Unexpectantly, this slightly blue-tinged glass bead was actually the culprit behind Calder's transmigration from Earth! At this moment, Dorian's heart was filled with curiosity and complexity, in addition to astonishment and surprise.
He naturally felt curious about this extraordinary item. However, he felt more complexity. If not for the glass bead, his mentor wouldn't have fallen to his current state. Perhaps he would be living happily with his beloved wife and daughter on Earth.
Besides that, a faint voice in Dorian's heart whispered: If not for the glass bead, he would never have met such a knowledgeable person as his mentor in this lifetime; without his mentor's guidance, he might have already become a dandy, ignorant and without any concept of life, values, or the world.
Calder naturally didn't know Dorian's complicated thoughts. He twirled the glass bead in his palm for a moment, then extended his almost withered hand and painstakingly placed the glass bead back into Dorian's hand.
"Since I've already discarded it, that means I've given it up. You picked it up, which means it has a destiny with you. You can have the 'Eye of the Extraterrestrial'... I'm about to be buried, but you're still young. Perhaps you still have a chance to go to Earth."
Calder shook his head with a smile. He himself didn't believe this possibility, but he still insisted on saying, "If you ever get to Earth, I hope you can bring my ashes back to China and bury them under the oak tree in my old home in Jiangdong…"
The night mist was heavy. Dorian, propping his cheek with his hand, stayed by Calder's side until Calder fell asleep, then rubbed his sore arm and left.
His mentor's health was getting worse and worse, and he didn't know how much longer he could last. Even if Dorian was reluctant in his heart, if it was truly as his mentor said, that the Anima Mundi wanted his mentor to die, what could he do? Now, the only thing he could do was to stay by his mentor's side happily and do his best to be a good and filial disciple in his final moments.
When he left the small courtyard, moonlight illuminated the earth. Dorian, wearing a thin coat and a velvet cloak embroidered with the family crest, cast a long shadow under the moonlight. He walked slowly towards the castle in the center of the manor.
Meanwhile, in the castle's hall, a dance troupe dressed in gorgeous dresses twirled their colorful skirts to the music of the musicians. Expensive candles made from deep-sea fish oil were lit one by one by the maids, illuminating the hall as if it were daytime. The hall was filled with pleasant scents: the aroma of wine, the mellow fragrance of cheese, and the faint scent of flowers and tea.
When Dorian entered, he saw such a lively and jubilant scene. Elias, holding a glass of red wine, stood in the center of the crowd, chatting and laughing loudly with several unfamiliar faces. Presumably, those few were the people from the Alaric family?
As Dorian quietly sized up the newcomers, Elias also noticed him and happily pulled him to the center of the crowd to introduce them to each other.
Standing at the front was a middle-aged man dressed very gentlemanly, with emerald green eyes, dark brown hair, and angular features. His overall temperament was like an unsheathed longsword.
"Dorian, you've come at the right time. Let me introduce you. This is Earl Alaric, who guards the front lines," Elias introduced.
Dorian followed suit and greeted him. The etiquette of the nobility was already engraved in his bones, and every move he made was elegant and noble.
"These two are Allan and Irene, Earl Alaric's children."
Allan looked about fourteen years old, about the same age as Dorian himself. His features hadn't fully developed yet, and he was chubby and very cute. He inherited his father's green eyes and brown hair, but his hair was curly and unbound, giving him a more childish look.
Although Irene was the younger sister, she looked much more mature than Allan; her figure was gradually becoming plump, and the magnificent noble dress she wore made her look like a young princess about to leave her immaturity, full of youthful attraction.
While Dorian was sizing up the crowd, others were also sizing up Dorian. Dorian's appearance was the standard of beauty in the kingdom: blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin but not sickly, and every feature was perfect, making him even more stunning when combined. Specifically, when Dorian smiled and greeted the Allan siblings, Irene's face immediately turned red, and she hid behind Allan under the pretext of holding a plate.
This little girl…
Earl Alaric chuckled inwardly, but he was also surprised by Dorian's appearance. He didn't expect that the unremarkable old Lord Varen had two sons who were more handsome than the other.
After a round of praise, Elias, seeing Earl Alaric constantly looking back, said, "Since we're talking about a tea party, we can't just drink wine. Tea is the main event."
With that, Elias clapped his hands, signaling the dancing maids to stop, and led the crowd to the tea room to be seated.
