's a ruby too..."
Eleazar looked into the eyes that reflected the red light.
"Can you tell me about your family history? Well, medical history and such..."