Chapter 18 Agarwood
The first floor of the building turned out to be just a lobby, where the waiters greeted guests. If this is a hotel, there's nothing wrong with that, but it's a restaurant.
No waiters approached Arthur and Isabel because Anna was beside them. She led them to one of the four staircases there.
Each of them was in a corner of the hall, had a curved shape and was made of ironwood.
Once past the stairs, Arthur heard melodious music. It was slow but as if it could invite people to dance.
On the second floor, only then did he see a row of dining tables. There were quite a number of people there already, some eating and some chatting.
Anna's arrival immediately attracted attention. And when looking at her, people couldn't help but look at the person beside her. Realizing that it was Isabel, their gazes finally focused only on her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our congresswoman, Isabel Wilson, and her nephew, Arthur Wilson." Anna said in a fairly loud voice and was immediately greeted with grabbing applause.
There was one group that waved to Isabel, they were beauties her age, consisting of three people.
Anna led Isabel and Arthur to the group table. As soon as they arrived at the table, the three women stood up, taking turns hugging Isabel.
Updated from nov𝒆lbIn.(c)om
"Oh my god, I can't believe we can all get together," said the first woman to hug Isabel. She wore a long blue off-the-shoulder dress, had long blonde hair that fell past her thighs. Her figure was tall and elegant, easily arousing men's desires.
Anna told Arthur that the woman's name was Charlotte, a noblelady from England.
The second woman was an Asian woman, her hair wasn't very long, it looked like Isabel's hair except that it was jet black. She was only wearing a short dress layered with a brown coat, looking like she had come to this party without a plan.
Her name is Chu Yueli. When she was young, she lived in Europe. Even though she now lives in Asia, she still comes to Europe quite often.
As for the third woman, Arthur recognized her because she was a well-known celebrity, including one full of controversy. She has been married three times to conglomerates and all three ended in divorce. Her name is Mia.
Her beauty didn't surpass the others even though she was a celebrity because the other two were also top beauties. She had slightly curly auburn hair, a pair of thick red lips, a charming nose and chin.
Her figure was quite elegant, giving the impression that she would suit any outfit or style.
After cuddling with Isabel, the three women looked at Arthur. However, before they could say anything Arthur suddenly said to Isabel. "Aunt, I want to take a walk first!"
He nodded at the three women then took a step.
Apart from feeling uncomfortable joining a group of middle-aged women, Arthur left because something caught his eye.
"Isabel, what's wrong with your nephew?" Charlotte couldn't help but ask after seeing Arthur walk away without greeting her. She remembered when her son met Isabel, he greeted her, complimented her and so on.
"Tsk! You don't know, he didn't even say anything to me," Anna replied before Isabel could answer.
"Relly?" Mia asked with an expression of disbelief. Here, there were three of them, but below before, Anna was alone.
"Maybe he's just shy," Chu Yueli said.
"He doesn't look like it," Charlotte replied, looking at Arthur who was walking calmly through the crowd.
"My nephew has the attitude of a King, if you want him to greet you, raise your levels first." Isabel answered with a faint smile. She openly defended Arthur.
Meanwhile, Arthur arrived at a corner where there was smoke that was almost invisible but emitted a very good aroma.
The smoke comes from burning brown wood on a plate.
Staring at the wood, Arthur said, "what a waste, burning agarwood just to get its fragrance."
Agarwood generally has to be dried first and then burned to release its fragrant aroma. This is naturally a waste. Many of its trees are cut down each year to meet demand. If not controlled, it is only a matter of time before the trees meet the same fate as the endangered animals that are on the verge of extinction.
However, Arthur has a trick where he can release the fragrance of agarwood without having to burn it.
It wasn't difficult, he just needed to instill a spell into the agarwood branch and make it absorb spiritual energy.
The spiritual energy absorbed by the branch could release its fragrance, even better than burning it.
When he saw the wood, Arthur had an idea that he thought was very good.
He could buy some tree branches of the agarwood and then make them give off their fragrance without having to burn them.
After that, he can sell them again, which is sure to sell well because everyone prefers permanent items to temporary ones.
Of course, money wasn't Arthur's primary goal in doing so.
Agarwood is very expensive because of their fragrance, but there is much more unique to this wood in the perception of magic.
One is that they are very strong when they manage to become a Plant Demon and form an army.
Arthur thought that if he sold an agarwood branch to someone who was rich, he could pass the care on to that person.
When it managed to become a Plant Demon, he could pick it up again. It wouldn't be difficult, he could tie up the agarwood branches first by incorporating his spirituality into the agarwood so that when it started to gain consciousness, images of his figure would fill its mind, to the point where it thought of him as its god.
"Do you like this?" A question suddenly appeared behind Arthur as he was thinking about his plan.