"If a gentleman intends to extend an invitation, he will first tip his hat in greeting, whisper an inquiry to your guardian, and finally offer his hand to you. And you must never, under any circumstances, lift your hand first to beckon him... Miss Suolun, are you listening?"
"Yes, I'm listening! I mustn't take the initiative to extend an invitation; I can only wait for him, right?"
Startled awake by the call, the drowsy Xialuote felt her sluggish brain snap back to clarity, and she raised her chin as she answered.
She was currently seated in the small parlor of her home, learning dancing and adult social etiquette from a female relative hired on a temporary basis.
These were mandatory lessons for noble girls, and the original Xialuote had studied them long ago. But adult social occasions came with many different nuances—such as the order of dances and rules of invitation at formal balls, how to keep an appropriate distance from gentlemen at grand salons without wounding their pride, and how to conduct oneself when going out and paying visits so as not to appear ill-mannered or excessively rude...
The person imparting this knowledge was a lady named Dailiya Peili. In her thirties, with long brown hair, fair skin, and faint crow's-feet at the corners of her eyes, she was a female relative from the family of Baron Suolun's late aunt, and she had spent more years in this manor than the baron and his daughter combined.
Looking into Dailiya's pale-green eyes, Xialuote guessed that the woman probably had some Suolun blood in her veins, only far more diluted than her own.
Half a month from now would be Xialuote's eighteenth birthday—the day of her formal debut at an aristocratic ball. This was the first hurdle for every noble young lady in Yindisi upon coming of age. Usually, a debutante was chaperoned by her mother or another married female elder of the household, but Xialuote had neither, making Dailiya the ideal candidate instead.
Seeing that the young lady, who was about to face this major social "examination," still seemed rather dismissive, Dailiya sighed and continued:
"Once you come of age, you won't be able to rely on the baron for everything as you do now. Whether it is gentlemen paying court to you at a ball or ladies showing you goodwill or hostility in a salon, you will have to handle them all on your own."
Hostility? Who would dare? If I just glare at them, they'll probably scurry away in fear... The obedient hounds from the hunting ground flashed through Xialuote's mind, and the corners of her mouth twitched. She promptly suppressed this sense of superiority that belonged to a Beyonder, nodding with a serious expression.
Even if she could scale walls at night to attend underground gatherings and cooperate with the Purifiers to arrest evil cultists, once back in normal society, she still needed to learn how to tactfully decline a gentleman's invitation and parry the veiled barbs of other noble ladies—all without humiliating herself or disgracing Baron Suolun.
On this battlefield of aristocrats, Beyonder powers were of some use, but not much.
Right then, Dailiya drew her skirts in slightly, walked up to Xialuote with her chin raised and back straight, curtsied slightly, and extended her right hand:
"Miss Suolun, may I have the honor of this dance?"
Xialuote immediately realized this was a rehearsal of the invitation ritual at a formal ball. Rising to her feet in accordance with the etiquette lesson that had gone in one ear and out the other just moments ago, she smiled, nodded, and replied:
"Of course, Madame Dailiya."
Resting two fingers lightly in Dailiya's loosely cupped palm, she was led to the center of the parlor and began dancing a minuet to the melody softly hummed by the woman. Their skirts swayed gently with their steps, and their heels clicked against the floor in steady rhythm.
At first, Xialuote had worried she might step offbeat—after all, the last time she had danced with anyone was when she invited a female classmate she had a secret crush on at her college graduation. But once they actually started, she found this body far more reliable than expected. Her spine stayed naturally straight, her footsteps adjusted to Dailiya's tempo, and she didn't even need to think about how to flick her skirt aside during turns to avoid brushing against the other woman.
When the dance ended, Dailiya escorted her back to her seat before breaking character, nodding in satisfaction.
"Your flexibility and body control are very good, and you showed no stage fright. As long as your mind doesn't wander at the real ball, you'll do just fine."
"Probably the effects of the potion, plus this body's instinct..." Xialuote added internally, while offering a bashful smile. "It's all thanks to your guidance, Madame Dailiya."
"Don't waste words like that on me," Dailiya said with a gentle shake of her head. "Save them for the gentlemen at the ball whose fragile egos make them relish instructing young ladies."
With the practice brought to an end, Xialuote headed to the adjoining small hall, intending to replenish her energy with some tea and pastries while relaxing her face, which had grown stiff from smiling. But the moment she stepped through the vestibule, she heard a hushed argument coming from a corner.
"This was your job in the first place!"
"But I was the one who tidied it yesterday, and the day before that..."
"Newcomers always have to learn more. Or do you want the master to throw you out?"
Xialuote slowed her pace and looked toward the corner where the voices originated.
An older maid, wearing an impatient scowl, was berating another young maid who had not arrived long ago; the latter's face was flushed red, and her head was lowered as she offered feeble protests.
Seeing someone approaching, the two broke off their quarrel at once, hurriedly bobbed a curtsy, and prepared to leave through the side door.
