1
Time flowed like a babbling brook, slipping away in a hurry. For Ivan, a day, a week, or even a month seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye.
During this one-month period, he met all kinds of people, witnessed a multitude of complicated matters, and also made many new friends. Now, he had already become the most favored guest among numerous noble families in Thorsburg.
For Ivan, every day was as tense as a tightly drawn bowstring. Although he had visited each and every one of the renowned families in Thorsburg, how could sincere and deep friendships be as solid as a rock just through a single visit? Thus, banquets and balls became the main theme of Ivan's life this month. In fact, he often held two or three invitations at the same time, bustling around like a busy bee, shuttling between balls and rushing from one banquet to another. These social engagements took up a large amount of his time. However, all of this was absolutely indispensable for him, because winning the support of those nobles was an important cornerstone for him to firmly hold the position of the lord.
Everything was progressing in an orderly manner and quite smoothly. Ivan also tried hard to squeeze out some time from his tight schedule to study magic, which was what he loved most deep in his heart. The path of magic cultivation required not only indomitable perseverance but also a great deal of time. As the saying goes, "No pains, no gains." Although Ivan was gifted, being busy with social engagements, he really didn't have enough time to devote to magic research, which filled him with helplessness. Ivan even wished that he didn't need to sleep, so that he could have twice as much time as ordinary people. He had also tried it. Although it was finally proved to be an unrealistic fantasy, he had also figured out a compromise solution.
Since he felt the existence of wind spirits in the Bart Forest and had a wonderful spiritual communication with them, Ivan had been longing to relive that dreamlike feeling again. However, since being restricted in movement by Miss Old Meding, he could no longer get close to that forest. Although there were also large areas of trees around the villa, for some unknown reason, it wasn't the place where wind spirits gathered. Perhaps it was because of the existence of the villa and those unnatural rocks that blocked the free wind and were regarded as unfriendly symbols by the wind spirits. However, by a chance coincidence, Ivan discovered that there were slight fluctuations of magic elements in the middle of the sparkling lake. From that day on, every late night, he would row a boat to the middle of the lake to meditate. Although not every attempt was successful, in most cases, he could feel the existence of magic spirits on the lake. These magic spirits were different from the free and unrestrained wind spirits. They were more agile and light, yet reluctant to stay far away, always dancing gracefully around him. Ivan could clearly sense that these spirits were as full of vitality as the wind spirits. However, compared with the unrestrained wind spirits, they were more shy and reserved. Whenever Ivan tried to approach them, they would flee quickly like frightened deer, making it really hard for Ivan to figure them out.
Although Ivan still couldn't communicate with these magic spirits, he found that they seemed to be quite willing to stay with him, as if they had already regarded him as their closest companion. Whenever it was late at night and Ivan came to the lake, the spirits would rush over from all directions and gather around him. They wouldn't gradually disperse until the first ray of sunlight shone in the morning. For Ivan, this feeling was so wonderful that it was as if he was in a fairyland. Because of this, every night, he would sit in the boat and spend the whole night in the middle of the lake. As for the bedroom in the villa, he simply generously gave it to Miss Susanna.
When he was with Miss Susanna, for Ivan, it was a wonderful yet bittersweet experience. Although Miss Susanna hadn't really let him experience the ultimate pleasure between men and women and had never even let him know the differences between men's and women's bodies, which made his curiosity burn like a raging fire. However, Miss Susanna's slender fingers like scallions, soft and delicate lips, and lively and playful tongue were enough to make Ivan feel as if he was in paradise. Different from the beginning, now Ivan had gradually learned how to endure this intense feeling and knew how to control his emotions. Actually, it wasn't that difficult. Herbert had once taught him the knowledge and skills in this regard. Keller taught him how to endure pain, while Miss Susanna taught him how to handle pleasure.
The methods of Keller and Miss Susanna were worlds apart. The best way to endure pain was to divert attention and shift one's mind away from the painful part. However, if this method was used to deal with the feeling of pleasure, it would be a real waste. Miss Susanna taught Ivan how to skillfully guide the surging feeling of pleasure away while fully enjoying it, so as to avoid it from erupting like a volcanic eruption. However, when pleasure came too fiercely and rapidly, the method of diverting attention could still play a role, which was why his tailbone was always pricked by Miss Susanna with a needle. Of course, Miss Susanna's methods didn't always bring pleasure to Ivan.
Apart from the pain caused by the needle prick, every morning when Ivan woke up, he would always feel bloated and stuffy in his abdomen, and there would also be a burning sensation in his dantian area, and this feeling was hard to dissipate for a long time.
However, this wasn't the reason why Ivan felt disgusted with Susanna. In fact, whenever Ivan saw his gradually becoming more majestic male features, a sense of inexplicable pride would well up in his heart.
What really made Ivan unbearable was Miss Susanna's sarcasm. Mocking seemed to have become the only hobby of this young lady. Although Ivan knew very well that Miss Susanna might be the most learned woman he had ever met. Whether it was in the fields of poetry, drama, history, geography, or the skills of playing musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, and painting, she had amazing accomplishments. Perhaps compared with Audrey, Miss Susanna was slightly inferior, but her knowledge was definitely above that of the former young master Mr. Madield and Baron Lona.
However, it was obvious that Miss Susanna just regarded this knowledge as the capital to attract men and had no real interest in the knowledge itself. Ivan was convinced of this. This young lady was knowledgeable, but she had very few hobbies. Even drama, which an old maid like Miss Old Meding loved, was just a waste of time in Susanna's eyes. Even dressing up, which all women were enthusiastic about, seemed to be regarded by Miss Susanna only as a means of making a living, without any fun at all. However, Ivan could understand these. After all, when he saw Miss Susanna alternately wiping her body with scalding hot towels and icy cold towels and saw her slightly distorted face due to pain, although after coming out of the bathroom, Miss Susanna's skin was as white, tender, and pink as a newborn baby, Ivan didn't think it was all worth it. Perhaps this was the only place where he had sympathy for Miss Susanna.
