The return of the silver dragon Anathasia and the appearance of the Dragon Hunter spirits happened so close together that Jenkins couldn't help but wonder if the two events were connected.
He shared his suspicions with Alexia, but the petite woman advised him not to overthink it. While there were no true coincidences in the world, she reminded him, not everything was fated to happen.
He also recounted how decisively he had borrowed the Tree Soul from Sigrid that morning. Jenkins was rather pleased with himself, believing it had been a wise move not to delay any further.
But Alexia noticed sothing peculiar about the situation:
“You and that Miss Capet are very distant relatives, aren't you?”
Everyone but Jenkins understood the implication behind the question. Briny tilted her head and whispered sothing in Hathaway’s ear, making her smile.
When Jenkins nodded, the petite woman shook her head:
“You really haven't changed a bit.”
“What do you an?”
“Should I tell him?”
Alexia directed the question to Hathaway and Briny. Miss Windsor was also on the spacious terrace, standing silently by the railing with a wine glass in hand.
“Go on, tell him.”
Briny said breezily:
“Otherwise, that Miss Capet might just snatch our cat-loving gentleman away at any mont.”
“ow~”
Chocolate owed at Briny, but no one knew what it was trying to express.
“Alright then. Did you really not notice, Jenkins? Don't you think Miss Sigrid Capet's attitude towards you has been strange these past few months?”
Alexia asked, closely watching Jenkins's face, clearly relishing the reaction she expected to see.
Jenkins might be dense when it ca to these matters, but with it laid out so plainly, even he couldn't miss her aning.
“See? He gets it.”
Seeing Jenkins's dumbfounded expression, Hathaway chuckled softly before adding a warning:
“Jenkins, if you dare say you thought Miss Capet just admired your talent, we're calling off the wedding. You can spend the rest of your life with your cat.”
Chocolate's eyes brightened, but alas, Jenkins wasn't that dense:
“Sigrid... has feelings for ?”
He didn't hide his surprise.
On reflection, the blonde nun's attitude toward him had indeed felt a little off ever since he returned to Nolan. In this new light, everything suddenly made perfect sense.
“No, I promise you, I would never...”
“You don't need to promise. As if we don't know what kind of person you are.”
Briny waved a dismissive hand and took a delicate sip from her glass. It held a deep red wine, supposedly a vintage from 1836, though Jenkins knew nothing about such things.
“We certainly don't think we've managed to ‘reform’ you to the point where you'd actively pursue other won.”
Though her words weren't particularly funny, both Hathaway and Alexia burst out laughing.
“So what should I do now?”
“Are you really asking us about this?”
Hathaway asked, her tone reproachful, and Jenkins realized that perhaps this wasn't the most appropriate topic to discuss with them.
“Then what do you think I should do?”
Jenkins then asked Miss Windsor, one of the few female friends he had.
“And you think asking Miss Windsor is any more appropriate?”
Briny retorted.
Jenkins looked at her and understood. He was aware that Miss Windsor had... other feelings for him.
“Alright, alright, I'll take care of it, you can rest assured... I'm not that kind of guy...”
Nearly everyone gave him a look that made Jenkins flush with sha:
“I will handle the matter with Sigrid. I absolutely will.”
Just as they were speaking, one of Queen Isabella's maids in a crisp uniform stepped onto the terrace. She spotted Jenkins and headed straight for him, prompting the group to quickly drop the subject.
“Viscount, Her Majesty wishes to speak with you.”
Jenkins saw this as the perfect opportunity to end the conversation. After bidding his companions farewell, he took his cat and followed the maid toward the staircase.
Watching Jenkins and his cat follow the servant away, Hathaway glanced at the other three ladies beside her:
“What do you think will happen with him and Sigrid?”
“It's hard to say, in my opinion. Unexpected things are always happening around Jenkins. Especially with matters of the heart, you can never predict what he'll do.”
Briny said.
“Then why didn't you just tell him to reject Sigrid directly?”
Alexia asked the other two, her eyes darting toward Miss Windsor. The latter was listening with such nervous intensity, she looked as if she were about to pull out a notebook and take notes.
“You didn't make him be the ‘bad guy’ either, did you?”
Briny said to Alexia. The petite woman shook her head.
“Why should I be the bad guy?”
