Chapter 41: The Various Parties

Chapter Forty-One
The Various Parties

Queen’s Borough, inside Earl Hall’s luxurious villa.

Audrey, a white napkin laid across her lap, watched as the dining maid cut bacon for her, arranged two fried eggs cooked on both sides, spread jam over soft bread, and added sauce to the roasted mushrooms.

In a true noble household, maids were divided into many categories. Apart from personal maids, there were maids for different bedrooms, study maids, sitting-room maids, guest-room maids, clothing maids, shoe maids, jewelry maids, dining maids, laundry maids, and kitchen maids. Every task corresponded to its own servant.

Although this wasted labor to a great extent, for the nobility, respectability was everything. Unless debts became overwhelming, they would not lower their standards in such matters.

Audrey took a sip of reddish-brown tea, letting its faint malt fragrance and rose aroma linger in her mouth.

At that moment, she heard her father, Earl Hall—a member of the House of Lords and a major banker—mutter over the newspaper in his hand:

“The Aurora Order truly is mad.”

The Aurora Order?

Audrey blinked and asked curiously, “Did they do something?”

“Oh, darling, you would not want to know. They actually assassinated the Intis ambassador, Bakerland. That brings them no benefit whatsoever.”

Earl Hall shook his head while turning the newspaper pages.

Audrey’s eldest brother, Earl Hall’s first son Hibbert Hall, swallowed the roasted mushroom in his mouth and offered his opinion.

“Perhaps they wish to damage the relationship between the Kingdom and Intis, letting war spread from the colonies to the Northern Continent.”

This noble heir had a handsome face and bright golden hair. From any angle, he carried a classical, sculptural beauty.

“No. If that were the case, they would not have left behind so much obvious evidence. Besides, the Kingdom has far too many new policies entering the implementation stage. We need a stable environment for some time, and we will not rashly begin a war. What happened last night is already in the newspapers this morning, with detailed descriptions and specific culprits. That is enough to show the thoughts of His Majesty the King and the ministers,” Earl Hall said, guiding his children.

Audrey listened blankly as her father and brother discussed the issue. Only after quite some time did she react.

Bakerland was assassinated?

Mr. A succeeded?

He really is from the Aurora Order?

He deliberately exposed that the Aurora Order did it in order to prove he completed the task, not to cheat me out of the final payment?

This was too fast, too efficient. I only paid the first installment yesterday afternoon, and this morning I already heard the result—a good result!

After Audrey’s astonishment came joy she could not suppress. And after that joy came an instinctive fear.

The mission entrusted by Mr. Fool’s blessed one being completed so easily and so smoothly was naturally something worth rejoicing over. But the strength and operational ability displayed by Mr. A and the Aurora Order behind him made Audrey feel frightened on instinct.

Mm. Good thing I already communicated with Glaint yesterday and reached a loan agreement. As a viscount, he should have finished raising the money without drawing attention… I will give Mr. A the remaining payment in the next couple of days through Xio and Fors. I absolutely cannot appear personally… For the next month or two, I also cannot attend Mr. A’s gathering again. Fortunately, I have other circles…

Audrey reservedly bit into the soft bread spread with jam.

When breakfast was nearly over, a small cake topped with cream, cherries, and strawberries was delivered to her plate. Having calmed down, Audrey suddenly felt a little pleased with herself.

Mr. Hanged Man still wanted to participate in this mission, but perhaps he has only just completed the preliminary commission… The matter is already over… Who told him to be at sea?

Audrey, in a cheerful mood, sampled her dessert with smiling brows and eyes.

…

Hillston Borough.

Xio and Fors stared at the newspaper before them for a long time without making any extra movement.

“…This was done by Mr. A, right?” Xio asked her friend, both shocked and confused.

Fors turned the stone-inlaid bracelet around her wrist and shook her head, equally bewildered.

“Maybe.”

“I know of the Aurora Order, but I do not know whether Mr. A is a member.”

“He should be. After all, we only gave him two thousand pounds yesterday. There probably is not anyone else who would want to assassinate that Ambassador Bakerland, right…” Xio said, not entirely certain.

Fors fell silent for several seconds, then suddenly sighed.

“No matter whether Mr. A did it or not, we have to give him the remaining eight thousand pounds. At the moment, no one can prove that it was not him. If we still want to remain in this circle, we cannot default on the debt!”

“It is not our money anyway… And we still have five hundred pounds of payment!”

As she spoke, Xio suddenly brightened.

“The problem is, I feel it will be very dangerous to look for Mr. A again…” Fors mused. “When it comes time to hand over the final payment, I will go by myself. That is better for both of us.”

“But…” Xio instinctively felt worried.

“You following me will affect my escape.”

Fors shook the bracelet on her wrist and spoke in a tone of disdain.

“All right.”

Xio scratched her rough, short blond hair and answered helplessly.

