章節 27: 26. Fiancée
Anne quickly became the focal point of the gathering.
The majority of attendees at this gathering were students from the University of Georgia, and they were all contemporaries who enrolled in the year of Black Moon Thirty-Three. Only a few invited "outsiders" were present.
Charles, as an "outsider," tactfully chose to keep a low profile and sat down in the corner of the banquet hall, casually pulling out his diary to study.
He now had two items that he always carried with him, never leaving his side: one was the Vampiric Hand Axe, and the other was his predecessor's diary.
In such a setting, it was not convenient to practice Bloody Glory, so Charles opened the side of the diary about Agmillar's Labyrinth. It seemed that, due to his extensive research, he had gained a slight understanding of it.
While Charles was further analyzing the first depiction of Agmilas Labyrinth, a gentleman approached him, revealing a set of white teeth and said with a smile, "I'm Andre, like everyone else, I am a junior at the University of Georgia. May I ask for your esteemed surname, sir, and would you be interested in joining us for a card game?"
Charles gave a slight smile and answered, "Charles, graduated from Sheffield University. I'm not very good at card games, so I'll pass."
Andre did not back down, and then two or three other young people came over, together with Andre, urging Charles to join. With their enthusiastic invitation, Charles found it difficult to decline. After making a few excuses, he reluctantly agreed.
When he took a seat at the card table with Andre and the others, he sensed something was off but pretended to be unaware and started the first round with a smile.
The card game played by Andre and his group was called the Tacularo cards, consisting of one hundred and forty-four cards in total. The best cards were The Nine True God cards, which were the only constant trump cards of Tacularo, the other trumps varied with each deck but often featured famous figures from the Old Continent, including kings, warriors, renowned scholars, and mysterious Evil Gods, along with various auxiliary cards. The gameplay wasn't difficult, but there were many mechanisms for doubling the bets, leading to particularly large wins and losses after a single round.
For this reason, Tacularo cards were only popular among the nobility and the wealthy; being able to play Tacularo was even considered a status symbol.
Charles Meklen, who was originally adept at card games and had regained his memory, did not appear clumsy at the card table.
After two consecutive rounds, Charles had lost one Fur and twenty Sheng Ding. Far from being annoyed, he became even more serene and composed.
That group of young people was cheating!
They must have heard from Berrina that Charles had a substantial salary and had recently bought a mansion worth two hundred Aegeus. It sparked a different kind of scheming in their minds.
However, when it came to cheating, how could Charles, a Mathematics graduate, be outdone by these "wild creatures"?
Not to mention, he also had the Eye of Insight.
After probing for two or three rounds, Charles confirmed the young people's greed and intentionally threw out some bait. He then led the card game to a stalemate. Although he lost more rounds, every few rounds he would have a "particularly lucky turn," often making up much of the initial outlay in one go.
Seeing that after more than twenty rounds the gap between their wins and losses was still small, Andre became slightly impatient. He signaled his companions with a covert gesture and said with a smile, "The stakes are too small. It's not very interesting to continue like this. How about we raise the bet?"
Charles readily accepted. After increasing the bet, his "luck" seemed to worsen all at once. He lost more than ten consecutive hands and was down by over seventy Fur.
When Charles, acting as if he was seeing red from his losses, also suggested raising the stakes, the group of young people was thrilled. They agreed in a seemingly coordinated fashion. This time, however, Charles's luck suddenly caught fire. After a dozen or so rounds, not only had he won back all the money he'd lost, but he had also earned nearly thirteen Aegeus and an additional six Fur. The colors drained from the young people's faces as they couldn't understand how, with everyone working together and cheating, the cards could turn out like this?
After winning one final round, Charles said with a beaming smile, "Sorry, but I have to take Miss Annie home now, she must be home before dinner."
This excuse was beyond reproach.
After all, the rules of the Brittany Family are indeed famously strict; no one dares to hinder Miss Anne from returning home late.
Charles freed himself from the group of gambling youths fond of cheating and approached Anne, saying, "May I have the honor of escorting Miss Anne home?"
Anne smiled faintly, bade farewell to several female companions, and as she left the banquet hall, she whispered, "Those people like Andre are extremely annoying; they often lure others to play cards at school, and they cheat together to swindle people's money."
"However, none of them have become Transcendents."
Upon saying this, Anne smirked slyly. As a Dreamwalker, she had long observed the card game. Seeing Charles so confident of winning, she chose not to intervene.
Charles couldn't help but laugh, "Miss Anne, you can be quite the lady at times."
Anne covered her mouth, but her eyebrows were curved, her mirth impossible to hide.
She had been bored with idle chatter all afternoon, but seeing Charles demolish Andre and his group, turning their faces pale, she suddenly found today's gathering quite amusing.
Although Anne was bold, she didn't dare let Charles escort her home. Instead, she escorted Charles back to Elysian Pastoral Street No. 58 before reluctantly bidding him goodbye.
Charles watched Anne's carriage depart, feeling quite relieved.
Even though he had been detained for a day, he believed it wouldn't affect his resolution of the current predicament.
If he ultimately failed to deal with the threat of the two Evil Gods, it wouldn't be because of today's meeting.
In the following days, Menierman Sumei did not show up for work.
Charles never arrived late but left early with great gusto; his dates with Anne Brittany became so frequent as to be startling, and their relationship warmed rapidly.
Beyond the dates, he didn't neglect serious matters, visiting Sheffield University a few times to consult with some of the most knowledgeable professors. However, none of the professors were familiar with Labyrinthology, and the research on Agmilas Labyrinth made no progress.
As for the Vampiric Scroll, he dared not mention it—summoning Evil Gods was punished by burning!
Going to the goddess-protected Sheffield University, excitedly confessing he had summoned the Blood Clan Evil God, would likely result in the professors personally setting up a pyre for him.
Luckily, his practice of Bloody Glory made steady progress, and the repeat arrival date of the Blood Clan Evil God Kahnstan was postponed again, giving him a slight reprieve.
The Empire's postal system was rather efficient, and Charles soon received some good news.
After receiving a written promise from his brother renouncing his inheritance rights, considering fraternal bonds, his brother included a Savings Union savings certificate in his reply, worth five hundred fifty Aegeus, gladly agreeing to help dissolve the engagement.
His brother's reply also contained information that his former fiancee had decided to visit Strasbourg in person to formally sign the documents of disengagement with Charles.
The day after Charles received the reply, he had a very pleasant date with Anne, watching an opera, and took a public carriage home.
As Charles walked leisurely into the alley and arrived at his doorstep, he unexpectedly saw a very attractive girl sitting on the steps of No. 58. She looked a bit disheveled, her forehead even dusted with soil, her pretty eyebrows slightly furrowed, clearly in a very bad mood.
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