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Chapter : 36
The Haimel family’s carriage stopped, and a servant from the Banfield family opened the door and bowed politely. Edward started to get out first, but the countess, his mother, called to him from behind.
“Can I trust you not to do anything foolish?”
Edward turned and gave her a bright smile.
“Weren’t you satisfied with all your nagging on the way here?”
His mother softened a little, as if looking in a mirror, but then frowned again. No, I’ve never shown such a sly look myself, she thought.
“Edward.”
She warned him in a strict voice.
“Don’t worry. I’ll act like a perfect gentleman to Lady Banfield,” Edward replied with a playful wink.
His mother frowned even more, seeing how excited he looked. Edward laughed and added,
“Really, if I’m lying, you can punish me like you did when I was a child.”
He gestured at the carriage door.
“You should get out now.”
There were more carriages arriving, so the Banfield servant looked impatient. The countess didn’t care about that, but she knew dragging things out wouldn’t help.
“I’ll be watching you.”
“As much as you want.”
Edward hopped out of the carriage lightly. His mother watched his back, unhappy and worried, then stepped down with the coachman’s help, looking elegant.
“Countess Haimel and her heir, Baron Raven, have arrived!”
Everyone’s eyes in the banquet hall turned to the Haimel family as soon as they entered. The countess had lost her place as queen of society because of the princess, but she was still known as the beauty of the century, and Edward looked just like her. Wherever they went, people admired them.
Is this why she brings me out? How shallow, Edward thought, but he put on a bright smile. Everywhere he looked, young ladies sighed over him, while their mothers looked annoyed, having to control their excited daughters.
“Countess Haimel, thank you for coming to our humble party,” the Banfield couple hurried over to greet them.
Edward finished his greetings with his polite face, then walked over to the young nobles his age. He sipped some light wine and watched as his mother talked with the Banfields.
He noticed that the Banfields were not treating his mother as the main guest.
Is there a higher-ranking noble here? he wondered.
Girls and young nobles gathered around Edward, but he ignored them and looked around the hall. He didn’t see anyone special.
He looked at his mother again. What was even stranger was how calm she looked, as if she already knew she wasn’t the main guest.
“Baron Raven, it’s been so long!”
A shrill voice suddenly sounded close by, making Edward frown for a second. The owner of the voice was none other than Lady Janine Banfield.
He turned around, and there was Janine, standing with shining eyes, hands clasped in front of her chest. Her mouse-gray hair was oiled and hanging down, her cheeks covered in thick pink blush. The bright red on her face didn’t match her blue dress at all, but she didn’t care—she wore both because Edward had once said he liked those colors.
“Lady Janine Banfield,” Edward said, not very interested.
Her brown eyes grew wide with excitement. Her sisters, Ariel and Rosa, stood beside her, both with blushing faces and blue dresses.
Edward almost laughed.
If I said I liked girls who jumped off cliffs, would these three sisters do it right away? he thought.
While he was thinking this, Janine’s eyes sparkled.
“Did you escort the countess here?”
“Yes, I did.”
It was the first time Edward had come to a party without Anna. Janine’s heart was full of hope. Her mother had told her to look forward to today, and it seemed her dreams might come true.
But Edward’s attention faded quickly. He glanced over at his mother and the Banfields as they went into the sitting room. His eyes narrowed.
Ariel and Rosa hurried to try to catch his attention.
“Baron Raven, I have a new bird from the south that can talk! Would you like to see it?”
“You should hear me play the piano first, right, Baron?”
Janine tried to keep things proper.
“How rude! I apologize, Baron Raven. My sisters are still young and act up sometimes.”
“…Ah, yes,” Edward said.
He thought of a rumor: once at a party, he had praised Anna’s beauty, and Janine had gone to Anna’s favorite dress shop and thrown a fit, demanding the same dress. For a while, her nickname was “Janine Floor Banfield.”
“How is that unfair?” Rosa argued.
“You’re saying the wrong things in front of Baron Raven,” Janine scolded.
But soon the sisters started fighting over Edward again, and his face showed his growing annoyance. At that moment, a “friend” appeared—a young man famous for bad behavior, his hair shiny with too much pomade.
The man liked to be seen with Edward because girls would gather around them. Normally, Edward would have ignored such a guy, but today he was thankful for the excuse.
“Excuse me, ladies. I need to talk to my friend.”
Edward slipped away from the disappointed sisters and dragged the man to the wall. The guy enjoyed the girls’ attention for a while, then left when Edward pushed him away. Edward was glad to be alone.
He pretended to sip his drink and waited by the door. Before long, a servant came out with a tray, and as the door was closing, Edward quickly slipped inside. It was the sitting room where his mother and the Banfields had gone.
The sitting room had two rooms connected by a thick, purple curtain. Edward moved quietly to the wall near the curtain and listened to the conversation inside.
“It doesn’t seem like he’s planning another business. A friend at the bank secretly told me that no large amounts of cash have moved,” said the Banfield lord.
A new voice replied,
“So all that money from the western mines and real estate is being used for this project…?”
“That’s amazing. Then we must join in, don’t you think?” said the excited voice.
Edward thought he recognized that voice. After a moment, he remembered—it was Count Chris Mayweather, assistant to Duke Lofex, the Minister of Finance.
So he’s the main guest, Edward thought, spinning his wine glass. But what are they talking about?
Then someone whispered,
“But we should be careful. Even water can choke you if you drink too fast.”
“I agree. The amount of money is no joke,” said Edward’s mother, who was usually too sly to agree easily.
“But if we hesitate, we might miss our chance. As you all know, opportunities like this don’t come often,” said Chris.
His mother’s soft voice followed:
“Are we sure K and M are really close?”
Edward frowned. From the context, M seemed to be the person who earned a lot of money, but who was K?
“We’ve confirmed the connection through the assistant. They’re from the same region. If we wait, we’ll get more information,” said the Banfield lord.
Everyone went silent for a while, lost in thought. After a long pause, Edward’s mother spoke.
“For now, let’s keep this between us.”
A man’s voice, which Edward didn’t recognize, agreed.
“Yes, if everyone knew, it wouldn’t be a good investment.”
Chris also spoke cautiously.
“No one can show their face in this matter. If M finds out, everything will be ruined. It’s better to be careful.”
“So let’s wait for now. If there’s new information, we’ll meet again,” said Edward’s mother.
Chairs scraped as people started to get up. Edward clicked his tongue quietly and moved silently across the room, just like a leopard. As he reached the door he had come in through—
