On this day, the semifinal match for Erwin's team in the Trapped Phoenix Tournament was due to be held, while the semifinal match for Lana's team was due to take place the next day. Thus, Aglea and Lana naturally weren't there when Erwin and the others arrived at the imperial palace. After all, there were no matches worth watching for Aglea. If she couldn't see Erwin go all out, then there really were no other contestants that interested her.

Even though Lana was absent, Erwin wasn't very dejected or disappointed as he was very confident that he would be able to invite Aglea to visit the City of Freedom. Hence, even if they were to lose to Aglea's team, it wouldn't be the end of the world for him.

The semifinal match was as smooth as all of the previous matches, with Erwin taking care of the opposing team on his own with ease.

Thus, all he could do now was wait for Aglea's team to progress to the finals on the other side of the bracket.

If everything went according to plan, then the teams from the Boll Dukedom and the Fano Dukedom would battle it out in two days to decide Lana's new home.

It had been rather surprising to Erwin that the road to the finals had been such a smooth one. He had thought that Sanfesa would've definitely tried to trip him up along the way, but that was not the case. The team from the Delair Dukedom was eliminated very early, thereby posing no threat to Erwin.

However, this only made Erwin feel even more uneasy. It simply didn't make sense for Prince Xar not to have made any moves.

"Where are we going next?" Onean asked, dragging Erwin out of his train of thought. "It's a rare occasion, seeing as your new sex friend isn't with us today. Otherwise, we'd never hear the end of her."

Onean was naturally referring to Theresa here, and Erwin chose wisely not to comment on her "sex friend" remark as he replied, "Turan says that there are many young artists in the city who wish to see me, so they set up a... I think it was called a rendezvous?"

"Rendezvous? What's that supposed to be?" Onean asked with a curious expression.

"Apparently, it's a term coined by the followers of the New Light Church. I think it's supposed to be synonymous with 'gathering'. I've never been to one before, so I don't know much about it myself," Erwin replied with a shrug. "It's interesting that Turan knows so many people from all types of places. It seems like he has connections even in the New Light Church."

"Lia has some impressive foresight, sending Turan with you on this trip," Onean remarked.

"There's no way that sly old fox would misjudge Turan's character," Erwin replied, and a faint smile appeared on his face a the thought of Lia.

...

At the intersection of Vinci Street and Weiss Street in the northern part of Finklan was parked a horse-drawn carriage with a dark paint job.

Inside the carriage, Sanfesa was looking at the man across from her with a smile on her face as she said in an exasperated voice, "Stop looking. I said he'll come, so he'll definitely come."

The man seated across from her was none other than Mackney Farody's second son, John. He was constantly lifting up the curtain of the carriage window over and over again, trying to see if their target had arrived.

"Settled down! Don't jump up and down like a rabid dog," Sanfesa snapped as she pressed her bare foot against John's lower abdomen to force him back onto the carriage seat. "If you ruin our plan with your antics, you're not going to get away with it!"

John finally calmed down slightly upon hearing this. He cast his gaze toward Sanfesa's smooth calf, then looked up all the way to the base of her leg, and it was truly a seductive sight to behold. He gulped involuntarily, and as he raised his head, he discovered that Sanfesa just so happened to be looking back at him as well.

The suggestive yet ambiguous look in her eyes immediately lit a fire in John's heart, and he could see that all of the rumors about her seducing men for fun really were true.

"What if your father finds out that you've sold your brother down the river and come to work with me?" Sanfesa asked with an amused expression.

"Our relationship is already irreparable, so why don't I seize the initiative and strike him down before he can do anything to me?" John said in a nonchalant manner. "Besides, Erwin is a real thorn in your side as well, isn't he?"

"You're cruel and ruthless and logical to a fault. I enjoy working with people like you," Sanfesa said with a smile.

"You're far too kind in your praise, Duchess Silon. I still have much to learn from you," John replied with a smile of his own.

"Look there. I said that he would come, and he's here," Sanfesa said as she glanced out the carriage window with a hint of smugness on her face. "He's perfect in every way, but he enjoys being under the limelight a little too much. Then again, how could such an exceptional young man like him not enjoy being the center of attention?"

John was ecstatic to see that Erwin and Onean had arrived as planned.

...

"19 Vinci Street?" Erwin took a moment to inspect the house numbers before his gaze settled on a certain building. "This should be it."

They were standing in front of a villa that was situated on a rather old street, presenting a stark contrast with the other buildings around it.

Erwin knocked on the door, and the door was opened by a man wearing a half-mask and a welcoming smile. "May I ask your name?"

Erwin was immediately rooted to the spot as he thought of the half-mask worn by the emperor back at the Dreambind Pavilion. It seemed that his fashion sense had sparked a trend of wearing half-masks across the entire empire.

"Turan says that there was a rendezvous organized here," Erwin said.

"Oh, you must be Mr. Erwin then," the man said as an excited look appeared on his face. "My name is Tonar Merici. It's an honor to make your acquaintance, Mr. Erwin."

He then caught sight of Onean, and for a moment, his breath was caught in his throat, following which he asked, "And who is this beautiful woman accompanying you today?"

"She is my wife," Erwin replied.

Tonar hurriedly nodded in response, then enthusiastically invited the two of them into the room.

Erwin made a brief inspection of the decor in the front hall to find that contrary to his expectations, everything was very well-maintained.

