Inside the ancient palace above the gray fog, Audrey felt her thoughts become unusually clear, as one scene after another flashed rapidly through her mind.

They were the scenes of Hvin Rambis "hypnotizing" her inside the carriage just moments ago.

At the same time, each and every one of those words rang out in Audrey’s ears once more, allowing her to fully recall everything that had happened before.

By the time the deep crimson radiance faded away, feelings of lingering fear, horror, and panic surged into Audrey’s heart all at once, and it took her a good few seconds before she was able to stand, gather her skirt, and bow toward the great existence seated at the very head of the table:

"Thank you for your protection, esteemed Mr. ’Fool.’"

Klein gave a light nod and said with an approving smile:

"You handled it well."

Upon hearing those words, Audrey felt an immediate sense of relief wash over her, and her panic subsided. She sat back down and calmly recounted her entire ordeal from beginning to end.

As "The Fool," Klein was unable to discuss things directly with Miss "Justice," help her analyze the situation, or offer his opinions. He could only smile and say:

"This is fate’s trial for you."

A trial? Only by passing this trial will I have the qualifications to become a Demigod, and be able to protect the people I wish to protect in the increasingly complicated Backlund? "Justice" Audrey interpreted Mr. "Fool’s" hint and gave a solemn nod:

"I understand."

Klein said nothing more, and with a tone that was half a sigh and half a smile, said:

"Go back. Go and face it."

Audrey was just about to express her gratitude once more when deep crimson surged up before her eyes and everything in her sight blurred.

In an instant, she returned to the real world, yet without forgetting or overlooking a single thing.

Fate’s trial? Does that mean I must resolve the danger posed by Hvin Rambis while ensuring my own secret remains unexposed? Even if it results in Hvin Rambis’s death, I won’t be suspected by the Psychological Alchemists afterward? But how should I go about it...

Carrying these questions with her, Audrey still entered the villa at No. 28 Pinster Street, surrounded by her servants.

Whatever she intended to do, she first had to ensure she herself would come to no harm, and Mr. "Tower’s" home was without question a place of considerable safety.

As it happened, Ebner was home at the time as well. Seeing Audrey come to visit, he, who understood the situation perfectly, welcomed her into the parlor.

After both sides’ servants had temporarily withdrawn, Audrey gave a concise account of the key points of her ordeal, and concluded by saying:

"Mr. ’Fool’ said that this is ’fate’s’ trial for me...

"But what should I do to truly resolve the problem?"

What she meant by truly resolving it was leaving no future trouble for herself, so as to prevent her family from being implicated.

"Fate’s" trial... Hmm, I hold the Uniqueness of the "Wheel of Fortune" and calling myself "Fate" isn’t much of a stretch, and this whole affair was staged by me from the very beginning, so saying that it is "my" trial for her is also perfectly "reasonable"...

Truly worthy of being called the "Beacon of Destiny" — even a casual piece of nonsense manages to fit perfectly!

After a few moments of silent mockery, Ebner hesitated briefly, then said with a smile: "Why not follow Mr. ’Moon’s’ example and call a temporary Tarot Club meeting, so that everyone can think of a solution together?"

Mr. "Moon"...

Thinking back to the operation that had previously lured the vampire viscount into the "Harvest Church," Audrey’s eyes lit up and she felt an inexplicable surge of energy.

In that instant, she had the feeling that she was not fighting alone.

"I understand." Audrey nodded with a faint smile on her face.

She then thought of another matter and quickly seized the opportunity to ask:

"Hvin Rambis instructed me to gather intelligence about Mr. ’World’ from you — does that have some other deeper meaning behind it?"

As for the part about no longer being so resistant toward several of the princes, and praising them in front of her parents — unlike in the original story, Audrey, who already knew the King’s intentions, had worked that out for herself. It was likely a way of projecting a surface-level friendliness, drawing her father over, and hinting at the Church of the Evernight lurking in the background.

What deeper meaning? I simply wanted to get you away from that Demoness’s line of sight as quickly as possible... After all, in order to keep her true body from growing suspicious of Hvin and then abandoning the plan to act in Beldun, I needed to find the most reliable person to "take her out."

Of course, despite thinking this, Ebner still pretended to hesitate at some length before relaying to Audrey the analysis that the avatar of the "Saintess of Purple," Josenna, had offered.

