Departure

A round fan covered half of her face, as if draped in a mysterious veil. A long gown resembling a qipao filled the wearer with exotic allure. Her right leg was crossed over her left, her red high heels over black silk stockings swaying gently, looking exceptionally eye-catching under the distant lights.

The seductive eyes behind the round fan swept across Lynch in the distance. Her fair hand clawed at the empty air in that direction before withdrawing and hiding in the darkness once more. She cast a playful gaze at Walker, remaining silent, only letting out a soft chuckle.

Meanwhile, something seemed to have gone wrong at the venue. Lynch had already walked up to Princess Chloe. Just as he reached into his pocket to pull something out, his movements suddenly froze, and his face stiffened.

She actually succeeded?

Walker looked at the woman in the darkness in pleasant surprise, his eyes lighting up. However, seeing her meaningful, playful gaze, recalling the true image of these followers, and thinking of the request she had made earlier, Walker's facial muscles twisted and deformed completely, leaving him with an expression of despair and tears.

Looking at his companion Kelvin as if for help, the latter actually wore a look of sympathy and patted him on the shoulder. Walker grew even more despondent, wishing the world would just end right then and there.

But after careful consideration, he gritted his teeth, leaned down in front of the round fan, got down on one knee, and lightly touched the tip of her swaying high heels. His voice carried a crying tone: “My Queen, please forgive our offense from the day before yesterday. We shouldn't have tested you. We beg you to forgive our foolishness and ignorance.”

A low buzz of commotion echoed from the venue behind them. Without even turning around, they knew that something must have gone wrong with the delivery of the gem, sparking discussion among the guests.

“Ohohoho, quite a nice performance. You have successfully amused me. I shall leave the item to you.”

Mild her classic queen-like laughter, the woman raised her hand in satisfaction and tossed the crimson gem to Walker.

The moment the gem landed in his hand, Walker's racing heart finally settled. It felt warm and smooth; one touch was enough to tell it was the real deal.

However, the instant he realized the item was in his hands, Walker let go of the high heel as if stepping on a spring. He swiftly leaped aside, casting a panicked glance at her. Seeing her look of amusement, he could only feel that this bunch of monsters was truly terrifying.

However, the disheveled Walker did not hear the thoughts inside her head.

‘Ugh, so disgusting. This is just to fit the persona of the Swelling Daughter. I'm really not a pervert, believe me, neighbor.’

【No need to worry, Lynch.】

‘It's so good that at least you believe me.’

【No, I meant don't worry, my church never used to discriminate against perverts.】

‘Ahhhhh~~’

Yes, this was Lynch, the real Lynch.

Facing the conspiracy of Prince William and the Rangers, he and Miss Valente suffered from a lack of evidence. Even if they reported it to the Church of the Black Night and the Governor's Mansion, it would be useless. They could only passively wait for them to seize the gem through various conspiracies time and time again to advance their plan. None of the parties had any standing to fight back, and it was difficult for even the Watchers to assist publicly.

The only way was to use the real gem as bait, letting them use it to conduct the ritual to summon the Gate of Falsehood and Reality. With ironclad evidence, it was hard to say if Prince William would be affected, but at least Mayor Howard and Walker would definitely be punished.

Originally, he had planned to find a way to give the real gem directly to Walker. However, on one hand, if they got the item too easily, these suspicious fellows would easily harbor doubts. If they found a way to verify whether the gem was a replica, all their efforts would go down the drain.

On the other hand, the mercurial nature of the evil god, the Swelling Daughter, made Lynch feel increasingly apprehensive the more he thought about it. Once he handed the gem over, he would lose the initiative and find it hard to get another chance to intervene. If this evil god decided to stir up trouble and cause some major incident, he would feel guilty and never sleep peacefully again.

He might as well participate throughout the entire process. Although dangerous, at least he could monitor everything from start to finish, avoiding any regrets if things truly went south.

