Chapter 604: Tonight, Susie is Not Here
This world is crazy; even mice can be bridesmaids for cats.
Hastur understood Aisala's current thoughts very well, and a soft spot in his heart was touched.
On the other side, Audrey was about to call Susie to chat about what it was like to be a student of Mr. Hermes.
But Susie didn't turn her head and went straight to her study room to start reading the books left by her teacher. Yes, she planned to stay up late reading.
This was a story Mr. Hastur had told her, and it was said there was an advanced version of hanging one's head from the beam and stabbing one's thigh with an awl.
She couldn't do that, but she could stay up late reading.
"Let her be. This enthusiasm for reading will last for several days at least," Hastur said, glancing at Aisala, who guiltily averted her gaze. She didn't have such enthusiasm for reading.
The vast sea of words made her eyes blur.
If Miss Sharon hadn't been forcing her to read, she wouldn't be speaking Ruen fluently now.
At night, Susie stayed in the study and didn't come out, while Aisala also stayed in Susie's study, claiming to supervise Susie's studies.
Left behind, Audrey and Hastur sat on the second-floor balcony, admiring the stars and moon in the suburban sky while drinking and chatting.
"Mr. Hastur, are you trying to get me drunk tonight?"
Having drunk quite a bit, Audrey's cheeks were flushed as she asked naively.
"I do have that thought. After all, a drunk Miss Audrey is a rare sight," Hastur chuckled, taking the wine glass from Audrey's hand and flicking her nose. "Drinking too much will give you a headache tomorrow."
"Mr. Hastur seems to forget that I am now a Sequence 5 Dreamwalker," Audrey gently nestled in Hastur's arms, saying intimately, "Tonight, I want to see Mr. Hastur's dreams."
"What if you see something inappropriate for children?"
"What is something inappropriate for children?"
Audrey's reaction was a bit slow, but she quickly caught on, blushing and changing the subject: "When I was in Backlund, I once entered Miss Fors's dream."
"Her dream is not very safe. You shouldn't enter other people's dreams casually, especially those with big secrets."
"Mr. Hastur, do you want to hear what appeared in Miss Fors's dream?" Audrey's tone was obviously a bit unnatural. "It has something to do with you too."
Could it be Fors praying devoutly to the stars?
But Audrey should know that Fors is a believer in the stars, so such a scene is normal.
"Just kidding, I don't want to reveal Miss Fors's personal privacy."
Before Hastur could answer, Audrey ended the topic.
This undoubtedly aroused Hastur's curiosity.
Personal privacy?
Could it be those unspeakable intimate scenes between Fors and Hugh?
That indeed shouldn't be revealed.
Suddenly, he felt a bit envious of Audrey's dream-walking ability.
Oh, he has it too, so it's fine.
"Mr. Hastur, don't get the wrong idea," Audrey reminded coquettishly, her cheek pressed against Hastur's shoulder.
"I'm already getting the wrong idea," Hastur gently stroked Audrey's slender waist, inhaling her faint, alluring scent.
Audrey blushed, remained silent for a long time, and then whispered, "Tonight, Susie is not here."
Hastur's heart suddenly burned. Was there a more pleasant invitation?
"Yes, Aisala is not here either."
"Yes."
Audrey shyly lowered her head, and Hastur hugged her, carrying her to the bedroom's big bed.
...
In the morning, Aisala yawned as she came out of Susie's study, her eyes still drowsy as she walked down the second-floor corridor.
Last night, she chose to stay in Susie's study to rest, ostensibly to supervise Susie's reading, but in reality, she didn't believe Susie would read all night.
The fact proved that Susie had more perseverance than she thought, reading from after dinner last night until this morning.
She was really tired.
Aisala yawned, intending to eat something first and then have a good sleep. As she passed Miss Audrey's room, she saw the door was still tightly closed.
Still not awake?
It's already past nine in the morning!
Hmph, even lazier than me.
Aisala raised her head slightly as she walked downstairs to enjoy some food.
At noon, Hastur came out of Audrey's room, or more precisely, was pushed out by a shy Audrey.
Sigh, even as an Extraordinary, missing one meal wouldn't matter, right?
Even if you don't eat for a day, it wouldn't be a problem.
Hastur sighed as he left. When he passed Susie's study, Susie was still engrossed in reading, and Aisala had turned back into a little black cat, lazily lying in the sunlight on the windowsill, sleeping.
He didn't disturb them, first going to the washroom to freshen up, taking a bath, and then going downstairs for lunch.
About half an hour later, Audrey came downstairs. Although her expression seemed natural, her cheeks still had a slight blush.
Like a shy flower, slowly blooming.
Seeing Hastur smiling at her, Audrey suppressed her shyness, naturally walking down the stairs to sit at the dining table for lunch.
"Susie is still focused on reading. It seems she will stay in the study tonight as well."
Facing Hastur's suggestive comment, Audrey just hummed softly and said nothing more.
"Mr. Rabbit came at the right time yesterday. It seems I should give him a gift next time to show my gratitude."
Audrey lightly bit her lip and still said nothing.
"I heard there might be a meteor shower over the southern continent tonight. Let's prepare some food and wine and enjoy it on the second-floor terrace."
After finishing lunch elegantly, Audrey glanced at Hastur, "So this is what you're like, Mr. Hastur."
"You should know very well from last night."
Audrey couldn't stand the conversation any longer, her face quickly turning red as she glared at Hastur in embarrassment.
Tonight, Susie stayed in the study, burning the midnight oil, while Aisala wanted to see how many nights Susie could last.
Tonight, a meteor shower streaked across the southern continent's night sky.
Tonight, Hastur thick-skinnedly wasn't turned away.
What was supposed to be a three-day countryside vacation extended to a week.
...
In early August, although it was the hottest season, the sky over Backlund was filled with thick smog and scattered snowflakes.
Falling on the skin, it brought an early winter chill.
In Backlund's history, it had never snowed so early in August, or even September and October.
Usually, it wouldn't snow until after October, with the first snow arriving about half a month later than in the cities of the Fennepot Kingdom at the same latitude.
At that time, the nobles of Backlund proudly said, "It is the passion of the people of the Ruen Kingdom that drives away the winter cold. The snow cannot extinguish the hot blood and ambition of the Ruen Kingdom!"
Now, the snow had arrived more than two months early.
Many Backlund residents saw this as a good omen, but more believed it was an ominous sign.
Especially the laborers who had to work hard, they complained even more.
Winter coming in August meant they needed to buy winter clothes early and spend extra on heating.
Firewood for heating was not cheap.
Moreover, the cold weather made many already difficult jobs even harder.
As for the homeless and beggars, they were always a voiceless group.
Facing the growing public opinion, the Ruen royal family had to step in, spending a large sum of money to set up a winter heating plan to ensure that every resident of Backlund wouldn't be overwhelmed by the cold.
They also spread the word: This was a large-scale curse created by evil wizards from the southern continent invading the northern continent. Fortunately, with the protection of the Goddess of the Night, the curse didn't spread to take lives and cause unnecessary panic.
When the news of snow in Backlund reached Southville County, it took on a different narrative.
With Hastur's tacit approval, the increasingly ambitious Greck, along with other ambitious members of the Negan and Hall families, began to spread the word that the Ruen royal family's actions were unreasonable and immoral, so the heavens sent an ominous snow to warn the world. This was divine wrath!
Divine wrath leads to public anger, and then rebellion.
This was a very normal, very reasonable historical process.