Chap 4: Hambris

Anthea was startled for a moment when she heard Maxi's words, her face flickered with a hint of awkwardness. But very quickly, Anthea returned to her usual cold expression. Quickly take long strides out of the awkward atmosphere in the room.

In her mind, she couldn't help but think about what had just happened. A large cellar, inside a rundown popular pub. In recorded history, each oak grain represents the longevity of the tree. The older it is, the better the quality of the wood and wood resin in it, which can harmonize the taste of the soaked wine. The oak barrels used to store wine in the room are all hundreds of years old, the veins are very even and beautiful. The value of those oak barrels is probably not much less than their age. Also, the glass of wine she had just sipped on was 'Goute d'Or Commanderie du Clos du Montmartre' to be exact. That flavor is unmistakable. Anthea's father had also let her taste it before. The spicy, intoxicating flavor is extremely captivating. There was also the oak box containing the precious bottle of wine, it was so detailed, so elaborate, so unusual and so special. So special that people even thought of a name for it: Gosliver. It reminded Anthea of ​​knowledge that had been recorded in history books:

“The Gosliver box is dedicated to storing precious things exclusively for Western royalty, made based on Pandora - the box that originates all the evils of humanity: lust, greed, pride, hatred. …. The Vasking Empire for hundreds of years has always believed in the special properties of the box. They worship those sins like worshiping a god. Things are like that in the world, small evil monsters, hated and despised by people. And the cruel, brutal monsters are worshiped. They worship and believe in those despicable things, just because they cannot submit to them. Those poor, poor people thought they could control them. But it's actually being controlled. The child part and the human part of them soon became unclear. That's what makes people in the West look down on in the eyes of the East."

That's how Anthea was taught, and so she believed. An empire that is too rich and also too ostentatious easily becomes a thorn in the eyes of the surrounding countries. But don't mention those things: “A long time ago, the Gosliver box was no longer made. The records of the box's materials, design, machinery, working methods, etc., all disappeared after the bloody massacre of Duke Valerie. No one has ever recreated Gosliver. Although, there have been many rich people who spent a lot of money but never succeeded. Because the security of Gosliver is extremely certain, it becomes a miniature protective vault. It was this that made many nobles crave Gosliver. They scrambled and splashed their hands to own the last remaining Gosliver boxes.”

As such, she had underestimated Maxi too much. He certainly doesn't look like what he's shown on the outside. Too many confusing things. Why did he offer her a 'Goute d'Or', and also Gosliver? Is Maxi implying something or is he simply showing off? But it seems that things are not so simple. Is he related to duke Valerie?

Perhaps Anthea really has to reset all her thoughts and judgments to the beginning. Nothing could ever get past her keen eyes. But there was one thing that made Anthea feel extremely unreasonable. Duke Valerie after the bloody massacre a hundred years ago had almost completely disappeared from the political map of the Empire. No one knew any news about this noble. Not even a rumor. Everything just happened naturally in a way like it never existed. And a person who suddenly evaporates, disappearing without a trace will never be a normal thing. It's not as simple as what happened. Surely behind, some force has intervened. Especially when the power of the Valerie family is relatively strong. One of the four pillars of the Empire since its inception.

Hundreds of questions surrounded Anthea. Thoughts that had no beginning, no end were like a wind appearing and then quickly disappearing, making her mind tangled like silk. Careless, Anthea crashed into the postman at the door, sending him tumbling to the ground, his mailbag flying everywhere.

"Oh, you have to pay attention when you walk or stand," cried the postman, annoyed.

He has a slim figure. His delicate angelic face from anger gradually turned red. His auburn hair was hidden behind his beret, under the lamplight it glittered red. Anger made them tremble.

“You don't have to scream. I'm not deaf"

Anthea replied nonchalantly, stooping to pick up the scattered letters on the floor as she spoke.

