The titanic was brightly lit all night, as bright as day.
On the boundless sea, it advanced sharply.
In the sky, a few wisps of sunset glow had not yet dissipated, mixing with the thick smoke rising from the giant ship's funnels, ethereal and hazy, giving this ocean liner a bit more of a sense of mystery.
The surrounding waters should have been pitch black, but under the illumination of the strong lights, one could identify the deep blue with the naked eye. Only after the ship's hull passed did it turn back into a pitch-black abyss.
In the banquet hall, the Attendant opened the carved wooden doors from both sides and invited the guests into the hall with standard movements.
The top of the circular building was a ring-shaped dome, made of white frosted glass inlaid with curved black edges. In the center, a magnificent chandelier hung down, with dozens of lights connected together, looking exceptionally luxurious.
The surrounding walls were all composed of stained glass and murals, and the ring-shaped platforms were like large private boxes.
Along the black, shiny lacquered wooden stairs, Sen Getsusa descended slowly, wearing sheer gloves.
She had come by invitation.
After sending Howard back, a knock on the door had disturbed the girl.
Lovejoy—Karl's servant, or rather, bodyguard—stood at the door with a gloomy face.
"Miss Sen, try this."
Karl was sitting refined across from Sen Getsusa; beside him sat a middle-aged woman with a plain and harsh face, her eyes bulging out, her gaze full of scrutiny.
She had the same hair color as Rose, but the difference was that it was gathered together in tight little curls.
The woman had applied a lot of powder, her entire face as white as a corpse that had been dead for three days.
"I heard from Karl that you are also a noble?" She used her dinner knife elegantly, and while cutting her food, she asked Sen Getsusa nonchalantly.
The girl nodded: "That's right, in the east."
The woman slowly put down her dinner knife and gave a few contemptuous laughs while covering her mouth.
"the East has nobles, too?"
Her words made Karl very embarrassed.
This man wasn't sure if Sen Getsusa and her annoying brother were actually nobles, but as a businessman, he was certain that Sen Getsusa was wealthy.
That outfit and gear, that attitude toward money—all of it proved the girl was definitely either rich or noble, even if some of her ways really didn't seem like a noble.
However, even so, it wasn't Karl's place to denounce her. After all, he was also New Money.
In this country, Old Money was naturally superior.
Sen Getsusa tore a piece of white bread and put it in her mouth, ignoring the other's biting sarcasm. Karl changed the subject: "Miss Sen, I want to talk to you about your brother."
Jack?
Karl nodded. "My servant saw your brother with my fiancée."
He placed heavy emphasis on the word 'fiancée'.
"This is immoral behavior. If you are a noble, you shouldn't let your brother act so rudely," Mrs. Bukater—Rose's mother—said.
Sen Getsusa put down her bread.
"I don't know what kind of views your brother has been instilling in my fiancée; in any case, I'll have to keep a close eye on her lately." Karl's words were suggestive: "She even talked to me about Freud. May I ask, is he a friend of yours?"
Sen Getsusa gave a thin smile, turned, and asked Mrs. Bukater: "Don't you know who Freud is either?"
The woman's pale face tightened instantly, her eyes darting as she thought about when this Freud had popped up.
"He, like Picasso, has the magic to make people remember his name." Sen Getsusa only explained that much.
Karl understood.
But he didn't like Picasso either.
"He won't become a famous painter." Karl's brow furrowed as he adopted the air of an expert, leaning back against his chair: "I've collected many paintings by various artists; they're cheap enough and numerous enough."
Sen Getsusa remained silent.
"Picasso, Picasso, Picasso. Ha, I remember Rose often mentions this painter as well." Karl pondered, his words full of arrogance: "I hope your collection doesn't end up as junk in the end."
"Rose is still shallow in her knowledge; if you ask me, she should buy more stocks."
Mentioning stocks, Mr. Cal Hockley showed full confidence, even starting to give advice to Sen Getsusa: "Stocks, buy more of them; consider it a small gift from me, Ms. Sen Getsusa."
"My father bet half of his industry, and I have much more guts than that."
Mrs. Bukater looked at her son-in-law talking eloquently, feeling very pleased.
This was the reason she had chosen Karl: wealthy, confident, and with an all-dismissive masculine charm.
Sen Getsusa boredly cut her bread with her dinner knife; Karl's words, inside and out, revealed nothing but his ignorance.
The girl found it strange.
Because in her era, ignorance was almost equivalent to poverty.
Perhaps in this century, there was still the possibility of fishing in troubled waters?
However, thinking about a certain Tuesday a few years later, she felt that this fish wouldn't be able to stay in the water for much longer.
Thinking this, the girl put down her utensils and calmly adjusted her clothes.
"Mrs. Bukater, Mr. Karl." She looked into both of their eyes: "I have no intention of interfering in your marriage to Miss Rose; everything is my brother's personal behavior. Your seeking me out is actually very rude."
Sen Getsusa raised an eyebrow at Mrs. Bukater: "Very rude indeed, this 'noble' lady."
Then, as Karl's face darkened, she added: "Secondly, I think you should be clear that since you've chosen to exchange wealth for a noble title, you should accept the consequences of an exchange of interests."
"You have no right to demand that the other party must also love you unconditionally during an exchange of interests; otherwise, it's not infidelity."
"Right, Mr. Hockley?"
Sen Getsusa wiped the corners of her mouth with a soft silk cloth and slowly stood up.
"Of course, I have no comment on Miss Rose's behavior during her engagement. Perhaps she was wrong, perhaps not. But does it matter?"
"I have a suggestion for you."
Sen Getsusa picked up her bag with a smile: "You could marry this—Mrs. Hockley. It would fulfill Rose's desire for freedom and your dream of nobility. It's a win-win, a perfect match."
"Not bad, right, Mrs. Hockley?"
The middle-aged woman's face turned even paler.
She opened her mouth in a fury, but fearing she might be too impolite, she simply craned her neck and lowered her voice to vent her anger at Sen Getsusa: "That is my daughter! You have no business saying such things! I can decide who she marries, and I can decide her life! Because I know what's best for her!"
"She must listen to me!"
Sen Getsusa nodded.
"Exactly, that's what ignorance is. You know? Taking the money from selling off your eldest daughter to subsidize your younger son—such a practice is already quite shameful."
"What's even more shameful is that you don't even have a so-called son. You sold your daughter just for yourself, to enjoy a life of honor and wealth."
"It's truly disgusting, Mrs. Hockley."
"If I didn't want to go 'mad' so soon, I would definitely pull your intestines out of your belly and swing them around for fun. Then you'd never have to waste so much foundation again."
Sen Getsusa shot them a contemptuous look and left without looking back, lifting the hem of her skirt.
Meanwhile, Howard, who was eating nearby, avoided his father's gaze and gave her a thumbs-up from afar.
Big sis is awesome!
(ノ>ω<)ノ
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