Chapter 422: Audrey's Interest in Sharon

Chapter 422: Audrey's Interest in Sharon

The next day, Fors, who had just lain down and slept for a short while, was woken up by Susie's persistent urging.

She struggled to get out of bed, her eyes bearing noticeable dark circles. She tucked the manuscript she had revised overnight under her arm and walked out of the room while yawning.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?"

In the dining room on the first floor, Audrey, who was already ready to enjoy breakfast, looked curiously at the listless Fors coming downstairs.

Fors instinctively scratched her head, watching strands of hair fall through her fingers, and smiled bitterly, "I stayed up late last night. I didn't fall asleep until dawn."

As she spoke, she took out the manuscript from under her arm and neatly placed it in front of Audrey.

"What is this?" Audrey asked.

"The new story revised according to your suggestions last night."

To accomplish this, Fors had stayed up until dawn, formally apologizing to Miss Audrey.

"Oh, let's have breakfast first."

Audrey only glanced at it briefly before quickly shifting her gaze back to the food in front of her. Fors thought she saw Audrey's cheeks flush and a hint of inexplicable shyness in her eyes, but she dismissed it as her own imagination.

After quickly finishing breakfast, Fors returned to her room to catch up on sleep.

Audrey finally turned her attention back to the neatly organized manuscript on the table.

Her gaze wandered slightly, and thinking about what had happened last night made her cheeks flush and burn.

She didn't know why she had said those things last night.

Originally, she had planned to chat with Fors, but after seeing her novel, she forgot about that and became concerned about the story's content.

With just a simple glance, she could tell that the male and female protagonists in the story were based on herself and Mr. Hastur.

Reading the story with a mix of curiosity, excitement, and happiness, she found many plot points she disagreed with and unconsciously discussed with Fors how to revise them.

After discussing these matters, she realized that her behavior seemed a bit off.

It seemed like she had immersed herself in the story's female protagonist and even empathized with her.

Thinking about the story being based on herself and Mr. Hastur made her blush even more.

"It's just a normal story. The characters are fictional, no need to take it so seriously."

Audrey explained to herself in her mind, then got up and took the manuscript back to her room.

Inside the room, Susie approached Audrey, who was seriously reading the manuscript. Susie tried hard to place her front paws on the edge of the chair, attempting to see what Audrey was reading.

When it came to reading, Susie didn't want Audrey to surpass her.

But before she could see the manuscript's content, Audrey quickly closed it and turned her head slightly to look at Susie, saying seriously, "This is Miss Fors' secret creation, not suitable for you to read."

"Audrey, I think I can read it."

"No, it's not suitable."

"Alright..."

Facing Audrey's firm attitude, Susie could only give up the idea of reading the manuscript. "Audrey, can you tell me what's in it?"

Audrey thought for a moment and said seriously, "It's about a man and a woman."

"..."

Susie really couldn't understand, and Audrey didn't intend to explain further. She just asked Susie not to disturb her reading.

After watching Susie leave the room and lie down at the door, Audrey reopened the manuscript and continued reading, her cheeks still slightly red, with a faint smile on her lips.

By noon, Audrey finally closed the manuscript with satisfaction, humming a beautiful tune. But soon, she frowned slightly.

She felt the novel was too short and should be longer to be more interesting. There were still many stories left untold.

For example, the male and female protagonists confessing their feelings, getting married, and many other potential stories.

Moreover, the adventure parts were a bit lacking. More scenes of them bonding and supporting each other could be added.

"It seems Miss Fors needs to continue writing. But she's so lazy and just stayed up all night. Is it appropriate to ask her?"

Audrey thought for a while and came up with a solution. She could hire Miss Fors to write.

Based on what Miss Fors had mentioned, she only earned a few hundred gold pounds a year from writing novels.

Audrey could offer 500 gold pounds to hire her for a year.

This way, more stories could be written, with the protagonists gradually falling in love and many other interesting setups.

They could even continue with the original protagonists and turn it into a series.

