Chapter 1643: Chapter 1643

"I thought you were a man who respected women, someone serious and responsible when it came to relationships, who cherished his own love. I never imagined you would do something ."

In the living room of Jenkins's house, Briny spoke between heavy breaths, as if she were too angry to catch her breath. Hathaway immediately moved to support her, but Briny was angry with Hathaway too—in fact, even more so than with Jenkins. After all, Briny knew she hadn't been entirely faithful herself; she hadn't pushed Hathaway away during her relationship with Jenkins.

"You've become in just one year. What kind of person will you be in the future, Jenkins?"

By now, even Julia could tell that Briny wasn't truly furious.

"Jenkins, will you become the kind of playboy you used to despise?"

The slightly nervous writer shook his head frantically.

"But you never used to think you'd attract so many ladies at once, did you?"

Briny challenged him, and this time, Jenkins had no rebuttal. Just last year, he had still considered himself a very good man.

That was her final declaration. She stood up and, without a backward glance, marched toward the upstairs rooms, her footsteps echoing with a rhythmic tap-tap-tap on the staircase.

Hathaway remained seated, glancing over at Julia. Read full story at novel•fire.net

"This Miss Minnewick, is she the one..."

She was referring to the time Jenkins had returned from his business trip to Shire City needing to bring a young woman home. Everyone else had been busy, so the maid had been the one to help him out.

Julia understood the question. Her face flushed slightly, but she said nothing. Just as Dolores had said, she would surely accompany the princess when she married Jenkins, and at that time...

"Yes, this is Dolores's personal maid and a friend of mine. She was a huge help to me last time."

Jenkins's conscience was clear on that matter. If any of the other young women had been free that night, he wouldn't have had the audacity to ask Julia for help.

The maid remained silent. Hathaway pouted, gave Jenkins a very peculiar look, then rose and went upstairs to console Briny.

Briny was clearly waiting for her at the turn of the stairs. The sounds of their arguing and questioning faded only after a door was shut.

"Mr. Williams, in the future... please treat Her Highness well."

With only Julia and Jenkins left in the living room, Julia offered a worried plea. Having witnessed the little drama that evening, she was concerned that Jenkins might be the kind of man who was exceptionally good at sweet-talking women.

"Am I that kind of person?"

he argued. In truth, having known him for so long, Julia knew he wasn't, but she couldn't help but worry about her princess.

"Alright, alright, let's all get some rest. We have other things to do tomorrow."

He showed Julia to the guest room and explained the daily schedule for waking and meals. Though she was a maid, Jenkins treated Julia as a friend. He didn't expect her to clean rooms or do laundry; for now, she would just be in charge of the meals. He planned to hire a few servants once the other two ladies moved in. Alexia was right; he really did need someone to manage the house. As for Julia cooking herself, it was only a temporary arrangement. Jenkins had no intention of making the maid do it forever.

He returned to his room, washed up quickly, and lay down on his bed, gazing at the tranquil moonlight outside the window. Soon, he heard the rhythmic breathing of his cat; Chocolate was already asleep.

After about ten minutes, Hathaway quietly entered, dressed in a nightgown. They had arrived unexpectedly tonight, and Jenkins didn't have any suitable women's clothes for them to change into, so the nightgowns for Hathaway, Briny, and Julia had all been created by Jenkins himself.

"I thought you'd be sleeping with that pretty maid."

Hathaway teased. Jenkins ignored her comment.

"So, is Briny asleep?"

"For now. I really didn't expect her to get so angry with me tonight, yet she forgave you so easily. Jenkins, you're a lucky man."

The red-haired young woman sat down naturally on the edge of the bed.

"I was originally planning to use my own strategy to get Briny to accept all of this naturally. I didn't expect such a sudden turn of events, but it's not so bad."

"So what was your original plan?"

Jenkins asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Well, it's impossible to carry it out now, so you'll never know."

Hathaway shook her head, but then a sudden smile bloomed on her face. In the moonlight, she was as beautiful as a flower.

"But if the plan had gone smoothly, lying here tonight..."

She patted Jenkins's bed, and the vibration startled Chocolate awake. The cat let out a displeased meow from where it lay. Jenkins immediately pulled Hathaway away from the bed, not wanting to disturb his cat's sleep.

"...there should have been three people."

