"No, he hasn't. Although the mistress was obedient to the master, she had always been reluctant to meet outsiders and didn't even want people to know her real identity. In fact, we servants didn't even know originally that the mistress was the daughter of the lord. The master was very considerate of the mistress in this regard. Young master Ivan had always been by the mistress's side. In my memory, he had never left her. When the master had guests, young master Ivan would hide in the room with the mistress and wouldn't come out." The butler said.
"Audrey, you ask Ted to go back to Southport again and bring Corby here." Mr. Hyde instructed.
"Corby? Are you planning to make use of these paintings?" Audrey naturally understood Mr. Hyde's intention for asking Corby to come. Corby was an art swindler in their group who specialized in making forgeries of stolen famous paintings and precious antiques and then secretly selling them to swindle huge amounts of money. Many of the forgeries he made had escaped the eyes of the shrewdest art appraisers and had been solemnly treasured in the private collections of noble families, kings or bishops. Mr. Hyde asked Corby to come, surely to ask him to forge these paintings. Of course, the protagonists in the paintings would have to be replaced by the current Ivan.
"Understood. I'll take care of it right away." Audrey agreed.
Mr. Hyde casually looked through the stack of oil paintings. Although Ivan also wanted to peek at them, he was a bit scared. As for what he was scared of, he himself couldn't say clearly.
"Were these paintings all completed in one go?" Mr. Hyde asked.
"No, the master would paint one for young master Ivan every few months or so." The butler said.
"Why are most of the backgrounds in the wild?" Mr. Hyde asked again.
"Well, I didn't pay much attention to that. It's really like that." The butler scratched his head and said, "The master had a small cottage outside Southport. It was a very simple cottage. I think these paintings were all painted near there."
"Do you know where that cottage is?" Mr. Hyde asked.
"Yes, I've been there several times."
"Audrey, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to make a trip. In case there's something hidden there, it'll be troublesome." Mr. Hyde instructed.
"Oh, I remembered something. I don't know if it's useful or not." The butler suddenly slapped his forehead and said.
"What is it?" Mr. Hyde asked.
"Usually, when the master and the mistress were having sex, they always closed the doors and windows tightly and didn't allow anyone to approach the bedroom. But there were always one or two days every month when the mistress's bedroom would be very different. Not only were all the curtains drawn open, but the door was also left wide open. However, we servants were already used to it. Without the master's instructions, we would never dare to approach the mistress's bedroom." The butler said.
"I understand." Mr. Hyde nodded. "Butler, you also go back to Southport with Audrey. Besides that cottage in the mountains, where else did your master often go?"
"There's a boat, a small boat. Besides that, it seems there's nothing else. Since meeting the mistress, the master had settled in Southport. In my memory, the master never went to other places after that. That small boat was used by the master for fishing. The mistress was never interested in fishing." The butler said.
"Just to be on the safe side, it's better to check it out clearly. You can leave now." Mr. Hyde said.
The butler responded and then walked out of the room backwards, respectfully.
"Audrey, call Susan over." Mr. Hyde instructed.
"I'm afraid it'll be a bit difficult. Susan said she was dirty and tired from the journey and wanted to take a bath to relax first. I'm afraid she's still soaking in the bathtub now. You know her temper." Audrey replied helplessly.
"Then call Pam over first. I have something to instruct him." Mr. Hyde said.
Audrey nodded and walked out of the door. After a while, he led Pam back into the hall.
"Susan has already got out of the bath and is putting on makeup. It might take another half an hour." Audrey said to Mr. Hyde.
"Boss, as you asked, I've already brought the people and spies you need. There are a total of one hundred and fourteen Gold Fingers and two hundred and thirty-eight spies. I've temporarily arranged them outside the city. I've already told them not to do business these days." Pam reported.
"Who's their leader?" Mr. Hyde asked.
"Each group has its own leader. Baz is in charge of the overall coordination." Pam replied.
"Very good. You ask the local guys to take one or two out-of-town companions each and get familiar with the geography of Thorsburg in these few days. By the way, let them inquire about something. Just now, I sent Hess to pick up Ivan, but it wasn't Hess himself who arrived at Ivan's place. On the way back, Ivan was almost ambushed. Fortunately, he was clever enough to escape with his life. However, Hess is probably in great danger. I want you to find out who arranged all this and whether Hess is dead or alive." Mr. Hyde instructed.
"Yes, I'll do it right away." Pam agreed.