Hathaway then said with a smile:
“I've heard Jenkins ntion that you're very good at predicting the developnt of a situation using thods other than divination. He seed to call it logical deduction? So why don't you tell us how you think Jenkins will ultimately handle this?”
“Jenkins still needs that Miss Capet. As a fellow descendant of elves, she can still help him with many things in the days to co. In my opinion, this matter will eventually develop into a very interesting situation.”
“What kind of situation?”
The blonde girl asked. She held her wine glass in her right hand, her left arm crossing her chest to cradle her right elbow—a pose that rather emphasized her figure.
“That's uncertain right now, and I don't want to say too much. But his promise to us will definitely not change. Jenkins is a very nostalgic person; he can never let go of his past, which is evident in many ways. So no matter what, that Capet girl can forget about taking him away from us.”
“Of course, I know that. But I'm worried our little family will grow. I certainly never planned on having more brides at my own wedding.”
Briny grumbled, and Hathaway showed a similar flicker of displeasure.
“Relax,” Alexia said. “It's going to be very interesting.”
Briny started to ask another question, but then paused. Part of her found the idea of watching this drama unfold rather amusing. Besides, it wasn't her problem alone; she didn't want to co across as petty right from the start. Hathaway knew that Alexia wouldn't want another woman joining their family either, but she chose to trust Jenkins.
Looking in the direction Jenkins had left, Hathaway thought of sothing else and said softly:
“By the way, Alexia, there's sothing I want to ask you.”
Her words were a clear signal that she wanted to speak with Alexia privately. Briny and Miss Windsor were puzzled but assud the topic was related to Enchanters, so they didn't press the matter.
When Alexia and Hathaway had found a secluded corner of the corridor, Hathaway hesitated for a mont before blurting out a question that made Alexia break into a knowing smile:
“What do you make of Jenkins's cat, Chocolate?”
anwhile, the servant led Jenkins to the grand banquet hall on the first floor, where he found Queen Isabella. She was seated on a sofa against the wall, conversing with several elderly ladies of her own age. As Jenkins approached, the other won rose and gracefully took their leave.
Jenkins nodded and sat down, still holding his cat. He reached for an apple on the low table before him.
“Was there sothing you needed?”
“I noticed you've been upstairs with your friends this entire ti. That won't do. Isn't the purpose of a social gathering to make new acquaintances?”
“We had important things to attend to upstairs.”
Jenkins said without batting an eye. Plotting to overthrow the party host's rule over the kingdom was, after all, an important matter.
“I think we can skip the pleasantries. What did you want to talk to about this ti? The opening of the Twelve Churches Joint Conference tomorrow?”
“While that is also important, it's not the main reason I called you over. I want to ask, what were those two terrible roars in the skies above Nolan this morning? The Church said it was thunder, but I'm not so senile that I can't tell the difference,” the old monarch grumbled.
In truth, it would have been fine for the Church to tell Queen Isabella it was a dragon's roar. However, since the incident involved the appearance of a Mysterious Object, they had avoided ntioning dragons to the public for safety's sake.
Jenkins thought for a mont:
“You know how it is with the mysterious and the extraordinary. Sotis, re knowledge can be a burden—or even dangerous—to ordinary people. Are you certain you want to know?”
Without hesitating, the elderly monarch before him nodded.
“You don't need to tell too many details. You just need to tell if it was a dragon... Also, stop playing with that apple. You need to be mindful of your etiquette at an occasion like this. If you think a whole apple is too much for you to finish, you can get a fruit platter over there, on the long table to the right of the champagne tower.”
Hearing “fruit platter,” Chocolate's eyes lit up, eagerly waiting for Jenkins to finish his business here.
“How did you guess it was a dragon?”
Jenkins asked curiously.
“Soone claid to have seen a massive silhouette above the fog. A giant, flying creature capable of letting out a terrifying roar... it's difficult not to think of a dragon. What else could it be, a flying whale?”
“No, there are indeed so whales that can fly, but they haven't been seen in many years... Yes, it was a dragon. But don't worry, it won't destroy the city. It's a friend of the Church, currently residing in the Evergreen Forest outside the city. Flying over the city today was just an accident.”
“So, there really are dragons in this world?”
“Of course. You know that the Middleton family's bloodline can be traced back to the elves. If this world can have elves, is it so strange for it to have dragons?”
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