Lord of Mysteries: Return of the Stars!

Hilbert Hall, "You are my most cherished little sister, and the brightest gem tonight."

Not far away, Hastur raised his wine glass, looked at Audrey, smiled, and whispered, "Nice to meet you, Miss Justice."

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Hastur arrived about ten minutes earlier than Audrey.

His arrival also drew a lot of attention, especially from the noble ladies who were chatting happily.

With a tall figure, handsome face, and a youthful yet immature aura, among the nobles who were mostly around thirty, he was undoubtedly the most outstanding male, and he was single, with a consistently good reputation.

Fortunately, tonight's banquet was hosted by Greg, so those burning gazes were somewhat restrained.

After Hastur arrived, he casually glanced around and was surprised to find that Madam Germani was also among the invited guests tonight.

When his gaze swept past, Madam Germani returned a more provocative look, the smile at the corner of her eyes making her seem a few years younger.

Hastur maintained a proper smile and naturally turned to avoid the area where Madam Germani was.

Recently, although Madam Germani hadn't blocked him at the courthouse gates, she often sent him banquet invitations, all of which he politely declined.

Perhaps such behavior only fueled her desire to win, she no longer bothered with formal invitations and instead started sending ambiguous letters in her own name.

To this, Hastur always smiled and burned the unopened letters to ashes.

Aside from Madam Germani, Hastur felt quite free here.

He didn't know many noble heirs, only about three or four whom he was somewhat familiar with, and some of them weren't invited due to insufficient status. Glaint, being a viscount, didn't get an invitation either.

Hastur suspected this might be Greg's way of expressing disapproval.

Not knowing many people meant not many would approach him, aside from some simple small talk, he didn't need to interact much.

He nibbled on sweets while listening to nearby nobles discuss recent events and gossip from high society.

Very relaxing, almost like being at home.

In addition to the dessert area, there was also a cooked food section, but seeing the piles of various utensils made his scalp tingle, he had no intention of heading there to get food.

Each dish had its own specialized knife, fork, spoon, adding up to more than a hundred types.

And all made of pure silver. This kind of extravagant display was so high-end that the average person's confidence would shrink just seeing it.

And this was a relatively public banquet, a private banquet at a major noble's residence would be even more luxurious, with even more etiquette.

When seated at the dining table, the utensils initially presented would only be those needed at the start. As the meal progressed, the servants would quietly switch them out for specialized ones according to each dish.

Being able to correctly choose the appropriate fork, spoon, or knife among many subtly different ones was a profound skill.

By the end of a banquet, each person might use dozens of different utensils. Without proper training, one would most certainly make a fool of themselves.

Complicated, exquisite, and luxurious, this was the norm of great noble life.

Hastur speculated that tonight's banquet probably had over a hundred maids just for preparation, and the cost easily started in the thousands of pounds.

This was the vast difference between great nobles and fallen ones like himself.

It wasn't until Audrey's arrival that something caught his attention.

Purely from a man's perspective, Audrey's beauty was unmatched by any of the noble ladies present.

From a noble's point of view, there likely wasn't a better marriage candidate than Audrey.

Hastur only appreciated her for a moment before looking away. Audrey was beautiful, the most dazzling gem in Backlund, but she wasn't his type for a romantic relationship.

As for marriage?

As a fallen baron, he was obviously no match for a count's daughter who could marry into royalty at any time.

Even if their statuses matched in the future, he wouldn't have such thoughts.

Audrey's beauty was better admired from afar, just like now.

"Hmm, this caramel pudding tastes the best tonight."

Hastur had sampled most of the desserts and finally crowned the caramel pudding as tonight's winner.

To show respect to the champion, he had a few more bites.

"So, you really like sweets."

Taking advantage of the attention Audrey was getting, Madam Germani, who had been watching Hastur, finally seized the opportunity.

Hastur kept his smile, replying meaningfully, "Sweet but not cloying* is the highest praise for a dessert."

"Are you saying I'm too cloying?"

