Annie quickly became the focus of the gathering.

  Most of the atte this gathering were students from Gias Uy, all of whom had enrolled in the same year during the 33rd year of the Bck Moon dar. Only a few "outsiders" were specially invited.

  As one of these "outsiders," Charlot chose to keep a low profile. He found a seat in the er of the ba hall, casually pulled out his diary, and began studying it.

  There were two items Charlot always carried with him, never parting for even a moment: his vampiric axe and the diary left by his predecessor.

  In such a public setting, it was inveo practice Blood Glory, so Charlot opehe se on Agmirs Labyrinth in the diary. Having studied it for a long time, he had mao glean a faint uanding of its secrets.

  Charlot was further deciphering the first diagram of Agmirs Labyrinth when a man approached, fshing a bright smile and saying, "I’m Andre. Like most of the others here, I’m a third-year student at Gias Uy. May I ask for your name, sir? Are you ied in joining us fame of cards?"

  Charlot smiled slightly and replied, "Charlot, graduate of Sheffield Uy. I’m not much of a card pyer, so I’ll have to pass."

  Andre was uerred, and soon, two or three other young men joined him, urging Charlot to join their game. Their enthusiastivitation made it hard for Charlot to refuse, so after a few polite refusals, he relutly agreed.

  As soon as Charlot sat down at the card table with Andre and his panions, he sehat something was amiss but pretended not to notice. Smiling calmly, he began the first round.

  The game they pyed was called Taculo Cards, which sisted of 144 cards. The best cards were the nine Supreme God cards, the only fixed major cards in Taculo. Other major cards varied by set, ofteing notable figures from the Old ti, including kings, warriors, renowned schors, sinister evil gods, and various auxiliary cards. While the gamepy wasn’t overly plicated, the game involved numerous doubling meisms, often leading te wins or losses in a single round.

  Because of this, Taculo Cards were popur only among nobles and the wealthy. Knowing how to py was even sidered a status symbol.

  Charlot Meburg had always bee at card games. With his memories restored, he was far from inexperie the card table.

  After two secutive rounds, Charlot had lost one flor and twenty times. Yet, rather than appearing upset, he grew even calmer.

  This group of young men was clearly cheating!

  They must have heard from Belinna about Charlot’s substantial sary and his ret purchase of a mansion worth 200 écus, which had stirred their greed.

  However, when it came to cheating, could they really surpass a mathematics graduate like Charlot? Let alohe fact that he had the Eye of Insight.

  After testing the waters for two or three rounds and firming their greed, Charlot deliberately set a trap. He let the game drag into a stalemate, where he appeared to lose frequently but had occasional "lucky streaks" that allowed him to recover most of his losses.

  After pying over twenty rounds, Andre grew impatient when he realized the gains and losses were minimal. He signaled his panions and smiled, saying, "The stakes are too low. This is getting b. Why don’t we raise the stakes?"

  Charlot readily agreed. With the stakes raised, Charlot’s "luck" suddenly worsened. He lost more than ten secutive rounds, accumuting losses of over seventy flors.

  When Charlot appeared to be losing his posure and suggested raising the stakes again, the group of young men couldn’t tain their excitement and eagerly agreed. This time, however, Charlot’s luck turned bzing hot. Over the course of a dozen hands, not only did he recover his losses, but he also made a profit of approximately thirteen écus and six flors. The youurned pale, uo uand how, despite their coordinated cheating, they had lost so spectacurly.

  After winning the final round, Charlot stood up with a cheerful smile and said, "Apologies, I o esiss Annie home. She must be back before dinner."

  The excuse was unimpeachable.

  After all, the strict rules of the Bretagne family were well-known, and no one dared dey Annie’s return home.

  Charlot shook off the group of card-obsessed cheats and approached Annie, saying, "May I have the honor of esc Miss Annie home?"

  Annie smiled faintly, bid farewell to her panions, and as they left the ba hall, she whispered, "Andre and his group are awful. They frequently lure people into pying cards at school and thehem out of their money."

  "However, none of them have advao bee Transdents."

  At this, Annie fshed a mischievous smile. As a Dreamcrafter, she had long observed the card game from afar. Seeing Charlot’s fident demeanor, she had chosen not to intervene.

  Charlot couldn’t help but ugh. "Miss Annie, you’re quite the dy at times."

  Annie covered her mouth, her arched brows betraying her mirth.

  She had spent the eernoon chatting aimlessly and had found it rather dull. However, watg Charlot’s skillful victory over Andre and his friends had made the gathering uedly eaining.

  Though Annie was bold, she didn’t dare let Charlot escort her home. Instead, she took him to 58 Elysée Avenue aantly said her goodbyes.

  Charlot watched Annie’s carriage disappear into the distance, feeling a sense of relief.

  Though the day had been unproductive, he was fident it wouldn’t hinder his efforts to resolve his current predit.

  After all, if he couldn’t deal with the threat posed by the two evil gods, it wouldn’t be because of today’s outing.

  ...

  In the following days, Miss Menielman did not show up for work.

  Charlot was e but became notorious for leaving early. His frequent dates with Annie Bretagne had reached ag level, and their retionship progressed rapidly.

  Even so, Charlot didn’t his responsibilities. He made several visits to Sheffield Uy to sult its most erudite professors. However, none of them were familiar with byrinthology, and resear Agmirs Labyrinth remained fruitless.

  As for the Vampiric Scroll, he dared not mention it. Summoning an evil god unishable by fire!

  Bringing it up at Sheffield Uy, a sanctuary of the goddess, would result in professors personally building a pyre for him.

  Fortunately, his mastery of Blood Glory was improving steadily. The date for the blood god Karnstein’s reappearance kept being pushed back, giving Charlot some breathing room.

  The Imperial Postal Service soon delivered good news.

  His elder brother, upon receiving Charlot’s written renunciation of iance rights, was touched by their brotherly bond. Along with his reply, he included a savings certificate from the Savings Union for 550 écus and agreed to help dissolve the e.

  His brother’s letter also mentiohat Charlot’s fiancée had decided to visit Strasb in person to formally sign the an dots.

  The day after receiving the letter, Charlot enjoyed a pleasant date with Annie, where they attended an opera aurned home via public carriage.

  As Charlot strolled leisurely into the alley leading to his house, he was surprised to see a strikingly beautiful young woman sitting oeps of 58 Elysée Avenue.

  She looked slightly disheveled, with a trace of dust on her forehead, and her delicate brows were furrowed in evident frustration.