Forget it. When the sky collapses, the tall people will hold it up. With so many powerhouses watching over this place, it's not the place of a rank two Soul Severer like me to worry.
All of Rhine City's high-society celebrities are gathered here. If security were truly so fragile, there probably wouldn't be any living elites left in Rhine.
Besides, with my advance warning, they even made extra preparations.
I might as well enjoy this ball. Receiving two great gifts before it even started is pretty good.
Stroking the ring on his finger and the gem in his pocket, Lynch put away the unease in his heart and wore a satisfied smile.
It was nearly four in the afternoon, and the forecourt was growing even more crowded.
Many long tables and parasols had been set up in the courtyard. Dainty pastries, crafted like delicate works of art, rested on mirror-polished silver platters. Waiters in vibrant purple vests bustled between the tables, carrying trays of drinks and refreshments.
Having only eaten a few pieces of bread during his discussions at noon, followed by jogging half a lap around the Duke's mansion and wandering around the grounds for over an hour, Lynch was genuinely starving. Seeing that no guests were lingering near the tables—sparing him any need for small talk—he strolled over without hesitation.
The moment he saw the spread on the table, Lynch felt as if he had stepped into a dessert shop from his previous life.
These were no longer the dull, gray, rough cookies of daily life. In contrast, the pastries before him were true works of art: dark cocoa, white cream, golden honey, yellow sponge cake, and red fruits, combined in the most tantalizing color palettes and shaped into soft, elegant forms. Even someone who wasn't hungry would feel an urge to taste them at first glance.
Homesickness stripped Lynch of his reservations. Selecting a few pastries that best matched his memories of his past life, he used tongs to place them onto a silver plate and eagerly took a bite of one.
In that instant, Lynch was overcome with an urge to cry.
The rich fragrance of cream, the mellow aroma of chocolate, the sweet trace of honey, and the crisp freshness of fruit blossomed gently on his palate along with the soft texture of the cake. Though all the flavors blended together, they were remarkably distinct in their layers. Every single chew was a brand-new experience, leaving Lynch utterly unable to stop as he kept chewing away.
I'm sorry, Mrs. Maggie. My heart has strayed; I've fallen in love with pastries made by someone else.
It felt just like wandering abroad for years and suddenly tasting a home-cooked bowl of rice and stir-fry. The familiar flavors made Lynch's nose tingle with emotion. Unable to resist, he popped another piece into his mouth. Just as he closed his eyes to savor the sweetness of life, a low shout rang out from behind him.
“Mr. Lynch Levive, I arrest you on charges of sneaking pastries.”
With that, a finger poked him sharply in the waist.
Ouch! What are you doing?!
Lynch nearly sprayed a mouthful of cake across the table, leaping a full meter forward from the sneak attack on his vitals.
Has this silly woman lost her mind? Trying to murder her own... ahem.
The presence was far too familiar; he didn't even need to look to know who it was. Lynch hastily swallowed the cake in his mouth and turned around, glaring at Officer Natalie Angel through gritted teeth.
Just you wait. In a little while, I'm going to cash in one of my conditions and make you feed me a piece.
Yet the moment he turned around, Lynch found himself unable to tear his eyes away, his mind completely captivated by pure stun and wonder.
Accustomed to seeing the lady officer in menswear, catching her in a dress struck Lynch with an intense, jarring sense of beauty.
She wore that same long black dress, accentuating her tall, slender figure. Her flaxen-blonde wavy hair cascaded behind her shoulders, and her wide-brimmed black hat was adorned with a few white feathers, its rim dotted with sparkling crushed diamonds. As the hem of her dress swayed, it gave fleeting glimpses of long legs clad in black stockings, while a pair of red high heels adorned her shapely ankles.
Hiss... Lord have mercy. Why did she have to dress up so beautifully?
Lynch's brain stopped functioning. He stared blankly at the familiar yet striking lady before him for several seconds before finally managing an action.
He held out the plate of pastries. “Here. The golden one is the sweetest.”
“Oh.”
The lady in black casually picked it up and popped it into her mouth with completely natural familiarity. Only after chewing a few times did she freeze slightly, realizing how unreserved and everyday their interaction felt—like two people who had lived together for years.
Catching the goofy grin on his face, Officer Natalie's cheeks flushed, and she reflexively stepped firmly on Lynch's foot.
“Ow—!” Yep, this silly woman has definitely gone mad. Lynch took two steps back, putting on an act of dodging a lunatic, before leaning back in. “Why did you arrive so early too?”
“We're on security duty, you know. Every Soul Severer in the Watchers was mobilized. Even Victor came; he's slacking off over there, riding horses with Viscount Moliere.” The lady in black held a folded white parasol, from which the hilt of a sheathed sword subtly protruded. “I was patrolling the venue and spotted you from afar, sneaking pastries like a thief looking left and right. You're just eating cake, for crying out loud.”
I was just trying to avoid letting anyone see me weeping over a piece of cake. Anyone who saw that would have enough material to laugh at me for the rest of their lives. Besides, what if someone recognized me and dragged me into small talk? Whenever I visited relatives for New Year's back home, I'd hide in a dark room playing video games. Avoiding socialization is always the best policy.
Thinking this, Lynch could only offer an awkward yet polite smile.
Fortunately, the lady officer had only brought it up casually. Glancing around thoughtfully, she asked, “Where is she? Didn't you come together?”
“Huh? Who? I came by myself.”
Shooting Lynch a cool glare, the corners of the lady officer's lips curled up as she looked away. Snatching the pastry from Lynch's hand, she stuffed it into her mouth, dusted her hands in satisfaction, and said around a mouthful of cake, “I'm going back to patrolling, then. Keep on sneaking food all by yourself.”
“Be careful.”
“Hm?” The lady officer paused and looked back at Lynch, a rare, soft smile gracing her usually stern face. “Mm. You be careful too. I feel like the atmosphere is a bit tense.”
“What? Did you notice something?”
“Not yet, just a Watcher's intuition,” the lady officer replied. “Originally, only four of us were assigned to assist with security today. But we were suddenly notified of an all-hands deployment, and even Victor showed up. Once I arrived, I noticed that the Governor's Guard's Special Security Department is all here too. It's giving me a bad feeling.”
Looks like I'm not the only one who feels this way, which means it isn't an illusion. Right, she still doesn't know what happened with us earlier.
Lynch leaned toward her ear, intending to whisper an explanation, but before he could speak, a sharp pang of pain shot through his brain once again.
Why has another high-tier expert appeared? Did they all agree to hold a meeting here or something?
Lynch's heart tightened. Following his intuition, he looked over and saw a man strolling toward them.
It was a middle-aged man in evening wear, also wearing a monocle. However, unlike Howard, he showed none of that shrewdness or cunning; instead, he carried a gentle, scholarly air, looking more like an academic deeply immersed in his studies.
“Why is he here too?”
Upon spotting him, the lady officer frowned deeply, her sense of unease growing stronger to the point where she forgot to eat the pastry in her hand.
“Who is he?”
“You've actually seen him before, though he was wearing robes back then,” the lady officer whispered. “Mr. Gulman, President of the Rhine City Arcane Research Society. He's one of Rhine City's eight publicly known high-ranking Soul Severers, possessing rank seven authority. People like him rarely appear in public, let alone attend social gatherings like this. Why did he show up out of the blue today? And his name wasn't even on the guest list.”
For a moment, Lynch felt his breath grow heavy, weighed down by the oppressive dread of a gathering storm.
Rate on N.U.