"Boss, what are you planning to do about this matter?" Audrey asked.
"A game has its rules. Since someone has set the rules for us, then let's play according to these rules too." Mr. Hyde said with a gloomy face.
"Since others can kill our people, we can also cut off their wings completely. Is that right, Boss?" Audrey asked.
"You're right. What's more, I'm worried that if we continue to tolerate this, those guys will think they have everything under control. I'm afraid their courage and appetite will grow even bigger." Mr. Hyde said.
"Boss, what's my job?" Herbert, who had been standing aside and hadn't spoken all along, asked.
"You still stay in the dark to protect Ivan for the time being. When I need you to take action, I'll naturally tell you. By the way, Firth has already got the Madman out. You go and meet him." Mr. Hyde said.
Speaking of this, Mr. Hyde suddenly thought of something and asked Herbert, "How are the other killers? Have you contacted them?"
"They haven't responded yet. However, there should be news in another week. Boss, actually you don't need to call those people at all. With the Madman's help, I can take down any target." Herbert said.
"No, some things are not suitable for you to do. Your actions are too clean. What I need now is blood, more blood than those people, so that I can scare those people." Mr. Hyde explained.
Just as Mr. Hyde was wondering whom it would be more appropriate to leave this matter to, there were knocks on the door.
'Is that Susanna? Come in, 'cried Mr. Hyde.
The door was gently pushed open, and a beautiful woman came in. Seeing this woman come in, Ivan felt a sudden rush in his heart.
It was not that Ivan had never seen a beautiful woman. Miss Fanny, who was deeply in love with him, was a beautiful woman, and the amiable Miss Betty beside Miss Medine was also a beautiful woman. In addition, Miss Lisa Medine, who had only seen portraits and had never seen a real person, was her own "mother". In terms of beauty, the four of them were indistinguishable, and each had its own beauty. However, Miss Suzanne felt so different to herself. Ivan always felt that her every move, her expression, and even her voice had a temptation, a strong temptation.
This kind of temptation was obviously useless to old men like Mr. Hyde and Pam, and Herbert was even more unresponsive, and even Audrey seemed unmoved. But this was not the case with Ivan at all. This kind of temptation was extremely fatal. Ivan quickly turned his face away, and he did not dare to stare at this Miss Suzanne anymore. And his face was already as red as a ripe apple.
Ivan's reaction seemed very normal to Miss Suzanne, and she had seen it for a long time. In order to make every movement perfect, in order to make every frown and smile be able to capture the soul, how much hard work she put in. Just to have a perfect body, she didn't know how much pain and torture she endured. Delicious food became a pleasure she could never enjoy, and she had to take a bath with ice water in the cold winter of the twelfth lunar month just to make her skin more delicate and smooth. Who knew that the snow-white and pink skin was exchanged for the great pain caused by the hot towel and the bone-piercing cold towel. And in the end, everyone looked at her.
In fact, one of the things Suzanne is most proud of is that she doesn't have to rely on bare body and teasing with words, so she can make men obey her wholeheartedly. Of course, there are exceptions to everything, and these people in front of her are definitely not among those who will be tempted, and Suzanne originally did not intend to waste this thought. However, even if she did not deliberately tempt others after years of habit, her every move still has great lethality to ordinary people. What's more, in front of her is a young man who is just in the prime of his youth and is just beginning to fall in love, and the paintings before that have deeply stimulated his heart, emotions, and every nerve. This young man has already accumulated full of lust and has nowhere to vent, how can he resist her fatal temptation?
This young man really made her feel very interesting and adorable. With Suzanne's rich experience, of course, she could see at a glance that Ivan was still just a fledgling child. Although, according to the order of the head, after his own training, this young man will definitely become a little lecherous man who tortures women for pleasure, but at least he is still a young man who doesn't know anything.
Suzanne walked to Ivan's side, and she gently stroked Ivan's cheek with her delicate and slender hands. Her slender jade fingers scratched Ivan's slightly curled temples and the skin beside his ears. The tickling feeling, coupled with the teasing of her very skilled fingers, and the light and intoxicating fragrance emitted by this lady because she had just finished bathing, made Ivan, who was constantly irritated today, a little unable to bear it.
"Boss, this is the student you asked me to teach? He's just a baby." Suzanne giggled, her sharp, slender nails gently scratching Ivan's chin. Because of the poverty in the past, and the lack of enough food, let alone nutrition, Ivan's development is not good. Like most poor children, he is short and slender, and his chin has not yet grown a mustache.
