Chapter 385: Great Love and Reappearance

"A strange illness? You're sure it's not a demon?"

"There's not a trace of demonic aura on Auley."

Dimia let out a sigh, the pale-pink skin exposed on her chest trembling faintly with it.

Her arms were slender, her collarbones clearly visible, yet she had a pair of unreasonable peaks that were entirely natural — enough to make plenty of girls green with envy.

Rod cast a perfectly brazen glance:

"Send me his address later, I'll go take a look."

"Rod knows medicine?"

"Don't forget, back when Sharon was cured, I had a hand in it too."

Hearing that, Dimia broke into a smile, her cheeks plump, a tiny fang just barely visible.

"True enough, I'd nearly forgotten. But Rod, don't go using treatment as an excuse to flirt with the girl again, alright? Auley really is just a little girl — still a minor."

"What's with that 'again'? You probably won't believe it, but Sharon was the one who came on to me."

The two chatted as they walked into the banquet hall.

At a glance, they spotted old gentleman Humbert leaning on his cane.

He was personally overseeing the final arrangements of the banquet, which spoke volumes about how seriously he took it.

"Congratulations, congratulations."

Rod stepped forward with a smile to greet him.

Seeing it was him, Humbert gave a terribly bleak, wry smile, killing any joke Rod had been about to make.

No need to make things harder for the cuckold.

Maybe he actually likes this feeling of longing unfulfilled, of being mired in sorrow?

"Mr. Rod, it's been a while."

"It really has. I come into town every week, yet not once have I run into you."

Dimia laughed: "Don't even say that — Rosalia and I are colleagues, and we barely see him either."

Humbert offered an apologetic look: "A new mine opened in the mining district, and those outsiders couldn't take the hardship. There was even a small strike, and the fallout from it has been endless. I simply couldn't find the time to deliver your invitations in person — my sincere apologies."

Rod surveyed the banquet hall.

It too was decked out with plenty of flashy magical effects.

Above hung gossamer shimmering with starlight, with glittering gems dangling down; on either side stood various gold-framed precious murals, all adorned with glowing magic — light pollution cranked to the max once again.

Then in the center of the hall were two extra-long tables carved from ancient tree trunks, draped in glowing brocade, upon which the rare fruits were all displayed on glowing plates and platters.

No.

Do dinner tables and plates really need to glow?

Could you not be so tacky?

Rod couldn't really say anything — perhaps it was simply a matter of personal taste, personal preference.

He had always respected personal preferences.

Like Lady Kali's fondness for whips, Sharon's habit of using him as a teething stick, Emmy insisting on boxing with him during those activities, Pan Ni liking to soak his flesh and bone in water to drink, and so on.

Rod could only say he was enjoying every bit of it.

Crack—

A door to an inner room of the banquet hall swung open.

A man and a woman stepped out from within, leaning into each other, chatting and laughing, utterly sweet together.

The man had slightly wavy black hair, flowing and roguish, and a fairly handsome face touched with a natural melancholy.

The woman was plain-looking, but had youth on her side; gazing at the man beside her with a face full of tender affection, they made a fairly matched pair.

Of course.

It would have been perfect, if only her belly weren't swollen — she'd gotten pregnant right after coming back from Coral Bay.

—Tobeka and her whirlwind-marriage bard.

Rod looked at old gentleman Humbert, only to see that beside the wrinkled corners of his eyes, the tenderness and sorrow still bloomed as before.

She's already showing, and you still haven't let it go?

"Is that bard really alright? I heard Tobeka only knew him two weeks before planning to get engaged."

Dimia at his side furrowed her brow slightly and asked the gut-punching question.

That bard had the look of a pretty-boy pretty boy — exactly the type of man she hated most: a sissy with none of the ruggedness and bearing a man ought to have.

Besides, fraud cases involving bards were hardly rare.

These fellows who roamed the continent chasing big events basically traveled without startup capital; armed with a knack for singing and playing, they'd either drink themselves silly in taverns or swagger between noblewomen's beds.

The standout feature was unstable income and a love of wandering aimlessly.

Plenty of cities had been thoroughly wrecked by bards, treating them as pariahs; only some foolishly young or desperately lonely women would fall for their tricks again and again.

Total street rogues.

Chris said softly: "Actually, my old dream was to be a bard — swindle a little money, sing a little song, and tour the continent nice and simple."

Tally beside her laughed: "I'm really looking forward to the sight of a banshee singing for tips in a tavern."

Rod laughed too: "A weak little banshee like you? Touring the continent would just mean mugwort for travel money — what songs could you possibly sell? One careless slip and you'd get locked in some dark little room and pumped full till you're a cream puff."

Chris clicked her tongue: "Well, I'm not touring now, am I? And I'm still mugwort-ing away, still getting pumped into a cream puff by you just the same."

They spoke quietly, but Dimia was close enough to catch every word.

Sweating now.

Do girls from the forest really talk this bluntly, this shamelessly?

Over here.

Upon hearing the question about the bard, Humbert shook his head:

"He's a dissolute, frivolous man. Although his temperament has improved greatly of late, he is by no means a good match."

"Then why did you let Tobecca get engaged to him?"

You cuckold?

The old gentleman once again showed a wry, self-deprecating smile: "But she loves him, little love clings close, great love lets go."

"."

Hopeless. Better reincarnate early.

While they were speaking.

The lovey-doveby young couple over there had also spotted them, and walked over chatting and laughing as they came.

The closer they got, the colder Tobecca's smile became.

In the end she was staring coldly at Rod.

"It's you?"

"First time meeting you, Young Lady Tobecca."

Rod said with a smile.

Three months ago, also at Argyle Manor, that was when they welcomed Fried Argyle, who had fallen into depravity and become a demon.

At the time he and Tally had sensed something was off, and went to question Tobecca about it, only to be mistaken for clients, and in the end had no choice but to knock her out.

As for now.

Give Humbert some face and pretend they didn't know each other.

Tobecca glared fiercely at him, looked at Humbert, and demanded without courtesy: "What did you invite him over for?!"

Humbert half-opened his mouth, about to speak.

When he saw the bard beside his stepdaughter gently press her shoulder, speaking softly:

"Tobecca, don't be so rude."

"Okay, Aiden."

Tobecca instantly turned gentle, leaning against the bard's chest with a sweet expression.

Watching this made Humbert's heart ache as if cut by a knife, gripping his cane—

The bard named Aiden looked at Rod and proactively extended his hand.

"Mr. Rod, the Forest Warden of Shi Ying, I've long heard of your great name."

"It's all empty fame, just been pushed up there."

Rod smiled and shook his hand.

Suddenly he paused slightly, looked up to meet his eyes, and Aiden returned a fawning smile.

Yet the expression on Rod's face did not change.

In his heart, however, he gave a sudden lurch.

Just now, in the instant of the handshake, he keenly sensed a flash of 'disguise' aura on the bard.

But this 'disguise' had completely overwhelmed his own meager 【Disguise Domain】, and had caused him to notice nothing at all when they first met.

This kind of disguise.

He had felt it on the dark elf who had attempted an assassination in Shi Ying half a month ago.

(End of this chapter)