Chapter 309: Chapter 309: Parallel Worlds
Leo was already at the dining place but didn’t want to bother Ashley Shaw by arriving early, so he waited for Ashley’s call.
After receiving her call, he calmly said, "Hmm, the restaurant is booked, I’ll send you the address."
Ashley Shaw looked at the information Leo sent over from the other end of the phone.
[The Nocturne. Address: Westcroft...]
While opening the map and searching, she said, "Okay, we’ll head out in a couple of minutes, approximately when will you arrive?"
Leo gestured to the waiter pouring tea not to make any sound and said, "I’m a bit far from there, should take about ten minutes to get there. Since you’re heading out now, I’ll start getting ready to leave too."
"Hmm, you can leave about ten minutes later, I checked the map on my phone, it’ll take us around thirty minutes to get there. If you arrive too early, I’m afraid you’ll be bored waiting."
Leo responded subtly.
"Okay, I’ll calculate the time to depart."
"Hmm, oh right, there are three of us here, is there enough space reserved?"
"There’s plenty of space, don’t worry and come over."
"Awesome! I’ll hang up now!"
"Okay, see you later."
After ending the call, Leo finally spoke to the waiter pouring tea, saying, "Thank you."
The waiter said, "Of course," and then widened his smile to explain the reason for his approach.
"Sir, today is Sunday, and it’s just our weekly The Empyrean Kingdom banquet day at The Nocturne. So, I wanted to ask if you’d like to dine at the banquet hall? If so, we can arrange a place for you now."
As he spoke, he placed the introduction brochure for The Empyrean Kingdom banquet in front of Leo.
The Empyrean Kingdom banquet allows guests to dine in the specially arranged hall at The Nocturne.
The hall is decorated in the style of The Empyrean Dynasty, with dining zones divided into east and west areas, leaving a space in the center for actors to perform.
Guests participating in the banquet must change into Empyrean Dynasty attire.
The waiter serves the dishes one by one according to the menu, moving to the next course only after finishing the previous one, similar to Japanese omakase, with no self-selection and fully based on The Nocturne’s menu of the day.
This way, it adds more entertainment but loses privacy.
This is because the tables in the east and west zones are small tables for one person, with about ten positions in a row.
So, choosing to dine here means sharing the space with about a hundred people.
The person sitting to your right might very well be a stranger.
Before the Quincy Family’s trouble, Leo was a regular here, familiar with all the customs.
Without looking at the introduction booklet, he directly asked, "Is there space in the private booth on the second floor?"
The waiter was startled for a moment, then realized the guest was a regular.
Because the second-floor private booth is not usually introduced to the public, many visitors don’t even know there are spaces to sit on the second floor.
He withdrew the booklet, showing more respect.
"I’m sorry, sir. The private booths are limited and all have been booked. If you want a private booth, you’d have to wait until the week after next."
Which means next week is also fully booked.
The waiter quickly added, "If you need, I can book the private booth for the week after next?"
"No need."
Waiting until the week after next, the chance would be lost.
"Wait for me two minutes, I’ll call my friend to check."
"Sure, I’ll wait by the door." The waiter politely waited outside.
Leo quickly called Ashley Shaw.
Ashley Shaw didn’t have time to answer before Ariana Grant excitedly said, "Can we see the performance? Let’s go! Let’s see!"
Shane Coleman in the driver’s seat also said, "Sure, why not."
He’s heard of The Nocturne, a high-end place, even if his "friend" shows up, it wouldn’t cause too much commotion.
So there’s no problem.
Ashley Shaw smiled and said to the phone, "Leo, we all want to go."
"Okay, I’ll arrange it for you."
"Hmm hmm."
After the call ended, Shane Coleman looked back and said, "Ashley, your friend is quite something."
Ashley Shaw asked puzzledly, "Why do you say that?"
Shane realized Ashley Shaw didn’t know "The Nocturne" was a very special restaurant.
He chuckled and said vaguely, "It’s a very expensive restaurant."
Ashley nodded, "He’s quite amazing, even though he’s only a few years older than me, he’s already an astronomer."
"An astronomer? Such an unusual term."
"Exactly, it’s the first time I’ve seen a title with ’scientist’ after it. And an astronomer at that," Ariana Grant said.
Speaking of an astronomer, Shane Coleman recalled a news story.
"I heard recently there’s news saying they are doing astronomy research on parallel universes. They say they can use black holes to manipulate time and space."
Parallel universes...
Ashley’s eyelids twitched fiercely.
Only to hear Ariana Grant say, "Parallel universes? Isn’t that only in movies? Lawyer Sterling, where did you see this fake news? Don’t click on those messy online advertisements, your computer could get a virus."
Shane Coleman shrugged with a smile, saying, "It’s not from messy websites, I really saw this research on a very authoritative website. But the research seems to have just started and there’s no actual evidence yet. Science is like that, an idea comes first, then the research starts. Right now, there’s just an idea. Whether it can be realized, who knows?"
"Authoritative website? Then if the research is developed, couldn’t it really let time turn back?"
Shane asked, "If time could turn back, what would you do?"
"I’d tell my fourteen-year-old self to eat less. Eating too much doesn’t necessarily make you taller but definitely makes you fatter. Then I wouldn’t need to diet now."
Shane Coleman laughed heartily.
"Then you should really look forward to this research! Maybe it will be developed soon."
"That would be amazing, then I’ll just wait and not have to diet anymore."
Ariana Grant teased.
Shane Coleman said, "You know, the report really explained quite seriously. It says something like... allowing the parallel world’s self to come to this time and space."
Ashley’s heart sank suddenly, but she casually asked, "Attorney Coleman..."
"Don’t call me Attorney Coleman, call me Lawyer Sterling like Ariana does, I prefer that title."
Ashley didn’t feel like joking, continued to ask, "What’s the name of the authoritative website? I’d like to check it out sometime."
"You’re interested in astronomy? I thought you planned to study medicine?"
"Because I want to turn back time too," Ashley said half-jokingly.
"Then wait a moment, I’ll find out what the website is called when I get back. You suddenly ask, and I can’t recall right now."
Ashley nodded, "Okay, don’t forget then."
"A beautiful lady asks, I won’t forget, don’t worry!"
Half an hour later, the car reached the entrance of The Nocturne.