Caroline subconsciously looked at Elena.
Elena's mind also recalled Hawk, whom she had just seen at the Manor.
Only Stefan, who hadn't gone inside, was bewildered by the two girls' conversation.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Hawk."
Caroline looked at Stefan, then seemed to remember something: "My cousin's fiancé. Oh, Stefan, can you sense him?"
Stefan heard this and looked in the direction of Fox Manor.
He sensed Sheriff Liz Fox, who had just entered, and also sensed an unfamiliar female presence, which must be the cousin Caroline mentioned.
Stefan even sensed the servants in the Manor and William Fox, who was getting up, being served by a maid.
Besides that…
Nothing.
Stefan withdrew his gaze and looked at Caroline.
Caroline met Stefan's gaze, seemingly already knowing what he was about to say, and spoke first with a serious expression: "He's in there."
Stefan's eyes instantly narrowed.
This time, it was Elena who was utterly confused.
She listened to the conversation between her boyfriend and her friend, completely bewildered: "No, what are you talking about? What do you mean he's in there?"
Stefan looked at his girlfriend with a serious expression and told her that he couldn't sense Hawk's presence.
Elena frowned upon hearing this.
"So what? What does that mean?"
"His life level is above ours."
Stefan's voice was low, and his expression was serious.
And this wasn't just above Vampires; to be precise, it was above the entire supernatural creature population.
This was the most fundamental difference in life levels.
The only possible reason he couldn't sense Hawk's presence was that Hawk's life level had already surpassed that of supernatural life.
Hawk wasn't supernatural; he was beyond supernatural.
After hearing her boyfriend's explanation, Elena looked at her friend's serious expression, then recalled Damon's blood-soaked appearance, and subconsciously gasped, looking at Caroline: "What's your cousin's fiancé's background?"
Caroline shook her head.
Stefan, standing nearby, said in a serious tone: "No matter his background, the most important thing now is why he attacked Damon. Damon said if he hadn't run fast, he almost wouldn't have made it back."
Although Damon was bad.
Although Damon was eyeing his current girlfriend.
But he was his brother.
His own brother.
Simply put, even if Damon had a hundred flaws, if something happened, Stefan wouldn't allow an outsider to bully his brother.
Elena then remembered the seemingly enlightened expression Hawk had given her when she entered with Sheriff Liz Fox, and frowned, saying: "He wouldn't be here for Katherine, would he?"
Stefan and Caroline heard this and instinctively looked at Elena.
Elena took a deep breath, looked at them, and described Hawk's gaze when she entered: "His eyes looked a bit confused, then seemed to become enlightened. It was as if he thought I shouldn't be there, and then he seemed to realize I wasn't the person he imagined."
In fact, many people often mistook her for someone else.
After all, there was indeed another person who looked very much like her.
Katherine Pierce.
A female Vampire who looked exactly like her and had lived for over five hundred years, and was also Stefan and Damon's ex-girlfriend.
Stefan, standing nearby, had a serious expression: "Katherine has been wandering for hundreds of years. This is indeed possible."
Caroline, however, looked surprised.
"Are you saying my cousin's fiancé might also be Katherine's ex-boyfriend from her time wandering?"
"Tsk!"
Inside the Manor, Hawk, sitting on the sofa with Gwen and catching up with Aunt Liz, couldn't help but chuckle at the wild conversation happening outside among the three.
Gwen and Aunt Liz, who were catching up, both stopped talking and looked at Hawk, who had chuckled.
Gwen looked at Hawk, blinking.
Liz also looked at Hawk with a smile.
Hawk's mind raced, and he looked at Liz: "Sorry, I just remembered that when we were coming here, Gwen scared me by saying there were Vampires in town."
Liz, sitting on the opposite sofa, visibly paused in her smile, but quickly recovered, looking at Gwen with a serious expression and criticizing her: "Gwen, Waterfall Town relies on tourism, and Waterfall Town is your home. How can you say such a thing?"
Gwen opened her mouth, glanced at Hawk, then looked at her aunt.
"Sorry, I was just trying to scare Hawk."
"Hawk, don't believe her."
Aunt Liz, with a composed expression, looked at Hawk and said with a smile: "What Vampire? We must be scientific."
Hawk nodded: "Okay, Aunt."
Just then.
Caroline also re-entered from outside.
After a brief brainstorming session outside, the three had come up with an answer that, to Hawk, the person involved, sounded incredibly far-fetched.
