NOVPUBSaturday.
Early morning.
Batts Count’s Mansion, located on the impressive golden location along the north shore of the Selina River, was built from handcrafted beige limestone and laid with blue-brown swallow-tailed tiles.
The estate’s private grounds contained shaded gardens densely planted with broadleaved evergreens and a small glass greenhouse for the master and guests to enjoy exotic flowers and plants.
At this moment, in that glass greenhouse, the butler was holding a handwritten board, recording the cultivation status of precious plants.
Cautious footsteps sounded from behind.
But he still didn’t turn around, focusing on the task at hand.
"Hey, butler, are you going to join us to watch the Platinum Level Card Maker competition at noon?"
Christina asked Rocky, patting him on the back.
Today at eleven a.m., the examination for the Eastern Region’s Platinum Level Card Makers would begin.
The first round, which was the longest, would last until nine p.m.
During this time, the audience who purchased tickets for the event could go to the Sacred Silvervine Arena to watch live, and the rest of the residents could also watch the broadcast.
"It’s really rare for you to invite me, isn’t it?"
Rocky turned around, looking at the count’s blond young lady.
"It’s mainly because Enon thinks it would be better if you went.
Christina sighed.
Although she now found Rocky to be not that scary anymore,
she would rather have one less thing to do if she could be minimally involved with this brainwashing butler.
"Would she say something like that?"
Rocky paused doubtfully for half a second. 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"Humph."
Christina lifted her index finger, shaking it matter-of-factly in front of Rocky.
"I told her to go, and she didn’t want to, but then I said, ’What if Rocky goes too?’ and she wavered."
She smirked, explaining,
"Clearly, the sense of security I give her alone is not enough; it must be supplemented by you."
Ever since Enon lost her confidence after being knocked down several times by Rocky during strength tests in the courtyard, she hadn’t been able to regain it.
Even though her injuries had largely healed by now and Christina used the family’s cherished secret medicine on her every day, Enon remained a bit timid.
In Enon’s impression, Butler Rocky was someone ridiculously strong.
"Then I really am sorry, but I’ve taken the afternoon off today, I just happen to have some other work, and I can’t accompany you."
Rocky said regretfully, looking at the Ice Ghost Euphorbia imported from the Demon World, while continuing to record his notes.
"Ah..."
Christina let out a sound of disappointment,
"I thought you’d have lots of free time outside of work. I didn’t expect you’d need to have several jobs."
She looked at Rocky with a questioning gaze, suspecting he might have some kind of financial difficulty, considering he was still working so hard despite making so much money already.
"Alas."
Rocky could only express his multitude of thoughts with a single sigh.
Each household had its own troubles.
How could he support "that" if he didn’t work hard to earn money?
"What exactly do you take me for?"
Talia immediately captured his train of thought inside Rocky’s mind.
Without mentioning her, she already knew Rocky was again thinking of the damnable thing.
"A high-risk, high-cost card that needs constant feeding of a vast amount of Mana and food..."
"...?"
"My most treasured Life Card."
"Shut up, you..."
Once Talia’s mental message was transmitted, she became silent as if falling asleep.
The exchange of thoughts between the two ended.
Rocky, regaining his senses, looked at Christina again in the glass greenhouse.
"I’ll persuade her for you,"
he suggested, putting down the handwritten board and pen he was holding.
"All right then."
Christina turned back immediately toward the courtyard.
She was just waiting for Rocky to say those words.
"Have you been waiting for me to say that for a long time?"
The butler asked a bit sadly.
"No, no, I really do hope you can keep me company,"
Christina whistled, looking up at the trees in her garden contentedly.
Together, they crossed the garden path, walked a hundred meters, and then pushed open the heavy oak door of the main building, quickly arriving at Christina’s frequently used guest hall—the ceiling was three stories high, with a nearly two-meter diameter crystal stalactite lamp hanging down, and the floor was covered with a handwoven silk rug.
Ascending along the black marble staircase with brass door handles, they followed a corridor stretching for dozens of meters, with shortly decorated rooms like studies and small guest lounges on both sides.
At the end of the third-floor corridor, a pair of majestic floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic view of the Selina River scenery and the boundless cityscape.
And Enon was inside a guest room, tidying up.
"Who’s there?"
The sudden appearance of a silhouette at the door made her tense instinctively, stepping back half a step as if steeling her spine.
Gradually,
once she recognized who it was—Miss Christina and Butler Rocky—she relaxed,
and gave them a maid’s curtsy.
"Enon, stop working for a bit, come to the guest hall for a chat,"
Rocky said, resting his hand on the door frame.
Then, he went to the small third-floor guest lounge, placed three chairs around a heart-shaped peach-wood low table, and prepared three cups of tea with astonishing speed in a matter of seconds.
When Enon walked in, she found she could already sit down and rest.
And this detail elicited a look of admiration towards Butler Rocky.
She wished she could do the same.
That was professionalism; the man was so efficient that he might be able to set up a tea party within a minute.
"No, Rocky, what exactly were you doing before you worked here?"
Christina tapped the chair beside her, indicating for Enon to come sit, and asked the butler, who had already started to leisurely sip his tea, across from her.
