Chapter 145 Angelina's Tea Party 14

Lin Xiangjun dismissed this thought. How could there be so many coincidences in an instance? There are only clues disguised as coincidences.

Clearly, the camellia is an important clue. Therefore, all items related to the element of "camellia" will also become important targets for her investigation.

As for the stone in her hand... Lin Xiangjun lowered her eyelashes and weighed it in her hand.

It was quite heavy. Although there was tissue paper in between, she could roughly feel its texture, which resembled glass, but it wasn't cold; its temperature was even higher than the temperature of Lin Xiangjun's palm.

Based on where she had cut just now, this thing was parasitic at the back of the human tongue, near the throat.

"This location... it should be related to the food consumed, right? Those Guests eat so much, yet they are still skin and bones and near death; perhaps it's because of this stone?"

"Could it be that this stone acts like a parasite, absorbing all the nutrients, which is why the Guests, as hosts, become so weak... But that doesn't seem right, does it? If this stone is the key to transforming a 'Guest' into a 'Black Bow Tie Servant', and it absorbs nutrients to this extent... surely 'Black Bow Tie Servants' aren't all just 'Guests' who starved to death and ascended, right?"

"..." Come to think of it, although it's a bit absurd and unbelievable, given the game's tendency not to play by the rules, it's really not impossible.

With no new clues for the moment, and since the location of the tea leaves in the study had been confirmed, and it was almost time for Angelina to wake up, Lin Xiangjun packed away the body of the Black Bow Tie Servant and the pink stone, then quietly left the study and hid in a random Guest room.

Lin Xiangjun didn't let this Guest room off either; she searched it from top to bottom.

Good luck was clearly still on her side. Because Lin Xiangjun was shocked to discover that this Guest room clearly belonged to one of the Guests who had besieged her in the dining room earlier—on the room's desk, there were dozens of plates stacked high.

Lin Xiangjun reached out and touched them; the residual cream on the plates hadn't completely dried yet.

"If, as the Black Bow Tie Servant said, after the tea party ends, they only provide about a week's worth of extra food, and according to European medieval customs, they seem to only eat two meals a day? A brunch around 10:30 AM and dinner in the evening..."

The time when Lin Xiangjun was cornered in the dining room was roughly between 1:30 and 2:00. Based on the fact that the Guests had their last meal at 10:30 AM, a mere three hours was enough to drive them starving mad.

Lin Xiangjun took another look at the plates on the table.

The scene on the table looked like when the parents in Spirited Away were hunched over the table, frantically devouring those unknown foods; the plates covered in greasy sauces and cream were almost overflowing from the table.

Referencing the portion size of the meals in the White Bow Tie Servant's hands, it is no exaggeration to say that the food on the table could feed ten pigs from a farm for three days.

"At this rate of eating, being able to provide an extra week of food—Angelina is at least truly impeccable when it comes to Silver Wing."

This room was actually very messy; it was evident that it hadn't been tidied up carefully for a long time.

There were five or six dresses in the wardrobe, made of glossy silk, but there were large stains on the chests, as if left behind after frantically eating without any regard for their image.

There were also some pieces of jewelry on the bedside table; they weren't very flashy and looked like everyday items.

There were also many food scraps on the bed; the quilt, sheets, and pillows were all covered in them.

However... the stains on the pillow seemed slightly different.

She picked up the grease-stained down pillow and examined it carefully.

The stains on it didn't seem to be food scraps, but rather... bloodstains.

Yes, Lin Xiangjun examined them carefully; those black-gray marks were dried bloodstains. They weren't heavy, and there were traces of them being smeared, as if left unconsciously during sleep.

Lin Xiangjun continued her search: under the bed, the pile of clothes, and the table full of dirty plates...

Sure enough, there were more clues.

At the very bottom of that huge pile of plates, a notebook was pressed down. Its cover had been corroded by stains beyond recognition, and the inner pages were stuck together, but fortunately, the content inside was undamaged.

This was a diary.

"Today is truly the best day! I can't believe Mrs. Hard would actually invite me to her tea party! God knows how excited I was when I received the invitation. I couldn't believe it, and Peter couldn't believe it either. We held the invitation as if we were holding my newborn baby!"

"Before getting on the carriage, Peter specifically instructed me that at the tea party, I must not call Mrs. Hard 'Mrs. Hard,' but rather call her by her name. This was a truly rude request; how could I address the Marchioness by her first name? But Peter was very serious; he told me I must do so, otherwise Mrs. Hard would be angry. Alright, I will do it."

"..." "The Marquiss Mansion is just as magnificent as I imagined. I really regret that Peter didn't come here with me; by comparison, our Baronial Mansion is just a small house."

"The pastries at the Marquiss Mansion are unimaginably delicious. It is said that the chef once worked at the Duke's Mansion; the Opera Cake he made is truly the best cake I have ever eaten! The food here is delicious, any random Guest room is kept clean and tidy, the beds are as soft as clouds in the sky, and the Servants are all well-trained... I think heaven must be just like this."

"Angelina actually invited us to stay for another week! How could I refuse such a good thing! I really want to live here forever!"

The beginning of the diary was filled with long passages of praise. Lin Xiangjun was not interested in these and slowly flipped to the back.

After a few pages, the content of the diary gradually changed.

"I feel a bit strange. Why does it seem like I'm eating more and more? Clearly, the portion of food is much larger than it was at the beginning, but I've gone from being full after two pieces of cake to now needing to eat ten pieces of cake in one sitting!"

"Good heavens, this appetite is too terrifying for a well-bred lady! I have never eaten so much in my life! Not even when I was pregnant! But I'm still so hungry. After eating so much, I don't feel full at all!"

"And those well-trained Servants seem to have some problems too. The White Bow Tie Servant who brought me food today—when it set down the plates, I actually saw the shadow of Julie in its profile."

"I remember Julie had a black mole on her temple, and that Servant actually had one too. Moreover, the way it smiled was also very similar to Julie."

"But, hasn't Julie been dead for over a year?"

"I must have seen it wrong. I'm always letting my imagination run wild. It seems like I've been living too comfortably at the Marquiss Mansion, to have such an outrageous thought."