The Reincarnated Villainous Young Master's Guide to Happiness

Chapter 41: Ricin Flower

"Rainier—"

"Midsummer." It was evident Rainier knew what he was going to say. "We can wait until midsummer."

Neo stared at his back, which was slightly bent over as he cleaned. The lines of Rainier's muscles were drawn and tight, his movements unusually stiff. He wasn't like that a moment ago.

The unspoken conversation between them lingered in the air.

---

The summer holiday began for the Rhine Empire in earnest.

For the noble class, this was the social season.

Lords and Ladies awaited letters from friends and acquaintances.

Banquets opened in the Imperial Palace for those who desired to enter the viper's pit.

For many, it was time to hold celebrations and send out invitations.

In the Noble Academy, there was a rumor about a private gathering at the Odum Manor. No one knew what qualified for an invitation, but many students wanted to go.

Could you imagine the networking opportunity?

Most noble children were natural opportunists. They were raised to be thick-skinned and shameless to a certain degree by their equally thick-skinned parents. Social anxiety was a difficult beast to battle as teenagers, but they didn't choose the hustle life—the hustle life chose them.

---

The day of the gathering.

Lester was dizzy and somewhat nauseous as the pull of the teleportation array brought him to what he could only assume was somewhere within the Odum Manor.

One moment, he was leaving the gates of his family home and activating the array. The very next second, he felt as if his entire being was sucked into a pipe, shattered into a million pieces, and then reconstructed haphazardly.

Perhaps he should have gone with the flying horses. Lester thought he hated carriages, but it seemed he hated teleportation even more.

He was now standing in front of a glass building.

The glass building was situated in a large garden full of peonies and hydrangeas blooming in a way that likely took dozens of gardeners to properly achieve and maintain. According to the invite, the location of the gathering was written as The Glasshouse of Odum Manor, otherwise named Alouysia's Sanctuary.

And thank the gods there was a sign that read "Alouysia's Sanctuary" next to the glass building.

As expected of Brother Naza. Even his invitations were efficient and to the point. No need for check-ins at the front gate.

The door swung open.

The first thing Lester saw were plants. Lots and lots of plants.

Then Brother Naza emerged from the building, holding a glowing stone in one hand and perching the door open in the other.

"Lester," he greeted, "how was the journey?"

Lester stepped past the door and pretended as if his head wasn't still spinning. "Are the flying horses still an option?"

Brother Naza's lips curled slightly. "If you would like. " He plucked a leaf off of one of the numerous plants in the building and gave it to him. "Here. This will help stop the dizziness."

The taste of menthol fell on his tongue and Lester couldn't wait to wash it down with a drink.

He followed Brother Naza as they made their way further into the building.