Chapter 273: The Seat Personally Arranged by the Madam
Arabella Donovan took in the changes in their expressions, knowing they had likely taken her words to heart. She let out a subtle sigh of relief.
"After all, this concerns the future. My abilities are limited, so there’s not much I can divine. You will all have to verify the specifics for yourselves."
This wasn’t entirely a pretext on Arabella Donovan’s part. The only reason she could list information on so many people was thanks to the library in her mind.
Just as she had said, many people first entered the unlimited flow world after suffering a near-fatal injury.
Those who were pulled into a dungeon for the first time were considered rookies. After that, they had experience and no longer needed a near-death experience as a prerequisite. They were then considered veterans.
Most people entering a dungeon for the first time were still confused about the situation and would instinctively seek out and rely on experienced veterans.
Little did they know that the other world was nothing like their own. The old saying "seeing a fellow countryman abroad brings tears to your eyes" was completely inapplicable in a place like this.
Experienced veterans would claim to be looking out for the rookies to coax out their real-world information. Some genuinely meant well, but many more did it to make it easier to target them later, use them as bait, or clear the dungeon by stepping over their corpses.
The protagonist’s group had suffered from this sort of hidden trap at the very beginning. Afterward, they became extremely cautious. They even turned the tables, sending several groups of veterans to their graves and tricking many rookies into sacrificing themselves for the group.
The information Arabella Donovan was now providing was precisely the real-world data coaxed out of those rookies in the scripts.
It was worth mentioning that the basic information on the six members of the protagonist’s group was the most complete and detailed of anyone on the list.
This was because they had already truthfully shared their identities with each other inside the dungeons so they could continue to cooperate in the real world.
After returning to the real world, these people did indeed get together and cause quite a bit of trouble, which saved Arabella Donovan a lot of effort in gathering information on them herself.
The men were unaware of these intricacies. Hearing Arabella Donovan say this, their eyelids twitched as they internally scoffed, ’You call this "not much"? You’ve practically dug up all their secrets!’
Mr. Cole’s brow furrowed slightly. He wanted to ask Arabella Donovan what would happen if they intervened.
For example, if they identified the nurse and sent people to protect her, could they change her predetermined fate and allow her to survive?
Or what about the small business owner? If they could stop him before he jumped off the building, could they prevent him from entering that world?
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but ultimately, he couldn’t bring himself to say them.
In the end, although her previous words had shaken them, they still harbored serious doubts about this so-called "other world."
Just as Mr. Cole had said, they needed more evidence to verify the truth of Arabella Donovan’s claims.
Until then, anything more she said would just be empty talk.
Their discussion took quite a while. The guests who had come for the wedding banquet were still waiting out front. Luckily, Miles Donovan, acting as the butler, was quite reliable and had already led a few members of the Donovan family back to the front courtyard to entertain the guests.
The other guests noticed the groom had disappeared and just assumed he couldn’t bear to let his bride wait alone in her room and had run off to keep her company.
A few people noticed that it wasn’t just the groom, but that several of the bigwigs attending the wedding had also vanished. They figured something must have happened that they weren’t privy to.
But the ones who could guess this much were clever people, so naturally, they wouldn’t make a scene about it.
By the time Dennis Donovan and the others returned to the wedding banquet, the feast was already halfway over. Even so, the moment they appeared, they were met with the attention and greetings of countless people.
This was exactly what Arabella Donovan had been worried about. She didn’t walk back with Dennis Donovan’s group. Instead, while everyone’s attention was on them, she quietly slipped along the wall to the Donovan family’s table.
"Serena, you’re back." Mrs. Donovan’s eyes lit up when she saw Arabella, and she quickly beckoned for her to come sit beside her.
"Yep, the meeting is over, so I came back." Seeing an empty seat at the table, Arabella Donovan didn’t think much of it and hurried over to sit down.
"Did they give you a hard time?"
The day Arabella Donovan met with Rick Lewis and his wife, no one from the Donovan family was present.
Even though Caspian Rhodes later secretly revealed the matter to Dennis Donovan, the issue was of grave importance. Before there was concrete evidence, the fewer people who knew, the better, so Dennis Donovan hadn’t told anyone else.
The rest of the Donovan family didn’t know what Arabella had gone to discuss with those bigwigs, so they couldn’t help but worry.
"Not at all. Those uncles are very kind. Why would they give me a hard time for no reason?"
The Donovan family: "..." ’You’re probably the only one who thinks so. No matter how kind people in their position seem on the surface, you can’t let your guard down. Otherwise, they’ll eat you alive, and you’ll probably have to thank them for selling you at a good price.’
"Besides, wasn’t Grandpa there? You can rest completely assured."
The family members exchanged a glance. That was true. Although they hadn’t been in Brynn recently, they had heard how much the two elders had doted on and cared for Arabella during her time here.
’With him backing her up, even if our girl brought the sky crashing down, he should have a way to help hold it up... right?’
But the only one who knew the truth wasn’t as optimistic as the others. "Are you really okay?"
"I’m fine. The process was a bit convoluted, but the outcome was good." Arabella Donovan took a sip of the pork stomach soup Mrs. Donovan handed her and answered casually.
Only after replying did she seem to notice something, turning to look at Caspian Rhodes in surprise. "Mr. Rhodes, what are you doing here?"
Caspian Rhodes: "..." ’So you’re only just now noticing me.’
The moment Arabella Donovan said this, the atmosphere at the table froze. All eyes instantly swiveled to focus on Caspian Rhodes.
If looks could kill, he’d probably be riddled with holes by now.
Arabella Donovan also noticed the strange atmosphere and looked up at everyone in confusion. "Did I say something wrong?"
This table was clearly reserved for their family. There were Mr. and Mrs. Donovan, her three older brothers, her older sister, and herself—a total of seven people. Add in Beatrice Donovan and Miles Donovan, and they could all more or less be considered family.
Therefore, at a single glance, wasn’t Caspian Rhodes, the only outsider, more than a little out of place?
Caspian Rhodes’s eyelid twitched. Before he could say anything, Hector Donovan, who was sitting on his other side, let out a cold laugh. "No other table would have him, so he had nowhere else to sit. We reluctantly took him in."
"Is that so?" Arabella Donovan frowned and turned to look questioningly at the butler.
’Grand-uncle was so particular about this wedding banquet. Logically, an oversight like this shouldn’t have happened, right?’
Butler Donovan’s gaze swept over Hector Donovan and Caspian Rhodes before he said with a smile, "Mr. Rhodes is meant to sit at this table. The seating arrangements for today’s wedding banquet were mostly handled by the madam herself."