Mystery: Becoming a Creator Through the Doorway

Typically, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., it was afternoon tea time for nobles to invite friends from their social circles to visit each other and engage in social activities.

The origin and evolution of this custom stems from the aristocratic class's habit of eating only two main meals a day, morning and evening.

Nobles often ate a very lavish breakfast, but their lunches were extremely simple, usually just a little something to fill their stomachs.

Dinner is the most important and formal social activity of the day.

Those invited to a banquet by nobles were often regarded as true members of their own inner circle.

But dinner often doesn't start until 8 p.m. or even later.

This creates a long gap between a simple lunch and a formal dinner.

This gap period became the niche for afternoon tea.

Correspondingly, the relationship between those invited to afternoon tea and the host is often weaker than that of those invited to the dinner party's "inner circle." It simply means that they have been included in the host's "social circle" and are considered acquaintances or ordinary friends worth getting to know.

If dinner is the "inner circle" and afternoon tea is the "social circle," then the "morning visit" before lunch is the "outer circle" for greetings, used to maintain a minimum level of social connection.

Although Anruowang was the one who invited Dorian to meet, he did not set a specific time at the time.

The message brought back by Dorianto's servant Jock changed "the third day" to "the fourth day," and the same thing happened.

Therefore, by observing the time period when Dorian visited him today, An Ruowang could more or less determine the extent to which the other party valued "Aleister Tamara".

In classical Chinese poetry, this is called "parallel writing".

As for why the two noble families actually followed the social customs of Rune, rather than the social customs of the Tudor Empire more than a thousand years ago.

Because both Dorian and "Aleister" now live in the Kingdom of Rune in the Fifth Age, not the Tudor Empire in the Fourth Age.

Forget it, the Thodol Empire is already gone.jpg

So, when An Ruowang woke up from her afternoon nap, she didn't receive a visit from Dorian. Instead, she was greeted by an unexpected stranger—

Earl Hall, Audrey Hall's father.

At 2 p.m., An Ruowang sat on the sofa in the reception room, looking relaxed.

Opposite him, Earl Hall had a serious expression.

He had a neat little mustache and a pair of azure eyes, but he looked old. His features vaguely resembled Audrey Hepburn's, and he must have been a handsome man in his youth.

Even without activating her spiritual vision, An Ruowang's keen intuition could sense that Earl Hall seemed somewhat anxious beneath his serious exterior.

He gestured for the servant who had served the tea to leave, and then looked at Earl Hall:

"What brings you here so abruptly?"

An Ruowang was very puzzled by Earl Hall's purpose.

He had not received his invitation beforehand.

Meanwhile, having only arrived in Backlund a little over a week ago, An Ruowang has not sent out any business cards or invitations to salons or afternoon teas.

Logically speaking, Count Hall's visit was extremely impolite.

If it were a tax issue agreed upon by An Ruowang and Audrey, Earl Hall wouldn't have needed to be so direct and personally visit them.

Why doesn't he just send a tax accountant familiar with Rune law to handle the accounts?

"Mr. Allester," Earl Hall bowed slightly, his gentle voice tinged with apology, "please forgive a father for coming uninvited."

He paused, a refined yet polite and distant smile appearing on his face:

"This is the first time I've seen my daughter Audrey so interested in a young, strange man."

"?"

How come I didn't know Audrey cared about me?

An Ruowang remained expressionless, picked up the black tea in front of her, and took a small sip.

"Miss Hall is a very well-mannered lady. We met briefly at Viscount Grynt's banquet and had a pleasant conversation, nothing more."

He carefully recalled his last meeting with Audrey, but upon reflection, it felt like nothing more than a casual initial acquaintance and transaction.

I didn't do anything!

He set down his teacup and met Earl Hall's gaze:

"I wonder what exactly the Earl meant by 'taking it to heart'?"

Looking at the bewildered and innocent-looking Aleister, Earl Hall's polite smile deepened slightly, revealing a hint of gritted teeth.

He stared at Aleister for two seconds, suppressed his emotions, and began to explain:

"Audrey contacted my tax advisor privately four days ago and asked some... rather specific questions. She didn't mention your name, but my people will naturally report this to me."

After spending time and effort gathering information about Aleister, Count Hall finally managed to find time amidst his busy schedule to meet with him privately today.

To be honest, after actually meeting Aleister, he could understand why she had become the talk of the town among some noblewomen and young girls.

Admittedly, the other party was a handsome man.

With well-proportioned features, deep and bright eyes, and a confident and relaxed yet unconventional demeanor, he possessed an exotic charm that was distinctly different from that of the Loen nobility and exceptionally attractive.

To put it bluntly, Earl Hall felt that Aleister's appearance was almost identical to his own in his youth, and that he possessed some of his former charm.

But this did not prevent a father from feeling paranoid because his beautiful little princess had secretly used the Hall family's influence to try and help this pretty boy solve his tax problems.

If his subordinates hadn't reported it to him, he probably would have known nothing about it.

Prior to this, Earl Hall had never seen his daughter Audrey show any interest in any of the young men in his circle.

there has never been.

Even when several princes in the royal family expressed interest in her, she would only respond politely with a few words and then forget about them immediately. She would even privately complain to her mother about some of their shortcomings.

Earl Hall originally thought that his daughter was just too young and hadn't yet come to her senses.

Now, she's finally figured it out.

The driver wasn't a prince or a nobleman, but a scholar who had only been in Backlund for a week and had only met her once...

The other person's greatest advantage is actually their face?

As for his small profits in the stock market, that was just good luck.

As a banker, Earl Hall had seen many stock market winners who rose to prominence through sheer luck.

Investing in stocks is like gambling; it's not that you're afraid of losing, it's that you're afraid of winning. Very few people without connections or resources are able to get out in time.

In short, in Earl Hall's eyes, Aleister had nothing but good looks.