As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 119

After listening to Su Fan’s words, Ron’s feelings toward the old woman Carlotta shifted from mild distaste to outright hostility.

There was no reason for Syp to lie to Su Fan, and Su Fan had even less reason to deceive her.

So, all along, it had been Carlotta who had imprisoned her biological mother within this mansion, all under the guise of taking care of her.

“Perhaps her actions, from a result-oriented perspective, were indeed to prevent the family from getting involved with Lashe, but her motives were far from noble.”

Su Fan, arm in arm with Ron, walked into the garden behind the mansion.

The Mayfair family’s estate was vast. Even with so many family members gathered here, it didn’t feel crowded at all.

“She was simply driven mad by envy over what she couldn’t have. If she had truly been favored by Lashe… well.”

Su Fan didn’t finish the sentence.

He had just sensed their surroundings but found no trace of Lashe’s presence.

Was he hiding out of fear of being hunted down?

Just as Su Fan was pondering this, a greeting came from beside them.

A mother and daughter were walking in their direction.

The mother was holding a wine bottle, while the daughter carried wine glasses.

They approached warmly, introducing themselves.

“I quite like Los Angeles. My husband and I visited before. If we had known you were still alive earlier, we could have met you sooner.”

At this point, the woman glanced around.

“You probably know why… She acted as if you no longer existed in this world.”

“I know.”

The conversation among the three ranged from the family’s internal situation to the recent series of arson-murder cases.

Tessa, the daughter of the pair, told Ron that these were the deeds of witch hunters. They sought out women obsessed with witchcraft and sentenced them to death by fire.

“Now our family finally has a successor like you… Perhaps you can use your power to help others like us.”

Tessa’s eyes were filled with both envy and hope.

Ron wasn’t sure how to respond.

“If you truly want to help them, you should gather evidence and go to the police.”

Both Tessa and her mother looked at Su Fan in surprise.

Throughout the Mayfair family’s history, those in power had always been women. Men held a lower status here compared to typical families. Moreover, Su Fan hadn’t spoken since they arrived, so the two women had assumed he was just a casual “interest” of Ron’s and hadn’t paid him much mind.

They hadn’t expected him to answer on Ron’s behalf.

Noticing their odd looks toward Su Fan, Ron immediately pulled his arm closer, hugging it to her side.

Su Fan’s expression remained unchanged.

More impressive than Annie.

Who would have thought… slender branches bearing substantial fruit.

With that, Tessa and her mother finally understood the importance of this Asian youth in Ron’s heart.

“Sorry, you don’t have to take what Tessa said to heart, Ron… Let’s go.”

Seeing the atmosphere turn slightly awkward, Tessa’s mother quickly led her daughter away.

As for Su Fan and Ron, they continued walking through the mansion.

Along the way, they encountered Cortland, whom they had met earlier at the funeral.

Looking at Ron’s appearance, he remarked with emotion that her long hair and eyes were exactly like her mother, Dier’s.

From Cortland’s words and demeanor, Ron could sense that this man had been quite close to her mother.

Gradually, she couldn’t help but engage in more conversation with him.

“You are now the de facto head of this family. As for the house and assets…”

“Feel free to come to me anytime. Coincidentally, I handle the trust services for this family’s estate.”

“What your mother left behind should rightfully be inherited by you…”

Before Cortland could finish, Carlotta abruptly intervened.

A fierce argument erupted between the siblings, bickering incessantly about the deceased Dier.

When they finally paused, they realized Ron, who had been standing nearby, had already left the scene at some point.

…

“Is it okay for us to just run off like that?”

Ron had originally intended to observe quietly, but seeing Su Fan heading straight for the main door, she hurried to catch up.

“Are you particularly good at handling situations like that?”

Su Fan asked without turning around, his tone casual.

“…I want to learn more about this family.”

“There’s no need to rush to learn everything today.”

Su Fan paused here, a faint, ambiguous smile appearing on his face.

“What do you think of the people in this family?”

“…I can’t really tell much for now. Everyone maintains basic etiquette and social distance, except for Carlotta.”

Su Fan’s tone was casual, like ordinary small talk, so Ron didn’t overthink it and answered based on her intuition.

Hearing this answer, Ron saw Su Fan turn his head, revealing a subtle expression.

“With your level of social awareness, you really shouldn’t work in a place as diverse and complex as a hospital.”

“…”

Ron flushed with embarrassment but didn’t defend herself, instead adopting a posture of eager listening.

“People’s actions in this world always revolve around the word ‘interest.'”

“You should have noticed that their conversations inevitably circled back to Lashe, with whom you have a blood contract.”

Ron wanted to refute this, but reason told her Su Fan was speaking the truth.

A medical doctorate from Stanford was indeed rare, but in the eyes of an old, wealthy family like this, it was insignificant.

The ability to command the demon Lashe and possess supernatural power—that was the fundamental reason for the enthusiastic greetings from others.

“That Cortland and the mother-daughter pair, Tessa, they all hope you will accept Lashe’s power and become the new witch.”

“Tessa’s motive is simple: she envies your supernatural abilities and hopes you can fulfill some ideal of hers in her place.”

Although this ideal is utterly foolish…

“But Cortland is more intriguing… Pay more attention to him.”

Su Fan suddenly stopped, not continuing further.

According to the confession from the witch hunter he had dealt with earlier,

it was likely Cortland who had exposed the whereabouts of Ron’s mother, leading the other group to kill her.

But this information couldn’t be told to Ron yet.

She was too straightforward, not the type who could easily hide things.

Su Fan still needed to use her as bait. At the very least, he needed her to become familiar with the people in the family first.

If they directly exposed the truth and alerted the enemy, possibly scaring Lashe into severing ties with the family, that would be problematic.

“All for supernatural power…”

A flicker of disappointment passed through Ron’s eyes.

Even though she had prepared herself mentally, she still held onto some illusions about the Mayfair family.

But now it seemed that was just wishful thinking.

“Why feel disappointed?”

Su Fan, however, smiled.

“Sometimes, connections forged by interest are more reliable than those based on emotion.”

“This actually makes it more convenient for you to operate within the Mayfair family.”

“Since they want something from you, the initiative is in your hands.”