Chapter 2543: Fiancés and Cousins

Since the topic of "old maids" had been brought up, the scrawny old woman looked toward Miss Winslet:

"Flora, hasn't your mother written to urge you again? Didn't she talk to you about this topic during the Year-End Festival last year? If I remember correctly, you were born in the same year as my second daughter, and now you are also..."

"Ahem."

Flora Winslet successfully interrupted the other party's attempt to state her age with a cough, then looked at Xia De.

"Mrs. Bovary, I have a male companion today."

The elderly lady then stared at Xia De, her expression clearly somewhat dissatisfied:

"He does look quite decent, it's just a pity he's a Northerner. You mustn't be like that Countess Belindell in Moon Bay a while ago, taking a Northerner as a lover; the girls these days are really... but considering your age, one can't demand so much."

The lady with gray-black hair looked a bit displeased, while the people around them laughed good-naturedly; clearly, everyone knew of Mrs. Bovary's "Northern prejudice" tradition. Such people were not uncommon in both countries, especially among the older generation, as the two countries had not been so peaceful during the era in which they grew up.

Upon hearing "Belindell" and "Northern lover," the clever Miss Witch felt a jolt in her heart, subconsciously thinking of Xia De:

"Could it be..."

But she immediately dismissed this conjecture; after all, during the Moon Bay incident, Galina only rushed to Moon Bay to participate in the great battle at the very end. She had no reason to let her lover accompany Bella Belindell in Moon Bay while she herself was not there.

After all, the Duchess did not seem like someone with that kind of special hobby.

In any case, the conversation with these artists who held numerous titles was still quite pleasant. After achieving the goal of "attending the banquet reasonably," Miss Winslet gave Xia De a wink, and the two temporarily left the crowd of people they were talking to, then each holding a wine glass, they came to the window of the banquet hall.

Because the manor was not large, there was no garden scenery outside the window, only some stacked wooden crates. The two glass cups clinked together, and then the witch, with a flush on her face, leaned toward Xia De until she was embracing him.

Xia De's figure shielded her from view, and she took the opportunity to put on Miss Danister's monocle.

"Actually, we don't need to embrace to shield the view."

Xia De thought to himself, but he also agreed that this method was safer.

Before long, Miss Winslet gave her answer:

"The Bennett family is fine; the kinship between the four of them is normal. Talk to them in a while and determine if they are infected with the curse."

"Alright."

Xia De held her and swayed gently, as if the two were swaying to dance in front of the window:

"What about the Kamin family?"

"Wait a moment, I didn't see Baron Kamin's... I see it."

She focused her mental energy to look at that family. Baron Kamin and Mrs. Kamin were chatting and laughing with two other local nobles, while their young son was chatting with his fiancée among the young people:

"Baron Kamin and Mrs. Kamin are grandmother and grandson... well, after all, young Kamin is Baron Kamin's father, a generation above him. Oh, young Kamin is indeed Mrs. Kamin's son, that point is also fine.

So Mrs. Kamin is both young Kamin's biological mother and his daughter-in-law. Don't move for a moment, let me confirm again... oh, guess what I saw again?"

She squeezed Xia De's wrist somewhat forcefully, and there was actually a hint of excitement in her deliberately lowered voice:

"This relationship is too complicated! Mrs. Bennett! Mrs. Bennett and Baron Kamin's family are related!"

Xia De stood with his back to the banquet hall, looking at the window:

"Don't tell me Mrs. Bennett is also young Kamin's daughter; if that's the case, wouldn't her daughter be young Kamin's..."

"Of course not, what are you thinking? I mean, Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Kamin are actually sisters!"

Xia De was silent for a moment, not because he was shocked, but because he was adding another line to this complex web of relationships in his heart:

"So James Kamin and Jane Bennett, who are already engaged, are actually cousins? What is this, lovers becoming siblings in the end?"

"What strange things are you saying?"

The lady with gray-black hair asked, her lowered voice still carrying a tone of confusion and excitement. Xia De understood her mood at the moment, because he was equally curious about what the relationship between these two families really was.

The witch continued to lower her voice and said:

"Although Baron Kamin is a noble from Willendale, I seem to have heard people mention that Mrs. Kamin is from Creekwood Town. Old Baron Kamin brought his son to Creekwood Town to handle business matters at the time, which is how the current Baron Kamin met the current Baroness... but I haven't heard of any kinship between Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Kamin."

"Let's not rush to investigate this; we'll solve things one by one. Moreover, Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Kamin are not far apart in age, both around forty; this matter may not involve time, but just ordinary events like extramarital affairs or human trafficking."

