Glaint also muttered about wanting to go. Last time, he hadn't been able to go with Hastur, and he had always wanted to make up for that regret.
Hastur, however, kept his distance from the matter.
----------------------------------------
Although he had already confirmed that Mr. A bore him no malice, he still didn't want to get too close to him.
Who knew if Mr. A might suddenly go mad, better to keep some distance.
Soon, Audrey, Glaint, and Xio decided to attend this Beyonder gathering. Fors chose to stay home and laze about, while Hastur chose to keep his distance.
Audrey asked curiously: "Mr. Hastur, are you not interested in this Beyonder gathering?"
Xio covered her mouth and chuckled: "He's afraid of being noticed by Mr. A."
Fors added a jab: "Actually, Mr. A isn't a bad person at all. After so many Beyonder gatherings, there's never once been any trouble."
Stories between two handsome men, just thinking of it was enough to make one blush, yet that thrill was hard to resist.
Fors's cheeks flushed red; she quickly reined in her thoughts, refusing to let her imagination run wild with fantasies about Hastur and Mr. A.
Hastur merely smiled, offering no explanation.
After chatting for a while, Xio glanced at Fors and coughed lightly: "We recently collected two more of Emperor Roselle's manuscripts."
"?!" Audrey's interest was instantly piqued.
Even the mysterious Mr. Fool was interested in such things. They only called them manuscripts, it seemed they didn't know that these so-called manuscripts were actually diaries.
She should also collect some pages of Roselle's diaries. That way she could repay her debt to Mr. Fool.
She could even use them to exchange for knowledge and assistance.
Before she could ask, Hastur said with a smile: "Certainly. Fifty gold pounds for one manuscript, the purchase price remains the same."
Audrey widened her eyes slightly, she hadn't expected Mr. Hastur to also be collecting Roselle's diaries.
How was she supposed to negotiate with Xio and Fors to help her find them now?
If she offered a higher price, wouldn't that be directly competing with Mr. Hastur?
That was something she couldn't do.
But she still needed Roselle's diaries. She couldn't just waste this channel.
Audrey puffed out her cheeks involuntarily, but quickly realized it looked unseemly.
After thinking for a bit, she decided she could approach Mr. Hastur privately under the guise of study and discussion.
She didn't necessarily need the originals, so long as the content was correct, she could just ask for some copies.
But… Mr. Hastur was paying fifty pounds each for originals, was it really right for her to take advantage like that?
He had taught her so much about mysticism.
And it wasn't as if she were poor, she could easily offer a higher price to buy some from him.
For example, one hundred gold pounds per manuscript.
A bit expensive, yes, but she didn't need to buy every single one.
Occasionally she could still get a few "for free" under the name of study and discussion.
Just a few shouldn't be a problem, right?
Audrey glanced at Hastur nervously, but seeing him busy completing the transaction with Xio, not paying her any mind, she finally relaxed.
Once their deal was done, she smiled and said: "Mr. Hastur, I'm also very interested in Emperor Roselle's manuscripts. May I seek your guidance on this subject in the future?"
Hastur returned her smile: "Of course, you are most welcome."
With both parties' goals achieved, their smiles shone all the brighter.
Glaint asked curiously: "Can you actually understand Emperor Roselle's manuscripts?"
"No."
"No."
Audrey and Hastur answered simultaneously.
Hastur added: "I've always been a follower of Emperor Roselle's knowledge."
"And I truly admire the impact Emperor Roselle had on this era," Audrey quickly added.
"You two are really strange…" Glaint muttered softly, but said no more.
Hastur and Audrey, perfectly in sync, dropped the topic and turned to other matters.
Hastur went on to share some simpler mysticism knowledge.
When they were about to leave, Audrey, walking not far from Hastur, said: "Mr. Hastur, I think Emperor Roselle's manuscripts look as though a whole diary was torn into pages."
Since Mr. Hastur had taught her so much, she thought she could reveal a bit of "higher knowledge" to him as well.
It wasn't just about showing off her cleverness in front of him.
Well… perhaps she couldn't completely deny that. Sometimes she wanted to be the one standing at the peak of intellect, overlooking others.
She wanted to see the look of realization and surprise on Mr. Hastur's face.