Miss Suzanne's words were also a great shock to Ivan. Ivan never imagined that Mr. Hyde had said to find himself a new teacher, and that the teacher was such a beautiful woman. Ivan was not stupid, and of course he could guess what Miss Suzanne could teach him. The real Ivan Barndit was a little scumbag, and of course he couldn't be as serious as a noble monk. Miss Suzanne was probably the teacher who came to teach him those nasty things.
If it had been in the past, Ivan would have been unable to accept all this. When he was with Aunt Jenny in Southport, his life was very poor, but his heart was pure. Like most poor people in Southport, Ivan firmly believed that with his hard work and noble character, coupled with his devout faith, life would be better and better for him. In fact, when the old boss took a fancy to him, Ivan credited all this to the good people, and it was his flawless character that paid for it all.
However, since staying with Mr. Hyde and the others, Ivan had a vague feeling that being too noble wasn't going to work if one wanted to succeed. Moreover, after learning deception from Audrey, Ivan suddenly realized that appearing noble was sometimes more useful than actually being noble. And, in many cases, the means used to do a noble thing were not noble themselves. Just like this time, Mr. Hyde had almost bet everything he had. The aim of the plan he was carrying out was undoubtedly noble, but the means used were nothing but deception and assassination. And were Audrey, Herbert, who were fully assisting him, and even himself noble? Ivan couldn't find the right answer at all.
Plus, from the conversation between the butler and Mr. Hyde just now, he learned about such a way of life in this world. This way of life was definitely not noble and was even completely incomprehensible to Ivan. Perhaps those who enjoyed this decadent and dissolute life during their lifetime would endure the painful torment at the bottom of hell after death. However, this way of life didn't seem to harm others. In fact, according to the information Ivan knew, the Byndit couple were regarded as noble, kind-hearted, and sympathetic good people in the eyes of ordinary people. In Southport, the Byndit family had always been extremely generous in charitable causes. Were such people noble or evil? What's more, Mr. Byndit seemed to be an absolutely faithful husband to his wife in the eyes of outsiders. Although he had the reputation of a playboy, since marrying Miss Lisa Medin, he had stayed away from brothels. If it weren't for the things mentioned by Miss Medin, Mr. Hyde wouldn't have known those inside stories at all. Was this playboy indulging in the lascivious carnal desires or was he really a deeply affectionate and devoted person? Perhaps no one would ever know the answer.
Because of this, Ivan began to be confused about everything he had originally believed in. He didn't know what was truly right and what was wrong. What was nobility? Did true nobility exist? Besides, Ivan was a sixteen-year-old teenager after all. His age was precisely the most wonderful time in life, full of vigorous energy. Ivan had originally been a teenager full of intense curiosity about everything. It was just that he had been bound by what he considered noble before. Now, without the restraint but only confusion, how could Ivan resist this fatal temptation? In fact, when he was looking at those decadent oil paintings just now, deep in his heart, he deeply envied the real Ivan Byndit. That was really a wonderful and exciting life. Perhaps trying this decadent and dissolute life wasn't such a bad thing. Perhaps, it would be quite good if he really became the young master Ivan who was called a little scoundrel.
"Susan, you'd better talk to that butler first and figure out the real Ivan Byndit's preferences. If I'm not mistaken, his preferences are rather special. You're an expert in this regard. That butler is about to set off to go back to Southport, so you don't have much time. By the way, the butler has some things to give you. They are the treasures that Mr. Byndit liked the most before." Mr. Hyde said.
"Those things, Audrey already gave them to me on the way. Don't worry. I have plenty of such things, and they are definitely more colorful. After all, Mr. Byndit was just an amateur." Susan said.
"I just need you to teach Ivan everything you know as soon as possible." Mr. Hyde said.
"What a boring job. Isn't this equivalent to making me torture myself?" Miss Susan was clearly reluctant.
"Then I'll have to trouble you." Mr. Hyde said calmly. He knew that Susan was just talking. If she didn't want to take this job, she wouldn't have come to Thorsburg at all.
Sure enough, Miss Susan gently hugged Ivan, and her charming lips slowly moved close to Ivan's ear and said, "My lovely student, remember that everything I teach you can bring great pleasure to women, but it can also make them feel extremely painful. I hope you can bring me pleasure." After saying these words, her soft and delicate lips kissed Ivan on the cheek, leaving a perfect bright red lip print.