In the study, Audrey and Hastur sat on the sofa, enjoying the afternoon tea. Susie lay lazily at Audrey's feet, her gaze occasionally drifting toward Ariella, who was curled up in Hastur's arms.
After secretly eating some dried fish, Ariella wandered around for a while before returning. She even openly snatched away the dried fish Audrey had specially brought and hid in Hastur's arms.
"You're saying Susie was awakened by Ariella?"
After listening to Audrey describe how Susie had awakened, Hastur looked down in surprise at Ariella, who was happily munching on dried fish.
How come he had never known Ariella could cure illnesses? Could she have learned it from Sharon?
Faced with Hastur's disbelief, Ariella closed her eyes, too lazy to explain.
"Yes. Susie had been sleeping the entire time. It wasn't until Ariella arrived that she woke up." Audrey then described in greater detail exactly how Ariella had awakened Susie.
Susie, lying on the floor, quietly perked up her ears to eavesdrop.
"..."
Hastur fell silent for a moment, then gave Ariella a complicated look. If he wasn't mistaken...
When Ariella had patted Susie on the head, she hadn't been trying to wake Susie up that way at all. She had simply seen Susie sleeping and felt an irresistible urge to smack her a few times.
Unexpectedly, Susie happened to wake up right then, giving Audrey the wrong impression.
"Meow."
Ariella softly responded and then buried her head.
Hastur didn't explain the truth to Audrey. He merely smiled and said, "Perhaps they have a way of communicating that we humans can't understand."
"Woof, woof woof?" Susie instinctively tried to communicate with Ariella in dog language. Ariella lazily narrowed her eyes at Susie, then reluctantly meowed once.
"?!!" Susie stood up from the floor, her eyes widening as she stared at Ariella in disbelief.
"They really have their own way of communicating? Even though one is a dog and the other is a cat?"
Audrey curiously looked back and forth between Susie and Ariella, still finding Hastur's explanation hard to believe.
"Ants and bees each have their own languages, let alone intelligent mystical creatures like Susie and Ariella."
"Ariella too?"
"Mm. She's a natural-born assassin."
Audrey showed a look of sudden realization. No wonder her little tricks had never managed to fool Ariella. It turned out Ariella, like Susie, possessed intelligence no lower than that of a human.
Hadn't her earlier attempt to tempt Ariella with dried fish been rather childish?
"Meow."
Ariella meowed at just the right moment, as though she had seen through Audrey's thoughts.
Audrey couldn't help sneaking a glance at Ariella, only to discover that she had been overthinking things. Ariella was merely urging Mr. Hastur to give her another piece of dried fish.
"You've already secretly eaten quite a lot today. Your belly is almost completely round."
"Meow..."
Ariella immediately deflated and lay motionless in Hastur's arms.
Audrey looked enviously at the interaction between Mr. Hastur and Ariella, then inadvertently glanced at Susie, whose belly was already round and full, and sighed.
Susie had clearly been very cute when she was little too. She had been so tiny that Audrey could hold her in her arms, and occasionally she even had to feed her some goat's milk.
Now, Susie's sturdy body was so heavy that Audrey found it tiring just to lift her off the ground.
"Woof?" Susie raised her head and met Audrey's gaze. The meaning in her eyes was very clear: So growing up is my fault now?
A little after four in the afternoon, Hastur left Earl Hall's residence. He had originally come at Audrey's invitation to check on Susie, but unexpectedly, Ariella had accidentally resolved the problem instead. This saved him a great deal of time, so he also took the opportunity to bid Audrey farewell.
In a few days, once Backlund returned to its usual tranquility, he would set off for Southville County.
After returning home, Ariella leaped out of Hastur's arms and accurately found Sharon, who had arrived at some unknown point.
"Meow, meow..."
Ariella meowed repeatedly, seemingly discussing something with Sharon, yet also seeming to secretly tattle and egg her on.
Hastur ignored the mischievous Ariella and said to Sharon, "Maric wants to return to Southville County with us this time. What do you think?"
Sharon didn't answer. She simply looked at Hastur.
"I'll reject Maric's request right away. He's still young, so this is exactly the time when he should be working hard. It's best for him to stay in a metropolis like Backlund," Hastur quickly said.
Sharon withdrew her gaze and lowered her head to gently stroke Ariella's little head.
...
A little after nine that night, Hastur arrived at the Bravehearts Bar and righteously rejected Maric's idea of going to Southville County.
Maric's already pale face now resembled a corpse that had been dead for days and buried deep underground. He stared resentfully at Hastur. "You forget your friends the moment you see a beauty!"
