Chapter 857 Popular Trends
At this moment, the room was dead silent.
An invisible chill seemed to be floating around the people in the private room. The window glass, the decorative mirrors in the room, and even the surface of the glasses on the table flashed with a deep, mysterious light. In the hall on the first floor, the people who were dining fell into a moment of stagnation, their heads went blank, and their limbs and joints seemed to be filled with glue, making it difficult to move.
Dunn, wearing a gold-rimmed monocle, sensed something was amiss and looked at the others curiously, his gray eyes behind the lenses flashing with an inexplicable brilliance.
Ah, it’s the left eye…
Angel met Dunn's gaze and looked at the monocle, which was different in shape from the ones he had seen before. After a moment, he reacted and returned to his original position.
Beside her, Klein did the same thing. His frozen body immediately recovered and he stood up, as if preparing to celebrate in advance.
They all noticed that Leonard, who was sitting alone, showed no reaction at all. This meant that the Pales in his body was not worried about Dunn being parasitized by Amon. Otherwise, this "parasite" that had swallowed up the characteristics of all Amon's clones in Backlund would have been the first to escape.
Leonard looked to the left and to the right, his expression calm and his eyes steady. He seemed as steady as a rock, but in fact, he did not dare to make any big movements with his body.
He sensed a chill and smelled the tense atmosphere.
"Heh, don't you think this look suits me?" Dunn said teasingly, breaking the silence in the room. "These accessories are popular among gentlemen in Backlund lately. They make you look calm, composed, and ceremonial."
"Captain, where did you hear that?"
Angel asked, frowning.
"I heard that this year's trend is to use flowers to create cursive Intis characters, and to have a dinner for two lit by candlelight instead of gas lamps..."
Klein also took over the conversation, sharing the news he had heard from the upper social circles.
"Really?... I think this look is pretty good now."
Dunn chuckled and glanced at Leonard, whose expression was frozen and whose limbs seemed to be locked. Without removing his monocle, he pulled out another exquisite wooden box from his pocket. Under the gaze of Angel, Klein, and Leonard, he opened the lid, turned to Daly, who looked expectant, and said in a solemn tone:
"Daly, after going through so much, I finally figured it out..."
"I do." He had just started to build up the atmosphere when Daly stretched out her left hand, slightly raised her ring finger, and said to the surprised suitor, "Put it on me, Dunn."
This sudden acceleration made Angel secretly glance at Klein beside him and found that he was also looking at him.
Both of them thought of the night when Klein successfully achieved his promotion after killing Ince Zangwill, and the night when Klein uttered similar words.
She's much more proactive than you... Klein said, moving his lips silently.
That's because I started trying to help the captain and convince Ms. Daly back in Tingen, and it almost got me gaslit. Now, she'll definitely not miss this opportunity again... Angel muttered, taking the credit for himself, watching Dunn clumsily pick up the ring and slip it onto Daly's slender, overly white finger.
Pah pah pah——
The remaining three people all applauded, witnessing the scene where this couple who had been secretly in love with each other for many years finally got together today.
After everyone had guessed it but all knew it, Team Tingen's dinner was drawing to a close.
Of course, Angel, whose past was exposed to ease her embarrassment, also took her own revenge. She asked Daly the same question in the same tone as Dunn had asked her about the scheduled date for her marriage to Klein, and hinted that older men couldn't wait any longer. However, she was mercilessly teased by this woman who had often teased her colleagues with dirty jokes back in Tingen, and even brought the flames of war to Klein.
Fortunately, Klein, who had played Dwayne Dantes, a middle-aged wealthy man with rich emotional experience, handled the situation calmly, quickly defusing the dirty joke attack and launching a counterattack. Even Dantes couldn't stand it anymore, so he coughed lightly and ended the topic that made Angel blush:
"I plan to return to Tingen with Daly in October. Of course, we'll be in new capacities, and it depends on the church's arrangements and her own wishes..."
October, the day when Ms. Daly's birthday was to be chosen... Angel suddenly realized and muttered:
“That’s too uncreative.”
She had reason to suspect that the captain was plagiarizing Klein's idea of proposing on her birthday.
The other party, Daly, seemed to be indifferent, as if any day would be fine. She just stroked the ring on her finger, and from time to time she smiled with her eyes out of focus.
How could someone become like this after receiving an engagement ring... Angel complained in his heart and drank the champagne in front of him.
…
The party ended in a joyful atmosphere. Angel and Klein left in a hired carriage, while Daly and Dunn walked towards Pacefield Street, which was not far away, preparing to return to St. Samuel's Church. Leonard, with his windbreaker buttons undone and his shirttails fluttering in the wind, watched their backs as they left and walked alone in another direction.
