A look of surprise also appeared in Hastur's eyes. Ever since he had hugged Sharron last time, she had kept her distance from him. Aside from occasionally playing with Ariella, she basically stayed inside the mirror.
He hadn't expected her to suddenly come out of the mirror today.
Judging by the looks of it, was she here because of Miss Audrey? Could it be that Sharron was also interested in Miss Audrey?
Why did he have a somewhat bad premonition?
Hmm, why did he need to worry about this? Perhaps Sharron simply wanted to become friends with Miss Audrey?
Hastur glanced at Sharron again. Standing on the staircase, Sharron simply held Ariella quietly in her arms. She showed no intention of coming downstairs, merely gazing calmly at him and Audrey from neither too near nor too far away.
Audrey also calmly looked at Sharron on the staircase, seemingly with no intention of speaking.
The atmosphere suddenly fell silent, and gradually became awkward.
Hastur could only smile and greet Ariella, who was nestled in Sharron's arms, hoping to use the little fellow to break this less-than-wonderful atmosphere.
But Ariella merely raised her eyelids slightly and swept him a glance. Her tail swayed lazily, gently brushing against Sharron's arm. She had no desire to move at all, and in the end, she even closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
"Miss Sharron, you look just as beautiful today, enough to make others feel ashamed of themselves."
At that moment, Audrey suddenly spoke with graceful confidence. An elegant and composed smile adorned her face, and the inexplicable aura she exuded made her look as if she were the mistress of this household.
Sharron merely glanced indifferently at Hastur, then looked at Audrey before walking down the stairs step by step. She came to Hastur's side and nodded toward Audrey. "Miss Audrey, your elegance and beauty are equally enviable."
The surprise in Hastur's eyes grew even stronger. Sharron actually had a side that praised others like this?
Audrey smiled. "I've always been very interested in the mystical world. Especially since there are people like Miss Sharron within it, it makes one yearn for it even more."
"Your life is equally enviable."
"Miss Sharron, would you mind sitting down and chatting with me? I heard from Mr. Hastur that you have a wealth of adventuring experience."
At Audrey's invitation, Sharron sat opposite her with Ariella in her arms. As for the ignored Hastur, he very consciously sat a little farther away.
"Adventuring isn't something worth boasting about." Sharron gently stroked Ariella's head as she spoke softly with Audrey.
Her voice remained cold, always giving people the feeling that she kept others at a great distance.
Audrey didn't mind speaking with her in such a tone. Instead, she warmly discussed many things about the mystical world with Sharron.
After listening to some of Sharron's brief descriptions, Audrey sighed emotionally. "I've always yearned for a magnificent adventure, but I've never been able to fulfill that wish. Although I know the dangers involved, I'm still willing to pay a small price to glimpse a different kind of beauty in this world."
Sharron said nothing. The Miss Audrey before her resembled her younger self very much. Back then, before the Rose School of Thought had undergone its upheaval, she too had once stayed in her teacher's castle, dreaming fairy-tale dreams of magnificent adventures.
"Miss Sharron, how did you meet Mr. Hastur?" Audrey asked, glancing at Hastur, who was sitting a little far away. She smiled and said, "Mr. Hastur, why are you sitting so far away?"
Sharron also swept her gaze toward him. Although she didn't speak, Hastur suddenly understood the deeper meaning behind her look.
You clearly had enough courage to hug me before, yet now, in front of Miss Audrey, you're staying far away from me. Are you afraid that Miss Audrey might misunderstand something?
Hastur wanted to confirm the meaning in Sharron's eyes again, but Sharron had already turned her head away, looking as if she didn't want to pay him any attention.
Even Ariella let out a meaningful meow from Sharron's arms.
Suppressing his awkwardness, Hastur said, "Two beautiful ladies are having a conversation. I should naturally give you some space to talk."
"Oh, is that really so?" Audrey blinked her bright eyes, as if she could see through the awkwardness in Hastur's heart at a glance.
Fortunately, Audrey ultimately didn't ask that classic question: "Between Miss Sharron and me, who is more beautiful?"
"Guilty conscience." Sharron calmly uttered those two words, causing Audrey to smile as well.
"You two keep chatting. I'll go see whether Fors has finished handling her business."
Hastur pretended not to have heard Sharron's remark and found an excuse to leave, allowing Sharron and Audrey to be alone together.
Only after walking some distance away did Hastur realize something. By leaving like this, wasn't he proving Sharron's accusation of having a guilty conscience?
He clearly hadn't done anything, so why would he feel guilty?
The key point was that when Sharron and Audrey looked at him at the same time, he really had felt guilty for a brief moment.
Hastur paused and glanced from afar at Sharron and Audrey, who were now chatting pleasantly. At this moment, the two seemed to exude invisible auras that were probing and colliding in hidden corners.
