Fiancée

Anne quickly became the center of attention at the gathering.

Most of the participants were students from Gorgia University, all from the same entering class of Black Moon Year 33, with only a few "outsiders" who had been invited.

As an "outsider," Charlotte wisely chose to keep a low profile, finding a seat in a corner of the banquet hall and pulling out his diary to study.

He now had two things he always carried with him, never letting them out of his sight: one was the Vampire Hand Axe, and the other was his predecessor's diary.

In this setting, it wasn't convenient to practice Bloody Glory, so Charlotte opened the section on the Labyrinth of Agmiras. Perhaps because he had been studying it for so long, he had even managed to glean a tiny bit of insight.

Charlotte was in the process of further analyzing the first Labyrinth of Agmiras when a gentleman approached him, showing off his white teeth as he smiled and said, "I'm Andre, and like everyone else, I'm a third-year student at Gorgia University. May I ask your name, sir? Would you be interested in joining us for a game of cards?"

Charlotte smiled slightly and replied, "Charlotte, a graduate of Sheffield University. I'm not very good at cards, so I'll pass."

Andre didn't give up, and soon two or three other young men came over, joining Andre in urging Charlotte to join. Their warm invitation made it difficult for Charlotte to refuse, so after a few polite rejections, he reluctantly agreed.

As he sat down at the card table with Andre and the others, he sensed that something wasn't right, but he pretended not to notice anything and smiled as the first game began.

The game Andre and the others were playing was called Takuro Cards. There were a total of 144 cards. The best cards were the Nine Great Righteous Gods cards, which were the only constant trump cards in Takuro Cards. The other trump cards varied in each set, but most were famous figures from the Old Continent, including kings, fierce generals, renowned scholars, and even strange Evil Gods, as well as various auxiliary cards. The gameplay wasn't difficult, but there were many doubling mechanisms, which often resulted in particularly large wins and losses in a single game.

For this reason, Takuro Cards were only popular among nobles and wealthy people, and being able to play Takuro Cards was even considered a status symbol.

Charlotte Mecklen was already skilled at playing cards, and with his memories regained, he didn't seem rusty at the card table.

After two consecutive games, Charlotte had lost one Foer and twenty Centimes. Instead of being annoyed, he became even more calm and composed.

These young men were cheating!

They had probably heard from Belina that Charlotte had a considerable salary and had recently purchased a mansion worth two hundred Ecu, which had given them other ideas.

However, when it came to cheating, how could Charlotte, a mathematics graduate, be inferior to these "wildlings"?

Not to mention, he also had Insight.

After two or three trial games, Charlotte confirmed the greed of these young men. He deliberately threw out some bait, then guided the game to a stalemate. Although he lost more often, every few games he would have a "particularly lucky hand," which often allowed him to recover most of his capital in one go.

Andre saw that they had played over twenty games with little difference in wins and losses, and he became slightly anxious. He signaled to his companions and said with a smile, "The stakes are too low, it's really not interesting to keep playing like this. How about we raise the bets?"

Charlotte readily agreed. After raising the stakes, his "luck" seemed to suddenly worsen, and he lost over ten hands in a row, having already lost over seventy Foer.

When Charlotte showed that he was losing with bloodshot eyes and also suggested raising the stakes, these young men were overjoyed and agreed with great understanding. But this time, Charlotte's luck suddenly turned incredibly good. After a dozen hands, he not only won back all the money he had lost but also made a profit of nearly thirteen Ecu and six Foer. The young men who lost turned pale. They couldn't understand why, even though they had worked together and cheated, the game had turned out like this.

After winning the last hand, Charlotte said with a smile, "Excuse me, I need to take Miss Anne home. She must be home before dinner."

This excuse was impeccable.

After all, the rules of the Brittany Family were indeed famously strict, and no one dared to prevent Anne from returning home late.

Charlotte escaped from these young men who were fond of gambling and cheating, and walked over to Anne, saying, "I wonder if I might have the honor of escorting Miss Anne home?"

Anne smiled slightly and said goodbye to a few female companions. As she left the banquet hall, she whispered, "Those few people, Andre and the others, are very annoying. They often lure people into playing cards at school and collectively cheat them out of their money."

"However, none of them have advanced to the extraordinary."

At this point, Anne smiled slyly. As a Dream Walker, she had long observed the card game over there and, seeing Charlotte's confident appearance, had not intervened.

Charlotte couldn't help but laugh, "Miss Anne, you are sometimes very ladylike."

Anne covered her mouth with her hand, but her eyebrows were curved, and her smile couldn't be hidden.

She had been chatting idly with people all afternoon and was actually quite bored, but seeing Charlotte dominate the game and make Andre and his group turn pale from losing, she suddenly felt that today's gathering was quite interesting after all.

Although Anne was bold, she really didn't dare to let Charlotte take her home. Instead, she was the one who took Charlotte back to 58 Champs-Élysées Avenue before reluctantly saying goodbye and leaving.

Charlotte watched Anne's carriage leave, feeling quite relaxed.

Although he had wasted a day, he believed this would not affect his ability to resolve the current difficulties.

If he ultimately couldn't resolve the threat of the two Evil Gods, it wouldn't be because of today's date.

In the following days, Menilman Soumei did not come to work.

Charlotte was never late, but he was happy to leave early. His dates with Anne Brittany were alarmingly frequent, and their relationship quickly warmed up.

Aside from dating, he didn't neglect his serious business. He returned to the university several times to consult with some of the most knowledgeable professors at Sheffield University, but none of the professors were familiar with labyrinthology, and there was still no progress in the research of the Labyrinth of Agmiras.

As for the Vampire Secret Scroll, he dared not mention it; summoning an Evil God would result in being burned at the stake!

Going to Sheffield University, which was under the goddess's protection, and excitedly saying that he had summoned the Blood Kindred Evil God would result in the professors personally helping him build a bonfire.

Fortunately, his Bloody Glory cultivation was progressing day by day, and the date of the Blood Kindred Evil God Carnstein's reappearance was repeatedly postponed, which gave him a slight sense of relief.

The Empire's postal system was quite efficient, and Charlotte soon received good news.

After receiving his younger brother's written promise to give up his inheritance rights, his brother, out of brotherly affection, included a savings deposit slip from the Savings Union in his reply. The amount was five hundred and fifty Ecu, and he very happily agreed to help resolve the engagement.

His brother's reply also provided a piece of information: the fiancée had decided to personally come to Strasbourg to sign the formal document of breaking off the engagement with Charlotte in person.

The day after Charlotte received the reply, he had a very pleasant date with Anne, attending an opera and taking a public carriage home.

Charlotte leisurely walked into the alley. At his doorstep, he unexpectedly saw a very beautiful girl sitting on the steps of Number 58. She looked a little disheveled, with some dust on her forehead, and her beautiful eyebrows were slightly furrowed, clearly indicating she was in an extremely bad mood.