After Audrey stabbed Starling with Endless, Starling left in a daze and silently returned to her husband and Mary.
Audrey found the other woman's reaction rather strange.
She had not meant to provoke her. To Audrey, it really was not a big deal, just perfectly ordinary small talk.
She had even been distracted by the Tarot Club gathering that would be held that afternoon and had not entered a Spectator's state to observe anything.
She only vaguely felt that she seemed to have done something bad.
Just as she thought that, someone flicked her forehead. The pain snapped her back to her senses, and she pouted as she looked toward Xu Yue, who stood beside her holding a wineglass with a smile.
"Mr. Franklin, it is very impolite of you to treat a lady like that. Besides, I have heard quite a lot of rumors about your romantic escapades lately."
Audrey spoke in an elegant tone, with a hint of teasing.
"What a pity. I had thought I might get closer to you, the pearl of Evernight."
Xu Yue sounded somewhat regretful.
However, Audrey, who had reentered her Spectator state, realized that Mr. Franklin was probably not as he claimed.
Because of her appearance, Audrey had seen far too many dirty, vulgar gazes hidden beneath polite facades at all kinds of banquets since becoming a Spectator.
Yet when this Mr. Franklin, whose romantic rumors were everywhere, looked at her, there was none of that lewdness in his eyes. There was more of an appreciation, and a faint indulgence?
How strange.
Although this playboy had been eliminated outright as a potential lover in Audrey's eyes, she did not mind being friends once that possibility was excluded.
At their social level, having all sorts of peculiar hobbies was hardly unusual.
"You just