In Backlund's Queen's District, at Viscount Glaint's villa.
In the afternoon, Audrey Hall arrived at the hall with her personal maid, Annie. However, she wasn't here to attend a ball; she was here to find someone.
Fortunately, she spotted her target immediately.
He was sitting on a sofa not far away, reading a book.
"Mr. Ash."
Audrey walked over with small steps and sat down beside Ash, lightly pressing her lips together.
"Miss Audrey, do you need something?"
Ash turned his head, looking at the girl with a polite yet surprised expression.
"Well..."
Audrey extended her fair, delicate hand, showing Ash the ring on her right pinky finger. She whispered, "I'm sorry, but this appeared here after the last party, and I don't know why."
"I wanted to return it to you that day, but I only found the opportunity now. I apologize for that."
Audrey spoke and then suddenly felt a bit ashamed, lowering her head.
In her view, losing such an important item must have made Ash very anxious.
That's why she wanted to find Ash quickly and return the ring.
However, she didn't have direct contact with Ash. She only knew that Ash was a NightHawk of the Church of EverNight but didn't know where he lived. She couldn't just go to St. Samuel's Cathedral to look for him, right?
She knew that even if she went, it wouldn't help, as Ash didn't live in the cathedral.
She had to wait for Glaint to host another ball to finally get the chance to meet Ash.
"No need to return it."
Ash placed his hand on the back of her hand, stopping her from taking off the ring. "Consider this ring as an advance payment for your exhibit. You can keep wearing it. If you ever find a use for it, you can pay me back then."
"But, it's too precious..."
Audrey hesitated, wanting to refuse.
The value of the exhibit was for display. To put it bluntly, she was being used as a 'test subject.'
But many people would gladly be such a test subject.
"No need to refuse."
Ash shook his head and said, "The value of sacrifice is determined by the one being saved. To me, its value is not high. It may not be worthless, but it's at least better than nothing."
"Moreover..."
Ash turned his hand over, revealing two crude emerald rings in his palm. Seeing Audrey's mouth form an O shape in surprise, he calmly said, "I have more of these rings. I'm not short of this one."
"Then..."
Audrey bit her lip, hesitating for a long time before softly saying, "If that's the case, I'll accept it. But..."
She paused and continued, "For every month I wear it, I'll pay you a thousand gold pounds. If the ring gets damaged or 'lost' because of me, I'll pay you ten thousand gold pounds in one lump sum. Is that okay?"
Although ten thousand gold pounds was a huge sum, Audrey still felt a bit uneasy.
To her, the ring's value far exceeded this amount.
But since she wasn't an adult yet...
When she became an adult, although she couldn't inherit the title, her father's wealth left to her would be at least three hundred thousand gold pounds.
However, for now, her allowance was only ten thousand gold pounds.
So she could only pay ten thousand gold pounds in one go, and the rest would have to be in installments.
"Alright."
Ash stared at the girl for a long while before helplessly nodding in the face of her determined gaze.
His expression turned slightly peculiar.
Was he being kept?
"A thousand gold pounds, every month? And the ring?!"
Not far away, the maid Annie, who followed her duties by not staying too close and not eavesdropping, couldn't help but widen her mouth at the muffled conversation she overheard.
She hadn't heard everything.
But she could guess from the snippets.
It seemed her lady was planning to keep that pretty boy? And had privately pledged to him?
How could this be?! Miss Audrey, you're a noble, the only daughter of Earl Hall!
Annie bit her lip, holding back the urge to step forward and stop them.
She was just a maid, and interfering with her master's affairs would be overstepping.
But she couldn't just watch Miss Audrey fall into the abyss, so...
"I'm sorry, Miss Audrey."
Annie lowered her head, starting to think about how to discreetly report this to Earl Hall.
"Miss Audrey."
Wearing a beige high-collared long dress, Fors approached with a gentle smile on her lips. "I would like to borrow Mr. Ash for a moment. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not."
A flash of surprise crossed Audrey's eyes, but she quickly put on a polite smile, gracefully lifting her dress as she stood up from the sofa. "I need to visit the washroom. Excuse me."
Audrey remembered that this lady, Fors, seemed to be in a bad state, nearing a breakdown.
And from what she could see now, although Ash hadn't chosen to arrest her, they must have established some form of contact.
Fors, despite her smile, had a persistent shadow and anxiety in her eyes.
It must be something urgent with Ash.
Could it be similar to her situation?
With a smile, Fors watched Audrey leave, gracefully sitting beside Ash, then suddenly turned her gaze sharply to Ash, staring straight at him.
"Is there something you need?"
Ash felt a bit baffled by her stare and asked.
"You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Fors widened her eyes, gritting her teeth in annoyance. "Today is July 25th, you promised me!"
"I haven't forgotten."
Ash calmly looked at her, speaking slowly. "But you only need help in the evening, right? I'll come to your house tonight to help you solve the problem. Is there anything else?"
"No."
Fors opened her mouth, feeling like she had punched cotton, deflating instantly.
She only heard the whispers during the full moon, and Ash only needed to come to her house before the full moon to help.
After all...
Even though she was the one tormented by the whispers, the person who least wanted her to lose control might actually be Ash.
If she lost control, the chaos she caused would fall on him to handle.
It turned out that he was willing to take her, someone who could lose control at any moment, as an informant and was even willing to risk helping her with the whispers. She owed him a favor.
So wasn't it she who owed him?
Thinking this, Fors suddenly felt guilty.
Despite being in the wrong, she had come to cause trouble. What if Ash got angry and gave up on 'treating' her, opting to arrest her instead?
"I'm sorry."
Fors whispered, her voice filled with remorse.
"It's alright."
Ash casually replied, evidently not caring.
However, not far away, the short Miss Xio couldn't help but widen her eyes.
"Evening? Going to her house? Solving needs? And apologizing?!"
"Fors, what are you doing?!"
She felt like she had overheard something scandalous.
(Chapter end)
50 Power stones = Extra Chapter