Chapter 484

Melody nodded, not wanting to continue the topic of Mabel.

The truth was that she still didn’t believe a man wouldn’t care about women’s appearance.

She changed the topic and asked, “There’s a man called Samuel Grover. Is he here?”

“Oh, Mr. Grover. He’s here. He’s in my grandfather’s study downstairs. He’s my grandfather’s old comrade-in-arms. My grandfather is chatting with him and a few other friends he’s known for half his life. They’ll come down when the party starts.” Warner paused and asked, “Why are you suddenly asking about Mr. Grover? Do you know him?” “Yeah.” Melody was sure that Samuel had arrived. She said nothing else and patiently waited for the party to start.

‘As long as Samuel interferes, the ruins of the youth center can be preserved and not dealt with for the time being. Since Ulric has made changes to the doors and windows of the youth center, I’m sure we can find out something’ Melody thought.

“Oh, right.” Warner asked, “Is the painting you brought the one you sent me last time?”

Melody thought about it and remembered which painting Warner was talking about.

At that time, Warner suspected that she was a liar. To prove herself, she drew a painting at the last minute, took a photo, and sent it to Warner.

Thinking of this, Melody shook her head and said, “No, that painting was too ugly. I threw it away.”

‘Ugly? Mr. Palmer’s expectations of himself are too high. He drew so well, yet he still thought it was ugly and threw it away!” Warner had a sorry look on his face. But then, he became happy again.

He said, “That means the painting you brought is better than that one. That’s great!”

Melody said with a complicated look in her eyes, “Warner, well, the draft in my hand has not…”

“Mr. Chapman is here!” someone in the hall shouted.

Warner immediately pressed his index finger against Melody’s lips, indicating for her not to speak.

“But, what I want to say is-“

“Shh!” Warner interrupted her again and said anxiously, This is a surprise I gave my grandpa. No one must hear it.”

Melody felt even more helpless. She took a step back and avoided Warner’s hand.

‘Forget it. I can talk about it later. However, Warner may be surprised that I’m Morin, Melody thought.

Seeing that she did not say anything else, Warner felt a little relieved. After instructing her to wait at the same spot, he walked toward Nickolas.

Melody also looked up at the stairs.

An old man wearing sunglasses walked down the stairs surrounded by dozens of old people. Standing beside the old man was Samuel, whom Melody was looking for. From the looks of it, this old man in sunglasses was Warner’s grandfather.

‘But why is he wearing sunglasses?’ Confusion flashed across Melody’s eyes. ‘The sky is completely dark now. Although the lights in the hall are bright, there is no need to wear sunglasses. Moreover, wearing sunglasses on such an occasion seems slightly out of place.’

Melody suppressed the doubts in her heart and saw that Warner had already arrived beside Nickolas’s side. He held Nickolas’s hand obsequiously and said, “Grandpa, you’ve finally come. Everyone is waiting for you.”

Nickolas glanced at Warner with disdain but did not avoid his hand, allowing Warner to help him to the short platform in the middle of the hall.

The short platform was built at the last minute, covered with a red carpet. On it was a microphone, making the occasion look more formal.

After Nickolas walked onto the short platform, Melody stood at the side of the platform with the crowd.

After helping Nickolas up, Warner quickly retreated and stood beside Melody.

“Thank you all for attending my eightieth birthday despite your busy schedules…” Nickolas held the microphone to express his gratitude and welcome.

He had a high status, but his words were funny and down-to-earth. ‘It seems his personality is quite similar to Warner’s, Melody thought.

Not long after, Nickolas finally finished speaking.

A male guest stepped out of the crowd and came to the middle of the crowd on both sides.

“Mr. Chapman, thanks to your care, our family is where we are today. As a token of my appreciation, I’ve prepared a small gift for you. I hope you’ll like it.” As the man spoke, he waved his right hand. Soon, two bodyguards carried something covered by a red cloth up.

“Is this the gift-giving part?” Melody asked in a low voice. She thought, ‘After all, someone like Nickolas should be more noble than ordinary people. He shouldn’t like to be extravagant and high-profile.’

“That’s right,” Warner replied. He probably saw through Melody’s suspicion and explained, “My grandfather doesn’t like this, but such people always appear at his birthday party every year. Most people have already given gifts when we handed in their invitations. Only a small number of people will give birthday gifts in person. And those people have a good relationship with my grandfather and want to give it to him personally. For example, Mr. Grover, the one you mentioned. The other part is like this person. He wants to curry favor with my grandfather, but he doesn’t know my grandfather’s personality. The gift he gave is too expensive, and he wants to use this opportunity to show his face. But under most circumstances, my grandfather will allow them to show off as long as it’s not too much.”

Hearing Warner’s words, Melody wondered what was under the red cloth.

That man said, “This is a gift our family specially prepared for you.” Then, he reached out and tore off the red cloth.

The red cloth fell to the ground. On the dark red tray, there was a square golden seal.

Melody’s eyes suddenly widened. ‘This is…’

Someone beside her sucked in a breath of cold air and asked the man who gave the gift in shock, “This is a golden royal seal, right?”

“Exactly!” The man who gave the gift said proudly, “I accidentally obtained this golden royal seal. After appraising it, we learned it was from the 8th century.”

As soon as he finished speaking, even louder exclamations sounded around him.

“It’s an antique from the 8th century!”

“Not to mention that it’s a golden royal seal, even if it’s only a bowl from the 8th century, it’s still invaluable!”

Melody raised her eyebrows and whispered to Warner, “It’s indeed valuable…”

No wonder he would send Mr. Chapman this birthday gift in front of many people, Melody thought.

Even if the people present were the nobles among the nobles, they would still be shocked and amazed by this gift.

Warner shrugged. “I’m not interested in such things. Besides, who knows if it’s true?”

Melody attentively sized up the golden royal seal. With her connoisseurship, she could already be sure that it was genuine.

This was no longer a gift that could be described as money.”

She could not help but look at Nickolas, curious about his reaction. ‘Logically speaking, those who like paintings will be interested in antiques.

Nickolas walked down the stage and carefully observed the golden royal seal before saying, “I heard that the last person to hold the golden royal seal was the late king in the 8th century. After his death, the whereabouts of the golden royal seal were unknown. I didn’t expect to have the opportunity to see this thing with my own eyes.”

When Melody heard this, her impression of Nickolas became a little bad.