Stephen Hampres's academic salon only came to an end as night fell. Carriages carried the guests away, heading off in every direction.
The carriage carrying Angel and Audrey was among them. It followed the main road back to North Borough, approaching the Loen Charity Student Aid Fund on Phelps Street. As it passed the road in front of Saint Samuel Cathedral, however, it stopped briefly in traffic caused by a broken-down carriage traveling in the opposite direction.
Of course, this was an "accident" Angel had deliberately engineered. She had bound the other carriage's axle tight with invisible threads, blocking the road and giving their own carriage a suitable excuse to stop beside the cathedral.
Near a Church of Night guarded by a Saint, even the Manipulator Hvin Rambis would not dare approach casually, much less use the Sea of Collective Subconscious connecting everyone to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"So he gave you an absurd order too?"
Leaning against the soft carriage seat, Audrey asked in a low voice. Her brows, the same color as her hair, furrowed, and disbelief showed in her emerald-green eyes.
"Yes. I'm afraid he already had this in mind over a month ago. That was why he suggested I keep meeting more nobles in high society, including female nobles..." Angel answered with a soft chuckle, then changed the subject. "I 'listened in' on your conversation. He wanted you to show favor to the princes courting you so you could settle on a husband as soon as possible and become a princess consort—or even go a step further?"
"That was what he meant." Speaking of being "hypnotized," Audrey could not keep a trace of anger from her face. "Papa once told me to avoid getting too close to any prince until I truly came of age and