Inside the room, the scented letter bearing the Fesale family crest still lay quietly on the table.
Returning to the room, Abby popped out from Rover's Tacet Mark, sprawling on the soft cushion, drowsy.
Rover picked up the letter and broke the wax seal. The stationery was expensive scented paper, the handwriting elegant and gorgeous, the wording extremely polite, yet conveying an undeniable sense of absolute requirement between the lines.
As expected, it was a private invitation from Cantarella Fesale.
She sincerely invited the esteemed "My Lord" Rover to come to Castello Portovino at his convenience, allowing her to fulfill her duties as a host and discuss recent events.
No specific time was set, only "Awaiting your arrival."
Rover looked at the completely darkened sky outside the window and the brilliant lights illuminating the city of Laguna.
He thought for a moment and said to the yawning Abby, "I'm going out for a bit. You stay in the room and rest."
Abby mumbled sleepily, "Oh... going to that nice-smelling but dangerous castle to see that very big woman? Come back early..."
Rover tidied up his clothes without dressing up too much, left the room again, and summoned a black enclosed carriage that Coletta had given him for his disposal at any time.
He took the carriage straight to Castello Portovino, located high on the southwestern sea cliff outside the city of Laguna.
Unlike the modern luxury of the Mortari family, the Fesale family's castle appeared more ancient, mysterious, and secluded.
The overall tone of the castle was dark, mostly built with dark stone materials, with towering spires covered in dense, dark rose vines.
The massive iron gates slowly opened, and the world inside seemed isolated from the bustling commercial metropolis outside.
An expressionless, white-haired old man wearing a classic butler's uniform stood quietly inside the gates. Seeing Rover, he bowed deeply, his voice low and completely devoid of fluctuation: "Lord Rover, the Family Head has been waiting for you for a long time. Please follow me."
The lighting inside the castle was dim. Heavy tapestries and oil paintings hung on the walls. The scent of herbs in the air grew increasingly rich, mixing with an extremely faint, almost imperceptible cold aura, as if from the abyssal ocean.
The corridors were deadly silent; only the sound of their footsteps echoed in the cavernous space.
The butler finally led Rover to a tall pair of terrace doors.
The terrace was spacious with an excellent field of view, overlooking the nightscape of the entire Port of Laguna in the distance, the myriad lights scattered like stars.
And Cantarella Fesale was standing with her back to him, leaning against the railing.
She wore a dark purple off-the-shoulder long dress, the hem fluttering slightly in the night breeze like a blooming poisonous petal.
Her silk-like long purple hair was pinned up in an elegant bun, revealing her slender, fair neck.
Hearing the footsteps, she slowly turned around.
Under the illumination of the moonlight and distant city lights, her face was breathtakingly beautiful, yet carried a trace of inhuman, bewitching allure.
Her blue-purple eyes were shrouded in a hazy mist, so profound they seemed capable of sucking in a person's very soul.
She wore a massive, deep-blue sapphire pendant on her chest, which rose and fell slightly with her breathing, flickering with a faint light, unconsciously drawing the visitor's gaze.
Right now, she wasn't holding her signature parasol; instead, she held a glass of liquid resembling liquid ruby.
"You've finally arrived, My Lord," she spoke, her voice ethereal and distant, carrying a trace of languid hoarseness, like the whispers of a night rose. "I was worried that the nightscape of Laguna was too enchanting, or that the pearl of the Mortari family was too brilliant, causing you to forget this slightly gloomy corner of Fesale."
Her words carried just the right amount of respect, yet concealed a very faint, nearly imperceptible probe.
Rover walked to the edge of the terrace, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her, looking at the manor below: "How could I forget an invitation from Lady Cantarella? It's just that I was tied up with trivial matters as soon as I returned to Laguna, and only found the time to come now."
"Trivial matters?" Cantarella gently swirled her wine glass, a meaningful arc hooking the corner of her lips. "Are you referring to the heroic feat of suppressing the Black Tide at the bottom of the sea, the amusing anecdote of dispersing the mischievous Echoes near the coast, or... the elegant mood of having dinner with a wandering poet?"
The Fesale family's intelligence network was clearly just as well-informed.
Rover wasn't surprised, merely smiling: "It seems nothing can be hidden from you."
"The meaning of Fesale's existence is to pierce through the fog for you, My Lord." Cantarella turned slightly, offering the wine glass in her hand to him. "Care for a taste? 'Kiss of the Night Rose,' brewed with night rose petals grown within the Castello Portovino estate and thirteen rare herbs. Outsiders do not have the fortune to enjoy this."
Her eyes appeared exceptionally blurry under the moonlight. "Of course, rest assured, to you, it is absolutely 'non-toxic'."
Rover took the glass. The liquid rippled inside, emitting a complex and alluring fragrance. It tasted mellow, carrying a bizarre, sweet aftertaste.
"It seems that Finlay's passing and the theft of the Threnodian Gemstone did not throw Laguna into chaos, but rather facilitated a certain degree of alliance."
Cantarella looked back toward Laguna, discussing official business in a flat tone. "Mortari, Fesale, and even the temporarily leaderless Convent... in the face of a threat capable of destroying everything, a brief unity is always the inevitable choice. My Lord must be pleased to see this upon your return?"
"Chaos benefits no one," Rover said lightly, sipping the wine. "A fragile balance is better than total collapse."
"Indeed..."
Cantarella murmured in agreement. She suddenly turned her head, her blue-purple eyes looking deeply at Rover. Her tone became incomparably serious, even carrying an almost fanatical devotion. "But no matter how the outside world changes, the mission of the Fesale family has never changed."
"Fesale has served the Sentinel for generations. And now that the Sentinel has passed, you are the continuation of His will, and the sole meaning of Fesale's existence."
She took a slight step forward, coming extremely close. That cold, exotic fragrance grew increasingly distinct.
"I, Cantarella Fesale, the thirty-sixth Family Head, 'Poison'... hereby swear my oath to you once again. Everything of the Fesale family, including myself, forever belongs to you, to be driven by you, and to be taken by you."
Her gaze burned, as if she wanted to brand her oath deep into his soul. "Whether you need a sharp blade, a shield, poison, or... anything else, you only need to ask."
The night was deep, and the wind on the terrace carried a chill, but it couldn't blow away the bizarre and ambiguous atmosphere between the two.
Cantarella's posture was not one of begging, but a declaration. It was a devotion carrying lethal temptation, completely surrendering herself and her family.
Rover stared at her breathtakingly beautiful face mere inches away, and those bottomless eyes reflecting his own silhouette.
He knew that this glass of "Kiss of the Night Rose" might truly be non-toxic.
But this poison named "Cantarella" was silently attempting to entangle him.
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