Chapter 1870 - 515: Not Just Vampires, This Time Even Enchanting Demons Are Here

The mellow blast of the steam whistle pushed aside the sea fog beyond Thunder City's harbor; gulls wheeled around the steamer's smokestacks, forcibly dressed in formalwear by the coal dust rushing up to meet them.

Thunder City's harbor was always this busy; even the gulls' cries sounded so weary it was as if smoke were coming out of their throats.

The wooden gantry arms rose and fell without rest, plucking crates from the mounded cargo. Stevedores with towels slung over their shoulders trudged back and forth, carrying them into the warehouses.

There were washerwomen, Scavengers picking up stray lumps of coal, newsboys darting through the streets, and brokers everywhere, casting about for opportunity…

If Queen Street was an oil painting of dazzling colors, then the tone here was closer to charcoal lines in a black-and-white sketch.

Yet into this gray, sketch-like scene, a streak of color burst that could not possibly be ignored.

It was a lady in a long white dress, standing on the deck of the steam passenger ship, her soft pink hair rising and falling with the sea breeze.

The wind-slanted hem of her dress outlined a graceful curve, like slender willow wands bearing the weight of a rich harvest.

She merely stood there quietly, and the noisy crowd around her unconsciously left a blank space on the canvas for this perfect oil painting.

Gentlemen stole frequent glances, yet shrank with shame before such blinding beauty. The ladies' gazes, on the other hand, were much closer to naked jealousy—

Why should this woman be favored by Saint Sis?

In truth, that was not so.

A God capable of favoring the Padric Family could not possibly have anything to do with Saint Sis.

Mignes drew in a deep breath, straightened his perfectly pressed tie, and forced a confident smile onto a face gone stiff from the sea wind.

As a cotton merchant from Wulan Port, he fancied himself a man of some experience, with a reasonably solid fortune. This trip to Thunder City, he had come nursing grand ambitions to make his mark on this newly thriving land.

Though it was a bit abrupt, he felt that as a young and promising gentleman, he might well be qualified to make the acquaintance of this fair traveler on her own.

There was no servant at her side.

In his experience, ladies of this sort mostly came with a distinguished surname, only to have fallen on hard times and seen their family decline.

Conveniently, that was precisely what he lacked.

"Good day… my beautiful lady. The seas have been somewhat rough; I hope they haven't spoiled your good mood." Mustering all his courage, he walked up to the graceful lady, wearing the well-practiced polite smile he had rehearsed countless times.

Seeing that this solitary lady did not respond, Mignes did not lose heart; he merely bent slightly at the waist and held out a gilt-edged card.

"Mignes, at your service. I run a cotton business in Wulan Port—business is, well, respectable enough. It's my first time in this bustling Thunder City, and I'm a stranger here. I wonder if I might have the honor of making your acquaintance?"

The lady with the pink hair still gave no reply; only upon hearing his voice did she instinctively shift her gaze.

"Are you speaking to me?"

Her polite look seemed to say exactly that.

Yet those two limpid autumn pools, with just a single glance, made Mignes' heart skip half a beat; he nearly forgot his own name.

She did not take from his hand that card which stood for wealth and status.

Seeing him frozen there without answering, she pressed her lips into a courteous smile, then let her eyes drift back to Thunder City, which was just waking from the morning glow, as if something more precious than all worldly things lay there.

Clearly, such a practiced motion was far from her first refusal.

Mignes' hand, still holding the card, hung awkwardly in midair; a wave of frustration rose in his chest.

But he was, after all, a man who had clawed and scrambled through the seas of commerce; he would hardly be knocked flat like some inexperienced youth by a single setback. He quickly followed the lady's gaze into the distance, trying to seize upon a new topic.

"Judging by your look, it's your first time in Thunder City as well, isn't it? It truly is a city full of miracles… Though it's my first time arriving by ship, I've been looking forward to this journey for quite a while."

Choosing his words with care, he ventured a question.

"Forgive my boldness… did you come alone? Are you here to stay with relatives, or… visiting a friend?"

This time, the lady finally replied.

The sea breeze lifted the strands at her temple and also lifted that soul-stealing curve at the corner of her mouth, carrying her longing into the noisy wind.

"To be precise, I came to find my… beloved."

The word was like a bucket of cold water, instantly dousing the small flame that had just flared to life in Mignes' heart. Yet he refused to give up; that so-called "beloved" might be no more than a vague excuse, or perhaps just an as-yet-unsettled entanglement.

"Your beloved?" He raised his brows in feigned astonishment, his tone edged with a slightly sour probing. "So you already have a marriage arranged?"

"Not yet."

The lady's answer made Mignes' eyes light up once more, but her next words hurled him straight into the Abyss.

"But very soon I will."

She spoke with such certainty, as though that man—or rather, that prey—was already her captive beneath her skirts, safely in her pocket.

That confidence and composure stirred a fierce jealousy in Mignes' heart.

What manner of gentleman could make such a peerless beauty so utterly devoted, to the point of braving the voyage alone to this unfamiliar city?

"May I know who that lucky fellow is?"

Mignes blurted the question almost without thinking, full of indignation. He simply had to see whether, in this Thunder City, there was any young talent more competitive than himself.