Chapter 222: Dutch Wilson Party

Walking quietly through the streets of East Borough where churches were looking under every rock to find him. Adryan quietly went on with his life waiting for August 30th to arrive.

Trying at famous and not-so-famous Beyonders meetings to find the Conspirator formula but with no luck at all, Adryan could only wait.

With Faceless and Hunters Hallow's ability to protect him from any divination, and with his soldier who could attend these meetings for him, Adryan had become practically invisible.

Thus the days passed quickly. The sightings of the Fire Mage were greatly reduced and those who claimed to have seen him were liars trying to make a little money with false information.

And so, with nothing special to tell.

Sunday, August 12 of 1349 arrived...

...

Multiple carriages of the nobles of the New Party and Conservative Party could be seen moving through the streets of Empress Borough, all with the same goal...

Looking out the streets through the window of her carriage, the beautiful Audrey Hall was dressed in a beautiful loen-style ball gown that blended a beautiful sky blue with soft yellow and floral details throughout. A lady's hat of the same color as her dress rested atop her yellow hair. Her hands were covered by elegant soft yellow gloves that reached above her elbow.

'This will be the first time I will see Dutch Wilson since I became a Spectator... How will his mental health be?' Audrey thought as she closed the curtain with her hand.

Being that she had known Glaint for some time, she had met the famous collector before but since the tragedy in June, she had not seen him again.

Caitlyn Hall, who was sitting next to her, looked with a calm smile at her daughter.

"Are you nervous Audrey?"

Looking down at her side, the gem's lips lifted into a gentle smile and she shook her head gracefully.

"I'm fine Mother. I trust this party will go well."

Earl Hall who was seated across from his wife and daughter, nodded at his daughter's words.

"The safety of this party is not to be compared to the previous one. Not only will it be held in Empress Borough, the safest area in all of Backlund, but also the 3 churches will send their teams. The police will check everything and no one will be allowed to enter this party if they are suspicious." One of the richest men in the world explained calmly.

Audrey smiled at her father's words.

Turning her attention back to the side, she moved the curtain and looked up at the beautiful clear sky of Empress Borough, bathing everything in its light.

After about 15 minutes, the Hall family arrived at the party site.

This was the Villa Mounsir.

One of the multiple villas of a noble family of the new party that decided to lend it to make the party.

This villa was surrounded by a beautiful forest, and a vineyard of its own, and the main building had a beautiful semicircular shape with beautiful windows throughout, unlike the usual white or navy blue with which the exterior of the main buildings was painted, this one was painted a beautiful red, similar to the crimson moon.

Audrey gazed in wonder at this, her mouth slightly agape.

After a few moments, the carriage stopped in front of the entrance to the Manor. 

Being helped down by her father, the Hall family was greeted by several butlers and maids as well as multiple officers.

"Please if you could present me with your invitation." 

Earl Hall calmly handed over the request and after reviewing it carefully, the butler smiled and gave a bow followed by the others.

"Welcome to the party, Earl Hall. Come in."

...

Entering the Hall where the party was being held, Audrey saw how there was a large number of people already present.

'A large number of members of the New Party are here and even some from the Conservative Party...' Audrey immediately entered her Spectator State and looked around the party with serene, crystal clear eyes.

She quickly found the noble girls she had met at the mall a few weeks ago but ignoring them she continued to watch.

A familiar ash-blonde head caught her eye and a small smile grew on her face.

Adjusting his tie, Glaint took a soft sip of his champagne. 

'Dutch went all out this time eh?' The young Apothecary thought as he looked around and saw the fine decorations on everything.

Even for him being a Viscount, he couldn't help but think how much all this must have cost.

And being that Dutch despite being a noble he was still inferior to a Viscount, his fortune shouldn't be too much but considering how fine everything looked, perhaps Glaint had underestimated his best friend too much.

Taking another sip of the sweet, fizzy drink, the Apothecary let out a sigh and looked around in search of the star of this party.

His eyes met bright emerald eyes and he couldn't help but smile.

Walking up to the owner of these eyes, Glaint made an elegant bow.

"Welcome Miss Audrey. I hope you are having a wonderful day."

Snapping out of her spectator state. Audrey resisted the urge to roll her eyes and smiled graciously at the Viscount.

"Good morning to you too Mr. Glaint." 

'You look a little uneasy...' Audrey noticed as she analyzed the nobleman a little and inwardly her eyes narrowed.

Glaint smiled at her friend and turned to see Audrey's personal maid Annie.

"Good morning Miss Annie, I hope you are having a good day." Glaint bowed to the woman and Annie smiled at the nobleman and curtsied gracefully.

"Thank you for your kind words Mr. Glain, good morning to you as well." 

Glaint just nodded to the woman and returned his attention to Audrey. Talking too long with a servant while the master is there is considered impolite so the most that was done was a short greeting or simply ignoring them.

Due to the length of time Glaint and Audrey had known each other, he took the first option.

Taking a better look at his friend, thanks to his new eyes, Glaint noticed that she was extremely healthy.

'Looks like Audrey is going to live a long time if she keeps this up... Although it's nothing compared to Dutch...!' Remembering the episode he had with his friend. Glaint moved a little closer to Audrey and whispered.

"Miss Audrey, if you run into Dutch tell me if you see anything strange, please. I'm worried about him."

At this sudden request, the noblewoman's eyes widened slightly.

