"Silver..." Myles's helpless voice rang out.
Silver was still too young after all. Even this level of cold joke could make him crack a smile.
"Ahem... Sorry, Miss." After speaking, Silver reverted to his expressionless face.
Lin Qiu smoothly followed up with an apology. "Sorry, Miss Navia. Your name is renowned from Ireland to Khitan. Everyone knows it. How could I not recognize you?"
"I hope you're not angry." As he spoke, Lin Qiu handed Navia a folding stool prepared for guests.
"Hahaha, no problem." Navia laughed heartily, smoothed her skirt, and sat down. She wasn't picky at all.
Though she had no idea what Ireland or Khitan were, from the phrasing, those two places had to be pretty far apart, right?
Lin Qiu couldn't shake the feeling that Navia sitting on the folding stool looked a bit off.
It was like seeing a cosplayer all dressed up in their costume, with exquisite makeup, contacts, and wig on, ready for a con, only to get dragged home by their parents and left sitting on a stool in a daze.
At that moment, the crowd that had been dispersed earlier began gathering again due to Navia's arrival.
It wasn't just because Navia was so beautiful... well, maybe that was part of it.
But the main reason was Navia's identity as the boss of Spina di Rosula. These days, while Spina di Rosula had a big name, its reputation wasn't exactly stellar.
Already accustomed to the whispers around her, Navia simply ignored them.
"Mr. Lin Qiu, right?" Navia had been nearby from the start and overheard Xie Ni and Lin Qiu's conversation, so she knew his name.
"Just call me Lin Qiu." Lin Qiu was tempted to say, hubby would be even better.
"Alright, Lin Qiu. Nice to meet you. I'm Navia Casapa, boss of Spina di Rosula. Just call me Navia." Navia skipped the formalities.
"Second-in-command Silver." Silver introduced himself with a cold expression. If not for that earlier stifled laugh, Lin Qiu might've thought he was completely emotionless.
"I'm Myles. Pleased to meet you." Myles bowed politely, coming off as both affable and elegant.
Navia glanced at the growing crowd around her, their murmurs reaching her ears.
"That's the current president of Spina di Rosula, right?"
"I heard she's the daughter of that murderer."
"You mean the unjust Kales? I thought he was a good guy before. Who would've thought..."
"Yeah, helping residents on the surface, building waterways, but underneath..."
"Good thing such a hypocrite got his judgment!"
Navia bit her lip hard. When it came to her father, she really couldn't tune it out completely.
Not to mention, Navia was an emotional person at heart.
Lin Qiu noticed Navia's unnatural expression, even as she tried her best to keep it in check.
"I'm closing up shop. If there's something to discuss, how about somewhere else?" Lin Qiu spoke up.
"Is that so?" Navia forced a ladylike smile. "Thank you."
Navia knew Lin Qiu was looking out for her feelings. After all, he'd just offered her the seat first; there was no way he'd suddenly want to change venues otherwise.
Lin Qiu's thoughtfulness eased Navia's tense demeanor a little, her smile turning more natural.
"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Lin Qiu." Myles bowed slightly.
Silver silently packed up Lin Qiu's belongings and followed behind.
The four of them left the chattering crowd.
This time, Lin Qiu didn't get a proper meal, because Navia didn't take him to a restaurant. Instead, she brought him to Spina di Rosula's secret base.
This was Spina di Rosula's turf, so there were naturally no more gossips.
Moreover, Navia bringing Lin Qiu here clearly meant she was starting to trust him on some level.
"We can talk freely here. Even Fontaine Court won't know what we say." Navia said with a touch of pride.
After all, Spina di Rosula was a civilian organization. Building a base right under Fontaine Court's nose wasn't easy.
And she'd pulled it off. Didn't that make her pretty impressive?
"Right, I remember you said you haven't had breakfast yet. Let's eat while we talk." Navia waved her hand as she spoke.
Silver came over at the perfect moment. "Eggs, sugar, almonds. I've got them all."
"Let you taste my skills. My macarons are one of a kind. Ordinary folks can't have them."
"Thanks." Lin Qiu smiled at the scene. As expected, this was the best version.
Still... Navia looking so beautiful while beating egg whites here gave off a vibe that was both elegant and cozy.
"Here, give it a try. My pride and joy." Navia handed Lin Qiu a macaron, with red tea already brewed beside it.
The macaron even had a cute cat face drawn on top.
Lin Qiu wasn't one for appreciation and bit off half the cat face in one go. "It's really delicious."
"Mm. Then let's get to the main topic." Navia sat up straight. "I'd like you to divine about my father's case."
Lin Qiu had figured this was probably why Navia sought him out. He really wanted to say: Dear miss, have you got the wrong idea about fortune-telling?
Fortune-telling was about glimpsing possible future events, whether something would be auspicious or ill-fated.
Asking someone to divine what happened to a guy dead for years? Wasn't that a bit unreasonable?
A proper fortune-teller hit with that request would either curse them out or let loose a string of swears.
Luckily, Lin Qiu wasn't some proper fortune-teller. He actually knew about this one.
"Your father Kales is innocent." Lin Qiu stated firmly.
Navia shot to her feet with a whoosh. The Fontaine girl was at attention!
To clear her father's name, she'd questioned everyone from Fontaine Court down to the street vendors, but only Lin Qiu stated so affirmatively that her father was innocent. Even Neuvillette only suspected something fishy about the case.
Truth be told, she hadn't held much hope. She'd consulted fortune-tellers and diviners before who divined nothing and thought she was just stirring trouble.
But Navia refused to pass up any possible chance, so she'd come to Lin Qiu on a whim to give it a shot.
"C-can... can you tell me what you know?" Gone was her earlier boldness; Navia asked cautiously, as if afraid this sole lead might vanish.
"As for the pay, I'll handle it!"
Lin Qiu ignored the remuneration and countered, "Can you guarantee you won't act on impulse and strike immediately?"
Lin Qiu held back from naming Vasche outright because Navia, as she was now, wasn't ready to take him on.
Killing Vasche wouldn't be hard, but what Navia wanted was to clear her father's name. That meant debunking him in court.
Yet the evidence of Vasche's crimes was somewhere in the deep sea, who knew where. Probably only Furina and the Traveler could track it down and explore such a place.
If Navia sent people now for a large-scale search, how could it escape Vasche's notice? It'd just tip him off.
And even if Vasche was a fool who somehow missed it, it'd still be pointless. The sea was full of hilichurls and mining machines. Ordinary people couldn't operate long underwater, let alone infiltrate the depths to hunt for some unknown factory.
Seeing Lin Qiu's demeanor, Navia realized the mastermind was no pushover. She calmed down. "I guarantee it."