For the first time in his life, Japhis saw such a pompous girl. It's true, her beauty is truly captivating. High nose, slanted eyes, red lips, delicate willow-leaf eyebrows, combined with a small face. Everything is extremely harmonious and beautiful to the point of perfection. But just because she has a bit of beauty, she overestimates herself, he doesn't like girls.

"You're just blind," replied Japhis scowling. He was about to cheat a bit more, but when he saw Anthea's cold face, he unconsciously just kept his mouth shut. Today, Japhis is terrible, intending to make some money, but it is true that heaven does not please "good" people.

Japhis quickly sat up as well, picking up the letters with Anthea. He glanced at the strange girl in front of him. Except for her cold face and unusually jet-black hair, she was quite beautiful, a beauty as wild and special as her eyes.

Noticing that the postman kept staring at her with unseemly eyes, Anthea grabbed the stack of letters she had just gathered in her hand and smacked him in the chest, making Ben jump and fall to the ground. Again. He was about to scream about this foreign girl's rude behavior, when a soft voice came from his ear, making his throat dry.:

“Your lapis lazuli eyes are beautiful, but… closed forever is more beautiful”

As soon as the words finished, a cold feeling quickly ran down Japhis' spine. He quickly turned his face, but no one was seen anymore, she was like a passing wind. Japhis lowered his head as he watched the bar door close slightly. In his heart, he couldn't help but feel an extreme hatred. He stood up, shoving all the coins into the crossbody bag at his waist. As he did, Ben muttered under his breath cursing the strange foreign girl who would have bad luck. For daring to threaten him.

When you have picked up all the letters that have fallen on the ground. Adjusting his clothes, and brushing off the dirt that the obnoxious stranger had caused, Japhis happily entered the bar. The person he, awake every night wants to meet is here.

-Give me a glass of Tannis.

Instantly, a glass of Tannis that had been sipped from the bar came in front of him. Japhis quickly grabbed his hand to hold it, not letting it fall to the ground. He did not hesitate to drink the full glass of wine in one gulp, then raised his head to order another.

“Oh my, today my precious friend Maxi personally served me”

As soon as Japhis saw Maxi, his eyes lit up and teased. The hand does not forget to raise an empty wine glass towards you, making an invitation gesture.

Maxi is an extremely arrogant person. Although this was a pub under his name, it was very rare to see Maxi in this place for most of the past two years. He always assumed that this was a place for commoners, so frequenting here would only reduce Maxi's reputation. And seeing him standing in the bar and pouring himself a drink was more suspicious than blood rain. For these things, Maxi can't be completely blamed, his identity needs to be absolutely confidential.

But today, Japhis saw two unusual things. What made someone like Maxi suddenly appear here. It's not because of him, is it? Possibly, before departing, Japhis informed Maxi that he was going to the tavern in Thamber Harbour. But he didn't seem happy to see you, did he? There was always a smile on his face, but Japhis knew that Maxi's smile was more common than sunrise and sunset, it was unusual for him to stop smiling. Japhis stared at Maxi's face, squinting for an unusual spot. But of course, he found nothing. Besides the smile on the bottom of the eyes, there are some parts that are more real than usual. Japhis dejectedly sighed softly, he decided it was best to explore on his own.

“Just handy”

Maxi replied nonchalantly. He doesn't care much about your sarcasm. Taking off the apron on her chest, Maxi leisurely took the glass of Tannis and brought it to Japhis.

"Say it, why did you come here today?"

Not waiting for Japhis to stop being surprised, when he brought out the wine himself, Maxi suddenly asked. He knew that even if Japhis had free time to do crazy things, he would never work for anything. Even now, he was appearing in a postman suit. It looked extremely silly, but when I saw the bag full of letters from Japhis. Maxi immediately understood this was not a casual visit. The Empire's news, letters, announcements, etc., were all over the place, scattered around in that crossbody bag. Maxi raised his hand and took a letter from the "postman" mess.

 Maxi's brow furrowed involuntarily when he saw the sender's name.

"Viscountess Hambris Florence"