A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 736 - Chapter 736 Chapter 539 Invitation_1

Chapter 736: Chapter 539: Invitation_1 Chapter 736: Chapter 539: Invitation_1 When Mary returned to Duanmu Huai’s apartment, she felt somewhat nervous. Yet, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Mr. Duanmu, Mary Clarissa.”

“Ah, come in.”

Soon, the door opened, and a brunette maid stood there, curtseying to her. Mary didn’t know much about her, only that she drove the plane that brought them out of the South Pole. At that time, she was entirely focused on her friend. However, she now reciprocated the maid’s courtesy. The maid welcomed Mary in and led her to the living room where Duanmu Huai was sitting on the sofa, idly going through a large pile of letters.

“Yo.”

Seeing Mary, Duanmu Huai casually waved at her without any gentlemanlike grace, and then tossed the letters aside.

“There’s too much going on in the old continent. In this day and age, there are still tea parties, dinners, banquets…Don’t these people have anything better to do?”

“Are these invitations for you?”

Hearing Duanmu’s complaints, Mary somewhat understood. She came from the middle class and, though she had two nobleman friends, she herself would prefer not to have to employ such banquet festivities. Moreover, such social events were typically attended only by upper-class society ladies. Unlike Mary, who was considering working rather than marrying and bearing children after graduation, these ladies did not need to worry about losing such connections.

“They only see me as a mirror… By the way, how is your friend?”

“Ah, Shirley is fine, she’s currently recovering in a sanatorium, she wrote to me before…”

“Oh, that’s good.”

Duanmu Huai nodded, then started flipping through the letters again. Seeing him, Mary suddenly felt a bit nervous. Although Shirley had lost her memories and Asherica didn’t know of his existence, Mary knew that her friends’ return to their familiar lives was all thanks to this kind man. He had spent a lot of money to make all this happen. Although Miss Lorena once told Mary that this was what the Tribunal was for, Mary was not one to be ungrateful.

Therefore, she hoped to introduce Duanmu Huai to her two good friends, but was unsure about the capacity in which to introduce him.

At this moment, Mary realized that her relationship with Duanmu Huai seemed somewhat indistinct.

Logically, she should have considered herself his client initially, but in reality, Mary didn’t pay Duanmu Huai for his services. On the contrary, he spent a lot of money on her and Shirley. This left her unsure about who the real client was.

As friends? If they were, then…

“There is your tea.”

As Mary was pondering on this, the maid arrived, interrupting her thoughts. She accepted the tea cup, thanked the maid and looked back at Duanmu Huai.

“Mr. Duanmu.”

“Hmm?”

“That is, um … how should I say it …”

Although Duanmu Huai didn’t care for formalities, Mary still carefully started to address him.

“The holiday is coming up, and Asherica and I plan to go visit Shirley at the sanatorium. Asherica and her fiance, Mr. Howard, will be joining us too. If you have the time, would you like to come…”

Getting to this point, Mary felt there was a slight flawed logic in her invitation. Sure, it made sense for Mr. Howard, Asherica’s fiance, to meet Shirley, but her relationship with Duanmu Huai didn’t seem to justify an invitation.

Indeed, Duanmu Huai seemed uninterested.

“I’ll pass on joining your girls’ get-together. Enjoy yourselves.”

“Yes… alright.”

After hearing Duanmu’s response, Mary quietly sighed in relief. But then, Duanmu suddenly exclaimed.

“Baskerville? That’s interesting.”

“Huh?”

“Have you heard this name before, Mary?”

“Ah, yes.”

When queried by Duanmu, Mary nodded.

“The Baskerville family is a well-known upper-class family, I have heard of them…”

“No, no, no, I’m not talking about that …”

“Ah, you’re referring to the Hellhound of the Baskerville family?”

Being a resident of Fog City, Mary had, of course, read the account of the great detective, and would not forget–indeed, the Baskerville family was familiar to her because of that story. Or rather, among the upper and middle classes of Fog City, no one was unaware of the tale.

The legend of the Hellhound, the curse of the Baskerville family, the grand detective, and the shadowy conspiracy behind it all–these had been compiled and published as a classic.

“Exactly, the Hellhound of the Baskerville family.”

Duanmu Huai held up the envelope and waved it at Mary.

“It seems the great detective couldn’t completely take care of this little problem in his time, and now it’s fallen into my lap.”