Cease thy leering, you Gothic Horror Knock-Off

The maid left shortly after answering Zhen Liu's question, leaving the group to wait in the parlor room for the Marquis to show up eventually. Evidently, this act of waiting put Zhen Liu a bit on edge. He wanted to go and confide some of his troubles with Jin Fang, but technically speaking, their relationship was a "secret".

His mother and father knew, but the rest of the clan and outsiders just assumed Jin Fang was just a personal maid. Zhen Liu shot Jin Fang an aggrieved look, but she was preoccupied holding a large red lacquer box that was holding a certain aether beast core.

Zhen Liu then thought about sharing these feelings with his family, but they were preoccupied or didn't really notice.

His mother and father were busy talking with Alexander, probably about the upcoming trade, while his cousin...

"Just relax Zhen Liu," Zhen Hai said as he decided to make use of one of the myriad of chairs in the parlor, "you have been acting like we're in enemy territory since we got pass the front gate. We're just here on business. Lighten up, take in the decor and enjoy the refreshments."

"...fair enough."

Zhen Liu made his way over to one of the little tables where the refreshments were provided.

'That is a lot of food.'

[Maybe he's a generous man?,] Nepherage commented.

[Trap...bait...,] Frosttusk added.

Sitting upon the table was a bottle of red wine and a surprisingly large amount of hors d'oeuvre and snacks. These nibbles ranged from from simple cookies to fresh fruits to -

'Hold up,' Zhen Liu thought as he picked up a small piece of toast that had finely minced cooked shrimp and melted cheese on it. When he brought the morsel to his nose, a familiar scent greeted him.

'Is that...garlic?'

"Ah yes, the garlic shrimp toast that Farisia makes is absolutely divine. I can never seem to stop at just one myself," a deep voice suddenly commented directly behind Zhen Liu. He wasn't sure how or when, but a noticably powerful presence suddenly manifested directly behind him.

Zhen Liu was about to exclaim in shock, but stopped himself before doing so.

'Get a grip, man! you're technically a member of polite society now, you can't just scream in shock like a plebian.'

As Zhen Liu continued to keep his mouth shut, a surprisingly elegant yet muscular arm reached pass him and grabbed a shrimp toast from the platter in front of him.

[Pale...]

[I can't even smell right now, but I can just sense the death aether radiating off of him.]

Zhen Liu kept his eye on the arm as it pulled back, feeling prompted to turn his head to see who belonged to exactly.

"Ah, delicious," the owner of the voice proclaimed as he consumed the garlic shrimp toast in a single bite with a pleased, unusually wide, smile plain on his face.

'Well...he ain't a vampire, but he sure as hell looks like one.'

Standing before Zhen Liu was a tall, pale man with incredibly dark hair tied up into a ponytail and piercing blue eyes. Those features combined with the three piece suit that looked to be straight from the Victorian era and questionable silver locket around his neck, the man looked like he crawled out of a gothic horror novel.

Zhen Liu was about to ask point blank about who this horror movie villain reject was, but he was beaten to the punch by Alexander Goldshire, or to be more precise, Alexander knew who this guy was.

"Ah! Greetings Marquis de Howlite, it's been too long," Alexander said with a smile as he offered a handshake, "It appears your stealth capabilities are impressive as ever."

"Likewise," the vampiric looking nobleman said while shaking the Goldshire patriarch's hand. "I was informed by my staff that you wanted to see me for a business dealing?"

"Well not me exactly. This is my friend, the Seventh Elder of the Zhen Clan in Stone Claw City, Zhen Yan,his wife, Daria, and over there is his nephew, Zhen Hai and I believe you just met his eldest son, Zhen Liu."

"It's an honor to meet you, Marquis de Howlite."

"Likewise."

'Seriously? We're not gonna address the fact that this guy sorta appeared out of thin air? Even praise the guy for it?,' Zhen Liu thought while rolling his eyes. He knew this was considered a rude action, but nobody was paying attention...he hoped.

"So, what manner of business do you have with this old artisan? It's most unusual for the master of the Gold Clover Auction House to directly visit someone," the Marquis observed.

"Haha! Right you are," Alexander agreed with a laugh. "Rumor has it that you dabble in aether puppets, and have acquired quite the collection of arts and materials in that regard, yes?"

"Guilty as charged," the Marquis confirmed with a light smile and a nod.

'Oh yeah sure, I also bet some of those materials are body parts from graveyards.'

[Morgues...]

[Funeral homes.]

"Since that's true, I believe my friend here has something that will be of great interest to you."

"Oh?"

"Jin Fang. Bring the box over here, please."

"At once, elder."

Jin Fang proceeded to bring the box over to the with the amount of grace and elegance befitting a maid of the Zhen Clan. As she did, Zhen Liu noticed that the Marquis began to look at Jin Fang in a way that made him uneasy. A feeling that multiplied when he heard a certain announcement in his head.

<Immensely powerful desire detected. Condensing core: [Lust]...immediately. Storing [Core of Dark Lust] as there is no suitable materials in the area.>

'What the f-guh...'

Before Zhen Liu could even process what was going on, the familiar feel of a kaijin core formed in the palm of his hand almost immediately and, just as quickly, absorbed into his body. A sickly sweet feeling overcame him followed by carnal thoughts that caused his mind to rapidly flit through about...a million different scenarios involving about a dozen or so different fetishes. He involuntarily bent over as the amount of lust radiating from that core was a bit much for him.

'The hell is going on through this dude's heart,' Zhen Liu asked himself as he tried to steady himself by smacking his chest. Unfortunately for him, people noticed this time.

"Xiao Liu, are you okay?," his mother asked with a concerned look on her face. His father, Alexander and the Marquis de Howlite also looked over with curious looks.

"Yeah I'm fine," he lied, "just my stomach acting funny. Must've been something I ate earlier in the day."

"Ah," the Marquis nod in understanding," in that case, I recommend the Gingered Snowy Berries in the bowl to the left. They're quiet good for soothing the stomach and are...delectable."

"...sure. Why not."

As Zhen Liu took the advice and ate the offered berries, a cold feeling started building in his stomach, in more ways than one.

'While I actually did need something for my stomach, I have half a mind to let Nepherage eat you!'

[Really?]

'...maybe.'

[Yay.]

With Zhen Liu's emergency taken care of, the adults in the room returned to the lacquer box, which the Marquis had just now opened.

"Is that a-"

"Indeed it is," Alexander interrupted. "A sixth rank Ignati beast core, with two different arrays on it. One being a natural cultivation array and the other being a-"

"A high grade puppet control array that can draw out the elemental capabilities of beast cores. How fascinating," the Marquis finished. "Where did you get such a rare treasure?"

"Well that's not my place to say unfortunately," Zhen Yan answered in a modest tone, "That is for the younger generation to share. Zhen Liu, Zhen Hai, why don't you two come over and regale the Marquis with the tale of how you got this treasure?"

"Of course, uncle."

'Oh joy...storytime...well I don't have to lie this time.'