The morning mist hadn’t fully dissipated when Renith, Antina, and Visda set out separately, at different times, heading in the same direction.
When Boriet appeared in everyone’s view, he looked rather comical. Wearing a half silver-gray mask, he was dressed in an obviously ill-fitting suit, its tailored lines clashing awkwardly with his frame. Meanwhile, Renith, now “dressed to the nines,” approached gracefully like a stunning rose, beautiful yet hiding sharp thorns.
Faced with such a beauty, Boriet finally understood why poets loved to sing praises of lovely women. Encountering such a beauty, anyone who could resist must be… this! (Thumbs up)
Anyway, Boriet certainly couldn’t resist.
But racking his brains, he couldn’t piece together a decent line of poetry.
After thinking for a long time without any result, Boriet had no choice but to follow behind Renith.
Renith slightly raised her chin, her pink eyes like deep pools of water, shimmering with charm. She gently swayed her slender waist, the hem of her skirt swaying slightly with her movement. Deliberately moving closer to Boriet, her voice dripped with soft sweetness:
“Shall we go, young master?”
Under the cover of 「Light Refraction」, Renith walked ahead and went upstairs with Boriet.
Renith’s actions stirred a restless itch in Boriet. Chuckling, he reached out to wrap his arm around her shoulders. Renith subtly shifted to the left, deftly avoiding his groping hand.
The flaw of 「Light Refraction」 was exposed at this moment—it only provided visual concealment but couldn’t prevent close physical contact. Moreover, Renith simply didn’t want Boriet to touch her from the bottom of her heart.
“Wait a moment, young master. You’re being too hasty. We haven’t even reached an agreement yet—”
Renith lowered her voice, which seemed to possess an intangible magic that tightly hooked Boriet’s heart.
Hearing her voice, Boriet met Renith’s pink eyes and, as if under a immobilizing spell, unconsciously withdrew his hand.
“Indeed.”
Boriet agreed verbally, but his eyes still couldn’t help wandering over Renith.
After the failed advance, having nothing else to do, the two looked around.
“Wow, little beauty, everyone here seems quite impressive.”
A few people here didn’t want to reveal their identities, wearing masks, so Boriet’s bizarre outfit blended into the crowd without seeming out of place.
Boriet’s gaze swept around and suddenly landed on several somewhat familiar faces, flickering in the depths of his memory. He suddenly remembered they were some important figures who had come to celebrate his father’s birthday.
“Of course, most here are bosses of large companies and nobles. And you, of course~”
Following Boriet’s gaze, Renith said with a charming laugh.
Boriet was full of doubts. All important people? Then why were they holding a meeting in such a simple place in broad daylight?
It must be something very important, right?
But with a beauty here, those questions were tossed to the far corners of his mind. After all, the beauty had said that doing this could win her heart.
If anyone who knew Boriet were here, they’d be so shocked their jaw would drop, wondering inwardly:
Since when did this kid change his ways? Before, he was the impatient type, unable to keep his hands off any woman he met. How could he resist today?
Renith’s gaze inadvertently fell on the people standing near the door. Visda and Antina hadn’t taken seats this time but were hiding in the crowd, eavesdropping.
This was Renith’s consideration—if something happened later, it would be easier for Visda and Antina to escape while hiding in the crowd.
Just then, a man also in a suit stepped onto the stage. He looked around the audience, his eyes sparkling with excitement, and said joyfully:
“Even more people have come today. It seems we’ll need to prepare a larger auditorium in a few days. I am pleased because we all share a common enemy!”
“Colk, he…”
“Exactly! We must not allow Colk to come to Mobius City!”
After a long speech, thunderous applause erupted from below.
Renith lightly poked Boriet, who was sleeping like a log, and gave him a look. The freshly awakened Boriet instantly became alert, bounding onto the stage in a few quick steps.
He snatched the microphone and loudly shouted the words Renith had told him last night:
“That scum Colk is a complete and utter waste! He’s a destroyer of social order, a despicable dog that everyone should condemn! He’s a good-for-nothing who only knows drinking, eating, whoring, gambling, corruption, and bribery—a tumor on society, a rotten apple, trash not even worthy of polishing our shoes! His mind is full of filthy thoughts; he’s a beast in human skin, a model of moral decay, a disgrace to civilized society!”