Just then, the front door of the hall clicked and slowly opened. Outside, the sound of rain pattered. Only then did the crowd realize that it was raining heavily outside.
A mysterious person completely covered in a black robe slowly walked in.
Elias frowned and said in a low voice, "This guest, you are…"
Before he could finish his question, Earl Alaric, as well as Allan and Irene, strode forward and respectfully surrounded the newcomer.
"Lord Varen, this is my father, Moro Alaric," Earl Alaric introduced. "My father usually likes to drink light tea very much. He heard that there would be special tea today, so he came along. However, he had something to do on the way earlier, so he left for a while, and that's why he's only arriving now."
Elias "oh"-ed, indicating his understanding. Then, with even greater enthusiasm, he stepped forward to welcome this elder of the Alaric family.
Dorian glanced at Moro's shoes, his eyes moving slightly… His shoes were typical soft suede shoes, and the edges were covered in moist soil. What especially caught Dorian's attention was that the color of the soil was slightly reddish.
The soil in Eldoria is mostly yellow and black. Red soil only exists in one place within a hundred miles… the Varen's Tea Garden.
To pay so much attention to the tea garden, even risking running to the tea garden in the rain before the tea party?
It seems that the person who asked about the Aetherial Filament should be this old man Moro. However, Dorian was still a little confused. What was so special about the Aetherial Filament? The taste was bitter, with only a hint of sweetness after drinking it.
Besides his mentor, this was the first person to show interest in the Aetherial Filament.
Dorian didn't expose Moro's actions, but his expression was slightly stiff. The Alaric family was large and powerful, and they were just a small rural noble family that couldn't compete with them at all. He only hoped that today's tea party would satisfy the other party.
Moro, who had lowered his hood, looked like a very ordinary old man. He had a long white beard, his eyes were smiling, and he even had a bit of a kind look.
Elias directly had the head maid Corina bring up all the tea snacks that had been prepared today. Next to the tea snacks were several exquisite porcelain pots carved with patterns.
"These pots contain all the varieties of tea produced by our manor," Elias introduced.
As Elias introduced, Corina also lifted the lids one by one. As soon as the first pot lid was opened, a faint white vapor rose slowly, accompanied by a rich floral fragrance.
"This is Ice Honey Flower Tea. The tea leaves are taken from the petals of the Moon Honey Tree, which is unique to Varen Manor. It is not brewed with milk, but with melted snow mountain water. The taste is sweet but not cloying, and it is cool to the brain," Elias sighed. "Unfortunately, it is already the long winter. It would be even more refreshing if it were drunk in the hot summer."
After the Alaric group tasted the tea, only Irene liked it very much and drank a few more sips. The others only took a small sip. The black-robed old man Moro even smelled it and put it aside.
The second teapot contained milk tea, but it was different from the popular milk tea in the kingdom. It had a very special taste.
"Its name is Lemon Milk Tea. It is made with a sour fruit called Summer's Grace, combined with fermented milk and Bayleaf," Elias said, pointing to Dorian beside him, "My brother likes to drink this tea the most. He has to drink several large bowls every day, and he secretly doesn't want others to know. Hahaha."
Dorian rolled his eyes at Elias in his heart, but his face remained smiling.
"Does Brother Dorian like to drink it?" Irene's eyes lit up, and she took the porcelain cup from Corina with anticipation and took a big gulp. After taking a big gulp, a thin layer of milk skin stained the corner of her lips. Irene closed her eyes, as if savoring the pleasant milky fragrance, slightly sour, but extremely delicious!
"So delicious!" Irene said loudly. "It's even better than the flower tea just now!"
Hearing Irene say this, her brother Allan also took the teacup and drank it all in one gulp. Allan pursed his lips, his eyes narrowed into only a line, and nodded very enjoyably, strongly agreeing with his sister Irene's taste.
Earl Alaric just smiled as he looked at his two children. He didn't drink the milk tea. He could tell from Elias's words that this pot of tea was obviously prepared for Allan and Irene.
The old man Moro also doted on his two grandchildren very much and directly pushed the milk tea in his cup in front of Irene.
In the following time, Corina opened several pot lids in a row. The types of tea were mostly milk tea and flower tea series, and Moro was basically not interested. Only the two pots of green tea that Calder loved to drink did he taste a little. But after Moro tasted it, he still looked uninterested.
Dorian looked at the last pot. That pot was the last of the three kinds of tea that Calder loved to drink, and it was also the only tea plant he brought from Earth.
The Aetherial Filament