Empress Borough, the back garden of Earl Hall's manor.
As the most high-end district in Backlund, the environment here was much better compared to the smog-filled East Borough. At the very least, the sky wasn't that oppressive grey stained by industrial smoke.
"Meow~"
Lucky was lying comfortably on the back of the big golden retriever, Susie, lazily basking in the Sun. Susie had curled herself into a ball, seemingly happy to serve as a soft and comfortable "cat cushion."
Munch munch~
An owl with glossy feathers finished the last piece of fresh beef in its bowl with satisfaction. It flapped its wings, wiped its sharp beak, and then slowly flew above the Orange Cat.
"Boss, I'm done eating."
"The beef here is much tastier than what that stingy Darkwill gives me."
"Meow—" Lucky let out a lazy cry.
Harry understood and slowly landed beside the golden retriever, then obediently raised his head. The Orange Cat extended a furry paw, gently rubbed the owl's head, then rolled over to continue enjoying the rare sunbath.
"Meow~"
"Why do I feel—like you're a bit unhappy?"
As a "Spectator," Susie had noticed her friend's recent emotional changes. Over this period, the other's mood seemed to be going from bad to worse—
As if her mind had been read, Lucky pulled her head back awkwardly and buried her face in Susie's fluffy golden fur. She suddenly felt that a golden retriever's intuition being too sharp wasn't necessarily a good thing. Although this fellow usually acted silly, nothing could ever be hidden from her.
"Yeah, yeah, Boss, you seem very unhappy," Harry also asked with concern from the side.
To be honest, he was very satisfied with his current life.
That day, just because he mocked Darkwill's IQ, he had been chased and beaten with a broom by the enraged Apothecary all the way. After he escaped the herb shop in a sorry state, he encountered this strange cat-and-dog duo.
Subsequently, he was brought to this luxurious-looking villa and enjoyed the most delicious feast of his life—no, his bird life.
"Want to eat this food every day? Meow~ Just be my subordinate."
"Woof! And be my friend too!"
Looking at these two rare fellow Beyonder animals and the delicious food he had just eaten, Harry hesitated for a full two seconds before decisively agreeing.
And so, Lucky happily gained a new lackey.
Since Mrs. Griffin prepared food for her every day, she couldn't finish the portion Susie prepared for her at all—besides, a cat's appetite is naturally much smaller than a dog's.
Harry's arrival happened to help digest this extra portion.
"Sigh—" The Orange Cat let out a human-like sigh. Feeling the worried gazes of her two "underlings," she finally chose to reveal a bit of the truth.
"You mean, your owner left you at an old lady's house and rarely comes back to see you anymore, right?" Susie asked in a sympathetic tone.
"Meow~ It's my provider," Lucky corrected.
"Maybe—he has very important things to do—" Susie comforted, knowing that humans always had many complex affairs.
"Is he very powerful? From the stories you told before, Boss, he feels much stronger than that guy Darkwill." Harry expressed strong curiosity about Lorne.
"Meow~ He is indeed very powerful," mentioning Lorne, the tip of Lucky's tail curled up slightly, carrying a hint of imperceptible pri—
—de, "But this meow is also very strong!"
Just as she suddenly felt inspired, stood up from Susie's back, and prepared to tell her two underlings about the glorious deeds of her adventures at sea with Lorne—
A clear shout came from not far away.
"Susie! I'm back!"
"So many things happened today!"
"Audrey is back—" Susie exclaimed.
"What bad timing." Interrupted in her speech, Lucky was a bit disappointed. She jumped lightly off Susie and extended a paw toward Harry the owl.
Harry understood immediately, flew to Lucky's side, and carefully grabbed the fur on the Orange Cat's back with his talons. Then, he spread his wings and carried his boss toward the distant sky.
"Goodbye~" Susie stuck out her tongue and waved a paw at her friend's receding figure.
"Susie, why do I feel—like you're a bit unhappy?"
As soon as she entered the door, Audrey keenly noticed her beloved dog's somewhat low spirits.
"It's nothing, Audrey. What were you saying just now?"
"It's like this, Susie. I met that James Scott again today."
"And, he even gave me a gift!" Saying this, she showed Susie the Ruby necklace she was wearing around her neck.
"It is indeed very beautiful—but is there anything special about it?"
Susie was a bit puzzled. As the eldest daughter of the Hall Family, Audrey's jewelry was countless. Although the necklace in front of her was nice, she couldn't see anything special about it, and it couldn't compare to Audrey's custom-made jewelry from famous designers.
"Susie, look~" Audrey gave a mysterious smile. Then she injected a hint of spirituality into the necklace.
Immediately, a comfortable warmth spread out from the gemstone, dispelling the slight chill of the early winter evening.
Feeling the subtle change in the surrounding temperature, Susie curiously turned her gaze over.
What entered her eyes was—a sudden burst of blindingly bright light!
"Woof—!"
Susie let out a miserable cry, hurriedly closed her eyes, and extended her front paws to tightly press against her blinded dog eyes.
"Sorry, Susie! I'm not very good at controlling the power of this necklace yet." Seeing this, Audrey hurriedly withdrew her spirituality and apologized in a panic.
"I'm fine, Audrey."
After several seconds, Susie's vision fully recovered.
"But—" She came to Audrey's side, twitched her nose, and sniffed carefully.
"What's wrong?" Audrey was a bit curious.
"Audrey, I feel like—there's a very familiar yet very annoying scent on you."
"Miss Audrey fits the traditional image of an innocent noble lady who is ignorant of the world."
In the office, Lorne recalled the scene of the meeting this afternoon.
"But she also has a certain level of shrewdness—"
"In this regard, she is much stronger than Hazel."
"But essentially, she should still be a relatively naive lady living in an ivory tower. It's just—the feeling she gives me—"
"Is a bit strange."
Lorne couldn't forget the seemingly casual but actually scrutinizing gaze she had at the banquet earlier, as well as the scene where she sent that big golden retriever to tail him during their first meeting.
He found that Audrey Hall was somewhat different from all the women he had met before.
"Naivety and calculation can actually appear in one person at the same time—"
"Is it because of the Pathway she belongs to? Or—is it purely her personal trait, or the influence of the noble environment?"
"Wait!"
Lorne suddenly remembered something. Back then, when he had just returned to Backlund and visited Fors as a pen pal, Fors and Xio had indirectly asked him some things about nobles, seemingly believing that "Lorne Disenk" had deep entanglements with a certain noble—
The matter of them investigating him back then also seemed to have some hidden story—
"Could it be—the noble they mentioned is Audrey Hall?" A flash of realization appeared in Lorne's eyes.
"Hmm—a noble known by both Xio and Fors, and she explicitly had her pet tail me."
"But I shouldn't have any entanglements with her at all?"
"It seems necessary to conduct some more in-depth investigation."