Mystery: But the Witch's Path

Chapter 98 Fors and Hugh

March 1, 1347, Friday, early morning.

The breeze on a March morning still carried the lingering chill of late winter. The air was like glass just pulled from a frozen river—transparent, sharp, yet subtly warm.

Meanwhile, at Sheffield Manor in Backlund, Queens, servants were already bustling about, their footsteps and whispers creating a warm and lively atmosphere.

After being woken up by her personal maid, Eileen, Altair was forced to get up and let the maids perform their duties, starting to wash her, change her morning clothes, put her hair up, and dress her up.

Vivian, still sitting on the bed, watched all this silently with affection, and sighed, "I never imagined that time would pass so quickly. It's almost been a year since we first met."

Sitting in front of the vanity mirror, letting the maid style her hair, Altair said calmly, "Isn't that how time is? It never stops for anyone, it always moves forward steadily, allowing us to grow through loss and gain."

"Perhaps this is the only fair thing in this world. Regardless of poverty or wealth, after a hundred years we are all just a handful of yellow earth."

While she was still stating the time, Vivian had already gotten out of bed and walked to the vanity mirror. After taking over the task of styling the hair, she bent down and kissed Altair's lips, abruptly ending her speech.

After a long while, when the kiss ended, Vivian couldn't help but say, "Darling, many of the world's troubles stem from thinking too much. Your current mindset is not conducive to stabilizing your spirituality."

"If this world is truly as you say, where regardless of poverty or status, everyone becomes nothing more than a handful of dust after a hundred years," then what are we? Are we no longer human?

"You should turn your attention to the beautiful things in front of you, such as sunshine, flowers, or your favorite music, opera—and it's your birthday today, so keep smiling."

After she finished speaking, Vivian used her fingers to lift the corners of Altair's mouth, making her give a strange smile.

After Altair finished dressing, he waited for Vivi to change. Bored, he casually remarked, "Looks like our room needs some improvements. Now even the most basic makeup requires us to wait for each other."

Upon hearing this, Vivian tilted her head slightly to look around, then hummed in agreement and asked, "Is any further adjustment needed?"

"I can't think of anything else for now," Altair replied after a moment's thought.

From a modern perspective, Altair and Vivian's room was not small; in fact, it was quite large, with the bedroom being at least 100 square meters.

In addition to the sleeping area and dressing area, the interior also features a large rest area by the window, furnished with sofas and coffee tables, where one can sunbathe or chat with close friends.

However, this was the simplest standard for aristocratic girls during this period, because at least five maids would assist them with dressing and grooming every morning.

So, if only one person lives in this room, it's fine, it's perfectly adequate.

But Vivian has been living in Altair's room ever since she moved in, which has made her room feel a bit cramped now.

After finishing his hair and makeup, Altair extended his left arm for Vivian to take, and left the room.

On his way downstairs, Altair received brief birthday wishes from each servant he encountered, which were basically, "Count Altair, happy birthday! May your year be as bright, healthy, and happy as the spring sunshine."

"Count Altair, may the goddess of night bless you, and grant you health, peace, and joy."

"May the God of Storms bless you."

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After breakfast, Altair went to the study to open the birthday gifts prepared by the servants that Eileen had collected.

In previous years, Hahn had always been in charge of collecting the gifts. But this year, Altair left him in the town of Morse, and he would have to wait until spring to transport the extraordinary materials back to Backlund.

Therefore, due to time constraints, I can only entrust my personal maid, Irene, to perform my duties this year.

The gifts from the servants were all practical items, such as the ink bottle given by Butler Hahn.

The two personal maids, Eileen and Vera, presented him with Backlund's latest bestselling mystery novel, "Stormy Hill."

Other ordinary maids and servants would give gifts such as homemade jam, candles, and handmade rag dolls.