Miss Susanna's only hobby was to ridicule men. She dared to mock all men, and even Eckert was no exception. The only ones not on this list were Mr. Hyde and Herbert. According to Miss Susanna's own words, Herbert wasn't really a man at all, but just a killing machine with no other functions except killing. She wasn't interested in mocking a machine. As for Mr. Hyde, it was because she owed Hyde a great favor. But apart from these two people, in Miss Susanna's eyes, any man was the target of her ridicule. And now, as the only man beside her, Ivan naturally became the object of her venting.
Miss Susanna's ridicule was embarrassing and unrestrained. She seemed to completely disregard other people's self-esteem and never thought that parental affection played a vital role in a person's life, especially for a child like Ivan who had lost his parents since childhood. As long as she was willing, Miss Susanna would use the words that hurt Ivan's heart the most to mock and stimulate him. Because of this, Ivan always tried his best to avoid staying with Miss Susanna. Except for the time when Susanna gave him lessons every night, Ivan would rather stay in the garden living room or row a boat to the lake...
A month passed in a hurry. During this period, there had also been one or two incidents that caused a sensation throughout the city.
Two weeks ago, in a warehouse on the outskirts of Thorsburg, seven corpses were accidentally discovered. The person who found the bodies went mad due to excessive fright, because the scene was so tragic. The seven corpses could hardly be pieced together completely and were torn into pieces. Judging from the expressions of painful struggle on the corpses, the process of tearing was carried out while they were alive and fully conscious. According to the knights of the Thorsburg Guards who handled the scene, those deceased were not from Thorsburg, and these people were very likely to have been knights originally, because a religious mark was found on one of the corpses, which was an honor only senior knights could enjoy.
Soon after, corpses were successively discovered in various parts of Thorsburg, including tailors, small merchants, and some clergy. The only common feature of these unrelated people was that they were all single and had only moved to Thorsburg in the last two years.
Regarding this series of homicide cases, the people of Thorsburg were in a state of panic, and Count Levy also sent more people. Besides the common people, most of the nobles were also panicked. Since the tragic incident in South Port, the nobles had always been worried that the south of France would become unstable, and this series of homicide cases seemed to foreshadow all this. However, there were also some people who didn't care about it and knew each other's minds about what had happened or was happening in Thorsburg.
If there was any change, it was that the number of nobles standing on Ivan's side had increased significantly. Those nobles who were originally wavering and didn't know which camp to choose gradually leaned towards Ivan.
Another change was that the Martil family, for various reasons, sent the wives and children of higher status in the family to the capital. The reasons were either that the wives' families missed them or that going to the capital could enable the children to receive a better education. In short, the female relatives and children of the Martil family left Thorsburg one after another. Any perceptive person could understand what this meant.
A month passed in a flash, and the inheritance ceremony was just around the corner. Somehow, Ivan was extremely nervous. If it weren't for Miss Betty accompanying him all day long, he wouldn't even know what to do.
In the garden living room, Ivan, dressed in magnificent heir to the lord's attire, sat on a backrest bench and meditated with his eyes closed. Because apart from this way, he really couldn't calm his heart. On his left and right sides sat Miss Fanny and Miss Lystine, the daughter of Viscount Terbo respectively. For Ivan, today was an extremely important day, and the two young ladies came here early in the morning.
At a long table not far away, Miss Betty was buried in a large pile of documents. Although today was just a formality and the things that needed to be prepared had been ready in this month, they also had a general idea of how the nobles would vote. But these proof documents still needed to be sorted out completely. Although no one would check them, this was the rule of the inheritance ceremony. And this task naturally fell on Miss Betty. She had to sort out each proof document in accordance with the prescribed order, check whether each seal was authentic, check whether all signatures were complete, and also pay attention to whether there were any traces of alteration in the documents. Any slight omission could be seized upon by the other side.
A thick album was spread out in front of Miss Betty, and the album was covered with all kinds of seals. The most important job of Miss Betty was to check the seals on the documents one by one against the seals in the album, which was an extremely labor-intensive job. After putting the last document into a beautifully decorated gold lacquer box, Miss Betty gently closed the album and stretched her limbs.
"Miss Betty, is everything ready?" Fanny asked.
"Finally, it's done. We can set off." Miss Betty said with a smile.
"Miss Betty, didn't you already check it carefully a few days ago? Why do you need to check it again today?" Lystine asked curiously.
"To prevent unexpected changes. Such situations have happened in the past. Suddenly, a document with obvious flaws emerged from the documents that had been checked thoroughly. Such a petty trick often caused a big stir. Therefore, checking the documents again before setting off has become an essential key step. Well, Fanny, Lystine, which of you two would like to hold this important box? This is a crucial mission. Before handing the box to the Archbishop, no one can touch this box." Miss Betty said with a smile.
"Let me do it. Let me." The two girls said in unison.
"Well, Fanny, it's more appropriate for you to hold it." Miss Betty said.
"Why her?" Lystine asked with a pout, obviously not happy with this decision.
"If your father knew that you were so enthusiastic, you might be severely scolded after you go home." Miss Betty explained.
Hearing this, Lystine immediately fell silent. She knew that it was inevitable. In fact, she came out this time without her father's knowledge. Her grandparents were her accomplices, and her mother didn't object. Only her father must not be made aware of it.