Audrey quietly excused herself, leaving before Countess Cassandra could interrogate her about this "someone" who is coming soon.
She gracefully walked around the edge dance hall towards the staircase. Her presence turned many heads—men and women alike. She received stares of jealousy, admiration, and lust. As a seasoned Spectator, she saw through the shallow admiration and the uglier truths behind their gazes. Vanity, greed, lust—these were nothing new. They no longer moved her.
As Audrey reached the second floor, she quietly grabbed the attention of a servant.
"Excuse me, I'm feeling slightly dizzy. Are there any empty rooms for me to rest in?"
The servant quickly recalled all of the rooms on the second floor and which ones were already taken. He then led Audrey to an empty one located at the very end of a corridor.
Once inside, finally left alone, she took out Leymano's Travels and flipped to the pages containing the demigod abilities, carefully stopping at Historical Void Summoning.
She raised her hand and attempted to grab the air. After three failed attempts, she finally grabbed something hard. With a smile of satisfaction on her face, she pulled her arm backwards, dragging out an arm seemingly out of thin air. The arm turned into a head, then a torso, and suddenly a full figure appeared in the room.
Huh? Audrey looked puzzled as she looked at the figure that emerged out of thin air.
"Mr. Wo—Gehrman Sparrow?" Audrey caught herself, quickly covering the slip before she revealed a Tarot Club codename.
"Audrey Hall, it's a pleasure," Gehrman Sparrow declared, but inwardly he thought, She's just as gorgeous as ever. Even when I used the identity of Dwayne Dantes, there were times when I couldn't take my eyes off of her… Her nickname "Backlund's Most Dazzling Gem" is no joke...
Audrey was still in puzzlement, for this was not the person she expected. This was not Gehrman Sparrow!
"Who… are you? Gehrman?"
"Ah, yes, I am Gehrman Sparrow, Miss Audrey. I can't exactly show up to a party wearing the face of a pirate hunter with a bounty on his head, can I?"
C'mon, Miss Justice, use your head a little. You didn't really expect me to attend with Gehrman's appearance, right? Please tell me I'm right... Klein silently lampooned.
"This is a different 'identity' of mine, Klein Moretti. You can call me Klein." He extended his right hand and slightly bowed, as if inviting her to dance.
Audrey took his hand and said, "It's a pleasure, Klein."
The identity of Klein Moretti was not unknown to Audrey. She first learned of this identity of Mr. World back in the Hall of Truth by eavesdropping on the thoughts of Mr. Star.
After carefully analyzing the behaviour of Mr. Star and Mr. World during the Tarot Club gatherings, she concluded that the identity of "Klein Moretti" is one of the oldest identities of Mr. World.
Sigh, just how many secrets do you have, Mr. World... Audrey sighed in her mind, but she also found the mystery behind Mr. World's past somewhat… charming. There was something about not fully knowing everything about the person in front of you that made her feel "something"—she wished to know everything about Mr. World.
"Miss Aud—"
"You can just call me Audrey."
"Then… Audrey, shall we go?" Klein's experience inviting nobles to dance definitely helped ease his nerves; however, he was still nervous enough for it to be shown. Thankfully, his Clown powers allowed him to hide it all, even from the gaze of a Spectator.
With a wide smile plastered on her face, Audrey replied, "Yes."
...
Klein Moretti and Audrey Hall left the room, arms linked and all. The servant who helped Audrey saw the scene and thought, That's weird... I could've sworn that room was empty. It looks like Miss Audrey didn't inconvenience the man that was already inside… Oh well
As they descended the stairs, gazes that could pierce metal followed their every move. These gazes weren't for Audrey Hall this time, but for the man who was linking his arm with her—Klein Moretti.
Klein maintained his composure using his Clown powers, and Audrey simply ignored them, as she usually did.
Once they reached the final step of the staircase, a large crowd of both men and women surrounded them.
"Miss Hall, who is this man?!"
"My Lady, where did you meet him?"
"Are you two engaged?!"