Just as Boriet was getting more excited, spewing saliva with every word, Renith gently crooked her finger. A pseudo-mage hand woven from magic quietly untied the string of Boriet’s mask. The silver-gray mask clattered straight to the floor.
Boriet saw Renith below the stage smiling and nodding at him. Overjoyed, as if receiving the greatest encouragement in the world, he spoke with increasing fervor, completely unaware that his face was now clearly visible to everyone below.
People below whispered to each other, discussing whose subordinate this was, to be so brave.
Some elders who recognized Boriet frowned.
Since when did Baron Matthan’s son become so courageous? After the meeting, they must inform Baron Matthan about this.
It must be known that Baron Matthan had no intention of opposing the royal family’s policies; on the contrary, he was quite close to the royal family. If Baron Matthan learned that Boriet had shown his face at a resistance meeting and spouted such nonsense, the scene would be unimaginably spectacular.
Of course, some secretly rejoiced in their hearts, thinking there would be a good show to watch.
After finishing his speech, Boriet stood panting on the stage. He had never spoken so much in his life, thinking that now he should be able to win the little beauty’s heart, right?
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Just then, knocking suddenly came from outside the door. Someone near the door carefully opened a crack.
“Excuse me, is this Room 101?”
A figure dressed entirely in black peered through the crack, his gaze landing directly on the speaking platform.
Everyone inside looked at each other. The hearts of the cleverer ones instantly leapt to their throats. At this time, with that attire, clearly this person was here to probe!
“Can’t you read the room number? This isn’t it!”
The all-black-clad figure was shoved out the door.
“Sorry, sorry, wrong room… my mistake.”
Apologizing and laughing awkwardly, he backed away until a “click” sounded—the door was closed again.
“Here, in this building, today, it should only be us.”
The suited man murmured.
Hearing his words, the room fell silent as still water.
The next second, many people stood up. Sensing something wrong, the suited man pointed to the hidden door behind the stage. The crowd, like startled birds, scrambled for the exit, leaving only a few scattered individuals inside and a bewildered Boriet standing in the center of the stage.
“Hey, what’s going on…”
Boriet looked at the mess below. The little beauty who had been making eyes at him earlier had vanished without a trace, as if evaporated from the world.
Before he could finish, the wooden door, which had been closed, erupted with a loud noise.
With a second loud crash, the door was kicked in. A group of people in police uniforms, holding firearms, stormed in. The leader looked around and ordered arrests.
The remaining people in the room finally awoke to reality, understanding what was happening. They fled toward the lower floor, but it was too late—how could they outrun trained, armed police?
Chaotic arrests began, while Boriet still stood dumbly in the center of the stage, like a lamb awaiting slaughter.
The police officers swarmed forward like wolves and tigers, effortlessly pinning Boriet firmly to the ground. Then, a burly, fierce-looking officer stepped forward, lifting his foot and kicking Boriet hard in the abdomen, followed by another kick. The force seemed to vent all his pent-up frustration onto Boriet.
“I heard everything outside the door just now… Well done, you brat, daring to insult Lord Colk? Why don’t you take a piss and look at what you really are!”
The officer roared viciously, spittle nearly hitting Boriet’s face.
“And you bunch of reckless fools, actually attempting to hold some resistance meeting? This is lawlessness!”
His eyes blazed with anger, his finger almost jabbing Boriet’s nose.
“Do you have any idea, to chase those gangs, we in the police have been shifting personnel around, dizzy with work, half dead from exhaustion! It’s all because of you ungrateful lot, adding so much extra work for no reason!”
Growing angrier, he raised his foot again as if to kick, frightening Boriet into instinctively curling up.
“I am Baron Matthan’s son! You can’t treat me like this! My father has never even hit me! Waa… you can’t…”
The officer seemed to hear nothing, delivering two more kicks to Boriet’s head.
These kicks made stars dance before Boriet’s eyes, his head buzzing, the world spinning.
“Hah… a baron?”
“Take everyone away. I want to thoroughly interrogate who’s behind this.”
The officers swarmed again, dragging away Boriet and all those who hadn’t escaped.
Meanwhile, Antina and the other two walked down the street.
“Was this… your doing?”
Renith shook her head.
“As I said a long time ago, this meeting lacked any secrecy. Some attendees, trying to curry favor with Colk, probably tipped him off long ago.”
“Alright, now isn’t the time to think about that. Everything went smoothly for now. Hurry and go win your lawsuit!”
