Natalie then took Jace to a carriage, and after 20 minutes or so, they were in front of a manor.
The manor seemed modest from the outside—a well-kept lawn, two carriages, and a few servants here and there.
The gate was opened by a servant, and Natalie led Jace inside.
---
From the inside, the manor seemed quite luxurious, but not in a flashy way—rather in an antique style. There were lots of artworks on the walls, along with other antiques.
Jace had done his research. Catherine Webbers ran a wine brewery, but he doubted the wine business was this profitable.
Maybe her husband left her money.
Besides, she was a Beyonder. Jace had no idea about her role in the Beyonder world.
He also didn't know what pathway she was from.
Perhaps it's the Justiciar pathway, that was one of the viable options he came up with, as he had found out that late Mr. Webbers was involved with Loen officials. Perhaps he introduced Madam Catherine into the Beyonder world.
By now, they were walking in the hallway.
A few moments later, they arrived at a door that seemed to be a study room.
Natalie knocked on the door twice.
"Come in," the reply came in a soft voice.
Jace, meanwhile, was slightly flustered. He didn't quite know what to make of this situation.
With his Clown abilities, he controlled himself and his expressions.
Then he entered the door that was held open by Natalie.
———
A few minutes earlier,
Catherine was working on some of her financial reports in her study room.
Though she was focused on her work, there was something lingering at the back of her mind.
It was Jace.
Natalie had told her that she had informed Jace about that, and that his reaction was one of disbelief.
But she also told her that he would likely come.
Catherine, meanwhile, was not nervous at all—as she thought she would be. On the contrary, she was quite excited.
Natalie was meeting the boy in a cafe. If he agreed, she would bring him here.
Some inappropriate thoughts crossed Catherine's mind.
But outwardly, she showed no change in her expression or body language and continued working on her papers.
Knock—knock.
She looked up.
As a mid-sequence Beyonder, she could tell there were two people outside the door, and she instantly recognized one of them as Natalie. The other individual seemed young.
She didn't want to make a bad impression or scare him off.
So she spoke softly.
"Come in."
Jace entered first, followed by Natalie.
Natalie stepped forward and made the introduction.
"Jace, this is Madam Catherine Webbers," she said, gesturing formally toward Catherine.
Catherine gave a small nod with a beautiful smile.
She then looked at Catherine.
"Madam Catherine, this is Mr. Jace Liebert."
Catherine looked at Jace.
He was wearing a brown blazer over a white shirt.
"Mr. Liebert, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Jace smiled and walked forward. He removed his brown hat, brought it to his chest, and bowed slightly while extending his hand.
"To meet a beautiful and brilliant woman such as yourself, the pleasure is all mine, Madam Webbers."
Catherine was slightly surprised.
She placed her hand gently in his, and he held it and kissed it lightly.
"My, my, Jace. Natalie told me many things about you, but she forgot to mention that you were such a gentleman."
She glanced at Natalie, who had a surprised look on her face.
'What the shit…' Natalie thought.
Where did the shy boy go? Was it all an act?
Wait…
Natalie activated her Hunter's spirit vision.
'Did he advance?'
Catherine was also surprised.
This was not what she expected.
Jace seemed confident, with an amicable smile on his face. Though she didn't necessarily know how a 16–17-year-old should act, this was clearly not it.
As a Sequence 5, it was not hard for her to figure out that rather than Sequence 9, he was now Sequence 8.
She didn't know much about the Seer pathway—only that Sequence 9 had divination capabilities, Sequence 8 had acrobatic abilities, and Sequence 7 had multiple tricks in their arsenal.
In fact, she didn't even know the names of Sequence 8 and 7.
Even official Beyonder organizations lacked detailed knowledge.
Such was the mysterious nature of this pathway.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
Yes, she would have liked it if he had acted his age.
But this…
excited her more. Because this—
was a lie.
As an Interrogator of Sequence 5 level, she could distinguish truth from lies very well.
And this was a lie.
His body and expressions lied.
It was good this way.
Catherine couldn't wait.
Couldn't wait to uncover his truth.