Pushing this thought aside for now, Ariel folded the scroll carefully.

Then she tucked it under her arm and went to find her secretary.

Upon finding him in the hallway, Ariel called out to him.

"Sebastian?"

"Yes, my lady?"

"Clear my schedule for the week this wedding will be happening, and try to find out everything there is to know about an Austin Rin before then." Ariel ordered as she walked past him, and her secretary scrambled to keep up with her.

"Of course, my lady, as you wish, but shall I also send a confirmation of attendance?"

"Obviously." She replied, already halfway up the stairs.

*****

Meanwhile, in a modest but well-kept manor belonging to a merchant family that had done considerable business with Elmfield’s potion stores over the past year.

There was an older couple reading the invitation together at their breakfast table, even passing it back and forth between them.

The husband read it first, then handed it to his wife, and his wife read it as well before looking up at him.

Neither of them really said anything, but they simply smiled at each other at the same time with a knowing look on their faces.

"Hehehe~ we always knew that young man was having a special relationship with the countess." The wife said as she set the scroll down beside her teacup.

"Indeed, I remember saying it the first time I met him at the duke’s party," the husband agreed as he reached for his bread, and his wife nodded in agreement before turning to a maid nearby.

"Send the confirmation today and help us find something appropriate to bring as a gift."

"Only the expensive type!" Her husband added, and the maid bowed in respect before exiting the room.

***

And this was how the scrolls travelled around noble households within the kingdom.

Some scrolls arrived at the homes of minor lords who had quietly begun purchasing Elmfield’s potions after word spread about their quality.

They arrived at the offices of guild masters in the capital who had heard the name Austin Rin mentioned with increasing frequency in trade circles and had been quietly curious about the man behind it.

They arrived at the estates of a handful of powerful nobles whose names carried enough weight in Greymoor Kingdom that receiving an invitation from them in return would have meant a great deal to most people.

Some responded warmly to the news, while others responded politely as well.

A few did not respond at all, and this was common in a competitive noble world.

But that didn’t matter, because the scrolls had travelled far and wide within the kingdom, and the name attached to them had been read in enough important rooms across the kingdom that it would not be easily forgotten again.

***

Anyway, the news finally reached the Chan household.

Of course, it wasn’t through a scroll or a courier that the letter had arrived to them.

Actually, a letter didn’t even come their way, because there was no way Austin would ever invite that annoying group of people, so he didn’t even bother asking his wife to write a letter to them.

Instead, the Chan household had gotten wind of the wedding through a dinner party.

Boateng Chan had been invited to an evening gathering at the home of a fellow nobleman.

This was a sort of event he had attended regularly in the past.

So, he navigated the party and had even been in the middle of a conversation about trade routes when he overheard the name Elmfield County mentioned at the table beside him.

He hadn’t paid it much attention at first.

But then he heard Austin Rin, and he turned his head slightly without meaning to.

Right there, next to his table, were two noblemen discussing the invitation they had each received.

Both men compared notes on what they had heard about the potion lord of Elmfield and his remarkable recipes, and this piqued Boateng’s interest.

"Twenty percent impurity-free on the stamina-enhancing potion alone. I had someone verify it personally. It’s real."

"Yeah, I heard about it too, and to think a drunkard like him could turn his life around so fast the way he did."

"Have you also heard about the rumors regarding the healing potion?"

"Yeah, I heard about it but haven’t seen it yet."

"Me neither, but I heard it could repair cracked mana cores."

"Oh, really? Damn, I really have to get my hands on such a potion."

"Yeah, but you won’t believe what I just heard from a famous noble just this morning."

"What is it? Tell me, my friend."

"Okay, scoot closer. I heard Austin Rin is about to be married to the Countess of Elmfield."

"What? But she’s a...."

"I know, right? What a champ he is to be able to convince an elf into becoming his wife."

"Well, I guess it makes sense. He is referred to as the potion lord now, right? And that title comes with great wealth. It would be stupid for the single countess not to accept his proposal."

"Yeah, besides, I heard the poisonous air within Elmfield is no more."

"Yes, that’s right. I thought it was a baseless rumour, but I’ve heard adventurers confirming this rumor, so it isn’t a lie."

"Wow, do you think Austin Rin had something to do with that too?"

"I honestly do not know, but I’ll definitely try to attend the wedding as well."

"If you’re able to get an invitation, try to ask for one for me too, huh."

The guy laughed at his friend and nodded in understanding.

Both men continued to talk and laugh out loud, with Boateng Chan listening to everything those two were saying.

But he could only pick up his wine glass and hold it without drinking from it, whilst having a shocked look on his face regarding what he had just heard.

Meanwhile, back at the Chan Household, Boateng Chan’s son, Eric Chan, was also receiving the same news from a business acquaintance who had stopped by that afternoon.

But his reaction was much less composed than that of his father’s.

"What?! You mean the same Austin Rin?! That drunkard of the Rin Household?!"

"Yes, the very same. His growth as the potion lord has increased so much that the elves of Elmfield now call him The Potion Lord Of Elmfield County."

"And now he’s about to get married to Countess Rowena Elvenheart?" Eric asked with a disbelieving look on his face, but his business partner nodded in response.