Read Novel Full Chapter 584: Evernight and Evercharm?
Chapter 584: Evernight and Evercharm?
’Twenty-four nobles.’ Lillian looked around, watching as several nobles got together to indulge in conversations about each other’s goals and lives.
These twenty-four nobles all come from an esteemed family of notable importance. Some of these nobles come from a family that has a powerful role in their respective nation’s military, or in the business of inventors/creators, etc.
Since this event wasn’t a mandatory thing, it was most likely that some had rejected the idea of coming to this social gathering, reasons such as being uninterested in forming relationships or already having a good amount of one.
Nonetheless, with this number of nobles, it was much easier to track who was who.
"Hahaha!" Damien laughed, calling out to everyone, "Please, all, do help yourself in exploring my family’s precious garden! But do so in pairs or groups, this is a social acivity, after all. And no, servants don’t count as a member for a pair."
Lillian watched a pair after a pair of nobles went off to explore the gigantic garden covered in purple flowers and more.
While this was happening, Marionette was, at the moment, approached by a pair of noblewomen, who took a large interest in her red and black dress.
"Oh my god, I must say you have an absolutely gorgeous dress."
"Yeah! Could you please tell us who tailored this for you?"
Seeing this, Lillian smiled wryly, ’So, this part begins.’
By using this chance to use what they had learned from the first part, everyone would begin to try to get to know each other, hoping to plant a seed of trust between one another that would bloom into something possibly more.
’Honestly, it’s just a glorified mixer party.’ Lillian chuckled to herself, taking a few steps back from Marionette after she noticed her view of her surroundings was obstructed by the two women.
Lillian eyed the group Damien gathered. She noticed him sending various glances in both her and Marionette’s direction, but made no attempt to approach the two.
It was as though he was avoiding Marionette.
Marionette, who noticed the glances she received from Damien and Lillian stepping away from her, frowned deeply.
She then shifted her gaze to the two before her and listened as they made several comments about her dress, ranging from who its tailor was to how beautiful it was, to lastly how well it fitted her.
They had also begun to try to convince her to join them on a stroll through the garden, something she had already done in the past.
There was no reason she should even be here.
"Oh! Miss Lillian is that you?"
Marionette’s ears twitched at the sound of Lillian’s name coming out of a... man’s voice?
Quickly turning around, she found Lillian interacting with a man wearing a crow-like masquerade mask. Marionette’s eyes widened slightly.
Did Lillian know this person?
Emilio looked towards Lillian with a wide smile, previously bored with the beginning of the event. "I didn’t expect to see you here at the event! And as an attendant, as well, which makes it much more surprising. Could it be you didn’t get the invitation, I remember you too was a noble?"
Lillian chuckled, "Unfortunately, I didn’t get one, but it’s fine. Working as a maid isn’t so bad, considering who I am working for." She then glanced towards the servant next to Emilio.
"I see that John isn’t with you."
Emilio sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah... My family weren’t as ecstatic as I thought when I told them I just got out of a Trial. They were happy, of course, since they tested I became much stronger, but yeah... Anyway, I sent John back to be with his family after giving him a large amount of payment for his work."
The Nightraven then tilted his head, remembering a certain phrase Lillian said.
"Who you are working for?" Emilio turned his head, briefly making eye contact with Marionette, who squinted at him.
He shivered as a cold chill went up his spine.
Turning back to Lillian, he gestured towards the black-haired woman and uttered in a hushed tone, "Her?! Don’t tell me who I think she is!"
Within the brief glance he made, Emilio had made out the obvious features of the woman - black hair and red eyes. And, if he recalled the last conversation he had with Lillian, it fitted the description of someone he should...
Avoid.
Lillian smiled a bit, noticing the slight shiver Emilio had; it seemed like he remembered what she had told him.
"Perhaps~... I’ll leave it up to your assumption."
The Rabbit then glanced at the Raven’s attire, "I must say, though. You are quite dashing in that suit of yours."
Emilio’s attire consisted of: a black suit and pants with a tint of dark blue to them, a white buttoned-up shirt, and a bluish-black tie.
"D-dashing, huh? I’m flattered." Emilio smiled timidly, rubbing the back of his neck - still rather affected by Lillian’s beauty.
The memory of having a nosebleed due to Lillian’s appearance back on the ship was still apparent inside his mind, embarrassing him every time he remembered it.
Marionette, who had just overheard Lillian call Emilio dashing, found herself eyeing the Nightraven with increased scrutiny; her eyes narrowing even more with what she heard next.
"I, too, have to say that uniform of yours looks very charming on you, Miss Lillian."
"You think? Well, thanks!"
After waving off the women who were trying to speak to her, Marionette began to walk over to Lillian.
Emilio held his chin, taking a few glances around at the garden before shifting his gaze back to the maid in front of him.
"How about you and I take a walk around? We might be able to find something that catches your eye here. Maybe even an Evercharm flower, I’ve heard they smell like lavender, but even better! And it can be turned into a non-lethal poison that affected a person’s mind."
