Thursday, July 19th.
In the afternoon, Viscount Glaint was in his luxurious villa in Backlund.
Accompanied by a maid, Audrey followed proper etiquette, extending her hand to the host, watching as he placed a light, symbolic kiss on it.
"Your beauty brightens up my salon," Glaint praised her conventionally at first, then lowered his voice, "That lady has arrived. She is both an extraordinary individual and a writer."
"Mr. Black?" Audrey inquired briefly about the 'writer' Glaint mentioned, then quickly followed up with another question.
"Over there." Glaint's tone faltered slightly as he pointed somewhat helplessly to a corner of the living room.
Audrey entered the living room, glancing around quickly to locate her target.
Dressed in a well-fitting suit, Ashes was sitting on the sofa, reading a book. Audrey's excellent vision and memory allowed her to identify the title of the book he was reading—Stormwind Mountain Villa
"Audrey," Viscount Grelint said with a peculiar expression, noticing where Audrey's gaze had landed. He promptly redirected the conversation, "This is Miss Fors Wall, the author of Stormwind Mountain Villa."
Audrey slightly shifted her focus from observing Ashes and looked toward the lady at the long table, helping herself to some sweets.
This Miss Fors was around twenty-three or twenty-four years old, about 1.65 meters tall. She wore a beige, ruffled, high-collared long dress, her wavy brown hair flowing freely, and her light blue eyes turned toward them with a hint of playful amusement due to Grelint's introduction.
Audrey quickly analyzed Miss Fors' characteristics.
A writer who enjoys smoking, with a slightly superior attitude in her gaze.
It was clear that she had approached Glaint voluntarily.
This implied that she might have other intentions regarding Glaint.
Was it money or beyonder materials?
"Miss, this is Miss Audrey I mentioned earlier," Glaint introduced Fors with a touch of reverence, "She is the brightest gem of Backlund, and her father is Earl Hall, a highly trusted member of the king's court and a respected member of the House of Lords."
"Good afternoon, Miss Fors. Your Stormwind Mountain Villa still graces my bedside," Audrey greeted with an elegant and sweet smile, bowing as per noble etiquette.
Miss Fors naturally engaged in a few casual pleasantries, her tone revealing a clear sense of superiority.
Soon, they parted ways.
Since they were under the public's eye, they wouldn't discuss serious matters in such a setting.
Thus,
Audrey once again turned her attention to Ashes.
"Audrey," Glaint sighed bitterly. He had tried to shift the topic, but Audrey remained persistent.
"Glaint," Audrey suddenly asked, "What impression do you have of Mr. Black?"
"Impression?" Glaint hesitated, then frowned, "Well, how should I put it? He seems like a recently fallen noble who came to the capital to expand his network, but he exudes an aura of 'keep away'."
"His attire looks decent, but he wore the same suit to the last gathering and the horse race."
"His fingers are adorned with rings, but none of them are valuable, and some even appear outdated and, hmm, strange."
"So, what's your assessment?" Audrey pressed further.
"A pretentious upstart," Glaint succinctly criticized.
He seemed to be expanding his network but gave off a 'keep away' vibe, clearly playing hard to get.
However, his act appeared too clumsy—
His suit, while decent, was obviously worn multiple times.
This indicated he could only afford this one suit.
Moreover, the outdated and cheap rings only accentuated his false image—
He was trying to disguise himself as a wealthy and tasteful upstart, aiming to widen his network.
But the seemingly diverse yet inexpensive rings and his single suit exposed everything.
This made it clear to the attendees, who saw through it all, that no one wanted to approach him.
"Is that so?" Audrey's eyes sparkled with a hint of interest.
Her thoughts contrasted sharply with Glaint's—
The fact that he wore the same suit as before was something she, as an observer, noticed more clearly than Glaint.
But in her view, this reflected his disregard for minor details.
As for the aura of 'keep away', it wasn't an act; it was simply his nature.
The 'cheap' rings on his fingers were actually the most noteworthy part.
As Glaint mentioned, most of the rings weren't ornate, and some were even cracked from lack of proper care.
This made them seem even cheaper.
However, on his left hand, Audrey noticed three very familiar rings—
Two of them resembled coiled snakes, their bodies forming the band, with their heads as decorations at the top.
These two rings were very similar, except one was gold and the other silver.
The third ring looked like a leaping cat.
At first glance, they seemed odd, but upon closer inspection, the finely carved rings appeared almost lifelike.
It felt as though the snakes and the cat might come to life at any moment.
And most importantly,
Audrey had seen her lover at the Tarot Club wearing these same rings.
Rather than being cheap ornaments, Audrey leaned towards another hypothesis—
These rings had various magical properties.
"Hello, Mr. Black," Audrey greeted with a sweet smile as she approached from the side.
Seeing this, Glaint felt like crying.
He had already bluntly pointed out that the man was a pretentious upstart, yet she still approached him.
If anything went wrong, Earl Hall would kill him!
"Hmm?" Ashes seemed deeply engrossed in his book, taking a long time to respond to the girl's greeting, "Hello."
"A fake name?" Audrey quickly judged in her mind.
Apart from Ash Black and Fors, she knew everyone here.
So, she knew there was no one else named Black.
And Ashes' slow reaction made it clear that it wasn't his real name.
However, according to Glaint's introduction, Ash Black was supposed to be a fallen noble.
Black was also a noble surname.
If even his noble surname was fake, did this mean Ash Black's identity was far more mysterious than that of a noble?
With this thought, the girl's gem-like eyes shone even brighter.
(End of Chapter)
50 power stones = Extra Chapter