After walking a long way, he tilted his head and asked in a low voice that was almost inaudible:
"Old man, I thought something was going to happen just now. Aren't you afraid that they haven't escaped the shadow of Amon's clone yet and will attack directly?"
The old voice in his mind chuckled and replied:
"That's why I asked you to tell your captain that the latest fashion trend is to wear it in the left eye instead of the right. This will prevent your two colleagues from mistaking him for Amon. With their observation skills, they will notice the problem after a moment of tension. Even if they do admit their mistake, they will choose to leave immediately instead of fighting back.
"Besides, if they launch a reckless attack, I can steal their thoughts and prevent the worst from happening. In fact, they are... quite calm."
At that moment, I felt like my body was about to be frozen and my spirit was about to be controlled. You call this calmness... Leonard muttered and continued to ask:
"So, what do you see?"
"Not much, but your female colleague is indeed an 'ageless' witch, and the other one hasn't hidden much of her strength either. This can be seen from their reactions at that moment."
"I knew this two months ago. You still say she's not the 'Immortal' Witch..." Leonard responded in a low voice, turning to look in the direction where Angel and Klein's carriage had departed, as if they were still at that street corner. "What do you mean by 'response'? That chill, or the feeling of the spiritual thread being plucking?"
"Of course not," Pales said unhappily. "Didn't you notice? The moment your captain put on his monocle, the two demigods in the room became a puppet and a mirror double. Their real bodies had already fled a thousand meters away, almost leaving Backlund!"
Leonard stood there, stunned.
————
By late August, Backlund's summer atmosphere was swept away by the cold air gradually drifting in from the north. The number of pedestrians wearing coats on the streets gradually increased, and the elderly even put on gloves.
A three-masted sailing ship with bright red sails and its outer side painted the same color slowly docked at the pier in the dock area. The sailors jumped down the gangway, tied ropes, registered berths, unloaded and loaded cargo. They were extremely skilled in each step and quickly moved boxes of relatively fresh fruits and sugar stored in low temperatures out of the cabin and sent them to designated factories in the east district by horse-drawn carriages.
The red-haired Elaine stood on the bridge high on the deck, her eyes not fixed on the cargo, but on the Tussock River that meandered through the city.
"It's far inferior to the Serenzo River, both in terms of water quality and prosperity... Well, this has to do with their preference for rail transportation, and the fact that the port of Pritz we passed earlier has taken on a lot of pressure from river transportation..."
She made a professional assessment, then looked toward the connected buildings along the riverbank, as well as the Backlund Bridge, which was still clearly visible from a great distance.
That was the biggest obstacle for a three-masted sailing ship like the "Redhead" to enter the upper reaches of the river, but the busy traffic on the bridge made up for this shortcoming.
If we ignore the issue of ships passing through, this bridge does have its own unique beauty... Elaine muttered, retracted her gaze, and was about to leave the deck when she suddenly felt a burning sensation from the necklace hidden under her lapel, close to her skin.
Danger is approaching!
Elaine, who was already familiar with the function of her new magical item, reacted immediately and jumped off the bridge without hesitation and came to the middle deck. Only then did she find that the sailors were unloading on the front deck and there was no one around her, including the possible attacker.
Psychological invisibility, or true invisibility?
Elaine frowned and was about to shout loudly to attract the boatswain William and the witch Tia who was also the second mate, when she noticed a figure appearing in front of her.
"I'm not an enemy," a gentle, melodious voice uttered before the figure even became clear, carrying a force that made it hard to resist. "Is that 'Red-Haired Elaine'? I'm Sherman, Miss Angelica's 'Queen of Pentacles.'"
It wasn't until Elaine heard the other party's code name that her tense expression relaxed. However, her right hand was still on the hilt of the knife at her waist. She asked in a deep voice:
"Why did you sneak onto the ship 'invisible'?"
She also remembered Miss Angelica mentioning that the "Queen of Pentacles" was a "witch."
Only then did the figure in front of her become completely clear. A woman wearing a hooded cloak, with her face and hair hidden in shadows, appeared in Elaine's sight.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to invite you to come to the East End. Miss Angelica will meet us there later."
"Queen of Pentacles," Sherman replied softly, not angry at Elaine's attitude.
Miss Angelica did say she would come find me after I arrived in Backlund, but I didn't expect this "witch" to show up first... Elaine hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said:
"Lead the way."
She informed her boatswain that she would be away for a while and asked him to direct the unloading. She then went back into "invisible" mode, leaving only a hazy silhouette. The Queen of Pentacles left the dock and headed along roads that were either wide or winding, plunging into the East District, which was once again shrouded in fog as the temperature dropped.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
