Audrey

Seeing the gilded invitation, Edwin's fingertips lightly traced the exquisite patterns on the envelope.

He had heard that Count Hall had a daughter.

Though she had yet to come of age or enter society, she was already known as the most dazzling jewel in Backlund.

But that was all...

Although his partnership with Count Hall had grown increasingly close, it was still founded more on mutual interests. It had not yet reached the point where he could attend the other man's private family banquet.

At a teenage girl's birthday dinner, the guests should have been family and closest friends. No matter how he looked at it, someone of his status seemed rather out of place. After turning the matter over in his mind a few times, Edwin suppressed that trace of puzzlement.

Whatever Count Hall's motives were, the invitation had already arrived, and he would not refuse it.

He summoned the butler and instructed him:

"Prepare a birthday gift for Miss Hall."

Rather than choosing something conventional like jewelry or fine clothes, he had the factory rush a custom-made limited-edition summer skincare set. The products used the latest botanical extraction and emulsification techniques, with simple, modern packaging.

For a young lady about to come of age, it was both novel and practical.

And since it was a limited edition, it should satisfy her vanity as well...

On the day of the birthday banquet, a black sedan powered by an internal combustion engine came to a smooth stop before Count Hall's residence.

The ancient building stood silently beneath the lingering glow of the setting sun.

Edwin stepped out of the car and fastened his coat buttons. A servant promptly came forward and respectfully led the way.

After passing through corridors lined with portraits of generations of ancestors, he was brought to