Chasing Time

“Next, we have the most noble recipient of the Order of the Garter, the Grand Cross of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Grand Cross of the Bath, the Victoria Cross and the lower grades of Knighthood, the leader of the anti-colonial movement, the bell-ringer of the East India Company, the hero of the Crimean War, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a lifelong dear friend of literary giants such as Dickens and Great Dumas, a steadfast supporter of scientific luminaries like Faraday and Darwin, having served as assistant under-secretary, deputy under-secretary, and permanent under-secretary in departments of the Home Office and the Navy Department of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the inaugural Cabinet Secretary and head of the civil service, the first graduate and most distinguished alumnus of our school. Please welcome Sir Arthur Hastings to deliver a speech on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the University of London.”
Arthur's gaze swept across the crowd before him, looking at the young faces and murmured, “Agares, what do you think I should say?”
The Red Devil's wraith hovered behind him, saliva almost dribbling from the corner of his mouth, “Look at these ignorant souls; they still worship you as a hero. Why not say something they'd like to hear?”
Arthur took a deep breath and let out a deafening roar, “Oxford is a bunch of whores' bastards!”
“Oh!!!!”
The audience erupted into thunderous applause.
“Cambridge is the same!” he added immediately.
The applause grew even more fervent...
(The protagonist, possessed by a devil, travels through 19th-century Britain in a world without magic)

The Shadow of Great Britain

London, inside a small building on the streets of the Mayfair District.


Brilliant sunshine filtered through the glass, illuminating Mrs. Norton's delicate makeup. It seemed to echo the lady's succinct and powerful motto — indeed, we are quite beautiful.


Perhaps due to the long-standing marital strife of the past few years, Mrs. Norton, although quietly sitting there without any expression and acting as a model, always had a kind of indescribable weariness between her brows and eyes.


Arthur and Disraeli, each with a stool, sat opposite her. These two typically talkative young men were now unusually silent, feeling an inexplicable awkwardness between them.


It was at this moment they realized that accompanying a married lady to a portrait painting session ought to be the affair of her husband or perhaps a lover. What then were they doing here?


Chapter 204: The Women's Friend (4k4)