Chapter 2299: Heart Curse

Chapter 2299: Chapter 2299: Heart Curse

"Bella, you can slowly ponder deep questions about the worldview here. Margaret, stay and chat with our Earl. It’s my turn next."

Miss Benanis instructed, flicking her hair before standing up.

"Yes, teacher."

The satisfied Princess smiled, then watched as the Witch of the Earth took Shard’s hand and led him back to the dance floor.

After Miss Benanis, Shard invited Miss Eles as promised. They didn’t speak as they danced together, but their eyes seemed to say it all.

Next was Ciris, the young golden-haired girl who excelled at dancing; finally, it was Miss Sylvia, whose wild dancing matched the upbeat rhythm of the music.

When Shard returned to the couch with Miss Sylvia, Miss Benanis was talking to the Countess and Miss Eles about Green Lake:

"Megan and Audrey are truly cunning. They claim to be two people, so when they take turns dancing with Shard, they want to dance twice.

Oh~ Galina even said to let them be. After all, who’s to blame if their mental state is unstable? If you ask me, if mental issues can garner sympathy, we might as well let the madmen run the City Hall."

Ciris laughed, chiming in:

"The Misses Edwards are normal now; this won’t happen again."

"I bet they’ll still claim to be two people to take advantage. And if there’s ever an advantage to being one, they’d say they were just one all along."

Miss Benanis disagreed with them. When Shard and Miss Sylvia returned, the Countess with the wine glass asked him:

"They weren’t clear earlier; how exactly did you help Megan and Audrey regain normalcy? It’s like you rewrote their destiny track."

"It’s a long and complex story, and if you’re interested, it’s best to have them tell you themselves."

"Perhaps it’s the magic power of love."

That blue-eyed girl chuckled, and seeing Shard looking at her, she softly added:

"I’ve already arranged with the Earl; tonight we’ll move into Belindel Estate and then greet the current Speaker of the Council. I wonder if the Speaker is easier to get along with compared to past Emperors?"

"Miss Isabella is definitely easy to get along with."

Shard thought to himself, and Miss Belindel voiced his inner thoughts:

"His Excellency the Speaker is very easy to get along with; she is the best lady I’ve ever met."

The ball would continue late into the night. Margaret soon rose to leave with Miss Sylvia, as she had many matters to handle at this banquet. After dancing one more time with Shard, Miss Benanis and Ciris left too, planning to meet with local colleagues from the arts community.

Moon Bay City, with its thriving commerce and industry, also boasts a vibrant cultural sector. As a visiting opera troupe, they had to discuss with local performance troupes before their show. Even though Miss Benanis is a veteran in the opera world, she had to follow protocol, fortunately, everyone respected her status.

All that remained were Shard, Miss Belindel, and Miss Eles. The Countess wanted to converse more with Shard or probe Miss Eles with further inquiries, but clearly, she was not completely free at this event and soon left with her maids.

"Would you like to continue dancing? Or go for a walk outside?"

Shard proactively suggested, wanting to know more about the life of the girl in front of him in recent years.

The girl with blue eyes paused to think modestly and eventually chose to stroll in the garden.

Perhaps because the night before the "Radiant Messenger" sank, there was also a gala on the ship, she didn’t seem too fond of such festive venues.

The night sky of Moon Bay City was uncommonly clear. Stepping outside, Shard took a deep breath, smiling as he looked at the moon:

"The last time you rescued Miss Belindel and me from the sea, I was unconscious in my cat form, so I didn’t see what your ship looks like now. If there’s a chance, take me to see your ship in the future."

The blue-eyed girl was about to nod and agree when she suddenly closed her mouth and turned with Shard to look at the second-floor balcony of Margaret’s Manor.

A man in a black formal suit fell straight down from the balcony under their watchful eyes. However, because the music was loud and there was no one at the window, no one noticed his fall or the dull thud that followed.

"Why does something always happen at every banquet? Is this a curse too?"

Shard complained, hastily running to the scene, with Miss Eles following close behind.

Falling from the height of the second floor, as long as it’s not a case of landing on one’s head or something similarly unfortunate, generally doesn’t result in death. But the man who fell at this moment was clutching his left chest, making a whimpering sound from his throat, and then right in front of Shard and Miss Eles...

"False Immortality."