Hastur turned a deaf ear to him. His expression remained natural as he drank his wine and evaluated its quality.
"You're paying for tonight's drinks!"
"No problem."
The corners of Hastur's lips rose slightly. With great generosity, he took out a stack of 10-pound notes from his coat pocket, counted out ten of them in front of Maric, and placed them on the table.
"This is enough for you to drink for three days and three nights."
"..."
Maric looked speechless. "You think money can make up for forgetting your friends over a woman?"
"Then forget it."
Hastur made a show of taking the money back, but Maric was already one step ahead, pressing his right palm down on the notes.
"Once money has been taken out, how can there be any reason to take it back?"
Hastur clicked his tongue and leaned back slightly. "Even spilled water can be recovered without losing a single drop, much less a few spoken words."
The saying that spilled water could not be recovered only applied under normal circumstances.
In the Beyonder world, accomplishing such a thing was very simple.
Maric snorted twice without arguing. Then he called over a bar waiter, pulled five 10-pound notes from the table, and handed them to him, telling him to go outside and loudly announce that Mr. Hastur would be paying for all the customers' expenses tonight.
"..."
Hastur nearly coughed out the wine in his mouth, but fortunately managed to hold it in.
"Maric, you really are a genius." Hastur offered his heartfelt praise.
"Do I need you to tell me that?" Maric shot him a disdainful glance.
When Hastur emerged from the billiards room, the bar waiter loudly greeted him.
"Mr. Hastur, thank you for your generosity tonight."
That greeting caused all the drinkers in the bar to turn their gazes toward him, and voices of gratitude immediately rose one after another.
Hastur's expression stiffened slightly, while Maric hid in the shadows and enjoyed the spectacle.
Under the gazes of the happily drinking patrons, Hastur left the Bravehearts Bar.
He had barely spent a moment breathing in the fresh air outside when a carriage conveniently stopped beside him, waiting for him to get in.
Hastur glanced at it. This carriage wasn't from his household, nor did it look like one hired by the Bravehearts Bar.
"Earl Campbell, you really are difficult to invite." A voice containing suppressed anger came from inside the carriage.
"And you are?"
"Heh." The person inside chuckled twice, pulled open the carriage curtain, and revealed his face.
Oh, it was George III's son, that Second Prince. What was his name again?
Hastur thought for a moment and realized that he truly couldn't remember.
He only remembered that this Second Prince had once threatened him over matters concerning the former Duke of Southville.
"Does the Second Prince need something?" Hastur still asked politely.
Leonard Augustus said with a dark expression, "I'm already a 'Prince' now!"
[T/N : Here what I think is, he is the prince of some place.,]
He had forgotten about that.
Hastur showed a look of realization, then sighed. "King George III's voice and countenance still seem to linger before my eyes."
"..." Even Leonard Augustus hadn't expected Hastur to come up with such a line, leaving him unable to continue blaming Hastur for his discourtesy.
"Get in. I have important matters to discuss with you!" He frowned and spoke in a commanding tone.
"I've had quite a lot to drink and need to go home and rest. Or does the Second Prince intend to argue with a drunken man?"
"..."
Suppressing his anger, Leonard Augustus said, "You can wash your face first. Then you'll sober up."
"No."
Hastur refused outright. He couldn't even be bothered to pay him any more attention. Leonard Augustus's face turned completely black with rage, and in the end, he angrily lowered the carriage curtain and ordered the coachman to drive away.
"George III has only just died. I have no interest in getting involved in your royal family's internal affairs."
Hastur didn't even need to guess to know why the other party had come looking for him. At present, he had made quite a name for himself in Southville County. Coupled with the Duke of Southville accidentally falling into the water and dying, Hastur could already be considered the de facto ruler of Southville County.
Moreover, he was still very young, which indeed made him worth winning over.
Perhaps tomorrow or the day after, once Jevington Augustus had some time to spare, he would also send someone to seek Hastur out.
Hastur had no interest in getting involved in something so troublesome. Matters like choosing sides were better left for Earl Hall and the others to worry about.
Sure enough, the following afternoon, the newly crowned Jevington Augustus of the Loen Kingdom sent someone to invite him to that evening's banquet.
Earl Hall, the Prime Minister, and other powerful nobles had all received invitations.
Hastur originally didn't want to get involved in these matters, but since he hadn't yet left Backlund, he truly had no reasonable excuse to refuse.
Moreover, Jevington Augustus had only just ascended the throne. If Hastur refused his invitation, it would give people far too much room for speculation.
Therefore, Hastur first went to Earl Hall's residence and then attended the evening banquet together with him.
Even if something really happened, Earl Hall would be there so they could discuss it together.