The gentleman, who had the beauty of a classical sculpture from every angle, was Audrey's elder brother, the Earl's eldest son, Hibbert Hall.
"Welcome, Viscount Beldan." Abner was the main reason for the ball, so Hibbert was naturally enthusiastic.
"I hope I'm not late." Abner smiled and handed him a bottle of red wine.
In Loen's high society, anyone attending a host's dinner or ball for the first time had to bring a small gift. Alcohol was the most popular choice, but the first bottle had to be domestically produced.
The bottle Abner had brought was actually a tie-in product from the Film Company. It had been made by a small winery the company had acquired. Its selling points were its connection to a film and its striking packaging; how it tasted hardly mattered.
Hibbert glanced at the bottle in his hand. As a young man, he liked its fashionable design so much that, if they had not been at the ball, he would have turned it over for a closer look.
In fact, Abner had already patented the design and released the bottles in limited quantities, each with its own number. The wine cost little to make, but at auction, a bottle would fetch a considerable price.
Compared with those bottles of mineral water back in my previous life that sold for over a thousand just because the bottle looked good, this is nothing. After that private thought, Abner introduced his two companions to Hibbert.
Hibbert was hardly unfamiliar with Xio and Fors, both friends of his younger sister Audrey. After greeting them as though they were meeting for the first time, he called over a woman with cascading long hair, fair skin, a black veil, and a black off-the-shoulder gown. She was his companion for the ball, Miss