My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 60: A Father?

On the vast performance stage, the lights gradually dimmed.

A spectacular lion dance kicked off the show. It was followed by a series of other unique intangible cultural heritage performances, including shadow puppetry, Sichuan opera face-changing, and a fish lantern dance. Celia Sterling was mesmerized. Silas Norwood, on the other hand, had attended countless events like this and was no longer impressed. He cast a few casual glances at the stage, but his focus remained on his girlfriend beside him.

"Haven’t you seen this before, Cece?" Silas Norwood asked.

"I’ve seen it on TV, but this is my first time seeing it live. The feeling is completely different from watching it on a screen." Celia Sterling rarely complained about Kian Sterling, but she did now. "Whenever my brother takes me out, it’s always to concerts, symphonies, auctions, or art exhibitions. They’re elegant, I guess, but not this thrilling."

As for her time with other socialites, it was either lavish shopping sprees or aimlessly wandering through clubs and banquet halls. On the rare occasion they did something "elegant," it was just dabbling in traditional arts like the zither, Go, calligraphy, or painting. Celia Sterling felt too embarrassed to even bring it up with Silas Norwood.

"You love having fun so much, Cece. I thought you’d seen it all," Silas Norwood said with a smile in his eyes. "Later, on the top deck, there will be even more thrilling performances: striking iron flowers, fire pots, and a Nuo dance. The visuals are even better than what we’re seeing now. Want to check it out?"

"Yes!" Celia Sterling nodded without hesitation.

The performance lasted over an hour and was finally coming to an end. Celia Sterling tugged on Silas Norwood’s sleeve. "Should we go to the top deck now?"

"No rush. There’s an interactive activity here first. The one up there won’t start until this is over." Silas Norwood gestured for her to look at the stage.

After the stage was cleared, Second Young Master North—the man she had seen while boarding—appeared on stage with another man dressed in fashionable punk attire. Second Young Master North took the lead with the introductions.

"I’m Second Master North of the Apex Group, the organizer of this Hidden Light cruise party. I’m pretty active in the group chat, so I’m sure most of you recognize me. Next to me is my cousin, the Crown Prince of the Hale Group. He’ll be hosting the first part of our interactive session today."

Most members of the cruise club were second or third-generation nouveau riche. While their families weren’t necessarily prominent, a net worth in the tens of millions was the minimum requirement for entry. People like Silas Norwood—a ’dirt-poor pretty boy who used his face as a stepping stone’—were exceedingly rare. Since Seraphina’s Hale Group was a cosmetics giant, most of the guests had heard of it. They all immediately sat up straighter, eager to show their respect for the Hale Group’s Crown Prince.

The Hale Group’s Crown Prince, Eldest Young Master Warren, scanned the crowd, deliberately searching for anyone who looked disrespectful. ’After all,’ he thought, ’someone on the level of the big boss I’m looking for would hardly be deferential to me.’

Among the hundreds of members, his eyes landed instantly on Silas Norwood, who was seated in the center of the front row. This was the man his cousin had described as having no background, who had gotten ahead by relying on female members. Yet his bearing was far too exceptional. Even among a crowd of pampered elites, he stood out like the moon among fireflies. He was utterly captivating; no wonder the female members were so stirred by him.

Silas Norwood’s gaze was indifferent. He met Eldest Young Master Warren’s eyes for a brief, casual moment before looking away, completely unconcerned. That certainly wasn’t respectful! However, Eldest Young Master Warren immediately ruled him out. ’The big boss’s wealth and status couldn’t possibly be connected to someone who’s ’dirt-poor’.’

After searching the crowd for several more minutes, Eldest Young Master Warren zeroed in on a few dozen members. He felt he had a good grasp of the situation now.

He took out an exquisite bottle and placed it in the most conspicuous spot. "For the first round of our activity, I’ll ask a few questions. The member who answers the most correctly will win this prize."

Celia Sterling’s gaze was instantly drawn to the bottle. A sense of familiarity made her glance at Eldest Young Master Warren again and again.

"What is that thing? Perfume or an essence?" a member who didn’t know asked.

While keeping an eye on the crowd’s expressions, Eldest Young Master Warren explained, "This is a bottle of 150-year-old agarwood essential oil, given away in a red envelope lottery hosted by a major figure in the perfume world a while back."

