Lord of the Mysteries (chp. 201-500)

Chapter 246-250

Chapter 246: Strange Omen

Aaron and Talim left the Quelaag Club after they separately completed the nomination form. It wasn't a weekend; the former had two more operations in the afternoon, and the latter had to teach Viscount Conrad's youngest son horse-riding. The teenager needed to ensure that he didn't embarrass himself during the Backlund social events in the second half of the year.

Klein watched the manservant dressed in a red vest and a maid in a beautiful dress come and go a few times before finally delivering him his own proof of membership and a badge with the symbol of the Frost constellation engraved on it.

"An entry fee of 50 pounds. There are still three and a half months left this year, with an annual fee of 4 pounds a year." The manservant in the red vest pushed the two objects to Klein.

Klein took out the 57 pounds which Mary Gale had given him and handed him 54 pounds.

The amount beyond the entry fee and annual fee was Mary's first payment. She was very pleased with how quickly Klein obtained information on Doragu Gale's mistress, as well as her photo.

50 pounds membership... Madam Mary is such a generous lady! While Klein watched the manservant and the maid verify the money and confirm the exact amount, he recalled Stelyn Sammer's private introduction.

Mary's father was a co-founder of the Coim Company and had a 20 percent stake. It was originally just a small company that barely made money, but as Backlund's pollution worsened and the demand for anthracite and charcoal increased, the company rapidly expanded to become one of the top ten companies in the capital's industry. As such, Mary's net worth skyrocketed.

The only problem was that when she was married to Doragu Gale, the company was still quite an unknown company. Her father hadn't paid much attention to using the shares as her dowry and didn't proceed with any protection of estate gifting and had instead used the more popular "willing of gifts."

The former referred to the dowry as an independent and separate estate of the woman and not subjected to her husband's control. Even the right-of-use depended on the woman, while the latter assigned the dowry's ownership to the entire family. However, the husband had to immediately make a valid will to promise that if he passed away before his partner, the split of the estate would be two to four times the rights and interests of the dowry received. After which, the rest would proceed according to the normal inheritance laws which could effectively guarantee the livelihood of the widow.

If Mary initiated a divorce before she could get evidence of Doragu's adultery, the Coim Company shares would be divided equally between both parties.

Klein remembered Stelyn saying enviously, "The current value of those shares is currently close to 20,000 gold pounds. Adding the other property in their name, Mary is a truly wealthy lady. Once she's divorced, she will definitely become the target of many men in Backlund, including some nobles."

That's only enough money for Miss Justice to assassinate Ambassador Bakerland twice... Klein suddenly thought about that when he saw the red-vested manservant and the good-looking maid bow at him.

"Mr. Moriarty, welcome to the Quelaag Club."

Upon hearing this, Klein picked up the proof of membership and the Frost badge.

The former was made of elastic paper which looked like a card with Klein's name and his membership start date on it.

After applying an imprint of his index finger, the proof of membership was officially ready for use.

The latter was the Quelaag Club's distinctive badge, named for its founding in early November, which corresponded to the month of the Frost constellation. The symbol and the number 192 were printed on the front, followed by "Sherlock Moriarty" imprinted on the back.