She Is Not a Witch

That evening, at the Helis family residence.

As Lady Lacey from the Carithes family was expected to visit tonight, the Helis family had made extensive preparations. Normally, they should have been the ones to visit and apologize, but Lady Lacey had sent word that it wasn’t necessary, as she would come herself tonight.

The courtyard gates were wide open, with clean, soft carpets already laid out. Having heard that Loranhil preferred quietness, the Helis family hadn’t invited other guests. Only their servants and guards stood neatly arranged in the courtyard.

The door of the Night Lacquer Flower carriage opened, and Loranhil stepped out, wearing an unusual black dress. The pure black gown contrasted starkly with her fair skin, while black lace at the hem and sleeves added a peculiar charm. Even her shoes were small black leather ones, paired with pure white silk stockings.

“Lady Lacey of the Carithes Merchant Association has arrived~”

As the doorman announced, melodious music suddenly arose from both sides of the courtyard. About twenty violinists stood on either side of the carpet, drawing their bows across the strings. The soothing violin music rose like butterflies fluttering among leaves.

Loranhil’s blue eyes lightly swept over the scene. These violinists were dressed elegantly and played skillfully, their faces not quite local. They must have been hired temporarily by the Helis family. How thoughtful of them, she mused.

With a slight inward sigh, the main doors of the Helis family mansion opened, revealing a brightly lit hall. The family head, Hoss, and his eldest daughter Melu stood at the entrance to greet her.

“Welcome, Lady Lacey. We’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

The slightly balding family head, Hoss, led Loranhil into the hall, first showing her to a seat. Then he clapped his hands, and young women in dance dresses entered from side doors. One line wore red dresses, the other blue. They lifted their skirts, twirling with each step, the silver appliqués on their dresses glittering in the light. Another piece of music began, with not only the twenty violinists from outside playing, but also a pianist and over a dozen wind instrument players inside the hall.

Following the rhythm of the music, the dancers sometimes rose on tiptoe, sometimes twirled their skirts, forming a large concentric circle in the hall’s dance floor. As the melody changed, they formed a giant flower, with blue and red petals alternately blooming and closing. Finally, as the music concluded, the outermost dancers reclined, those in the middle tilted their bodies, and the inner circle raised their arms high like flower stamens.

Loranhil sat on a sofa on the dais, with a tea table in front of her holding some fruit and chilled fruit juice.

It was indeed an excellent dance, and she gave a slight nod of appreciation, but that was all. For someone who had seen the various light and special effects of the technological age, with grand song and dance performances involving hundreds of people, this was hardly astonishing. Nevertheless, she gave a slight compliment out of courtesy to the Helis family.

The Helis family head, Hoss, seemed very pleased, believing that the performance he had paid for had achieved its effect, and that Loranhil was just being reserved in her reaction.

Melu, seeing her father’s expression, inwardly shook her head. When she first met Lady Lacey, she had merely thought her beauty unparalleled. It was only when Lacey established the new joint project with other merchant associations that Melu was awakened to her capabilities. The subsequent assassination attempt had even made her somewhat fearful of this beautiful young lady.

She wondered how this Lady Lacey had grown up. There had never been any rumors about her, yet her business acumen was extremely sophisticated. This was evident from the recent series of performances by Carithes, which even showed signs of surpassing Angus’s reign, not only avoiding decline but soaring like a phoenix reborn.

But business success usually relied heavily on experience. There had never been reports of an academic achieving great success in this field; it was more about talent and insight. This puzzled Melu endlessly. Moreover, Lacey’s physical abilities were clearly not weak either. She must be at least Sequence 4, Melu guessed.

As she pondered how to face Lady Lacey, Melu looked at her father’s self-satisfied, foolish expression and began to feel a headache coming on.

Hoss was indeed a good father and family man, but as the family head, he lacked shrewdness. When the old family head was still alive, he could often offer guidance. After grandfather’s death, it was the eldest daughter Melu who took on the role of the family’s strategist.

But a daughter was still a daughter, and there was only so much she could do. Power within the association was gradually being dispersed among several uncles, showing signs of becoming unwieldy.

“Niece Lacey, your father and I were very close back in the day. We often drank together. This time, it was my fault for not managing our guards well. I hope you won’t mind.”

Her father actually thought he could brush this off so easily. Melu’s eyes widened slightly in disbelief. It was an assassination attempt, for heaven’s sake! The other party had nearly lost her life. If not handled properly, the two families could end up at war again.

“Although you were once close with our Carithes, that was the previous generation’s affair, which I’m not very familiar with. Moreover, the Helis family guard drew his sword in the street, nearly costing me my life and potentially leading to the collapse of our entire association. Do you think a simple apology is sufficient for this?”

As expected, Lacey rejected such an easy reconciliation, as it was tantamount to an insult.

“This… Niece Lacey, no, Lady Lacey, then what do you…?” Hoss was at a loss. Hadn’t the atmosphere been smiling and cheerful just a moment ago? How had it suddenly turned like this?

“Father, you must be tired. Please let me handle this.” Melu stood up, gave a slight curtsy, then walked to her father’s side and gently persuaded him.

Hoss, having some self-awareness, knew his daughter was more intelligent, so he decided to step back, saying he was feeling a bit tired and would leave Melu to talk with Lacey.

As Hoss left, only Lady Lacey and Melu remained in the vast hall. Outside, a light rain had begun to fall. Raindrops continuously dripped from the eaves, striking the marble steps. The fine rain obscured the view outside, making everything seem blurry. Occasionally, a sea breeze would blow, causing the rain to slant and some to drift into the hall, bringing a slight chill.

Melu stirred the coals in the fireplace, then refilled Lacey’s teacup with hot tea before sitting down to resume the conversation.

“I’m truly sorry, Lady Lacey. The incident that day was due to our family’s lack of management, allowing our guard to be bought by outsiders.”

“I know,” Lacey said, holding her teacup, her hair falling over her pure black dress, unexpectedly affirming.

“So, what I want to ask is, where does the Helis family stand? Are you with us Carithes as before, or do you wish to remain neutral and mind your own business? Or have you already decided to stand against us?”

Lacey’s transparent blue eyes looked directly at Melu, leaving no room for evasion.