The sudden thought that her status as a Beyonder had been discovered made her body tense for a second but when she remembered who she was talking to all fear was evaporated.

'This is Glaint I'm talking about... He was never noted for being very observant, so he can't have discovered that I'm now a spectator... So what he was referring to maybe it's a third-party opinion as to the attitude of a close friend...' 

'Is there something strange about Dutch Wilson? Well, considering what happened it wouldn't be strange, and from the rumors he was one of only two people not to attend a psychologist after what happened that day... The second person being Adryan Kenway...' The noblewoman thought and then frowned slightly.

If Mr. Chariot was there that day why didn't he do anything to stop what happened? If he could hunt Qilangos a little over a month later then he must have had the strength to prevent what happened that day...

Shaking her head internally, the noblewoman let out an internal sigh.

'I cannot judge Mr. Chariot without knowing his motive... Surely he had a very good reason for not acting... When I have a chance to talk to him I will ask him about this... What are you thinking Audrey?! You're not even close to that man to ask him such a bold question!!' Mentally restraining herself, she decided to leave this topic for later.

Returning her attention to Glaint's question and after considering it for a few seconds, she nodded her head gently.

This was a good opportunity to act as a Spectator!

Glaint let out a sigh of relief that his request had been accepted. Nodding to his friend, Glaint looked around.

"The last time I saw him he was talking to the Southwest family. About there." 

Raising an elegant eyebrow, Audrey asked.

"You're not going to talk to him?"

The Viscount smiled tensely.

"I talked to him a few weeks ago but the conversation left me extremely uncomfortable but equally as worried. I don't feel ready to talk to him."

Audrey didn't ask and just nodded. Turning around she walked away from Glaint being followed closely by her maid Annie, in the direction where the aforementioned had pointed.

She watched as a brown-haired, blue-eyed man spoke calmly to an elderly man with deeply receding eyes who was wearing a black and red archbishop's robe of the Church of the Evernight Goddes.

All thought of eavesdropping left Audrey's mind, the noblewoman simply looked away and simply walked over to one of the tables full of food.

'Sorry Glaint but this is the best option. That's Saint Anthony, considering the high position in the Church he must be a very strong Beyonder and very much devoted to the Goddess, if he catches me spying... I need a strawberry tart to calm down.' The noblewoman thought with an elegant and serene face while her heart was beating so hard that she could hear it in her ear.

...

"It is an honor to have you here with us Saint Anthony. I hope the party is to your liking." Dutch Wilson commented with a soft smile as he took a sip of his wine.

Horror Bishop Anthony smiled graciously at the nobleman in front of him.

"No need to be so modest Mr. Glaint. The one who should be saying that is me, what you are doing is unprecedented."

Dutch smiled and shook his head.

"I have to reject your praise, Saint Anthony. What I am doing is something that should have been done a long time ago. East Borough is an extremely poor area, but despite that, I can see enormous potential in it."

"I'm sure that with the right treatment, something very beautiful can blossom from there. And I hope that with this party, the other nobles can see this."

The older man's smile turned to a gentler, almost grandfatherly one.

"You are a great man, Mr. Dutch, I hope with this you can set a great example." 

Looking around and seeing more people arriving, Dutch let out a disappointed sigh and gave a small bow.

"I am sorry Saint Anthony but I am forced to cut our conversation short. I still have guests to greet and then I have a lecture to give."

The demigod nodded at the nobleman's words calmly. His gaze understood.

"Don't worry Mr. Dutch. I will look forward to your speech."

Smiling at the Archbishop of the Church of the Evernight Goddes, Dutch took another bow and walked away to welcome the guests.

...

Standing on a tall stand in the Hall, Dutch Wilson called everyone's attention.

The voices of conversations and dishes quickly faded away, everyone watching expectantly for what this day's headliner would do.

Smiling at the crowd in front of him, Dutch raised his voice.

"Welcome everyone to my party. Thank you so much for making time in your schedule to be able to attend, I know your lives are very busy so I can only thank you for coming."

Some of the busier and higher-ranking families like Earl Hall nodded slightly but said nothing.

Dutch's face turned serious.

"Everyone should know by now why this party is happening. It is not only to celebrate the building of the first Orphanage by the hand of a nobleman in East Borough but to motivate you to do the same."

"East Borough is suffering. It is a great stain on our beautiful Backlund. If we continue to ignore it all we will do is hurt our kingdom. What is happening there now is proof of that."

Whispers began to fill the great hall but Dutch ignored it and continued.

"That is the reality, whether you want to accept it or not."

"East Borough is a large field of fertile land, it has a huge amount of potential that is ignored because of all the dirt that covers it. If we just throw the seeds out there so these can germinate, I'm sure 20 years from now we will see a different East Borough. Full of life and opportunity."

"I placed my seed but because of my limited resources the most I can do now is to give a better home to children with no place to sleep."

Dutch's speech was emotionally charged. Some of the Ladies and young ladies there began to cry and even Audrey was wiping away some tears with an embroidered handkerchief.

"That's why I invited the New Party as well as the Conservative Party. Because despite our different visions, we have a common goal."

"The growth and prosperity of the Loen and Backlund Kingdom."

"So I ask both parties present, that on these things we can put aside our differences and come together so that we can help East Borough grow!"

Looking at the crowd in front of him, Dutch extended his hand toward them, as if asking them to take it.

"Together, let's make it so that East Borough can show the beautiful fruit it hides."