The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 53: Family Secrets

In the evening, a carriage arrived at the base of the apartment building on Narcissus Street.

Before long, Sylutia walked downstairs, temporarily parting ways with her two friends before boarding the carriage.

"Remember to be careful when you come back tonight." Aurora waved at the young girl in the carriage.

Although security in the Asra district was decent, the incidents that had happened over the past half year had made all three of them feel that this place wasn't very safe anymore, and they had become much more cautious.

"I know." Sylutia nodded, then let down the curtain.

The black carriage set off with Sylutia inside. Compared to the roaring steam vehicles, this improved high-end carriage was far more comfortable to ride in. Unless in a hurry, most wealthy people still preferred traditional carriages.

As for carriages, the people of this world had already developed a quite mature rating system. From the carriage body's structural materials, decorations, and the beasts pulling it, everything could be clearly ranked.

The carriage Sylutia was riding in now used two "Red-Mane Court Horses," which were at "First Tier·Bloodline" and were quite expensive. Compared to ordinary horses, Court Horses were much gentler and smarter, easy to train, highly obedient, and had handsome appearances. They were a new breed developed by nobles of the Ninth Epoch through continuous breeding, deeply favored by the wealthy and powerful.

With an excellent horse breed, black walnut wood body, and beautifully decorated red copper ornaments, this carriage was considered mid-to-high-end even in the Asra district. Going further up would only be carriages pulled by Second Tier War Beasts. As for carriages pulled by Third Tier beasts, those were no longer something ordinary people could see. Perhaps Aurora's main family might have a few in reserve, but even Aurora, as the legitimate daughter, couldn't casually use them.

Twenty-odd minutes later, the carriage stopped in front of the "Night Fragrance" clubhouse on Beetle Street. A servant in a black uniform opened the door, allowing the beautiful young girl inside, who lifted her skirt and slowly stepped down.It was already her second time here, but this time Sylutia didn't need to carry out any mission. She looked up at the glowing sign on the clubhouse and walked inside.

This was an ordinary banquet, mostly attended by acquaintances and friends of the Fox Family. The atmosphere was relaxed.

Regarding banquets, they were generally divided into three types. The first type involved major matters, such as weddings, celebrations, political negotiations, and so on. The second type was the regular gatherings of the wealthy, used to maintain connections, socialize, and relax, without any pressing purpose. The third type had fewer attendees, usually close friends or intimate family reunions.

This banquet was clearly the second type. Since the Fox Family held partial shares in "Night Fragrance," they often held banquets here, basically once or twice a month.

The venue's lighting was dim, putting people at ease. Guests gathered in small groups around the dining tables, chatting. Occasionally, when the mood struck, they would join a dance partner and step onto the dance floor to the music.

After entering, Sylutia looked around and noticed that most of the guests were older. Those under twenty or in their twenties like her only made up a small portion.

She didn't rush to ask the waiter where Hu Tao was. Instead, she walked lightly through the dim banquet hall, picking out fruits and desserts she liked to sample.

Since she was already here, she might as well eat a bit first. If she had to socialize later, she probably wouldn't even have a chance to eat. After all, it would be impolite to keep eating while others were talking.

No wonder this family specialized in pastries and food as their main business. The quality of the food here was excellent, with quite a few items already reaching "First Tier - Excellent" quality. A small piece of cake alone could cost close to one gold coin. The entire banquet likely cost at least 500 to 600 gold coins. But from the looks of it, this level of banquet was already the norm for the Fox Family.

After eating some desserts and fruits, Sylutia saw a mature noblewoman walking into the venue with Hu Tao on her arm. Many guests immediately rushed over, some to express gratitude, others to catch up and chat, and still others to discuss business.

Seeing the crowd gather and become a bit crowded, Sylutia didn't step forward. Instead, she continued sitting at a small round table nearby, savoring her desserts.

About half an hour later, the noblewoman finally finished briefly acknowledging the guests who had gathered around. At that moment, prompted by her niece beside her, she noticed Sylutia in the distant corner.

With a slight nod, the noblewoman, dressed in a black gown with red decorative trim, walked over slowly and sat down across from Sylutia.

"Hello, I am Mared. Welcome, Miss Hedra, to this banquet." She introduced herself simply.

"Hello, Madame Mared." Sylutia put down her food and responded politely.

The lady then exchanged a few courteous pleasantries before lightly gesturing for Hu Tao, who was standing nearby, to come over.

"I still have some matters to attend to today, so I can only have Hu Tao accompany Hedra. I hope you two enjoy your chat." With that, she stood up, bid farewell, and went to meet with old friends at the banquet.

