The monster's own power must have warped the spatial structure, preventing any further summons from the other dinsion. But now that it had been kicked to death by the unicorn's hooves, that was no longer an issue.
In any case, after confirming that everyone who had seen his face was dead and checking that John was alright, Jenkins mounted the unicorn and flew toward the horizon, chasing the last rays of sunset. Mist billowed from his necklace, shrouding him from any eyes on the ground below. Night was about to fall.
He clutched his right arm with his left hand as faint green vapor seeped from the wound. He had been tangled too tightly with the creature, and the unicorn's thrashing hooves had easily struck him by accident. Fortunately, thanks to his constant regeneration, the black monster had been the first to perish.
Once its head was stomped into a pulp of flesh, its body disintegrated into black smoke and dust that scattered everywhere. Amidst the ashes, Jenkins found only a few tiny black crystals. He recognized them—they were the crystallized essence of a shadow spirit, known in this era as Shadow Dust.
Good thing he was quick, or they would have ended up in Chocolate's mouth.
Gazing down at the city's edge appearing below, his heart grew heavy.
"I'm afraid Mr. Twin Demons is about to take the fall for this one."
(Chocolate is sleeping...)
Hathaway sat in her carriage, gazing quietly through the window at Jenkins's house on St. George Street. She had arrived a little early, but he wasn't ho.
Suspecting he had been held up at Pops Antique Shop, she had the driver stop at the corner of the street to wait. The appointed ti was fast approaching, yet Jenkins still hadn't appeared. The young woman tapped her fingers twice on the soft cushion, then, gathering her skirts, stepped out of the carriage in her high heels. She crossed the street and walked toward his house.
She passed by a heavily pregnant Mrs. Margaret, not noticing that the woman was walking with her eyes closed. Standing before the gate, she saw no lights on inside the house, nor did a cat rush out at the sound of her arrival to proclaim its territory.
"Where could he have gone?"
In Hathaway's experience, Jenkins wasn't one to be late. On the contrary, before she arrived, she had assud he would be at ho, waiting for her all afternoon.
"Perhaps I should check Pops Antique Shop?"
Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard a sound from above. Before she could even look up to see what it was, a man dropped from the sky and landed in the yard. He was sprawled on the ground in a most undignified posture, looking for all the world like a cat that had fallen from a great height.
"You..."
"Get inside, quickly!"
Jenkins patted the dirt from his clothes and got to his feet. He let Chocolate down from his arms, opened the gate, and pulled Hathaway into the house.
The black mist had been very effective at concealing the unicorn against the dimming sky, but the camouflage was much less useful at low altitudes. Jenkins had been forced to rely on his Undying Man ability to leap from a suitable height. It was only halfway down that he rembered he also had Cat's Grace, and his body instinctively twisted into the best posture for landing.
He had to distance himself from the "Twin Demons" persona, which ant proving his sequence of actions after leaving John was returning to the city, then attending the banquet—not dueling a monster at sunset, returning to the city, and then attending the banquet.
Therefore, he had to find a way to make up for the lost ti. Flying back on the unicorn was certainly fast enough. And if no one saw him returning from outside the city, he could explain it away: "I couldn't find a carriage, so I had to use that skeletal horse. I took deserted back roads to avoid being seen by ordinary people."
If everything went according to plan, as long as he attended the banquet, hundreds of people would be able to confirm that he didn't have ti to blow up a church at sunset.
But there was still one flaw in his plan.
"I didn't just fall from the sky. I've been inside changing clothes this whole ti, which is why I didn't notice you."
He pulled Hathaway into the foyer and explained nervously.
"I understand."
Though she had no idea what had happened, the red-haired young woman nodded. She noticed that Jenkins's black coat was covered in dirt and even so bloodstains. His hair was a ss, as if it had been whipped by a Nolan sumr typhoon. Casually tossed on the shoe rack were a pistol and several gleaming shell casings.
She didn't ask if he could still make it to the banquet; she knew Jenkins would only say sothing utterly unromantic.
After a few brief words of explanation, the man headed up the stairs to his second-floor bedroom to change, leaving Hathaway alone with Chocolate in the living room.
"Did Jenkins tell you? I'm sorry we can't take you with us in a little while."
she whispered, knowing the creature before her could understand the common tongue.
Chocolate glanced at her, paid her no mind, and padded elegantly back to the soft cushion it used for sleeping.
Jenkins quickly washed his hair and changed into his best formal suit. After clumsily adjusting his bow tie in front of the mirror, he finally ca down the stairs.
"How do I look?"
he asked, standing on the stairs.
"Very handso."
Hathaway looked up at him, a light smile playing on her lips. "Well then, handso sir, may I have the honor of inviting you to this evening's banquet?"
"Of course."
He forced himself to forget what had just happened, telling himself not to betray a thing.
Hathaway had been completely honest with Jenkins about the purpose of the invitation. It was a clever move, and it proved just how well she knew him.
"So, I just need to attend and not make any promises?"
As expected, Jenkins's expression remained perfectly neutral. He had long suspected a day like this would co, when either Hathaway or Briny Mikhail would drag him along to be their shield.
"Yes."
The woman couldn't describe her own feelings at that mont, because even she thought it was an utterly foolish idea.
Besides, she didn't even know what she truly wanted herself.
As she watched Jenkins sitting across from her, his chin resting in his hand as he gazed at the lampposts erected along the street, an image of Briny Mikhail seed to appear before her eyes.
"Am I the kind of person who toys with others' feelings?"
she asked herself.
This mad era had given birth to countless mad people, and loyalty among the nobility had always been a rare commodity. But fidelity in matters of the heart was one of Hathaway's principles. Even knowing her own heart was wavering, she would never cross a certain line.
"If I had t this man first..."
She felt a little reckless tonight. She subconsciously raised her right hand and touched her ear, where she wore a diamond stud that Jenkins had asked her to keep for him.
The stud caught the faint light inside the carriage, glittering not with dazzling brilliance, but with a quiet, resolute sparkle.
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