Using me to stoke conflict between Mr. "Tower" and my father? Audrey was first taken aback, then the meaning of it dawned on her all at once, and her face flushed red with anger.

Seeing this, Ebner decided that even if the goal was achieved, it would be better not to let this young lady know the full truth.

...

Inside the café near the Harvest Church, Klein returned from the washroom, exchanged a few perfunctory words with Emlyn, and then took his leave. He had a feeling that Miss "Justice" would be seeking his help before long, and so he needed to make some preparations in advance. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Emlyn did not press the matter either, only turning it over in his mind: Next time at the Tarot Club, after I’ve prepared a proper restorative potion for his body, I’ll bring this up with him again... Right, I should go find his sister and ask what his specific symptoms are...

Sure enough, not long after Klein returned to No. 160 Böklund Street, he received Miss "Justice’s" request to hold a "small meeting."

The scope of the request included all members except "The Sun," "The Moon," and "The Star."

This is discrimination against the "celestial" members... "The World" German, seated at the lowest position at the ancient palace’s long bronze table above the gray fog, muttered a complaint, then let his spirituality spread outward, causing streaks of deep crimson radiance to rise up around the bronze table one after another.

"Justice" Audrey looked around at those gathered, rose from her seat, and bowed to the other members:

"Everyone, there is a matter on which I hope to hear your thoughts."

"It sounds urgent." "The Hanged Man" Alger gave a light nod in response.

"Yes!" With that, "Justice" Audrey sat back down and then gave a detailed account of her encounter with Hvin Rambis.

Of course, she did not say that Hvin had sent her to find Ebner, and instead referred to him simply as Mr. "Tower," so as not to expose his true identity.

Even though, among those present, only "The Hanged Man" and "The Hermit" still did not know.

"The Hermit" Gardenia listened with a degree of confusion, furrowing her brows slightly:

"The Psychological Alchemists — or rather, Hvin Rambis — have discovered that Mr. ’Tower’ and Mr. ’World’ are members of the Tarot Club?"

This was an extremely serious matter. Although the two gentlemen in question were both very powerful and were unlikely to have let slip any information about the meetings... it was still something that could not be left unguarded against.

Ebner shook his head. "Hvin is currently working on behalf of the Loen royal family. Back at Pris Port, although he crossed paths with both me and ’The World,’ he likely would not connect it to the ’Tarot Club.’ The far more probable conclusion he would draw is that German is an agent of the Church of the Evernight."

"That makes it all the more difficult to deal with... The royal family, the Psychological Alchemists, and even the Hermes and Adam behind this organization... Perhaps killing Hvin would not be difficult for several of you, but how would we go about clearing Miss ’Justice’ of suspicion?"

"The Hanged Man" Alger frowned as he spoke.

He had no experience dealing with Demigods, let alone Angels, and could only draw on the habits of thought he had cultivated over the years to raise some of the key issues.

"Any subsequent investigation from the ’Psychological Alchemists,’ Hermes, or even Adam — I can help cover that up and extract Miss ’Justice’ from any involvement in this matter... But there is a more pressing problem, and that is that Hvin is not so easy to kill!

"Not to mention, there is likely a Demoness of unknown depth standing at his side as well." Ebner said, putting on a grave expression.

"I can call upon an Angel to help..." Klein thought for a moment and said.

He was referring to the "Servant of Concealment," Lady Arianna... Capturing "Hvin" was itself a matter of public duty, and he was confident that the lady would agree.

"Then I’ll leave the matter of killing Hvin to you, and I’ll find someone to deal with that Demoness." Ebner glanced at Klein and said.

Find someone? You need to find someone just to deal with a Demoness? The number of Demonesses in your household already outnumbers those in the "Demoness Sect," doesn’t it?

Klein was puzzled, but sensing that Ebner likely had another plan in mind, he did not call him out on it, and together with the others, continued the discussion.

Only after the details of the operation had been worked out one by one did this "conspiracy" come to a close. "Justice," "The Hanged Man," and the others departed one after another, and above the gray fog, once again only Klein and Ebner remained.

"Who is the person you’re bringing in to deal with that Demoness?" Klein asked directly.

His instincts told him this particular choice of person might be something of a problem.

Upon hearing this, Ebner curled the corner of his lips upward, and then uttered a name that nearly made Klein leap to his feet:

"Amon!"

(End of Chapter)