Hmm, it was probably just his imagination.
Hastur withdrew his gaze and went to the garden behind the house. After waiting quietly for a while, Fors and Xio appeared there through a passage in the spirit world.
With the help of a Sequence 4 demigod from the Yellow-Robed Monks, passing through the spirit world wasn't difficult.
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Hastur."
"It was only a small matter."
"Mr. Hastur, were you specifically waiting here for us?" Fors asked curiously before continuing, "Has Audrey already left?"
"Miss Audrey is chatting with Sharron. You can join them too," Hastur said with a smile.
"I see." Fors was clearly tempted. "Then does Mr. Hastur still have some work to take care of here?"
"Mm, I still have a few things to handle. You two go ahead."
Hastur gestured for Fors and Xio to join Sharron and Audrey's conversation. With more people present, there would be less chance of the conversation going cold, and things wouldn't become too awkward.
As for himself, he would simply stroll around the garden and treat it as a way to relax.
However, before he had even completed half a circuit around the garden, he discovered that Fors and Xio, who should have joined Sharron and Audrey's conversation, had also appeared in the garden.
He changed direction and walked toward them. Before he could speak, Fors revealed an awkward yet polite smile and lowered her voice. "There seems to be some inexplicable aura surrounding Miss Sharron and Miss Audrey. Xio and I only sat there for a short while before we started feeling uncomfortable all over, so we found an excuse and slipped away to the back garden."
"Miss Sharron was holding Ariella in her arms, while Susie was lying at Miss Audrey's feet. It looked very… balanced? Evenly matched?" Xio added from the side.
Hastur remained silent. Fors secretly glanced at him, looking as though she wanted to laugh. "Could it be that Mr. Hastur also came to the garden for a walk because he felt uncomfortable staying there?"
She had already found it a little strange earlier. As the host, how could Mr. Hastur abandon his guest and come to the garden alone to relax?
"For a pleasant and effective conversation, a certain amount of private space is essential," Hastur explained with a perfectly serious expression.
"I understand. I know what Mr. Hastur means now."
Fors showed a look of sudden realization, but the corners of her lips were already threatening to curl upward. She felt that laughing at Mr. Hastur to his face would be very impolite, so holding it back was becoming rather uncomfortable.
"What are you two talking about? Why can't I understand?" Xio curiously looked between Hastur and Fors, feeling that the two of them were speaking in riddles right in front of her.
"It's nothing. It's just that it's rare to see this side of Mr. Hastur." The corners of Fors' lips had already risen slightly, and laughter continuously spilled into her eyes.
In response, Hastur merely said calmly, "I have the potion formula for Scribe. Do you want it?"
"I do!" Fors immediately became excited.
"But I don't want to sell it for the time being."
"…" The smile on Fors' lips instantly froze, and her eyes widened slightly.
This time, it was Xio's turn to laugh from the side. Although she didn't understand what had happened, Fors' deflated expression was simply too amusing.
"Sigh."
Fors let out a heavy sigh, and then the three of them began strolling around the garden.
Upstairs, Madam Lisa pushed open the window and looked at the young men and women in the garden, unable to keep herself from sighing at how wonderful youth was.
She had originally thought that Lord Divine Envoy possessed a mentality and personality unsuited to his age. But in the end, Lord Divine Envoy was still, at heart, a handsome young man popular with girls.
Aside from Miss Sharron, who had always accompanied him, there were unexpectedly three completely different girls surrounding him.
One was noble and elegant, one was intellectual and mature, and one was… petite and delicate?
After watching for a while, she closed the window and began considering whether she should write a novel about Lord Divine Envoy as well.
Love would forever remain an enduring topic.
In the garden, Hastur and the other two walked around twice. Feeling that enough time had passed, they left the garden and returned to where Sharron and Audrey had been chatting.
From a distance, it looked as though Sharron and Audrey had just finished a conversation and were taking a brief rest, drinking tea and tasting desserts.
Seeing Hastur and the other two arrive, Sharron merely looked quietly at Hastur before quickly shifting her gaze away.
Audrey, meanwhile, smiled pleasantly. "Mr. Hastur, Sharron just mentioned that the two of you once traveled to the Republic of Intis, Emperor Roselle's homeland. Are there any particularly interesting places there?"
Hastur was slightly stunned and glanced at the silent Sharron. Strange, Sharron would actually take the initiative to share something like that with Audrey?
"It's quite nice there. The sun is just a little strong."
"That's all?" There was inquiry in Audrey's gaze, as though she were trying to confirm something.
Standing behind Hastur, Fors watched this scene and couldn't help beginning to invent a new story plot in her mind.
The mew chapter could be titled: On How to Deal with Two Women at the Same Time.
Or it could be changed into a love story about two women and one man, perhaps called: A Romantic Shuraba?