Madam Germani was smart; her tone turned slightly resentful.

Hastur didn't respond, using silence as his answer.

"If two people want to be together, one must take the initiative. Otherwise, the one you're interested in will eventually slip away right under your nose."

"Is that another quote from Emperor Roselle? Was he a romantic too?"

"..."

Madam Germani was momentarily stunned, and the subtle flirtatious atmosphere was instantly ruined.

Just as she was about to speak again, Hastur gave her no chance and walked toward Audrey.

Her expression shifted slightly as she stared at Hastur's back. But when she saw that he merely passed by Audrey, she smiled again.

Trying to use Miss Audrey's brilliance to make me feel dim by comparison?

What a small man's mind, so easy to read.

With a smile, Madam Germani also walked toward Audrey, exchanged a few polite words, then shot Hastur a provocative glance.

Ridiculous.

That was Hastur's only thought. He was merely trying to avoid Madam Germani, not using Audrey as an excuse to reject her.

Such petty games, he wouldn't waste his time.

The banquet went on, and soon it was time to dance.

Many wanted to invite Audrey, but most knew they had no chance, and Audrey wouldn't give them one.

She danced only once, with her elder brother, Hibbert Hall, and then found an excuse to go to the second-floor lounge to avoid the rest of the event.

Madam Germani looked around but couldn't find Hastur anywhere, which left her feeling frustrated.

Upstairs, in Greg's study, Hastur had already left the dance floor and come to rest.

When he asked, the butler, aware of his close relationship with Greg, led him here and discreetly helped him avoid Madam Germani.

Sitting on the soft couch in the study, Hastur closed his eyes and relaxed for a while. He had eaten a lot of sweets tonight, perfect time for digestion.

After resting, Hastur got up and walked to one of the bookshelves, pulled out a legal book, and began to read.

Compared to dancing downstairs, he preferred staying here and reading.

At least reading expanded his knowledge and wisdom, whereas dancing only wasted time.

Knock knock knock!

A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Hastur said naturally while flipping pages.

The door opened, and two figures entered.

Hastur glanced back, momentarily stunned. He had thought the only person who would come at this time would be Greg, but it was Audrey and her personal maid.

Hmm, also count Susie, the future Beyonder Dog.

Audrey and Hastur exchanged a glance, and both sensed a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.

This was Greg's study, a private space, only close people could enter. Audrey had gotten permission from Greg to come here.

She had expected to find a servant guarding the study, not a young and handsome noble boy.

Judging by age, he seemed around the same as her.

That youthful and immature aura made him appear several years younger.

Hastur took the initiative to speak: "Miss Audrey, I'm glad to run into you here. If you don't mind, would you like to enjoy a quiet reading time together?"

He was at the most exciting part of the book and didn't want to be distracted.

"Mm."

Audrey nodded calmly and sat on the opposite side of the sofa under her maid's cautious watch.

After a while, Audrey felt like asking about his identity, but seeing him so focused on reading, she didn't want to interrupt.

After all, she didn't know him, it would be rather rude.

Thinking it over, she got up and walked toward the bookshelves, planning to find a book herself and not return to the sofa.

Greg's study was large, with an extensive collection, even books on mysticism were among them.

If not for her maid being present, she definitely would've picked a book on mysticism to read.

After about ten minutes, Hastur finished the key section, closed the book, and glanced around, finding Audrey quietly reading deep in the shelves.

He looked at her briefly, then turned his attention to Susie.

At the moment, Susie had not yet taken the potion to become a Beyonder and was just an unusually smart dog.

When Hastur beckoned with his finger, Susie didn't even glance at him, instead, she found a spot near Audrey and lay down.

Her tail gently wagged, as if rejecting any disturbance to her sleep.

'Susie should be female, right?'

'Should I get a big male dog in the future, let him take the Reader potion too, and have them become a Beyonder dog couple?'

'That way, they can keep each other company, and when no one's around, they can discuss which human acted dumb today.'

Hastur imagined the scene of two Beyonder dogs interacting in his mind.