Just as the two were feeling uneasy over the matter, Mr. A’s new message arrived through the hidden contact channel. He instructed them not to look for him, and to deposit the remaining payment separately into several anonymous accounts at different banks.

Hoo…

Xio and Fors both let out a breath of relief at the same time.

Meanwhile, inside a basement so spacious it resembled a temple, Mr. A, wearing a hooded black robe, knelt within the gloom and murmured something devoutly.

Before him stood a statue nearly three meters tall. It depicted a man hanging upside down, his legs bound by chains that extended upward.

This Hanged Man had the unique vertical single eye of a giant. His arms stretched out horizontally, forming a cross.

At that moment, a man covered in a black robe entered and humbly reported, “Mr. A, I have already delivered the message.”

“Very good,” Mr. A said without turning his head.

The black-robed man asked in puzzlement, “Why not have us investigate who commissioned this mission?”

Mr. A kept his head lowered and spoke in an indifferent tone.

“There is no need.

“You must remember that this is a crucial time.

“We must make the continent chaotic. We must draw others’ attention as much as possible, and use this to welcome the Lord’s return!

“Hahahaha—cough, cough, cough…”

Mr. A suddenly began to laugh, then coughed violently. He coughed so hard that his entire body prostrated itself on the floor.

“Cough! Cough!”

He coughed up clumps of blood-red fragments, and after falling to the ground, those fragments continued wriggling as though they were living things.

The black-robed man immediately lowered his head, pretending he had seen nothing.

A long while passed before Mr. A finally calmed down.

He crawled forward on his stomach, pressed his mouth to the floor, and licked back every blood-red fragment he had coughed up.

…

126 New Year Road, Hillston Borough.

Lighthearted and relieved, Klein did not follow Dragor Gale this time. Instead, he selected Dragor’s mistress, Erica Taylor, as his target. After all, an affair required two people.

The pretty blonde woman wore exquisite makeup and arrived early at Cragg Club in a rental carriage. Klein, carrying a leather case that contained the portable camera and various disguise items, followed her inside.

“Are there any lounge rooms left?” he asked the elegant maid responsible for reception that day. On his chest was the club’s White Frost badge.

The maid, dressed in a black-and-white dress, smiled politely.

“Yes. Please follow this attendant upstairs.”

Klein nodded lightly. Guided by the red-waistcoated attendant, he climbed the staircase step by step to the second floor and happened to see Erica Taylor enter a lounge facing the street.

“Would you like to see the pedestrians on the street, or the tennis courts at the back?” the red-waistcoated attendant asked attentively.

“The street,” Klein answered, deliberately casual.

Under the attendant’s arrangement, his room was separated from Erica Taylor’s by two rooms. It too offered a view of the street outside the club’s front entrance.

How should I take the photograph later? Find a chance to sneak inside and hide in the room? Or climb along the pipes outside the window? Neither method can conceal that exaggerated flash, but the latter can disguise me as an outsider secretly photographing them and prevent people from suspecting and expelling me… Still, either method will easily be noticed by Dragor and Erica… Use charms to make them sleep? No. That would make the photo insufficiently convincing. It has to be an image during the act…

Only one chance. The photo must be good enough… This really is not my field. I am no artistic master… If it were Old Neil, he would definitely try to construct a new ritual magic specifically meant to conceal camera flashes. Of course, the Goddess might not necessarily answer him…

As Klein considered his next move, he saw Miss Bodyguard appear on a silver mirror inside the room.

She still wore that black Gothic court dress and the matching small soft hat. Her hair was pale-gold, her face pale, and her features exquisite.

“Do you have a way to conceal a camera’s flash?” Klein casually asked.

Before his voice had even fallen, ripples appeared across the mirror’s surface. A somewhat transparent hand suddenly stretched out.

Like a female ghost, Miss Bodyguard crawled out from the silver mirror, came before Klein, and nodded slightly.

“Yes.”

She bent down and leaned closer, then fused herself little by little into the camera lens.

Klein stared at this horrifying scene with his mouth slightly open. Only after quite some time did he come back to himself. He picked up the portable camera and tested one shot inside his own lounge.

The effect was far better than he had expected. The flash was restricted to the area near the lens, while the image quality was quite decent.

Perhaps it should now be called a spirit camera…

Klein lampooned inwardly, then carried the camera to the window and waited patiently.

Before long, he saw Dragor Gale arrive by carriage.

On the other side, Erica Taylor also saw her lover. She hurriedly left her lounge and went down to the first floor to welcome him.

Klein seized the chance. Using a tarot card, he opened her room and carefully hid inside the wardrobe where spare sheets and blankets were stored.

The surrounding darkness made him think of last night, and of that eerie, terrifying Marionettist, Rosago.

Last night was full of danger, and today I am catching a cheating husband. Life really is strange…

As Klein mocked himself, he heard the sound of the door opening.