Violet felt increasingly awkward and quickly came up with an excuse, âI had to keep an eye on the art exhibition in the morning, so I couldnât free myselfâ¦â
Most people would have understood upon hearing this and given her some face.
However, Lilly broke the silence and pressed on, âThat doesnât make sense. Didnât you just say that nothing was more important than Master Lambert?â
Violet fell silent, unable to utter a word. She felt choked, cursing this troublesome child in her mind. If it werenât for Anthonyâs sakeâ¦
But Lilly continued to probe, âAuntie Violet, which statement of yours is true?â
Violetâs throat immediately felt constricted, and a sharp pain surged in her chest. This little brat was intentionally doing this, no doubt about it!
Children over the age of six were the most detestable. At that age, they knew enough to launch attacks while pretending to be innocent, taking advantage of their age to make others feel embarrassed.
Violet could only look to Lawrence, her voice tinged with a grievance, âMr. Lambert, Iâ¦â
Lawrence interrupted her before she could finish, waving his hand dismissively, âItâs alright, you donât have to worry about it.â
Violet fell silent once again. Well, this was as good as confirming Lillyâs accusation of her being hypocritical, wasnât it?
Violet felt a surge of grievance, especially with Anthony present.
Lilly didnât press further, and the harem spirit turned to her, uncertain whether Lillyâs actions were intentional or unintentional.
The harem spirit carried this doubt back to the jar of souls and shared it with the other spirits.
The weakling spirit smiled, âOf course, it was unintentional, my dear. Who could be purer than our Lilly?â
The harem spirit internally retorted, âI donât believe a word you say!â
The passionate spirit wore a benevolent smile and said, âThatâs not necessarily true. However, itâs not necessarily a bad thing either.â
Being consistently innocent and making no progress, thatâs called being foolish.
The passionate spirit believed that Lilly had a kind heart, but when the little girl became petty⦠well, thatâs hard to say!
âThe sesame pastry is quite good,â the passionate spirit suddenly chimed in for no apparent reason.
The unlucky ghost asked, âWhat pastry? Where can we find pastry?â
Silence fell among the spirits.
The unlucky ghost, to some extent, displayed a bit of foolishness.
Outside the jar of souls:
The table was set, and they had finished their meal. Lilly had developed a habit of eating attentively and no longer allowed herself to be distracted.
Anthony, Gilbert, Lawrence, and David engaged in casual conversation, while Lisa focused on serving food to Lilly, occasionally perking up her ears to catch a few snippets.
Violet, on the other hand, couldnât find a way to join the conversation. She wondered if everyone was intentionally excluding her, not even Lawrence paid much attention to her.
Violet immediately felt a sourness in her heart.
In the past, she had always been the center of attention and the focal point in any gathering. Now, she felt like she was invisible.
Violet rallied herself, lifted a glass of wine, and stood up, âMr. Anthony, I appreciate you hosting my teacher and showing him hospitality. Unfortunately, heâs unwell and cannot drink, so allow me to raise this glass on his behalf.â
Anthony glanced up, looking at her briefly, and the wine glass was just to his right. He seemed to have no intention of reaching for it.
Violet watched Anthony intently, stubbornly holding the wine glass in her hand. She believed that Anthony wouldnât refuse her toast, no matter how aloof he appeared. After all, it was a toast on Lawrenceâs behalf.
Anthony lowered his gaze, considering that it wouldnât be appropriate to refuse Violetâs toast from a social etiquette standpoint. After all, she was representing Lawrence.
He raised his hand, and his slender fingers were about to touch the wine glass.
Suddenly, Lisa leaned over, brushed past Anthonyâs chest, and picked up the glass.
âBottoms up!â she exclaimed, raising the glass and downing its contents in one go.
After finishing one glass, Lisa smacked her lips and poured herself another one. She bowed to Lawrence, saying, âBottoms up! I can handle it!â
Without missing a beat, she straightened her body after the bow and raised her head to finish the second glass in one gulp.
Everyone wore puzzled expressions.
It happened so suddenly that even Violet was dumbfounded. She was still immersed in the jealousy of Lisa leaning into Anthonyâs embrace just moments ago.
After downing one glass, Lisa realized that Violet hadnât touched her drink.
âDrink up!â she stared at the wine glass in Violetâs hand.
Gilbert smiled faintly and explained to Violet, âMy brother drove here and will be driving back, so he canât drink.â
âI was going to step in for my brother, but I drove here too.â
So, Violet was toasting on Lawrenceâs behalf, while Lisa was drinking on Anthonyâs behalf.
Nothing wrong with that, right?
A frozen smile appeared on Violetâs face, but she quickly regained her composure and exclaimed, âMrs. Crawford and Mr. Anthonyâs relationship is truly enviable! I didnât catch on earlier, and I apologizeâ¦â
She discreetly glanced at the wine glass in Lisaâs hand.
Essentially, she meant that the previous glass didnât count, and they should start over.
At that moment, Violet had a thought in her mind: If Lisa were to get drunk, would she make a fool of herself at the dining table?
Just as she was thinking that she witnessed Lisa pouring herself another glass and raising it, declaring, âBottoms up!â
She finished the sentence and tilted her head back, downing the wine in one gulp.
Anthony remained silent.
This little fool wasnât acting this way because of Violetâs provocation, and it was not because of jealousy.
It had to be because she genuinely enjoyed the taste of the wine.
At that moment, Anthony couldnât quite describe his feelingsâ¦