After carefully considering it, Audrey felt happy again and glanced at Susie, who was watching her with deep eyes.

"Susie, peeking is impolite," Audrey said with a stern face.

Susie showed the focused expression of a wise person facing a difficult problem, "Audrey, I'm just curious why your mood changes so quickly?"

"That's a secret."

Audrey didn't want to talk to Susie for now. She needed to find Miss Fors and use the allure of gold pounds.

...

Just after catching up on sleep, Fors was still a bit groggy when she heard Miss Audrey's request.

She couldn't remember the details, only that Miss Audrey wanted to pay her 500 gold pounds as a manuscript fee.

500 gold pounds! That was a huge sum!

Fors immediately woke up and readily agreed to Miss Audrey's request.

Writing novels was her forte, after all.

But she couldn't help but wonder, could someone like Miss Audrey really be so passionate about romance novels?

"By the way, Miss Audrey, are we visiting Mr. Hastur this afternoon?"

"Not for now."

"When are we returning to Backlund? It's almost New Year."

"We'll stay here for the New Year. Mr. Hastur won't be returning to Backlund this year."

"Alright."

Fors nodded helplessly, guessing that Miss Audrey might be craving some freedom.

"Then I'll ask Hugh to come here for the New Year. It would be too lonely for her to stay in Backlund alone."

Fors didn't delay and prepared to summon a spirit messenger to quickly send the message to Backlund.

"Is there enough time? Even if she takes the steam train now, she can't get here in three days," Audrey reminded.

"Seems so..." The light in Fors' eyes dimmed, but she quickly thought of a solution. She could ask Mr. Hastur for help.

The next day, when Audrey and Fors visited, Hastur was in his study, giving instructions to Caius.

Since the Ruen Royal Family wanted to target him, he decided not to hide anymore and took control of the entire Southwell County.

Most of the naval officers stationed along the coast of Southwell County were his people, accumulated through various accidents and coincidences.

With the strong memory-modifying abilities of the Yellow-robed Monks, their loyalty could be guaranteed.

Hastur wasn't afraid of the Ruen Royal Family, but the three major churches behind them were more concerning.

Currently, investigators from the three major churches were still stationed outside Puning Harbor, probably waiting for orders from their headquarters.

He also wanted to see the attitude of the everNight Goddess, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Steam and Machinery towards the followers of the Stars.

After finishing his tasks, Hastur sent Caius away and went to the first-floor hall to meet Audrey and Fors.

After hearing Fors' request, he asked her to find Caius to arrange it.

Bringing Hugh to Southwell County before the New Year wasn't difficult. If he wanted, he could use the Traveler's ability to bring her here in less than an hour.

But he didn't want to bother with it, so he let the Yellow-robed Monks handle it.

After Fors left, only Audrey and Hastur remained.

Looking at Mr. Hastur, Audrey couldn't help but think of the novel Fors had written, her ears turning slightly red.

In the past, she had always been calm in front of Mr. Hastur, but now she felt a bit flustered and had many indescribable emotions.

She took a sip of tea to calm her complex emotions and casually looked around, "Miss Sharon isn't here today?"

"She doesn't like interacting with people."

"I see. Is Miss Sharon also an extraordinary person? She feels very special, like a delicate and beautiful doll."

"Yes, she entered the mysterious world before us."

"Did you meet her during your adventures?" Audrey asked, lowering her head and taking another sip of tea.

"Sharon used to be in Backlund too."

Seeing Audrey's interest in Sharon, Hastur began to talk about how he met Sharon but only gave a brief introduction without going too deep.

He couldn't say that Sharon liked to hide in mirrors and that he kept her close to his heart.

Such words would be too ambiguous for both Sharon and Audrey.

Audrey listened with great interest, but Hastur's story suddenly stopped, and his gaze shifted past her, looking towards the stairs.

Audrey followed his gaze and saw Miss Sharon, who didn't like interacting with people, standing on the stairs, holding the obedient Aisala.

Their eyes met briefly, and Audrey felt that Miss Sharon had appeared because of her presence.