"That's true, but it still makes the relationship between the two families very complicated. Now, question: what kinship do James Kamin and Jane Bennett have?"

She gave up on continuing to look and asked Xia De with a smile, raising her head. Xia De gave up thinking about such a complicated problem in just one second, and he thought of another thing:

"Does the law of Casenrick prohibit marriage between cousins?"

"Of course it doesn't, why would it prohibit it?"

Miss Winslet asked curiously:

"And as far as I know, your Delarion law doesn't seem to prohibit it either... what kind of strange question is this?" (Note)

The Outlander opened his mouth but said nothing, only sighing in his heart that everything was indeed different.

After confirming this complex kinship, the next step was to determine who among the two families had the "Time Curse."

The only person left in the Kamin family whose status was uncertain was Mrs. Kamin. Fortunately, the middle-aged woman went to the washroom alone soon after. Miss Winslet immediately pulled Xia De to follow, and the moment they brushed past each other in the corridor, the gold-rimmed glasses the witch was wearing hypnotized the other party.

Xia De quickly reached out and placed his hand on her forehead, taking half a minute before shaking his head:

"No curse, but this is only a rough perception; it cannot be one hundred percent certain."

"Alright, next."

Four people from the Bennett family came, and it was not easy to get close to the eldest daughter, but the remaining three were all standing together.

So Miss Winslet took Xia De directly to greet them:

"Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Bennett, it's been a long time."

The witch said very enthusiastically. Hearing the voice, the couple turned around and recognized the other party, so they both showed surprised expressions:

"Miss Winslet, good evening. You are staying at our inn again, aren't you? I'm so sorry, we haven't had time to say hello yet."

Mr. Bennett said:

"Tomorrow I will have someone send you a bottle of good red wine; it was a gift from a friend of mine in Willendale."

"Mr. Bennett, you are too kind."

Even though she felt disgusted in her heart, the witch still replied with a smile on her face:

"It's the eve of the Moon Dance Festival now, you must be very busy, and I have to thank you for saving the room for me. Oh, I forgot to introduce, this gentleman is my distant cousin, who came with me to Vista City this year to attend the Moon Dance Festival concert."

She did not say Xia De's name, but the couple still greeted Xia De very enthusiastically.

Thomas Bennett was indeed the kind of humble and cautious country gentleman Xia De recognized; although he no longer had a noble title, one could still feel the difference between him and ordinary "rich people."

This did not mean he was arrogant, but rather that he was maintaining a kind of "decency" that was hard to describe. Xia De did not dislike this point; on the contrary, his first impression of him was quite good, after all, he was very polite to him.

As for Mrs. Bennett, I don't know if it was because she had heard many negative comments when learning about her through other channels, but this forty-something woman, whose wrinkles could not be covered by cosmetics because of her age, seemed indeed somewhat too fawning toward Miss Winslet.

If according to what others said, she probably cared more about Flora Winslet's "Winslet family" background than her identity as an artist.

Of course, this might also be because Xia De himself was looking at people through "colored glasses."

As for Philly Bennett, who had been following her parents, she was the second daughter of the four sisters, twenty years old this year, and could be considered a grown girl who was not yet married. The unmarried girl was said to have inherited her mother's looks when she was young, so apart from some freckles, she was quite pretty.

It was just that when she was talking to Miss Winslet, she kept using honorifics, making it seem like Miss Winslet was of the same generation as her parents. Xia De could see that this made "Miss Owl" vaguely unhappy.

"So, is it possible that Miss Winslet's age is slightly older than Galina's?"

After shaking hands with Thomas Bennett and standing side by side for a while, Xia De confirmed that there was no curse on him; then Xia De found an opportunity to contact Mrs. Bennett and Miss Philly Bennett alone, and also did not detect any traces of a curse.

As for the last remaining Jane Bennett, during the dance segment before the banquet ended, when Xia De was dancing with Miss Winslet, he took the opportunity to approach the engaged couple, and in a public place, used illusion to hide his hand, quietly contacting the twenty-one-year-old lady amidst the music of the dance.

This move was quite risky, but fortunately, it was not discovered by anyone, and 【Red Butterfly Illusion】 was still very trustworthy. And the conclusion Xia De got was that there was also no Time Curse on Jane Bennett.

Thus, the only ones carrying the Time Curse were the "conjugate father and son" pair of Baron Kamin and young Kamin, and the subsequent investigation would focus on them. ===== CHAPTER 2544 =====