To the light, soothing melody, Klein and Hazel danced gracefully. He was tall and well-built, she was slim and elegant. Aside from their noticeable age difference, everything about them — their movements, their temperament, their looks — matched so perfectly it could almost serve as a demonstration.
Klein broke the silence first. As they turned lightly, he said casually: "I've been having nightmares lately. Thank the Goddess, I went to the cathedral a few times to pray and drank some holy water, and I stopped waking up in the middle of the night."
Hazel raised her eyes silently. After a few seconds, she asked: "What kind of nightmares?"
So she is interested in this topic...
Hazel didn't speak, but her bright brown eyes were full of disagreement.
So she believed that dreams could be remembered.
Klein held her waist and took a step sideways, chuckling: "Actually, I've had very vivid dreams before. "Back when I was on the Southern Continent, I dreamed of an upside-down mausoleum made of pitch-black stone, stretching deep into the earth. Living corpses covered in white feathers came out of it, trying to drag me inside. "I had similar dreams for several days in a row. I was scared, I admit. I rushed to a nearby city, found the Diviners' club, and asked them to interpret my dreams. They concluded that I might have offended a tribe's Death cult when I was purchasing some local specialties. "Strangely enough, after I went to that tribe to apologize, offered gifts, and participated in one of their celebrations, I never had that dream again."
Everything above was fabricated from the perspective of a diviner to pique Hazel's interest and see if she might unconsciously reveal something. At the same time, it was a subtle, unsuspicious suggestion: if Hazel was troubled by dreams, she would be better off going to a Diviners' club or a priest for dream interpretation rather than blindly believing the content of her dreams and acting rashly on her own.
When Will Auceptin mentioned that there was something off about Hazel and that Klein could talk to her about dreams, Klein suspected that the source of her contradictions might be recurring dreams. Otherwise, it was hard to explain why she had the strength of at least Sequence 8 but was severely lacking in common knowledge about the mystical world, blindly arrogant, and a young lady of high society educated at home. She would have had a hard time randomly coming across a wild, purposeless Beyonder, since her father was a member of the House of Commons who would certainly be protected and should have no shortage of Beyonders around him.
So Klein believed that Hazel had likely come into contact with some object or, due to her personality, had been noticed by a powerful entity. This entity was using dreams to gradually guide her into becoming a Beyonder without giving her the necessary common sense, while also luring her to dig and search in the sewers.
There were two factors that made him quite confident in this guess: one was Will Auceptin's words, and the other was that Sequence 5 of the Marauder pathway was called "Dream Stealer." It couldn't and didn't only have the Beyonder power to steal action thoughts!
Hazel quietly finished listening to Dwayne Dantès's story. Her mouth opened subconsciously, then closed again. After almost ten seconds, she asked: "Why didn't you go to the Goddess's church back then?"
So she does react to dream topics, but she's cautious and hasn't revealed anything... Klein gave a wry smile and said: "There wasn't a church of the Goddess nearby. That area belonged to the church of the
Hazel didn't continue this topic, instead turning her attention back to the dance itself, as if immersed in the music.
Klein also fell silent, wandering through the beautiful melody with the girl.
When the dance ended, he escorted Hazel back to her spot. Thirsty, he went to the long table to get a glass of sweet iced tea.
There, he saw Bishop Elektra enjoying some red wine.
Unlike the Church of Storms and the Church of War, the clergy of the Goddess of the Night could not get drunk. They had to refuse distilled spirits but could drink small amounts of champagne, beer, and red or white wine.
"How is it? This should be your first time hosting such a grand ball, right?" Bishop Elektra raised his glass with a smile.
Klein smiled back and replied: "It's troublesome, but, well, interesting. The biggest problem is dancing so many dances in a row. It's tiring, and I keep sweating, and I need water."
Bishop Elektra laughed heartily. "Coming to
With that, he looked at Klein teasingly. "Ms. Orolie is quite impressed with you. She thinks your inner qualities match your appearance."
Klein couldn't think of another response, so he replied jokingly: "You can't see a person's inner qualities from just one dance."
Without waiting for Bishop Elektra to flash the knowing smile of one man to another, Klein changed the subject. "Bishop, I recently got involved in a business deal, and I might have offended a powerful man. I'm a bit worried."
He was referring to the Coim Company and Baron
Bishop Elektra took a sip of his red wine and said, "Don't worry. Backlund is a place where the law is respected. Besides, the Goddess will protect you."
"Then I'm relieved. Praise the Goddess!" Klein earnestly drew a crimson moon over his chest.
When Bishop Elektra headed to the dance floor, Klein's eyes gradually darkened. He let out a silent sigh.