Seeing her aunt leave, Hu Tao, who had just sat down, quickly relaxed. Her eyes resumed their usual slightly upturned expression. She waved at the maid following behind, who then poured her favorite iced wine.

"Would you like some, Hedra?" She indicated the glass in her hand, where clear, berry-red liquid swirled, emitting a faint, refreshing aroma. The scent was subtle yet invigorating, quite rare.

"This is my favorite star-berry liqueur. Want to give it a try?" She introduced it to Sylutia.

With that, she had the maid pour a small glass for Sylutia and pass it over.

Taking the glass, the girl sniffed it. It gave off a rare berry fragrance, and she could also sense a slight sweetness. Curious, Sylutia took a small sip.

A cool sensation spread from the tip of her tongue down her throat, as if she could smell the fresh scent of a mountain after rain. Amidst the sweetness, there was also a faint hint of bitterness, which made her alert. Finally, the bitterness dissipated, leaving a subtle aftertaste that felt quite novel.

"How is it? Pretty good, right?" Hu Tao smiled at the corners of her mouth when she saw Sylutia tasting it.

"It's quite unique." Sylutia nodded.

After exchanging a few polite words, Hu Tao brought up their last meeting.

"Last time you came to the banquet, you ate biscuits with ice cream together. I tried it later, and it felt really good. How about we use that idea to make a new product?"

That was probably the ice cream cone from her previous life, Sylutia quickly realized. But this world didn't seem to have that concept yet, though ice cream had appeared early.

In past eras, before the Industrial Revolution, artificial refrigeration and ice-making were very troublesome, so ice cream appeared relatively late. With the addition of supernatural power in this world, although the common folk still suffered, the upper circles had already tried many new innovations.

"It's fine, but I'm not good at these things. It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea about how to eat it." Sylutia didn't care much about such small ideas.

"Alright then, I'll have someone research it later. By the way, what do you think would be a good name for it?"

Ice cream cone? Too ordinary.

Named after someone? That wouldn't spread well.

Maybe she could work on the ice cream itself. The girl quickly thought of the familiar spherical ice cream.

"How about 'Silky Snowball'? You can color it according to different flavors, so buyers not only enjoy the taste but also get a better visual effect, making promotion easier." Sylutia quickly proposed several flavor combinations.

"...Cream paired with purple vanilla, midsummer berries, white mong fruit, and so on." She spoke casually, not finding it particularly special, but the maid opposite was quite focused on writing everything down.

After finishing the topic of ice cream, the conversation between the two slowly shifted to the banquet.

It was clear that Hu Tao wanted to get along with her, but this young lady, who was always pampered, was used to others accommodating her, not the other way around. As a result, it turned into Hu Tao constantly introducing her family's businesses and impressive, well-known places.

This was her area of expertise. Usually, guests would either be in awe of her family background or try to flatter her, making conversations easy and smooth.

Fortunately, Sylutia was indeed quite interested in the Fox Family, so she responded sentence by sentence, keeping Hu Tao immersed.

"So during that 'Fox Feast,' where did that mysterious giant fire fox come from?" The two finally got to the legend of the Fox Family's ancestor.

"A lot of people are very curious about that question, hehe." Hu Tao covered her mouth with a folding fan as she laughed.

"Indeed, if it weren't for that mysterious fox, our family probably wouldn't have achieved what it has today, nor have its reputation." She closed the fan, gently rested it on her wrist, and recalled what her family had said.

"According to my grandfather, that fox does have a special connection to our family. The dragon meat it brought wasn't conjured out of thin air. It came from a powerful warrior our ancestor saved. That warrior's body was dyed red with dragon blood at the time, his weapon was broken, and only half a dragon's tail remained beside him."

"He was a powerful warrior capable of slaying dragons. Our ancestor guessed his strength might be at Seventh Tier, but wasn't sure, because after being rescued, the warrior soon died."

"Although he had defeated an unknown True Dragon, his injuries were severe. After being discovered, the matter was reported to the family ancestor, who then revived him."

"After briefly recovering, the warrior knew he wouldn't live long. So before dying, he made many arrangements. That fox was summoned by him through some special ritual."

"During the ritual, the warrior divided the dragon's tail into several pieces. We don't know where some of them went, but he deliberately left one piece behind and gave it to the fox, as thanks to our ancestor. The reason he didn't give it directly to the ancestor was that our family was still weak at the time and couldn't possibly protect something so precious."

"As for what happened later, that's the 'Fox Feast' everyone knows. Through a special method, our family summoned that fire fox, and it delivered the agreed piece of dragon meat."

Hu Tao spoke casually about her family's secrets, seemingly unaware whether this was no longer important or if she simply didn't realize this was history that should be kept confidential.