Yang Miers simply assumed that Charlotte had encountered an acquaintance and had no idea that this passing young man was actually the person he most wanted to kill.
As Charlotte passed by Yang Miers, he discreetly slipped the magic beetle given to him by Annie into Yang Miers' pocket.
A few minutes later, they met again.
Annie's face was slightly flushed as she whispered, "Thank you, Mr. Charlotte."
Charlotte smiled slightly and said, "It was a small thing, and I wanted to do something for Mrs. Yang Miers' reputation."
This was a heartfelt truth because Mrs. Yang Miers' reputation was closely tied to Charlotte's own. If her reputation remained untarnished, his would be solid as well.
If Mrs. Yang Miers' reputation were to be ruined, Charlotte's would collapse along with it.
No one in the world wanted Mrs. Yang Miers' reputation to remain pure more than Charlotte did.
Yang Miers didn't wander around; he quietly waited in a guest room until the auction started, and then entered the auction hall.
Annie and Charlotte hid in a corner of the hall, pretending not to know each other, but both kept their eyes on Yang Miers, trying to figure out what he was there for.
Soon, the famous Duchess Mesu made her grand entrance.
She wasn't very old, only in her thirties, and she was well-maintained and stunningly beautiful. Apart from being taller than the average man, she was almost the ideal woman in a man's eyes.
After Duchess Mesu's opening remarks, the first auction item quickly came onto the stage.
It was a magical longsword with a starting bid of 180 Eckos, far beyond Charlotte's entire fortune.
This magical longsword was highly sought after, and after several rounds of bidding, it surpassed 300 Eckos, eventually being won by a wealthy buyer for 370 Eckos.
The second item also had a starting bid that exceeded Charlotte's entire wealth, so he lost interest in the auction and went to the hall's long table, where food and drinks were provided. He grabbed a few small cakes to fill his stomach.
He hadn't eaten breakfast since he woke up and was feeling hungry.
The Fars Empire didn't have a breakfast tradition; it followed a two-meal system, with lunch and dinner only. Some nobles had the habit of having afternoon tea and midnight snacks, which Charlotte wasn't used to.
He often bought himself breakfast, even though the only thing available in the morning was leftover bagels from the previous day.
After filling his stomach, Charlotte took a glass of wine, drank it in one gulp, and returned to the corner, satisfied.
By this time, the seventh auction item had already been brought out.
This auction item was said to be an ancient painting depicting the true form of an overseas evil god.
When introducing the painting, Duchess Mesu casually mentioned that at least twelve bizarre murders and over 220 deaths were associated with this magical item.
This didn't deter the painting from being wildly popular, and it was still auctioned off at a very high price.
To Charlotte and Annie's surprise, Yang Miers also joined the bidding and won the painting in the fourth round for 507 Eckos.
Yang Miers quickly left with the painting, clearly having a very specific goal.
Annie gave Charlotte a signal, and they both left the magic item auction one after the other.
This magic item auction had been an eye-opening experience for Charlotte, broadening his horizons. Although they had to leave early, he didn't feel too regretful, as none of the items were something a prison clerk could afford.
As Charlotte left the auction venue, he found that Annie, who had left earlier, was already waiting for him in the carriage.
Charlotte boarded the carriage, and Annie immediately instructed the driver to set off.
Annie was too preoccupied to make small talk with Charlotte, closing her eyes and muttering incantations, occasionally raising her voice to give directions to the driver.
Charlotte, unfamiliar with the supernatural powers of the dreamscape system, began to wonder whether he should check out some houses if he had time in the afternoon.
Occasionally peeking through the carriage window, Charlotte felt that the road seemed familiar. As the carriage sped along, the road became more and more familiar, and he couldn't help but mentally exclaim, "This is the road to Mrs. Yang Miers' house."
He didn't dare mention this to Annie, as this familiarity was not exactly respectable.
As the carriage stopped in front of a grand mansion, memories flooded Charlotte's mind.
These included memories of how he and a young lady in this grand mansion engaged in some activities that are not allowed to be publicly described on the internet.
Not even in novels.
Charlotte felt somewhat embarrassed. Although he could attribute these youthful indiscretions to his predecessor, he still had to bear the consequences and had to tread carefully to navigate all the challenges ahead.
Annie whispered, "I need to take a nap. Could you please guard me for half an hour, Mr. Charlotte?"
Her face turned slightly red as she said this.
In any era, when a girl says she needs to take a nap in front of a strange man and asks him to watch over her, it usually implies some kind of emotion.
Even though they both knew this was necessary for the dreamscape technique and had nothing to do with romance, there was still a faint hint of a romantic atmosphere.
Charlotte smiled faintly and said, "Rest assured, Miss Annie."
Annie thanked him, clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as she entered a deep sleep.
Having nothing else to do, Charlotte took out the recently purchased Magnum revolver and carefully wiped it down with a cloth.
The rapier was really inconvenient to carry and too conspicuous, so Charlotte didn't have it on him. Besides, a handgun was much more useful as a self-defense weapon than a rapier.
This second-hand short gun was well-maintained, but its surface was quite dirty. Charlotte, being a bit of a clean freak, had been wanting to clean it thoroughly for a while.
Charlotte wiped the gun until it was shiny and new, then checked the bullets. He loaded the cylinder with all 18 rounds, leaving two extra.
As long as the safety was off, this 80% new short gun was always ready to fire.
A quiet carriage parked on the side of the street, a sleeping girl, and a young man cleaning a gun.
It was quite an evocative scene.
Charlotte holstered the newly polished short gun into the gun pouch inside his coat, but suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. He quickly activated his Insight, and a sphere with a radius of 15 steps expanded around him.
He saw black smoke billowing from the grand mansion of Yang Miers and couldn't help but feel alarmed.
The sleeping Annie showed signs of distress, moaning but unable to wake up.
Charlotte didn't hesitate and immediately jumped out of the carriage, rushing toward Yang Miers' mansion. As he broke into the courtyard, he felt as if he had entered another world.