Hawk was suspected of being Katherine's ex-boyfriend.
So…
After discussing, the three decided that Caroline, using her identity as a relative, would try to subtly find out Hawk's purpose for coming to Waterfall Town at this time, and also what kind of person Hawk truly was.
And so.
After Caroline walked in, she smiled, casually said, "What are you all talking about?" and then naturally sat down next to her mother, Liz.
Liz glanced at her seated daughter and said in a joking tone: "Hawk just said that when your cousin entered town, she scared him by saying there were Vampires in our town."
Caroline's heart instinctively skipped a beat, but she quickly composed herself.
"Haha, Vampires? How could that be? Cousin, how can you say such a thing? What if people outside really think our town has Vampires and are afraid to come visit?"
"I was wrong."
Gwen's expression was helpless as she admitted her mistake again.
Caroline also quickly changed the subject: "By the way, Cousin, Grandpa said you two are planning to spend Christmas here this time?"
Gwen nodded: "Yes, we'll go back to New York after Christmas. We're taking advantage of the holiday to spend time with Grandpa."
Liz said with a smile: "You really should spend more time with your grandpa. After he heard about your engagement, he wanted to fly to New York to see you several times."
Gwen blinked.
"Mom didn't tell me."
"That's because…"
Liz was about to speak when she saw William, who had finished his nap and was walking down the stairs, and said with a smile: "Your grandpa's here. Ask him yourself."
Grandpa William, looking more refreshed after his nap, walked over with a hearty laugh: "Ask me what? Oh, Hawk, did you see the photos? What do you think?"
Hawk met Grandpa William's cheerful expression and said very seriously: "My heart yearns for them."
William burst into laughter, pointed at Hawk, and said to Gwen: "I like him."
If William thought Hawk was good before he said that, then after Hawk's statement, William was 100% satisfied with Hawk.
Because Hawk's values aligned very well with his own.
This was also why he hadn't moved into town for so many years.
No other reason.
Looking at some of the dark-skinned people who could freely walk around in the town now, he always wished he could retrieve the long-sealed horsewhip from the Underground Room and whip them severely.
Of course.
This was also why Aunt Liz didn't force him to move into town.
Gwen listened to her fiancé and grandpa's undisguised values, and her mouth twitched.
Aunt Liz, after a moment of愣, seemed to remember something and shook her head, somewhat speechless.
Caroline, nearby, was again a bit confused, looking at her shaking-head mother.
"What photos?"
"Old photos of the Fox Family."
Aunt Liz couldn't explicitly say, after all, as the town's sheriff, some things could exist, but couldn't be spoken aloud.
After her mouth twitched, Gwen said to her laughing grandpa: "Grandpa, Hawk was initially afraid to meet you, but after I told him you kept a lot of photos, he immediately wasn't afraid anymore. He even counted the days on his fingers at home."
Grandpa heard this, and his laughter became even heartier, looking at Hawk: "Do you want to visit the Fox Manor's treasury?"
Hawk's eyes lit up: "Of course."
He had heard Gwen say that if the study contained the glorious history of the Fox Family, then the Manor's treasury held all sorts of spoils from the Fox Family's glorious past.
These spoils could once be openly displayed to deter slaves who tried to resist and escape.
Unfortunately, only William had the key to the Manor's treasury, and without his permission, even Helen and Liz couldn't enter.
And now, William had invited Hawk.
Hawk naturally accepted the invitation without hesitation.
Gwen, nearby, heard her grandpa's invitation to her fiancé: "Grandpa, Caroline and I haven't even been into the treasury to look. Why don't you let us in too?"
William shook his head: "No, just Hawk. Come on, Hawk, I'll take you to appreciate the heritage of the Fox Family."
Hawk nodded, rose from the sofa, gave Gwen a helpless look, and then followed Grandpa William towards the Manor's annex.
Soon.
After Hawk and Grandpa William's figures disappeared.
Aunt Liz withdrew her gaze, thought for a moment, and whispered to Gwen: "Gwen, New York is a big city. You still need to remind Hawk that times have changed. Some views are fine to have, but don't express them openly."
Gwen heard this, looked at Aunt Liz, nodded, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Aunt, I know. I'll keep an eye on Hawk."
Caroline, nearby, also realized what her grandpa and cousin's fiancé had just been talking about.
The history of the Fox Family.
In other words.
It was the history of the dark-skinned people's blood and sweat!
…
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