However, although Lynch's fake identity had basically been established by using someone else's influence, it was impossible to gain their trust immediately. Participating in the matter of the mirror was highly unlikely. Therefore, to deliver the gem and boost their trust in him at the same time, Lynch had come up with today's performance.

It just so happened that on his way back to his apartment after leaving the Valente family's residence that morning, he had intentionally made a trip to Madam Bessie's magic prop shop. That woman had no scruples when it came to business and certainly wouldn't mind helping out. Sure enough, a few hours later, Lynch successfully acquired a counterfeit Flaming Red Lips that looked almost identical to the real one. Originally, he had only wanted it as a safeguard just in case, but this time it came in very handy.

Thus, just as he had told the two ladies, they would attend together today.

Lynch had disguised himself early on as the Swelling Daughter calling herself Selene and mingled with Walker and the others. Meanwhile, those who attended the cocktail party by carriage were actually Miss Diana and Officer Natalie.

With Miss Diana using a mystery relic to disguise herself as Lynch and Officer Natalie accompanying her as his female companion, the two of them had dressed up and attended with the fake gem. Their mission was to play their parts to the fullest and do their best to protect the gem. To make it more realistic, Lynch had not even told Officer Natalie the truth, fearing she would fail to act and expose them.

The effect was quite good. Although the two of them inevitably showed some strange flaws, and although the Lynch played by Natalie took the opportunity to plunder the Count's red wine in the latter half, drinking several glasses in a row and making Lynch worry that the girl would get drunk and make a scene, the final outcome was excellent. Neither version of Lynch aroused any suspicion.

After both sides sparred at the venue, Miss Diana passed the mystery relic to Officer Natalie, who transformed into the second actor playing Lynch, while Miss Diana returned to being herself. Carrying the fake gem, she approached Princess Chloe in another way to mislead Walker and Kelvin.

The fake gem had never belonged to Walker, and the real gem had never been carried by either of the two ladies. Thus, Walker's mystery relic could not possibly steal anything from them. When Walker and his cohorts had exhausted their tricks and could no longer turn the tables, Lynch finally received Walker's plea for help and sealed the deal in one fell swoop.

It was difficult to gain trust by proactively offering help, but helping after being begged, especially after making the other party pay a painful price, would often win their high trust. This was useless knowledge learned from watching dramas in the past, but putting it to use now, he realized...

“Yes, it's the real deal.”

Actually, Walker also felt a bit disgusted, but he forced himself to endure it. Quickly determining the authenticity of the item, he immediately beamed with uncontrollable joy:

“Now that the final item is in our hands, that lord's goal can soon be achieved.”

“A commotion has already broken out over there.” Kelvin looked at the chaos at the venue with schadenfreude, revealing an incredibly pleased smile. “This is just the beginning. Lynch Levive, just you wait. I will slowly settle the score between us in the future—if you even have a future, that is.”

Tsk. Uttering the fiercest threats to the wrong person... Lynch even felt a trace of sympathy in his heart.

“Now that we have the item, we can withdraw, Mr. Kelvin.” Walker looked at Lynch sitting on the bench, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, “Ms. Selene, do you have any other plans later? If not, why not return with us? We are preparing to begin the ritual tomorrow. As the apostle of that ruler, we hope you can represent that ruler and attend as well.”

Goal achieved!

Lynch cheered inwardly, incredibly excited, but remained outwardly calm. His eyes flickered behind the round fan. After a brief moment of thought, he nodded gently. “Very well. Although Eldest Sister didn't say anything, there's no harm in continuing to watch this lively show.”

“Then let's withdraw.”

Walker nodded to Mr. Kelvin, who nodded back and casually snapped his fingers.

Lynch took a deep breath, calming his nervous heart. He knew he was coming into contact with a massive darkness. Once the teleportation began, there would only be one path left ahead.

There was no turning back.

Then let it come.

‘Neighbor, let us witness the beautiful scenery along the journey to immortality together.’

【Mhm. I am with you.】