Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 84 Elizabeth

Seeing his sister's questioning look, Klein suddenly felt this was an opportunity. He looked her up and down a few times, then said seriously:

"Melissa, you also don't show enough respect for tonight's dinner."

"What?" Melissa looked puzzled.

Klein pointed to her neck and said:

"As a lady, you're missing a necklace to adorn this place."

Before his sister could speak, he chuckled and pulled a silver amulet, surrounded by angel feathers, from his pocket:

"It's alright, I prepared it for you."

"..." Melissa was taken aback for a moment, then blurted out, "How much?"

"Sis, you're focusing on the wrong thing..." Klein muttered silently, then chuckled and explained:

"Actually, it's not expensive because it was originally just a semi-finished product. I carved blessing spells and beautiful patterns on it, imitating artifacts I had seen before."

"Did you carve this?" Melissa's attention was indeed diverted.

"How is it? What do you think of my craftsmanship?" Klein handed the amulet to his sister.

Melissa looked at it several times, then bit her lip and said:

"I love the angel feathers around me."

If you think the incantations and symbols I carved are ugly, just say so. There's no need to hide it... The most important thing about a talisman is its effect! Klein's lips twitched slightly. Just as he was about to persuade his sister to accept it, he saw Melissa, with a "reluctant" expression, put the silver necklace around her neck and carefully position the talisman.

"Perfect." Klein glanced at it and praised it extravagantly.

Melissa glanced at him, looked down at the amulet, and muttered:

"Klein, you weren't like this before, not like this..."

"Maybe it's because I have a good job and a decent income that I've become more confident," Klein interrupted his sister, offering his explanation first.

Sigh, although I received fragments of the original owner's memories and there are no major problems, I still habitually show my true personality in some details... especially after getting along more and more naturally with Benson and Melissa... He sighed inwardly.

Melissa seemed to agree with his reasoning, and pursed her lips as she said:

"You're doing great right now, really great..."

After chatting for a while, Benson changed his clothes and came downstairs. His white shirt, black vest, tuxedo, black bow tie, and crisp trousers made him look brand new, like a successful person who had worked hard for many years and built his own career.

The hairline is also similar... Klein chuckled to himself.

"Great, Benson, this is exactly what you need to wear," he said with a broad smile and a shrug.

Melissa nodded earnestly in agreement.

"It turns out that clothes are more important than the person," Benson joked.

Klein seized the opportunity to take out the remaining amulet, repeated his previous statement, and concluded by saying:

"I made one for you too."

"Not bad, I'll carry it with me." Benson accepted it readily and joked, "Klein, even if you suddenly learn to cut hair, make clothes, repair watches, and feed curly-haired baboons in the future, I won't be surprised."

"Life is always full of surprises and unexpected events," Klein replied with a smile.

Next, the three siblings tidied themselves up, went out the door, and took a trolleyless public carriage to Fania Street in the North District where Selena's family lived.

The Woods also lived in a row house, but unlike Klein's family, they had a porch and a small lawn in front, making them look more elegant.

After ringing the doorbell, Klein, Benson, and Melissa only waited a dozen seconds before seeing today's protagonist, Selena Wood.

The girl with long, wine-red hair happily gave Melissa a hug:

"I love your dress; it makes you look especially beautiful."

Beside Selena was her father, Mr. Wood, a senior employee of the Tingen branch of Backlund Bank.

"Welcome, our esteemed brother, welcome, our young historian," he greeted Benson and Klein with exaggerated enthusiasm.

The young historian…why didn’t he add the description of “having a conscience”…Klein muttered to himself, took off his hat, and replied with a smile:

"Mr. Wood, you are more energetic and younger than I imagined."

His style of flattery unconsciously leaned towards the "Great Foodie Empire".

Benson then reached out and shook hands with old Wood, saying:

"I know a lot of bank employees, but they are all equally arrogant and rigid, like the latest model of machine. None of them have your manners."

"If you met me at the bank, you probably wouldn't have said that," Old Wood said with a broad laugh.

After exchanging pleasantries, Selena, wearing a new long dress, led the three siblings inside with a slight bouncy gait. Sometimes she would say in a normal voice, "Elizabeth has arrived," and other times she would lower her voice and say to Melissa, "Your two brothers are more handsome than I imagined."

"Hey, my hearing is excellent... even though you're saying something complimentary..." Klein looked helplessly at the two sixteen-year-old girls walking side by side in front of him.