Xialuote had not intended to intervene, but then she recalled what the potion name "Arbiter" implied, and a thought stirred within her.
"Wait," she called out, stopping them with a hint of deterrence in her tone. "Explain yourselves clearly."
The older maid was visibly nervous and spoke up first, explaining that the newcomer had recently been working too slowly, dragging behind the cleaning of the entire floor, and that she had merely been reminding her. The younger maid mumbled in defense that tasks meant for both of them had lately been dumped on her alone, especially the most time-consuming chores like polishing tableware and tidying the guest rooms.
Xialuote did not immediately make a judgment. Instead, she pressed for the specific details of their work, making both of them list their tasks from morning onward, item by item. Before long, she realized the root problem was not laziness on anyone's part, but that the Suolun residence lacked a head maid. The butler could hardly allocate the maids' chores down to the minutiae, allowing the more senior staff to order newcomers about at will, naturally taking advantage of them.
When it came down to it, it was all due to a lack of money. If Father were willing to spend another thousand feierjin a year to hire someone experienced like Madame Dailiya as head maid, why would I ever need to worry about such trifles?... Xialuote grumbled inwardly, and after a moment's consideration, she handed down her ruling.
"From now on, the guest rooms are to be tidied in daily rotation between the two of you. Polishing the silverware will be done three times a week, shared equally. Since you are more familiar with the residence, you ought to divide the tasks fairly rather than shoving everything onto the newcomer." Having addressed the older maid, Xialuote turned her gaze to the junior one. "As for you, learn from her and get up to speed with the work here as quickly as possible."
Influenced by the compelling presence of an "Arbiter," her words carried exceptional weight. The two maids exchanged a glance, lowered their heads, and acquiesced, the defiant and aggrieved expressions on their faces gradually melting away.
Watching them go their separate ways, Xialuote felt a sense of satisfaction welling up in her chest—not unlike what she had felt half a month ago when she killed Zhuli'an and whispered into his ear that she was innocent.
During this period, she had constantly pondered the meaning of acting and looked for opportunities in daily life to practice it. She discovered that whenever she confronted a dispute, listened to both sides, pinpointed the true crux of the conflict, and delivered a relatively fair judgment, the reactions of those around her produced a subtle feedback—as though the power of the potion became easier for her to grasp because of it.
The sensation was faint, but Xialuote caught it with precision. She wasn't sure whether every Beyonder experienced something similar, nor did she know why the Church didn't provide guidance on this to everyone. But if this continued, perhaps she wouldn't need three years at all—in just over half a year, or at most a year, she might truly master the potion she had consumed and be ready to advance to the next sequence.
In that case, Madam Weiyefu must also have mastered the knack of acting; otherwise, since she was about my age six years ago, following the standard three-years-per-sequence pace would never have allowed her to reach Sequence 7... Just as these speculations crossed her mind, Lawuer's voice called from the other side of the small hall:
"Xialuote."
She turned back to find her father standing by the door, having appeared without her noticing. Evidently, he had witnessed the scene just now. He made no comment on his daughter's conduct, merely waving a hand.
"Come to my study."
Xialuote's chest tightened. She wondered whether her father intended to question her about her recent whereabouts again, or had caught wind of rumors that she was secretly visiting Luosaier. Even so, she followed him.
Inside the study, Lawuer retrieved an exquisitely decorated wooden box from a locked cabinet beside him, placed it on the desk, and gestured for Xialuote to open it and look inside.
Puzzled, she lifted the lid. Greeting her eyes were neat rows of stacked gold coins. Besides the familiar gold louis, there were also coins that were larger and thicker, their rims inscribed with fine chain patterns, looking like enlarged versions of the gold louis.
These were double gold louis, coins commonly used by the nobility for deposits and large transactions. Their weight and face value were twice those of an ordinary gold louis, and the chain patterns around the edges served to prevent clipping and shaving.
Xialuote lifted the wooden box, and judging by its heft, she made a rough estimate that set her heart skipping half a beat.
A full one thousand gold louis—amounting to roughly twenty-four thousand feierjin.
This exceeded an entire quarter of the household's income. And after deducting all expenses, it would probably take Lawuer two full years to save up such an amount.
At this thought, she looked at him in confusion.
"Father, this is..."
Lawuer answered with a gentle expression:
"Though your eighteenth birthday is still half a month away, I think today is as fitting an occasion as any.
"This is your coming-of-age gift."
Xialuote froze for a few seconds before instinctively snapping the lid shut, an unreal sensation of sudden wealth surging in her heart.
Not long ago, she had felt a twinge of regret over spending ten gold coins to purchase that antique candlestick, yet here she was now in possession of a full thousand gold louis.
If what the mysterious man selling the candlestick said was true, this money was more than enough to buy the Sequence 8 potion formula and its corresponding materials.
While she was still in a daze, Lawuer's gaze settled on her hands, which held up the heavy wooden box with effortless ease, and he suddenly asked:
"You've already consumed a potion and become a Beyonder, haven't you?"
Chapter 43