When Shade arrived, the blonde woman on the sofa lazily greeted him.
"You look exhausted."
"Yes. The City Council can't do without the Belinder Family. We enjoy rights, and we also have obligations. Would you like to stay for dinner?"
"What?"
The look in her eyes at that moment was truly hard to describe. Shade had intended to say that he had just eaten, but somehow, he nodded instead.
"All right. Thank you for the invitation."
Thus, twenty minutes later, in the dining room of Belinder Manor, Shade met Mrs. Belinder, who also lived there—the witch's mother—as well as Miss Belinder's two younger sisters and one cousin.
According to Miss Belinder, none of them knew about her identity as a witch. As for their daughter's or elder sister's dislike of contact with men, they all believed that Bella Belinder simply had the unusual preference of liking beautiful girls.
Therefore, when an unfamiliar man appeared at the dinner table that evening—and was even permitted to sit at the Countess's right hand—the Belinder family showed utter astonishment.
When introducing Shade to her family, Miss Belinder no longer called him her "cousin." Instead, she referred to him as a "business partner."
"Princess Margaret selected us as business partners in Moon Bay. Yes, the goods I brought out a few days ago. This gentleman is the liaison sent by Her Highness, and he will likely be coming and going from this house frequently for some time."
In Miss Belinder's view, Miss Sylvia also knew about the matter of "men," so there was no problem placing this identity on "John Watson." It could even give Shade a reasonable excuse to appear here.
Still, when she mentioned Miss Sylvia's "goods," she blushed slightly and secretly glanced at Shade. Seeing that he showed no unusual reaction, she