Lillian raised an eyebrow at his choice of flowers, but shook her head with a smile. "Sorry, but I’m only really interested in roses. Not these types of flowers, and especially not that flower."
"Oh, okay... Well, that’s fine! We can still find something that catches your eye here, somewhere." Emilio persisted, unknowingly causing Lillian’s face to twitch.
’Persistent...’ Lillian thought.
"You do know that attendants don’t count as a member of a pair or for a group, right?"
"Ah, right! Forgot about that..."
Lillian watched as the Raven rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before stiffening. She raised an eyebrow at this, but then watched and felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind.
She flinched and glanced beside her, discovering the face of a woman whose beauty was half-hidden under a mask.
Marionette narrowed her red eyes on Emilio, finding herself incredibly wary of the man; he seemed a bit too close to Lillian and seemed to take an interest in the Rabbit.
"H-hey, I see that you’re doing talk with those ladies."
"Mhm," Marionette responded plainly, eyeing Emilio, who had begun to tiptoe the opposite direction from Marionette - evidently, frightened by her presence.
Seeing this, Marionette internally snorted. Having overheard the words he had asked Lillian, the Assassin asked:
"You wish to walk with Lillian? How about I come with you? It seemed like the two of you had a lot to speak about."
Both Lillian and Emilio paused and turned towards the Assassin with a look of disbelief.
"Huh?" x 2
***
"And this here is where the Evernight flowers of my family grow." Damien led a group of nobles over to a large patch of flowers surrounding a large white garden pavilion.
The flower he called an Evernight flower had a thin and almost waxy green stem with dark petals that emitted a dark purple glow. At the centre of the flower was a dense, amethyst-like pearl.
The nobles around the flowers took a curious knee and breathed in the scent of the flowers, after being told they were safe.
They had a faint, but potent smell of lavender that made their lips curl upwards in joy.
"These are beautiful... I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Evernight Flowers before."
"Same here, and my family has a history in flowers in the West. In fact, these flowers look closely similar to Evercharm flowers..."
"Now that you say that, I think you are ri—"
"Well, that’s because our family used Evercharm flowers as a reference." Damien chimed in, walking over to them with full confidence about his flowers, "While these flowers do exhibit close similarities to Evercharm, they truly aren’t. In fact, these flowers are more of a pet project of one of my siblings."
After spewing out more and more information about the Evernight flowers till the nobles’ suspicion died away, he brought them over to sit in the benches of the white pavilion.
"How about a drink, everyone? I’m sure you all are parched after such a long drive and such."
Sliding over wine glasses on the table to each noble, Damien summoned a wine bottle from his spatial ring before popping open the cork.
He then held the mouth of the wine bottle beneath his nose, taking in a deep whiff.
After that, he pulled the wine bottle away from his face and frowned. Damien pushed back in the cork before fetching another wine bottle from his spatial ring.
When the smell of it finally seemed right, Damien smiled and began to pour everyone a glass, "I am sorry for the wait, I seemed to have pulled out the wrong one."
Stepping away, Damien held up a glass of purplish wine towards everyone, "I do hope you all enjoy this wine, for it is a personal favourite of mine to give to others."
While some nobles narrowed their eyes at that piece of information, even growing suspicious of the wine, they soon drank it the moment Damien took a sip.
"Oh, wow! This is really good!"
"Isn’t it?! It has such a rich taste~..."
One by one, everyone noble drank the wine before Damien’s eyes, whose pupils seemed to curl upwards into a smile.
"You must tell us where you got this wine from, Sir Damien!" A noblewoman asked, receiving a gentle gaze from Damien.
"Of course, of course! In fact, what you are drinking right now is the sap extracted from these Evernight flowers, delicious isn’t it?"
As he continued to converse and give facts about Evernight flowers, he caught a glimpse of a stray man around his age standing far from the pavilion - still engrossed in the sight of the Evernight flowers.
Walking over, Damien offered the stray noble a drink.
"My dear friend, Albrecht! How about a drink?"
The noble turned his head towards Damien. Long brunette hair tied in a ponytail that fell to his lower back, and bright green eyes that bore a four-pointed star in the centre of them. He had an unnatural aura to him that made him feel unapproachable.
However, if there was one thing interesting about him, it was the fact that he was one of the Six Great Prodigies and Damien’s dear friend, Albrecht Von Hohenfall.
"Isn’t it tradition to save the names at the end?"
"Hm? You follow tradition, since when?" Damien smiled, crouching down beside him and patting his shoulder amiably. "So, how about it? You want a drink of this Evernight wine?"
"... Don’t play with me." Albrecht coldly looked at Damien, "Evernight? Bunch of crap. These are actually just Evercharm flowers, aren’t they?"
Damien smiled widely, almost mischievously. "Whaaat~? Says who?"
What Albrecht said was right. These flowers around them were never Evernight or whatever crap he was making up.
They were actually Evercharm, but because the fools who call themselves nobles were tricked by his confidence, they were tricked into drinking what was essentially a poison that made them more susceptible to be charmed.
A poison he was highly resistant to.