No, that's not right. I'm still far from handsome... Hmm, Miss Selena, just how ugly did you think Benson and I were? One of us was introverted and gloomy, unkempt, pale, and had lifeless eyes, while the other had thinning hair and looked prematurely aged? Klein casually pinched the bridge of his nose and diligently practiced his "spiritual vision".

Miss Selena is in good health, in high spirits, and very happy... Mr. Wood has a minor lung problem, yes, I saw his pipe... Klein surveyed the crowd with a good mood.

"Elizabeth, Melissa is here," Selena called out cheerfully towards the front.

A young girl wearing a blue lace dress walked over; she had naturally curly brown hair and adorable baby fat.

Klein was stunned for a moment because he recognized the girl.

He even helped people choose amulets in the underground market!

Elizabeth greeted Melissa first, then looked at Benson and Klein.

She stood there, her brows furrowed slightly, as if she were pondering something.

Elizabeth quickly smiled and greeted them politely as if nothing had happened.

Klein pretended not to recognize the other person and, led by Old Wood, went to the living room sofa area, where he was introduced to Selena's brother Chris and the other guests.

Klein couldn't help but feel a little envious as he watched Benson chat happily with Chris and other lawyers about his neighbor, Mr. Shaw.

I don't have that kind of social skill... He picked up a glass of aperitif from the corner table, listened quietly, nodded from time to time, and chuckled in agreement.

Before long, all the guests had arrived, and the banquet officially began.

Because there were too many guests, the Wood family's dining table couldn't handle it, so the dinner was served buffet-style. The maids brought out plates of steak, roast chicken, fried fish, mashed potatoes, and other foods and placed them on different tables, while the male servants were responsible for cutting them to make the portions suitable for everyone.

When Klein saw the elegant glazed plates and silver cutlery, he couldn't help but marvel at the extravagance of the middle-class Wood family.

"Since he's so rich, why does Chris need to prepare for the wedding for so many years?" He wondered, recalling something his sister had once said. "Hmm, maybe it's to accumulate tableware like this. For a family like this, appearances are very important!"

Lost in thought, Klein picked up a porcelain plate, went to the dining table, and forked a piece of roasted meat smeared with honey.

Just then, Elizabeth, with her adorable chubby cheeks, leaned closer, looked at the food, and whispered:

"So you're Melissa's brother... Thank you. Selena really likes the amulet I gave her; she said she felt healthier as soon as she put it on."

Selena… the amulet… Klein suddenly remembered the reason why the girl beside him had chosen the amulet in the first place:

This is a birthday gift for a friend who is interested in the occult!

That friend is Selena? Selena likes things from the mystical realm? Klein frowned slightly, then smiled politely:

"That might just be a placebo effect."

After saying this, he waited for the other party to praise Emperor Roselle.

Elizabeth's reaction was one of utter bewilderment:

What is a placebo?

"It's purely psychological. Sometimes, if we firmly believe we'll get better, we really will," Klein explained briefly.

"No, she said it's different from any of the amulets she's bought before, it feels different," Elizabeth emphasized.

She glanced at Klein sideways and said curiously:

"I never imagined that Melissa's brother was an expert in the occult."

"You know, I studied history, so I always come across similar things." Klein subtly changed the subject, asking instead, "You're also at the Tingen Technical School?"

"No, Selena, Melissa, and I used to be classmates. Later, they went to technical school, while I went to Ivory School nearby," Elizabeth explained earnestly.

Public schools are not public schools, but rather schools that admit students from the general public. They evolved from good grammar schools and aim to produce graduates who can get into university. The tuition is quite expensive, and they will consider the student's family background, making it difficult for even the average middle-class family to afford.

She didn't chat much, picked out her food, and returned to Selena's side.

After wishing the main character a happy birthday, the dinner party gradually came to an end. Klein and Benson were invited to join the Texas Hold'em game, with the small blind at half a penny and the big blind at one penny. Meanwhile, Melissa, Elizabeth, Selena, and other friends went upstairs, it was unclear whether they were chatting or playing other games.

Klein was having a bad day. He played about twenty hands and didn't get a single good hand. He could only keep looking at the cards and folding, acting as a spectator.

He lifted a corner of the card again and found it was the 2 of hearts and the 5 of spades.

"Should I try to bluff?" Klein considered for a moment, but still couldn't muster the courage and resisted the urge to cheat with divination.

He covered his cards, tapped the table to indicate he wouldn't call, then got up and left the long table to go to the restroom.

Russell, who also had obsessive-compulsive disorder, came up with a strange reason to continue naming this game Texas Hold'em... Klein shook his head as he walked on.

Just then, he suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowing slightly.

His intuition told him that there were strange fluctuations upstairs!

(End of this chapter)