Her tone was deeply suggestive, and Jenkins instantly understood her meaning.

he said, pretending to be nonchalant as he averted his eyes from Hathaway.

"Yes, what a shame indeed,"

Hathaway repeated in a teasing voice. She was deliberately trying to make Jenkins feel regretful; he hadn't said a single word when Briny was berating her earlier.

"Well, I'm going back to bed then. Goodnight, Jenkins."

She waved at him and turned to leave, but her steps were slow. She desperately hoped Jenkins would ask her to stay. But he didn't. Things had only just calmed down tonight; if Briny found Hathaway in his room the next day, there was no telling if peace would last in this house.

After seeing Hathaway out, Jenkins breathed a sigh of relief and lay back on his bed, ready to rest. So much had happened tonight. Not only was his identity as the World Tree Seedling exposed, but Briny now also knew the secrets of the supernatural world.

"No, I can't sleep yet. There's still something I haven't dealt with."

He abruptly sat up in bed again. He remembered that in the manor, although swallowing two-thirds of the World Tree seeds hadn't caused a qualitative change in his [Life's Breath], plunging that half-statue of the god of death into his chest certainly had changed his abilities.

He hadn't intended to use that statue, but the situation at the time had left him no choice. Besides, the statue was a legitimate reward he had obtained after clearing a Mysterious Realm; it wasn't a gift from the Lord of Death or some other deity, so using it should have been fine.

By using the statue, his original [White Bone Body (Yellow Spell)], which summoned skeletons, had been upgraded to [White Bone Sacrifice (Yellow Spell)]. This ability, along with [Embracing Death], which increased his spirit by coming into contact with death, formed a simple chain: [Contacting the Messenger of Death].

Additionally, the final empty bubble for level six had been filled by [Death Aura (White Basic)]. Although it was a basic ability, it was exceptionally rare—more accurately, it was nearly impossible for a living person to learn through a ritual. Death Aura converted one's own spirit into the spirit of death and unleashed it, directly affecting the surroundings.

Any land touched by this aura would become barren, living creatures would age rapidly, and dead creatures would have a high probability of reanimating as undead.

Though it was a death-type ability, it was a rather impressive power for Jenkins, and he decided he would keep it.

As for the upgraded [White Bone Sacrifice], it had similarities to the original [White Bone Body]. After the upgrade, he could directly summon the undead by sacrificing bones. It was no longer a matter of assembling them himself from bones, but rather calling upon undead creatures from another world. Depending on the quantity and type of bones sacrificed, he could summon almost any kind of undead, not just skeletons but also wraiths, banshees, and even legendary bone dragons.

Jenkins was determined never to use this ability. He strongly suspected that the other world it connected to was the domain of the [Ancient God of Death]. The [Death Aura] could be explained away as simply using the power of death, but if he started pulling minions directly from a death god, the [Lord of All Blossoms] would likely be displeased, even if she said nothing.

"As for that ability chain..."

He pondered for a moment, then slipped on his slippers and left the room. He made his way down to the partitioned room in the basement and retrieved Mr. Hunt's Fruit Platter from its box. He had learned the correct way to use this platter from the old elf months ago, but due to various delays, he had always missed the correct lunar phase to use it.

Tonight wasn't the most suitable lunar phase for the platter, but it wasn't entirely impossible to obtain fruit with supernatural power. He took the platter out into the yard and set up the ritual as the old elf had instructed. Within a few minutes, he saw two cherries appear on the platter—one blue and one green.

Normal cherries weren't these colors, but Jenkins had no intention of investigating their properties. He immediately activated his ability to make a sacrifice. Because of [Contacting the Messenger of Death], he only needed to sacrifice an item with spirit. The ability activated smoothly, and a circular, gray ritual matrix appeared a few feet in front of him. Just then, a dark cloud obscured the moon, casting the matrix into shadow.

When the moonlight returned, Mr. Augustus was standing in Jenkins's yard.

"Should I say, as expected? It really is you..."

Jenkins said jokingly, covering his forehead with his hand and sighing.

"My apologies, Mr. Augustus, for summoning you so late."

"It's quite all right. For me now, there is no difference between day and night."

Mr. Augustus replied, his voice as steady as ever. He revealed his face from under his black hood and took a deep breath.

he exclaimed, overjoyed to have returned to this city.