Chapter 308: Chapter 308

However, An Ning soon had no time to ponder this matter.

Mixed among the pile of reader letters was one from her current collaborator, George Victor.

The letter began, as usual, with a series of elaborate and exaggerated praises:

"Dear Mr. Rosente, please allow me to once again sincerely admire your extraordinary wisdom and talent. Oh, God must know that having the privilege of knowing you would undoubtedly be the most fortunate event of my past decade, or even several decades..."

In any case, after an entire page of effusive praise, this somewhat long-winded Mr. Victor finally excitedly got to the main point of this correspondence.

"Dear Mr. Rosente, given the current popularity of the Great Detective Karl series, may I inquire about your interest in compiling them into volumes for official publication?"

At the end of the letter, this Mr. Victor also tactfully expressed his desire to have a proper, formal meeting with Mr. Rosente.

Of course, paying no heed to the editor's earnest persuasion, the last point was once again ruthlessly rejected by An Ning.

As for the previous point about publishing books, this actually piqued An Ning's interest somewhat.

Undoubtedly, while Lady Catherine was somewhat arrogant, being of noble birth, she was not lacking in management skills, and she had her earl brother as backing.

But having some extra pocket money wouldn't be bad, of course...

Besides, through several lifetimes, this was her first time venturing into the detective novel genre.

The first draft of this "Great Detective Karl" series was published two years ago. Initially, An Ning released it as standalone stories, or rather independent cases.

Such as "The Vanishing Victim," "The Code of Characters," "The Ramblings of Suspect D," and the most famous "The Locked Room Murder"...

With sufficiently innovative murder methods and meticulous logical thinking, after several short stories, the Karl series quickly became popular, driving the originally modestly famous "London Morning Post" to rise steadily.

At that time, this "London Morning Post" was still a rather obscure small newspaper, quite unremarkable among the nearly hundreds of newspapers large and small throughout Great Britain.

This was also one of the reasons why Mr. Victor's attitude was always excellent.

Judging by his tone, the royalties this time were likely quite substantial.

Returning to her room, An Ning quickly picked up her pen and happily wrote a reply, while expressing "sincere" thanks to a certain critical reader.

"Dear Mr. Scott, thank you for generously sharing your reading list. I must say, it has been quite useful to me. For your ability to accurately point out the errors in my writing each time, I offer you my sincere gratitude. As for your recent suggestion of 'going out for walks'...

As you can see, I am currently not very available.

I trust that a gentleman such as Mr. Scott would not force others into difficulties, would you?"

As a return gift, An Ning specially added several Sudoku puzzles to her reply. Finally, at the end of the letter, she appended a note:

"As you mentioned, chess is indeed quite interesting, but in terms of preference, I still prefer Go more (the 19th century Western term for the game of Go).

I sincerely hope to have the opportunity to exchange ideas with Mr. Scott regarding this." And she included several endgame puzzles once again.

Setting aside how "Mr. Scott" reacted upon receiving the letter.

At that time, in the Wenkinson Magazine office.

With a speed that defied his plump physique, George Victor snatched the envelope from his assistant's hand. However, in the next second, the smile on his face instantly froze.

In the office, a handsome young man of about twenty years old, though slightly plump in build, immediately slumped in his seat and let out a miserable wail:

"Oh, God, truly unbelievable! Is Mr. Rosente's heart made of diamond?"

Why couldn't he show some consideration for the heart of his admirer!

Mr. Victor, who had always been quite confident in his linguistic skills, found himself unusually doubting his own abilities.

"What's wrong, George? Is that Mr. Rosente still unwilling to make an appearance?"

Seeing his friend's poor spirits, the older Mr. Brown nearby couldn't help but inquire.

Returning to her room, An Ning quickly picked up her pen and happily wrote a reply, while also expressing "sincere" thanks to a certain critical reader.

The usually confident Victor wore a deeply dejected expression, the small freckles on the tip of his nose trembling slightly.

One must know, due to the popularity of the Great Detective series, the name Tom Rosente had similarly risen to fame. Just in these past few months, not to mention invitations from various salons, countless devoted fans had expressed desires to meet him, including some from the upper-class nobility.

Yet from beginning to end, this Mr. Rosente's attitude had remained extremely resolute.

More than resolute, one could say he was utterly unyielding.

Because of this, Victor was understandably distressed.

Of course, aside from all these practical factors, Mr. Rosente's talent, profound knowledge, and excellent reasoning abilities were precisely what Victor particularly admired and wished to become acquainted with.

As the second son of the family, George had known since childhood that most of the Victor family's wealth would go to his elder brother. What remained for him, aside from a pitifully small portion of pounds, was only this newspaper left by his uncle years ago.

This was also one of the reasons why George had been so dedicated over the years, even personally involving himself in everything.

Just then, Brown beside him suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead:

"Oh, that's right! If I recall correctly, isn't Lady Ross hosting a ball in London at the end of next month? George, you could ask the Countess to provide a few extra invitations."

Countess Ross happened to be George Victor's maternal aunt. Due to her exceptional beauty and cheerful, generous disposition, she had enjoyed the Queen's favor in recent years and held considerable respect in London's high society circles.

Most importantly, at this lady's soirée, there would be not only various gentlemen and ladies but also many promising young government officials, making it an excellent social occasion.

"I imagine, even if for the sake of his family sisters, Mr. Rosente would absolutely not refuse."

Mr. Brown declared confidently.

Thinking of the Pemberley Estate address included with every letter, George's eyes instantly lit up.

This Mr. Rosente must certainly have an extremely close connection with that estate's owner, the Darcy family...

Thinking of this, Victor couldn't wait a moment longer, wishing he could immediately visit his aunt's family.

However, considering Mr. Rosente's low-profile nature, this publicly known name might not be real. To be safe, when sending the invitations, Victor cleverly included several extra ones.

And he specifically noted that Mr. Darcy could bring closely related friends and family along.

Just returned home, Darcy who inexplicably received the invitation: "???"

"Butler, did the Victor family have any very friendly interactions with the Darcy family before, or in ancestral times?"

The butler nearby, equally baffled, shook his head:

"Not at all, but Countess Ross's ball is a good thing, isn't it? Sir, have you forgotten, this year the young lady and Miss de Bourgh have reached the age to participate in social events..."