"Please select a mask," Tonar said as he pulled out a redwood platter from somewhere, upon which sat several intricate masks.

Erwin looked like he would rather die than don one of these masks, while Onean was giggling quietly to herself.

Erwin was always insulting what he liked to call the "masked idiots" of Finklan, such as the emperor and Aglea, and it was truly torturous for him to have to put on one himself.

Seeing the painted look on Erwin's face, Tonar explained with a pleased expression, "This is our surprise for today. With these masks on, no one will be able to recognize anyone else, and the subject of this rendezvous is to find you, Mr. Erwin. We came up with this idea as some of the people here may have already seen you before, so we need to hide your identity. I am the only one who knows that you're wearing this mask, and only at the conclusion of the rendezvous will I reveal your identity to them."

"So I have to conceal myself and do my best not to be identified by them, right?" Erwin asked with a wry smile.

"That's correct," Tonar replied. "If you get identified too early, the game will be spoiled."

"Ha, you wanted to show off to everyone, but you have to do your best to hide yourself now. What an amusing turn of events," Onean chuckled as she nudged Erwin with her elbow.

Erwin gave her a displeased look, then reluctantly picked a white lion mask.

As for Onean, she chose an extremely intricately designed swan mask.

For some reason, Erwin took an extra glance or two at the mask in Onean's hand.

After that, Tonar led the two of them through the open-air corridor into the inner hall.

As soon as they entered the inner hall, they were immediately greeted by the strong scent of oil paint and other coloring materials. It had to be said that this villa was far more spacious than Erwin anticipated.

Erwin took a rough glance around the room to find that there were roughly several dozen guests attending the rendezvous, and they were wearing all types of different masks that emulated a variety of animals. It was truly a very interesting sight to behold.

Erwin took a glance at Onean to find that she was looking rather absentminded, and he asked, "What's wrong?"

Onean shook her head and offered no response.

There were a total of roughly 20 paintings being displayed in the inner hall, all of which had been painted in the so-called "neo-impressionist" style. Erwin had been rather curious about why these young artists had invited him here, and after seeing these paintings, he received an answer to his question.

The "Believer" mural that he had painted in the Holy Jade Cathedral in Zans shared many stylistic similarities with this neo-impressionist school of art. However, Erwin's ability to use the environment to enhance the atmosphere in his artworks was superior to that of the artists here.

Erwin and Onean looked at all of the paintings in the inner hall, and they discovered that this so-called "neo-impressionist" style did have some unique traits. They had done away with the rigid and dogmatic structure prevalent in more orthodox schools of art, injecting more creativity and imagination into their artwork to give them more emotion and meaning.

In particular, Erwin stood for a long while in front of a painting by the name of "Fishing Boat on a Turbulent Sea".

The artwork depicted a dim and violent sea, and atop the waves sat a frail boat. The fisherman on the boat was putting up futile resistance against the brutality of nature under the moonlight. The moon was concealed behind a patch of dark clouds, which only allowed a few rays of moonlight to shine down onto the fisherman's body, so those seeing the artwork could only imagine what the fisherman was feeling as he struggled desperately under the shadows.

The artistic devices and choices employed in the artwork were truly exceptional.

Even Erwin was very much stunned by this painting, and he was struck by the feeling that these young artists of Finklan really did possess immense potential. However, he then looked at the name signed at the bottom right corner of the painting to discover that the artist was Sanfesa Peroni.

This painting was drawn by that evil hag?! Erwin felt as if he had just swallowed a fly, and he desperately wanted to take back all of the praise he had given this artwork.

"Take a look at who painted this," Erwin said as he cast his gaze toward Onean, but she was nowhere to be seen.

He turned around a couple of times, looking around him in all directions, but still didn't see that swan mask.

For some reason, he had been struck by a sense of foreboding as soon as he saw the name "Sanfesa Peroni". Hence, he began to search frantically through the crowd for Onean, but she was still nowhere to be found.

Right at this moment, he caught a glimpse of a silver-haired figure wearing a swan mask not far away, and he immediately rushed toward her before grabbing onto her arm.

However, as soon as the woman turned around and saw Erwin, she immediately leaned into him in an extremely seductive manner.

Erwin didn't even pause to think for a moment before pushing her away.

There was no way that was Onean.

The woman did bear somewhat of a resemblance to Onean, complete with silver hair and golden eyes, but Erwin was immediately able to tell that she wasn't Onean.

The reason for this was very simple: Onean never wore any perfume, but this woman was giving off the scent of expensive perfume.

Even though he was able to see through the woman right away, Erwin was still feeling extremely uneasy and panicked.

It was clear that the woman had been dressed up in a way to impersonate Onean as much as possible, and judging from that, this entire event had to be a trap that had been planned in advance. However, the target of the trap wasn't him. Instead, it was Onean.

This made Erwin feel extremely panicked.

He had thought that Sanfesa would've made a move during the Trapped Phoenix Tournament, but never did he expect a trap like this. He had thought that Sanfesa would've definitely exploited Lana and used her against him, but as it turned out, her target was actually Onean.

What was even more perplexing to him was how a powerful magician like Onean had disappeared right beside him without a sound.

What could've possibly overpowered her in an instant and also escaped my notice? Erwin's brain was operating on overdrive as he tried to make sense of the situation.