After tidying up the gifts, Altair, following the usual return gift standard, handed Eileen the prepared list of gold coins, saying, "According to the normal rank return gift, 3 gold pounds for the personal maid, 2 gold pounds for the second servant, and 1 gold pound for the ordinary servant —"

After Eileen left, she distributed the list of successful candidates at the entrance of the study. The servants who were waiting there would thank the study and leave after receiving a return gift.

Altair, in the study, didn't respond to the thanks, but instead looked up at Miss Salty's new book, "..."

Storm Mountain Villa.

The first half of the book tells the story of the female protagonist, Sisi, who enters the Fries Manor as a tutor and develops feelings for the manor owner's son; it is a pure romance novel.

However, as the plot unfolds, the latter half incorporates supernatural events, with evil spirits suddenly appearing in the manor, gradually changing the style of the story. At this point, the female protagonist, Sisi, reveals her identity as a detective and begins to use scientific methods to deduce and solve the problems.

As the plot unfolds, Altair becomes increasingly engrossed, and with the mindset of a seasoned bookworm from his previous life, he begins to analyze the story from his own perspective.

But just as the plot was reaching its climax, the book's contents disappeared—in the way people would perceive it to be; the first volume ended there.

Still not satisfied, Altair couldn't help but curse, "Fors really should have gone the audience route. By now, she had completely grasped the readers' curiosity and turned that curiosity into a bestseller code."

Unfortunately, in the previous year, 1346, she had already accepted the dying wish of Mrs. Anrisa of the Abraham family at the Youssef Clinic in Backlund, and used her extraordinary qualities to become an apprentice of the Gate Path, Sequence Nine.

As for how Altair found out, after clarifying the timeline, she had someone specifically look for this clinic. She just wanted to see if Mrs. Anlisa was truly alone until her death, with Fors by her side only.

Don't overthink it. She didn't originally intend to capture an Abraham and refine it into a sealing artifact.

However, Altair's Sequence 7 potion is almost finished, and he will soon advance to Sequence 6, thus becoming a craftsman.

With the extraordinary characteristics of the "shepherd who came through the trade," the plan to create a sealing artifact can now be implemented.

She's already found four of the five traits, and now she only needs one traveler. She still desperately needs an Abraham.

Meanwhile, in Backlund, a petite, slightly chubby-cheeked, yet delicately beautiful underage girl in a knight's practice uniform in the East District, carrying a food bag, pushed open the door in front of her.

But as soon as she opened the door, she could smell the smoke inside. So she couldn't help but fan the air with her hand until she got used to it before going in.

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Looking towards the sofa, I saw a woman who was motionless, like a salted fish that had come ashore.

She was wearing a beige, high-necked dress with ruffles, and had a beautiful face and slightly wavy brown hair, but her temperament was very lazy and decadent.

The petite girl, looking at the salted fish on the sofa, couldn't help but remind her, "Fors, smoking is bad for your health. Also, you haven't left the house for five days in a row."

After hearing the reminder, Lady Salty Fish Fors did not choose to get up. Instead, she turned her head with difficulty and looked at the girl who reminded her with her light blue eyes, saying, "Hugh, I was thinking about how to fill in the plot holes of the next volume of 'Storm Hill Manor,' but I'm not in a good state today, so I can only think and not write."

Then she changed the subject, saying, "I asked you to bring me cigarettes and red wine, did you buy them for me?"

Upon hearing this, Hugh nodded, and while taking out a food bag, he said to Fors, "I brought these, and I also bought you a sandwich for breakfast."

Upon hearing the mention of breakfast, Fors struggled to get up, took the red wine and sandwich and began to eat, casually saying, "Hugh, my royalties from last month have come in. Let's go out for dinner this afternoon. I know a very nice restaurant called Intis in the North District; their red wine stew is delicious."

Hugh, seeing Fors enjoying red wine with a sandwich, felt glad he had chosen to buy an egg sandwich; otherwise, he would have had to take Fors to the doctor later.

After thinking all this through, Hugh couldn't help but yawn and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'm going to rest now. Remember to wake me up this afternoon."

After saying that, Hugh went back to his room, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.