Chapter 242: Meet Luke

Richard noticed several young members of the Order of the Crimson Veil, divided into many groups.

They were major tyrants here, able to eat and enjoy entertainment for free wherever they went, as long as it wasn’t a business run by the elders.

Of course, to the Order of the Crimson Veil itself, they were merely low-level members not worth mentioning.

Luke and his companions were the core figures among the younger generation.

They were grandchildren or at least descendants of the elders, while Luke himself was the grandson of the youngest Great Ancestor.

Richard needed to meet them in order to enter the Order of the Crimson Veil.

He continued to stroll around without concealing his face, waiting for someone to recognize him.

No matter how that person reacted, as long as he showed a bit of goodwill, he was confident things could move forward.

As he continued walking, he was slightly surprised.

Luke—he actually saw him inside a restaurant.

With a cowboy hat on his head, he looked somewhat more charming than usual.

Perhaps it was because he was with a beautiful young woman who had extremely bright blonde hair, neatly tied up, and carried herself with elegance, as though she had been very well educated.

Her refined manners were obvious, something Lilith lacked—although her beauty was still slightly inferior to Lilith’s.

This was clearly a date.

Luke seemed to be trying hard to please the woman, even cutting grilled meat for her and pouring wine into her glass—an awkward form of flirting in Richard’s eyes, as the woman occasionally appeared more embarrassed than pleased.

After all, excess didn’t always make women happy.

They preferred actions that felt more natural.

Richard walked toward the restaurant—more precisely, toward its window, since the two of them were seated right beside it.

With him stopping there, how could Luke and the woman not notice?

Luke immediately looked annoyed.

Everyone in this city knew who he was. How dare someone disturb his date like this?

But when he saw Richard’s black hair, Luke froze instead.

"You?" He stood there with his mouth open.

"Luke, do you know him? Who is he?" the woman asked curiously.

She naturally sensed that Richard was no ordinary person. His appearance was far too striking, and his calm aura alone was enough to make someone think he was more than just special.

At least her voice snapped Luke out of his daze.

He stood up and shot Richard a sharp look.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Come on, I came in peace. It’s not like I can cause trouble here. How about you invite me to sit down first?" Richard replied casually, as if there were no deep hostility between them.

Luke looked shocked again, blinking several times.

"Are you serious about what you’re saying? Of course you can’t cause trouble here, but what’s your purpose? Unless you’re here to apologize to us for what you did?"

"I don’t think I did anything wrong. I was just trying to defend myself..." Richard sighed.

"Just defending yourself? Do you know you almost got us killed?"

"If I hadn’t been pushed into a corner, why would I have done that? Alright, let’s sit."

In the end, Richard jumped in through the window, pulled a chair from another table, and sat down just like that, leaving Luke—still standing—stunned by his actions.

Richard looked at the blonde woman and smiled at her, as she had been staring at him curiously.

"Are you Luke’s lover, Miss? I must say, you’re quite lucky. Luke may look like a jerk, but he actually has many good sides that others don’t know about. If you knew them, you might fall madly in love with him," Richard said to her.

Richard didn’t know whether she was a member of the Order of the Crimson Veil or not, but without a doubt, she was a noble young lady.

The woman was somewhat startled by his words, and Luke was even more shocked.

Luke even touched his own ear.

In Richard’s eyes, Luke was nothing more than an inexperienced young man.

No matter how much he disliked him, as long as he didn’t steal his lover, this little help should be enough to make him happy.

Seeing the woman’s reaction—Elena—Richard couldn’t help but smile before sitting back again.

"Ehem... Ehem..." Luke cleared his throat when he saw Elena begin to look at him curiously.

She was clearly wondering what good things Richard had been talking about.

And Luke started acting as if he had secrets unknown to others.

"Do you two have something to talk about?" Elena suddenly said, looking back and forth between Richard and Luke.

She clearly didn’t mind giving them space to talk privately.

"It’s not like that. I won’t disturb your date. My business with Luke can be discussed later," Richard replied as he stood up.

Since Luke had found an opportunity to spark Elena’s curiosity, Richard didn’t want to linger.

He wanted to make that man happy so his own matters could proceed smoothly.

"Alright, I’ll be leaving first," Richard added as Luke looked at him.

Richard exited through the window as well, leaving directly, then entered another restaurant to relax.

He was certain Luke would come to find him later after his date with Elena ended.

Elena continued to stare at the window as Richard left.

She then asked, "Who exactly is that man, Luke?"

"Who else? Richard—the one who’s extremely famous right now," Luke replied, sounding unsure whether he should speak with sarcasm or not when mentioning Richard.

Elena froze with an expression of disbelief.

"That man—the one who married Queen Lilith?" she said.

"Yeah..." Luke nodded.

"No wonder I felt his level was completely different," Elena said afterward.

Luke felt slightly displeased hearing that from Elena. However, from what he could tell, Elena didn’t have any particular desire—she was merely admiring someone like Richard.

Considering that Richard had spoken well of him in front of Elena, Luke knew Elena’s impression of him could turn bad if he badmouthed Richard, who had actually appeared with a friendly attitude for the first time.

"Ehem..." Luke cleared his throat again before saying, "By the way, Elena, I heard you want to craft a Tier 6 weapon specially for yourself, but you’re lacking some materials. Take a look at my ring—do you need any of these materials?"

Luke removed his ring and placed it in front of Elena after saying that, quite shocking her.