Yes, let him feel a little shock.
"Oh? Miss Audrey also noticed?"
That single rhetorical question left Audrey momentarily blank.
This wasn't the reaction she had expected!
She forced a smile: "Mr. Hastur thinks the same?"
"Yes. I've long suspected as much. This is one of the fruits of my research on Roselle's manuscripts."
"So I uncovered the secret unintentionally…"
"Miss Audrey is truly clever."
Audrey only smiled faintly at the praise.
Yes, she was clever.
She had naively thought she could stand atop the peak of intellect before Mr. Hastur for a moment.
Yet in the end, the clown was herself.
Sigh, best not to seek applause in areas one isn't skilled at.
Hastur admired Audrey's little expressions for a while, then asked: "Since you're so interested in Emperor Roselle, Miss Audrey, do you also have some of his diaries in your collection at home?"
"…"
Audrey froze for a moment, then quickly responded: "We could research and study them together."
She feared Hastur might suddenly suggest buying her family's diaries. That would be far too awkward, she wouldn't even know how to reply.
"That works too."
Hastur glanced at Audrey with a smile, his mood lifting even more.
Before boarding the carriage, Audrey thought for a moment, but refrained from asking directly about his financial state.
Instead she said with a smile: "I recently have some spare funds to invest. Do you have any good suggestions, Mr. Hastur?"
"Tonight, Glaint's mosquito-repelling powder should have good market prospects. It would be a fine investment."
"But I have rather a lot of spare funds. Surely Glaint's business won't require twenty thousand pounds? I'll think about it after I return."
Audrey showed a troubled expression, then, under Hastur's faintly shocked and envious gaze, rode away in her carriage.
Inside, Audrey secretly pumped her fist, a little pleased.
'So Mr. Hastur's finances weren't all that sound after all.'
But soon, embarrassment washed over her, her cheeks burned hot.
To salvage her earlier awkwardness, she had actually resorted to teasing him about his financial state.
And had even taken pleasure in his startled expression.
'Audrey, you've changed. The old you would never have done such a thing.'
'You must change, but no more such nonsense in the future.'
Audrey reflected deeply on what had just happened.
But after a while, she muttered: "Except for money, I can't surpass Mr. Hastur in anything else. Yet he looks about my age…"
…
In the study.
Hastur sat at his desk, reread the two newly acquired Roselle diaries, then locked them together with the previous ones in a drawer.
Now that Audrey understood their importance, it was time to start hinting some information to Klein.
He took out pen and paper, thought for a while, then began imitating Roselle's diary style:
"August 12th. I attended a banquet hosted by Viscount Reed. He drank a great deal and kept boasting about his prowess in that regard, until I saw his wife walking out from the depths of the garden with a baron, cheeks flushed. Then I realized that what people like to boast of is often what they themselves lack."
"August 15th. I heard something interesting from Mr. Door, it was a Sealed Artifact, a magical pen. It could write plays, and the stories within would then unfold in reality. Isn't this just an otherworldly version of Ma Liang's* magic paint brush? Mr. Door even warned me: if, in daily life, you keep running into coincidences, chances, and accidents, you must beware, you might have been written into a script by that pen, becoming a character in someone else's story."
"August 19th. I went with Ms. Green and Mrs. Edward to enjoy a performance by a song-and-dance troupe. Mm, it was the adult version. Quite impressive."
After writing these three entries, Hastur paused, carefully reviewed them, then added two more little stories, filling the page.
Only then did he set down the pen, admiring his handiwork.
The other four stories weren't important, only the August 15th one mattered.
That was his first subtle reminder and guidance to Klein, using the figure of Mr. Door.
He hadn't written directly that the pen was called "008." He would save that for later.
This fit well with Roselle's fragmented style of diary entries.
As for smearing Roselle's reputation? Did Roselle's own amorous deeds need anyone else to slander them?
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T/N Notes~
*Ma Liang is the protagonist of the well-known Chinese folktale "The Magic Paintbrush" (also known as "The Magic Pen").
The story is about a poor but artistic boy named Ma Liang who receives a magical paintbrush that brings his drawings to life. He uses the brush to help the common people and defeat corrupt figures like a landlord and a king, ultimately bringing prosperity to his village.