They were bombarded with questions. Klein felt overwhelmed by this much attention, especially after being isolated for so long. He mentally prepared himself before coming to this party, but this surpassed his expectations.
Audrey kept her usual smile, not faltering even once before the crowd.
"This is Mr. Moretti." She introduced Klein with unwavering confidence.
The overwhelming amount of questions turned into hushed murmurs that spread like wildfire.
"Moretti… have I heard that name before?"
"Could he be a scholar?"
"No, he has to be a noble. That's the only acceptable status for someone like Miss Hall."
"He doesn't look like he's from Backlund, though… perhaps a foreign noble?"
Klein cleared his throat and spoke to try to clear his name before any more misunderstandings occurred.
"My name is Klein Moretti, born and raised in Tingen. I'm a specialist in ancient history."
Hushed murmurs once again filled the air.
"He's not a noble?"
"But he's a specialist in history. If he's close to Miss Hall, then he must have tremendous influence in the history world."
"Could he have ties with the Royal Museum?"
"Of course he does! How else would someone get this close to Miss Hall?"
Just as Klein had predicted, the mention of ancient history combined with Audrey Hall's presence was enough to make the imagination of the crowd run wild. His actual past and social status paled in comparison to the nobles in this party, but that didn't matter anymore—the nobles themselves were making their own assumptions, ultimately pushing Klein's status to a higher degree than it actually was.
Countess Cassandra, Audrey Hall's aunt, had been silent the entire time, even though she was one of the first few people who surrounded Audrey when she first descended the stairs. However, she now had to speak up—her curiosity got the best of her.
"Audrey, how did you meet this man? What is your relationship with him?"
Even though the question wasn't addressed to him, Klein decided to speak up. He straightened his posture and said, "Hello, my Lady, I'm Klein Moretti. I'm—"
"He's my fiancé."
"..."
"..."
A few more seconds of silence passed, and nobody made a sound. The slow-paced music continued playing in the background.
"What?! Since when?!"
"Miss Hall has a fiancé?"
"Mr. Moretti, how did you and Miss Hall meet?!"
Before the scene got any more hectic, Audrey grabbed Klein by the wrist and pulled him onto the dance floor. The chandeliers shone brightly above them, illuminating their figures as they blended in with the other couples who were already dancing to the slow and soothing music.
Nobody else dared to follow them onto the dance floor. The crowd broke into a myriad of whispers, each one igniting another one.
"Fiance? Is that why he kept on rejecting the marriage proposals I told her about?"
"How did the Hall family manage to keep this a secret?"
"This truly confirms that Mr. Moretti is an influential figure in the history world! Why else would she choose him?"
Audrey let the crowd's chatter fade into the background, centering her attention entirely on Klein. She put her hands on his shoulder, pulling Klein into a closer embrace, their clothes rustling against each other—her warmth felt dangerously intoxicating.
To Klein, the world seemed to move in slow motion. Only one word echoed inside Klein's mind, loud enough to shake the foundations of Sefirah Castle.
Fiancé.
Fiancé?! He screamed internally, his Clown powers desperately fighting against himself to prevent his shocked thoughts from being seen in his face. Has she gone mad? Does a Spectator's mind simply short-circuit under social pressure? I am a Historical Projection with a twenty-seven-minute lifespan! You don't just get engaged to a ghost!
This was the danger he was afraid of before. Not just the talking, but the wanting. The feeling of being seen, of being chosen. For the first time since coming to this world, he felt less like a collection of carefully managed personas and more like a whole person—Zhou Mingrui, Klein Moretti. Her declaration that Klein belonged to her, and that she belonged to Klein, even if it was a ruse, stirred something inside his heart.
Even with his Clown powers, his calm facade cracked for a split second; however, that was enough time for Audrey to notice it.
"Klein, relax," she whispered softly into his ear. "I invited you here so you can take a break. Just go along with the flow and dance with me. I won't mind if you step on my toes," she explained. I wonder... just how bad at dancing will the feared Gehrman Sparrow be? Audrey thought.
A break? Miss Audrey, this isn't a break. This is the most exquisite form of torture imaginable...