Whispering Verse

There were no acquaintances of Shade at this party, so he didn't stop and went straight into the original restaurant on the second floor with a wine glass.

This is the larger auction venue in tonight's charity auction. There are 10 lots in one session, and there is a 15-minute break in the middle of each session. Now is the rest time after the auction. As soon as Xia De walked in, a middle-aged woman wearing a ladies' clerk's uniform came up to her:

"Are you Mr. Hamilton, who is attending the next auction on behalf of Miss Carina?"

She asked softly, and Shade nodded, knowing that the ordinary person in front of him was also arranged here in advance by Miss Carina. The Duchess was worried that something would go wrong if Shade had not participated in similar auctions.

The auction process is very simple. Guests reserve a certain auction in advance, and then receive a wooden number plate when they arrive at the restaurant on time. Once the auction begins, you can bid using your number plate. Before the auction starts, you have time to view the ten items in this session.

"that person......"

When Shade took the number plate from the woman's hand, the woman said softly.

"You are at three o'clock, black formal suit with gold buttons, mustache and a tall black hat."

She lowered her voice, made sure there was no one around, and reminded softly:

"The ring is on his finger."

Shade nodded, and then separated from the woman naturally. He lowered his head and looked at his number plate. It was actually painted with a layer of paint and looked like a tool borrowed from an auction house.

At three o'clock, the man standing in front of the wall looking at the oil painting is tonight's target. His real name is Steve Evans, and his true identity is a cultist who believes in the "Lord of the Blood Feast". The [Metamorphosis Ring] was accidentally stolen during the transfer by the Peace Church, and the person who stole the ring was naturally an undercover agent of the Church who infiltrated the cultists.

The ring itself did not remain in the hands of the respectable undercover gentleman, but was prepared by the cultists to return it to [Mercury Blood]. It is naturally impossible to return such an important relic in such a dangerous situation today, so the ring is kept by the ring wizard of the order, that is, Steve Ivant.

He is actually a woman, and is wanted by the Orthodox Church all year round. Only by using the power of the ring to become a man can he appear in public.

But the witches who bear the curse are more sensitive to gender than expected. Miss Carina could easily tell who held the ring. According to her:

"When a man uses a ring to turn into a woman, I still feel very disgusted. When a woman uses a ring to turn into a man, the feeling of disgust still exists. The former is like seeing a rotting corpse, and the latter is like seeing decay. The excrement. The disguise of [Metamorphosis Ring] is useless in front of me."

Therefore, it was not that Miss Carina was able to steal information from the cultists, it was purely the use of the [Metamorphosis Ring] that allowed her to know who the target was.

Shade looked around, then took the number plate to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the banquet hall to observe the collection for the next auction. The real plan is to get close to Steve Evans.

Of course, Shade would not talk to strangers rashly. Seeing that the target was standing next to the third auction item, he walked towards the first auction item and pretended to check it out.

The first item of the next auction is a dark red dress hanging on a wooden rack. Although the dress itself was beautiful, and the bejeweled buttons and embellishments were alluring, the dress was older than Shade's body. This is the long dress worn by the previous queen. She wore this dress to attend the dinner on April 3, 1819, with King Delrayon at that time. The king's speech at that dinner was... It is considered to be the beginning of a 30-year all-out war between the two human kingdoms in the Old World.

This dress probably has some historical value, but Shade can't figure out how the base price of 80 pounds was given.

Just as a lady came to check out the dress, he turned to look at the second auction item.

The second auction item was an old manuscript book placed in a glass cabinet by the window. The title of the book "The Complete Collection of Ancient Fairy Tales of Delarion" is written in cursive letters, but due to the age, no matter how careful it is to preserve it, the ink is already very faded.

Judging from the brief introduction posted on the glass cabinet, this book is 60 years old and was read by Duke Michal Maupassant who lived half a century ago when he was a child. To the people of 1863, it was an old book in very good condition.

At that time, the Maupassant family still held the title of Duke, so they had strong financial resources. The author of the manuscript was a famous writer of that era, and he left behind a collection of essays "Summer Nights" that is very famous even today. Miss Louisa's award-winning work "A Midsummer Night's Wish" is said to have been inspired by this collection of essays.

"The starting price is 30 pounds. I knew that in this auction, all the lots would be bid at a premium."

Shade said this deliberately, his voice neither too loud nor too quiet, but making sure that it could be heard by Mr. Ivant who was standing aside.

After reading this old book, I looked at the third auction item. It was an oil painting hanging on the wall. The colors of the ink were so bright that it made people feel upset. The painting is called "Harvest Field" and uses gold, yellow and red to depict rice fields in autumn.

The painter put so much emotion into the painting that Shade took one look at the painting and immediately felt a creepy feeling from those crazy colors, but he couldn't explain the origin of this feeling.

"This is probably the charm of art."

Shade said, and glanced at the side. Mr. Ivante was looking at the painting intently without speaking. Shade then looked at the sign with the reserve price:

"Tsk tsk, 160 pounds."

"This price, strictly speaking, is not high."

The middle-aged "man" finally spoke. He squinted at the painting on the wall with an intoxicated expression:

"The artist's thoughts can be conveyed through his works, and the writer who painted this painting perfectly expressed his anxiety, restlessness, and panic in warm tones instead of cold tones. This is definitely a pioneering work. Although This painting was sold at the Biford Auction House five years ago for only 174 pounds, but its artistic value is much higher than those so-called abstract paintings. (Note) "

Fortunately, the people present were rich people who didn't know much about art. If such words were dared to be said in an art academy or art museum, it would have caused an uproar long ago.

"So, sir, you have a deep understanding of oil painting?"

Shade took advantage of the situation and asked. Evante nodded. Although he was still looking at the oil painting, he had already started talking to Shade:

"I am not from Delrayon. In my hometown, I am actually engaged in art collection and preservation."

In this world, it seems that this kind of profession can easily cultivate mentally abnormal people such as lunatics and cultists, and it is an alternative "high-risk profession".