Laymen wouldn’t understand the intricacies of the perfume world, so most people looked uninterested.

Celia Sterling grew thoughtful. ’A red envelope giveaway? And I remember the group owner in the chat occasionally revealing he was the rich heir to a cosmetics group in Seraphina, and last night he was clamoring about coming to the Hidden Light to discuss a contract with Rivermoon. So... this Hale Group Crown Prince in front of me is the group owner, T-Rex Perfume?’

Her expression as she looked at Eldest Young Master Warren instantly turned strange. Setting aside everything else, the Hale Group’s perfume brand, ’Hua Yan,’ and the Sterling Conglomerate’s brand, Delia Caine, had been mortal enemies, locked in a bitter struggle for decades! She immediately decided to keep pursuing Rivermoon. She didn’t have to be the one to sign the contract, but she had to find a way to sabotage the Hale Group’s deal. Otherwise, if they managed to connect with Rivermoon, Delia Caine would face an incredibly tough battle for market share in the future.

"Cece, do you want that bottle of agarwood oil?" Silas Norwood asked with a smile, noticing the faint trace of hostility the girl was trying to conceal.

Celia Sterling recalled Silas Norwood’s limited knowledge of the perfume industry and patiently explained:

"Agarwood is the most prized of the four great incenses, known as the liquid gold of the perfume world. It can’t be artificially synthesized, and a 150-year-old vintage like the one he has is an exceptionally rare treasure. A tiny bottle like that is worth hundreds of thousands. But it’s not even about the money; I couldn’t find it on the market even if I offered millions. The set of perfume concentrates you gave me last time, Silas, had some in it. In all this time, I’ve only brought myself to use a single tiny drop..."

Silas Norwood nodded agreeably. "Then let’s win it."

"That’s only part of it," Celia Sterling continued. "Agarwood is a huge treasure in the perfume world. Logically, the Warren Family’s Crown Prince should be guarding it with his life. The fact that he’s using it as bait, based on my years of understanding my rival, means something must have gone wrong with his contract with the big boss. He’s getting desperate. Once I win this bottle of agarwood oil, I’ll see if I can use it to test the waters..."

Silas Norwood replied, "...In that case, go for it, Cece."

On stage, Eldest Young Master Warren couldn’t care less if anyone else was interested in the agarwood oil. He wasn’t really trying to host an icebreaker. His sole obsession was luring out the big boss. And while the big boss might not be interested in making perfume, he was definitely an authority when it came to raw materials. So, Warren started firing off one question after another about ingredients.

"Where does ambergris come from?"

A girl with a sweet, gentle voice answered from below, "Sperm whales. Only one percent of sperm whales can produce ambergris."

"How many orris roots does it take to extract 1 kilogram of orris oil?"

It was the same familiar, gentle voice, immediately shouting out the answer, "At least 20 tons of dried orris root. The quality of the extracted oil also varies depending on the root’s quality. The best orris root base is at a certain super-manor in Valois, Morellia."

Eldest Young Master Warren paused. "Saffron, known as ’botanical gold’—how many flowers does it take to extract one kilogram of the spice?"

"150,000, minimum..."

...

Eldest Young Master Warren asked more than a dozen questions, and every single one was answered first by the same voice. He looked searchingly toward the source of the voice and met the eyes of the stunningly beautiful Celia Sterling.

While asking the questions, he had been silently observing the few dozen members he had initially targeted. Not a single one of them was interested in these questions. In fact, from their expressions, he guessed they were lumping these fine perfume ingredients in with the cheap body oils you could buy for a few bucks a bottle...

Among the few people who showed any interest, the only one who could answer perfectly was this delicate-looking young woman.

’But the big boss is the person who posted, "My girlfriend’s lipstick is delicious," on their social media. It can’t be a woman, right?’

"Are you sure all the members are here?" he asked Second Young Master North in a low voice.

"Positive. They’re all here," Second Young Master North confirmed.

Doubt began to creep into Eldest Young Master Warren’s mind...

’In today’s open-minded society, it’s not like a woman can’t have a girlfriend, right? Besides, I’ve never heard the big boss’s voice or seen their picture. Who’s to say it can’t be a woman?’

He took a deep breath, walked a few steps closer to Celia Sterling, and stared at her fixedly. Then, he spoke, his voice tentative.

"...Dad?"