Eli covered his mouth and laughed, a hint of surprise in his eyes, as if he was quite taken aback by the name she had mentioned.
Miss Caroline probably never imagined that the person in front of her with short blond hair, whose face was extremely ordinary due to being covered by a mask, was actually the true Pope of Fate.
Phil Gray almost laughed for a moment after hearing Caroline's words, but he restrained himself and instead feigned surprise, glancing at the young man a few times. "Oh? What hints did he give you? And how did you guess them?"
Caroline smiled slightly and pulled them aside. The music in the ballroom suddenly stopped, but soon after, a more upbeat tune started playing again. Accompanied by the music, the young man, arm in arm with a woman in a blue dress, walked to the center of the ballroom.
“He just told me his name is Phil, and I was just about to tell him I know someone with that name too,” Caroline winked playfully. “But then he produced a Flower of Destiny, look!”
In her hand she held a pure white flower, the very same Flower of Destiny that Phil Gray knew so well.
“That’s true, but there are plenty of people favored by the god of fate, hmm… there are many named Phil, aren’t there?” Eli pondered, but in his heart he was wondering why this person would say his name was Phil, was he impersonating the boss?
He glanced subtly at the young man who seemed to be surrounded by admirers. His demeanor was indeed outstanding, as if he had received an excellent aristocratic education. Although he couldn't sense the man's specific rank because of the different gods they worshipped, his divine power was profound, suggesting he was at the level of someone of note.
Phil Gray frowned, not understanding why this person would impersonate him.
“That’s not all. He also mentioned that he recently went on a trip and asked me some questions about the lives of ordinary people. Oh, he almost let slip that he’d been on the throne for too long, but he quickly changed it to saying he’d been at home too long and didn’t know much about the lives of ordinary people, though I still caught it.” Caroline added, her eyes filled with excitement. “And a few days ago, the church’s internal newspaper mentioned the Pope of Fate’s travels. Good heavens, who would have thought I’d one day meet a pope-level figure?”
Phil Gray looked serious. It seemed that this person was intentionally impersonating him, but he couldn't figure out what he wanted to do by using his identity.
After all, Phil Gray himself was hiding his identity to avoid being hunted down by hostile forces, and now someone was deliberately impersonating him, and was also a follower of the God of Fate.
"What's wrong? Why don't you two seem excited? This is a big shot!" Caroline looked at the two people in front of her with a puzzled expression. One of them had a serious expression and seemed to be thinking about something, while the other just kept grinning foolishly, not at all like someone who was surprised by the news.
"Hahaha, Miss Caroline, if I may be so bold, you really are a little... well, innocently adorable!" Eli wanted to say she was silly, but felt it would be impolite, so he changed his words and shook his head. "Don't you know? That pope was crowned as an ordinary person, which caused a sensation in all the major churches at the time. But take a good look at the person you were dancing with just now. How could they be an ordinary person?"
Hearing Eli's doubts, Caroline hesitated for a moment, then gripped the Flower of Destiny tightly in her hand. "But what if he suddenly receives a divine calling and awakens to become a chosen one?"
“Ahem, think about it carefully. Even if he awakened, he should only be at the Listening level. Look at him, he's higher than you, right? At least at the Attention level. Is it possible to go from an ordinary person to the Attention level in such a short time?” Eli said, glancing at Phil Gray somewhat guiltily. He hadn't believed it before, and he could say such things with such confidence, but now he had to believe it. However, that was all he could say, just to prevent this silly girl from being deceived.
“Yes, really.” Caroline’s eyes flickered. “Damn it, how could he lie? I’m going to expose him!”
Angrily, she crushed the Flower of Destiny in her hand and threw it on the ground.
Eli grabbed her arm. "Wait, did he only hint at his identity to you?"
"During the nearly three-hour ball, he danced with about a dozen ladies. I don't know if he told them," Caroline said, hands on her hips, somewhat angrily.
“I definitely said so, look!” Eli pointed to the fake Phil who had finished dancing. He handed the lady in the blue dress a Flower of Destiny and then bent down to kiss the back of her hand.
"Tsk tsk tsk, more than ten ladies, even though it's just dancing, I still think he's on par with George." Eli continued to sigh, but when he turned his head and saw Phil Gray's gloomy face, he was startled.
"Hmph, dancing is fine, but if he impersonates... well, that Pope and does something shameful, I'll teach him a lesson!" Phil Gray looked speechlessly at the imposter who was moving so freely in the center of the ballroom, but he didn't have a good reason to expose him. The reason Eli had just mentioned wasn't really sufficient, since most of the passengers were ordinary people who didn't know anything about the Chosen Ones. They only knew that the Pope of the Church of Destiny was a very noble person who possessed power beyond worldly affairs and was loved by countless believers.
Caroline seemed to realize that this was not enough evidence to expose his identity, so she could only sit down on a chair in frustration, pick up the drink on the table, and drink it all in one gulp.
“Hehe, don’t worry. Actually, I don’t think he can fool everyone else. Maybe only Miss Caroline will believe him,” Eli whispered in Phil Gray’s ear, shielding his eyes with his hand.
"Hey, I'm a Chosen One, you think I can't hear you?" Caroline rolled her eyes, then said suspiciously, "But you guys seem to be very protective of the Pope of Fate, do you have some kind of connection with the Church of Fate?"
“After all, we share the same name, so it’s natural that we have a good impression of that pope,” Phil Gray casually made up.
“Oh, if I didn’t know you were from our Dawn Cult, I would have suspected you were that Pope. But thinking about it more carefully, that’s unlikely. I’ve heard that the Pope is exceptionally handsome, so it’s unlikely to be you.” Caroline said, her gaze still fixed on the fake Phil, with a hint of malice. But she quickly realized her mistake and apologized, “I didn’t mean you were less handsome than him. Don’t overthink it.”
Phil Gray naturally wouldn't bother with such a trivial matter. They watched as Bernie announced the end of the ball, and the passengers began to leave one after another. Some people continued to flatter the fake Phil, earning him an arrogant smile in return.
"Keep a close eye on him these next few days, so we can stop him if he has any schemes," Phil Gray said to Eli and Caroline.
"good."
"good."
Almost everyone in the dance hall had left. Seeing that the imposter seemed to be leaving as well, they walked out the door first, pretending not to have paid any attention to him.
But as soon as he took a step, Phil Gray felt a hand pat his shoulder from behind, and the unique fragrance of the Flower of Destiny lingered in his nose. He turned around and saw a slightly smiling face. "Hello, my name is Phil. Shall we get to know each other?"
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