Shard reached out and pressed on his chest, then frowned slightly, because he felt at the heart location of this already unconscious man, there was a rapidly fading Whisper Element.

The element became completely imperceptible in just a few seconds, but fortunately, the unconscious man was still successfully saved by Shard.

Miss Eles’s blue eyes shone slightly:

"A heart attack?"

"Seems like it, but there are traces of an element. The Whisper Element has now completely disappeared, no longer affecting him."

He didn’t even need treatment; the man then naturally left the brink of death. Of course, the injuries he suffered from falling from a height still hadn’t healed.

Shard thought for a moment, turned his head to look at his face, then his expression became even more serious.

"Do you recognize him?"

The blue-eyed girl, with her hands behind her back, asked with interest again, and Shard nodded lightly:

"I’ve seen his photo in the information, this is Mr. Leonard Baldwin, the Head of the Bridge and Road Engineering Department of Moon Bay City’s City Hall. He is the third person in charge of the Moon Bay Bridge construction’s government department, aside from engineers and architects... he made a substantial profit from the Moon Bay Bridge construction funds."

These were all materials gathered by the "Grey Glove," and Shard once read them as leisure material, thus remembering this person’s appearance.

"Embezzlement or bribery? So how do we handle this person?"

Miss Eles asked curiously again, Shard stood up and brushed off the leaves sticking to his pants:

"He got drunk and accidentally fell off the terrace, fainting from fright, luckily not seriously injured. Now go back and tell Margaret, let Margaret handle it. This incident at her banquet counts as a scandal somewhat."

He said, intending to stay here himself, and asked Miss Eles to inform the Princess in the mansion. But then suddenly clutched his chest position, looking around warily.

"Strange, my heart actually feels a slight sting."

[Curse, do not worry, the Primal Fire and the Heart of Stone completely counteract its effects.]

"What?"

The blue-eyed girl immediately looked around, but there wasn’t even a single person nearby, and they found nothing.

Mr. Baldwin, who fell, was properly arranged afterwards, and externally it was only stated that he got drunk and accidentally took a tumble. But the matter of Shard feeling cursed made the witches extremely vigilant.

Miss Belindel even used the reason "If something happens to you here, how am I supposed to explain to that Miss Annette" to conduct a complete "Exorcism Ritual" for Shard with Miss Benanis and Miss Sylvia at Margaret’s Manor after the banquet.

But it turned out that although the curse was effective at the time, Shard’s body was too robust, and "The Primordial Fire" also protected him from malicious curse influences, so he was fine.

"There’s something unusual about this matter."

The Great Witch of Destiny concluded, the Whisper Element Shard felt was definitely not an illusion, but when she attempted to trace the origin of this curse, she found she couldn’t get any answers.

And that evening, Miss Eles, according to her arrangement with Shard, returned to the Belindel Estate with a group of people. Angelina wasn’t surprised by Shard finding another girl to stay here, while the Elf Girl looked at the blue-eyed woman’s figure in awe:

"Humans are really scary... not human? Dragonborn? Oh, that makes a lot of sense."

Since explaining Miss Eles’s origin specifically would be very complicated, she claimed herself outwardly as a "Blue Dragon" Dragonborn, always living around Emilia in Saint Byrons with many such classmates, she accepted it quickly.

It was rather the Little Unicorn who seemed somewhat afraid of Miss Eles; it could probably sense how ancient that girl was. And for an underage Unicorn, it was not enough to cope with such a powerful Ancient One. This made Shard curious about how it would react when seeing Grace and Helen, then he began to introspect his "bad mind."

And in the Little Princess’s view, the most interesting thing that night should be the meeting between Tifa and Miss Eles.

At that time, Shard and Miss Belindel had just returned from Margaret’s Manor, considering that Luviya, Dorothy, and Lecia were preparing for exams recently and wouldn’t be staying overnight at home, and Miss Galina was also busy with affairs in hand these days, even residing directly in Yordle Palace, while Mia was also by his side, Shard finally agreed to Miss Belindel’s invitation to stay overnight at the estate tonight.

The maids from the Northern Country used some means unknown, having them tidy up the guest room and prepare pajamas for Shard. Miss Matilda was a little upset about this, the good-tempered maid believed those Northern girls were taking over her job.