Chapter 541 - 180: Though Faced by Ten Thousand, I Go Forward

Chapter 541: Chapter 180: Though Faced by Ten Thousand, I Go Forward

Recalling the constant smile Elodie had worn since the ball began, Anthony smiled gently at her.

"Alright then, let’s wait a little longer, but you shouldn’t eat any more of those desserts."

The first half of Anthony’s sentence made Elodie smile, but the second half made her little face fall instantly.

"I still want to eat another piece of that little cake..."

Elodie pouted as she looked at the nearby platter with the little cream cakes on it.

"No, those kinds of foods are not healthy; it’s fine to eat occasionally, but you can’t eat more."

Anthony had an unwavering insistence when it came to desserts.

After sternly forbidding Elodie from eating more desserts in a serious tone, Anthony’s gaze softened once again as he looked at his beloved granddaughter.

This evening, Elodie was wearing a white dress Anthony had recently bought for her.

The delicate white dress suited well with her sky-blue eyes and the light blonde hair tied up elegantly.

Elodie had now sorted out her feelings of dejection at being banned from eating desserts by her grandfather.

She seemed to really enjoy the grapes Anthony just recommended, happily popping them into her mouth one by one.

Seeing Elodie’s cheerful demeanor now... Anthony’s gaze became distant, as if looking at a far-off scene.

To put it strictly... Anthony indeed was looking at a faraway scene.

He was concentrating on those deep-seated memories since bringing Elodie to Japan.

"Hm? Grandpa, what’s wrong? Why are you suddenly dazing off?"

Noticing Anthony’s odd behavior, Elodie paused her hand from grabbing more grapes.

"It’s nothing..."

Anthony raised his right thumb and finger, rubbing his eyes hard.

"I just suddenly felt grateful... it was so good to have rescued you from that man and brought you to this distant country."

"Although this country is still full of danger... our life as grandfather and granddaughter will definitely get better and better."

Elodie momentarily raised an eyebrow in surprise, then tenderly smiled with a mature expression beyond her young, petite frame.

"Grandpa, don’t start crying here."

Elodie lightly patted Anthony’s back.

Being comforted for no reason by his granddaughter, Anthony’s expression turned amused yet slightly irritated.

...

...

At this very moment——

Outside the Bright residence, somewhere——

"Is everyone here? Are we all set?"

"Are we all set?"

"Okay, let’s go!"

...

Tonight, for some, the sky was surely accommodating... the nearly moonless, dim night was like a natural "camouflage."

In this dark cover, a dozen shadowy figures, each carrying large wooden crates, closed in on Bright’s residence from all directions.

Reaching an inconspicuous corner, they pried open the wooden crates with tools they prepared earlier.

If Mr. Bright were present, seeing these crates and their contents would surely look familiar to him—the bottles and jars inside were exactly what he had ordered from Nakamura Chouhachirou: sake.

Clink, clank ... the shadowy figures, with a mix of hands pulling out the sake from the crate, made the crisp sound of ceramics clashing.

"Quickly, throw them out!"

Following this command, the bottles of "sake" from the crates were forcefully thrown toward the Bright residence nearby.

Crack, crack, crack, crack...

A foul odor quickly filled the surrounding space.

What was inside these "sake" bottles wasn’t sake at all, but pungent oil!

"Light it up!"

An emotionless cold shout, much like a sentence announcing guilt and punishment.

Fwoosh, fwoosh...!

The sound of flames burning...

Heat and waves of fire leapt up high!

...

...

"Hm?"

Elodie sniffed hard with her small nose.

"Grandpa, do you smell something strange?"

"Strange smell?" Anthony looked puzzledly at Elodie beside him and sniffed lightly, his expression changing slightly.

He also smelled a strange odor...

This peculiar scent rapidly spread, and soon, several people in the ballroom stopped what they were doing, puzzled after noticing the strange smell.

The scent grew stronger... some with keener senses had already discerned the smell of something burning.

Soon after, right following the strange smell, came peculiar sounds reaching the ballroom.

Crackling, fizzling... although the sound was faint, most attendees could clearly hear the burning sound of fire...

An ominous thought instantly flashed through everyone’s mind.

Very coincidentally—at that moment, a maid rushed into the ballroom in panic, her scream swiftly confirming everyone’s dreadful guess:

"It’s terrible! It’s terrible! There’s a fire! There’s a fire! (in English)"

Though many attendees at tonight’s ball came from non-English-speaking countries, simple English words, like "fire," they still could understand.

The ballroom instantly tightened with tension.

And in the very next moment, this tension exploded——

"Elodie!"

Anthony shouted the name of Elodie, who had not yet recovered from the shock, opened his large, plump hands, scooped up Elodie, and dashed out of the residence with her.