Time passed quickly. In the first half of the first month of the New Moon, due to another punishment from the Tree Father, Shade did not use any of the time keys. He spent his time on his own life, asking Old John to help him acquire new relics that could temporarily increase his luck, studying the Secret of Immortality and the Semi-God Ice Crystal of the Witch Kroyin, and even sharing the secrets of skin care and youthfulness in the Secret of Immortality with the girls around him.
Of course, during this period, he received a letter from Mia San Gold, the real owner of Little Mia. The lady in the letter thanked Shade for sending Little Mia's photo before the end of the year. This time, Shade finally mentioned in his reply, jokingly, that if Miss Gold was not convenient, she could leave the cat forever in St. Teresa's Square and let him take care of it.
He tried to make his tone in the letter seem joking, and even asked Dorothy to help polish it. After sending the letter, he was anxious about Miss Gold's possible reaction, but the reply would not arrive until next month.
Throughout the first half of January, in addition to two commissions to find lost pet cats, Shad also handled three slightly more complicated but very interesting detective commissions: "The Murder of the Heirs", "The Haunting of the Tobesk Country House" and "The Stolen Pendulum".
The first incident was a fight between brothers in a bored noble family over inheritance rights. Although Shade was threatened not to investigate further with a gun pointed at his head, he still managed to kill the bad guy who wanted to threaten him and Mia.
The second incident was that someone was deliberately pretending to be a ghost and wanted to use Shade's reputation to spread rumors about the haunted house. As a result, Shade's investigation was too thorough, and he uncovered a major case that lasted for two centuries, affected three noble families, involved dozens of victims, and three generations of emotional disputes.
With the help of innocent souls, he finally found the cellar where five victims and dozens of unborn fetuses were buried, and eventually sent more than a dozen people, including the client and his entire family, to prison... However, at least Shad used reasonable means to get his commission fee and became famous in the city.
The entire incident took only three days from the beginning to the end of the investigation.
The third incident was originally a mission to help a local earl find the whereabouts of the jeweled pendulum on an antique wall clock. But when Shade followed the confessed servant and found a group of local gem dealers, he accidentally involved another group of thieves who tried to enter the Yodel Palace to steal and even dug a hole in the ground.
The incident was finally titled "The Thief of the Century" and spread throughout the Old World in a short time. Even Miss Carina in Saradir County and Margaret in a foreign country wrote to inquire about the cause and process of the incident. Unfortunately, because it involved royal secrets, Shad was unable to explain in detail in the letter, but at least he got another chance to be summoned by the king and queen, and Leicia was quite satisfied with it.
Just within these two weeks, the list of honors awarded to the Kingdom of Delarion in 1853 was finally officially released.
At that time, the "Missing Pendulum" case had not yet been solved by Shade, so he did not become a baron from a knight because of his achievements, but he received the "Kingdom Special Contribution Award" medal and a generous bonus, and his rank was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel, which meant an increase in basic allowance.
Captain Rades, who was also looking forward to the list of awards, was not promoted from lieutenant to colonel. However, he also received a "Royal Army Gold Star Service Medal" and was transferred to the newly formed "Pantanal Border Army Third Division" as a battalion commander.
Captain Rades was originally in the Sikar Mountain Defense Zone and was only in charge of specific affairs in the Red Water Camp. Although he was unable to stay in Tobysk this time, his position as battalion commander was a real promotion.
Shade was very happy for the captain and saw him off before he left Tobesk. However, the formation of the Pantanal Border Army also showed that Delarion and Carsenrick had once again set their sights on the swamp area.
Outsiders very much hope that this will not evolve into a fuse of conflict.
As for the "Dlarion Kingdom Literature Award" that Dorothy had been thinking about, the list of winners was officially announced in the first half of the first month of the new moon.
It is worth mentioning that the Kingdom Literature Award is not just one award, but a series of awards, the most important of which is the Kingdom Achievement Literature Award.
It is a pity that no matter how good the sales of "Hamilton's Detective Stories" are, popular literature cannot win such a supreme award in this conservative yet open era.
But the operation of Dorothy's father, the respected Professor Louisa, was quite effective. As an originally unknown female writer, Dorothy actually won the "Best Popular Literature Award".
This award is not particularly important in the entire "Kingdom Literature Award", but it is quite commemorative and representative for the writer.
On the night of the award ceremony, she wore a light gold long dress and invited Xia De to attend the banquet as her male companion. After the banquet, she spent a very memorable night with Xia De.
Although Shade never liked taking photos, he also took a photo with Dorothy, who was wearing a ball gown and holding a trophy. Shade placed the black-and-white photo on the desk in his study. Dorothy was smiling brightly in the photo.
Of course, since he planned to have a good rest for a while, Shad did not forget to fulfill his promise and invited Helen and Grace to visit Tobesk together.
It was the second Sunday after the exam week, the twelfth day of the first month. The girls, wearing black and white long skirts, wrapped in red scarves, walked with Shade through the streets and alleys of the foggy winter city, lingering between the crooked streets and the bustling market.
Xia De made a very detailed plan for the day's activities. Lesia, who was very grateful to Helen and Grace, paid for the entire day's activities and insisted on paying for it herself.
The three of them went to the City Museum, climbed the specially opened bell tower, visited the Three Cats Inn to see the "three cats" there, and visited Regent's Park in winter. They even insisted on taking risks and went to Dawn Square with Shad to buy tourist souvenirs from the vendors in the square, which were bookmarks made of local plants in Tobesk.
Although the Red Butterfly Twins were older than any girl Shad knew, when walking with them on the streets of Tobesk, Shad inexplicably felt that they were really only sixteen or seventeen years old.
Time has left no trace on them, and repeated cycles of pain have also brought them a mind that never ages. Compared to other immortals, the cycle of painful reincarnation at least ensures that their hearts remain young.
That evening, after the three of them had dinner together and returned to Saint Teresa's Square, they met Luvia who happened to be at Shad's house to watch the stars.
At this time, Grace and Helen did not appear separately, but they formed a group of girls who looked to be in their twenties, which made it convenient for Shad to appear in public with them.
"Xia De, are you back? The association notified me that my sublimation words need special preparation, so they are going to send me on a business trip..."
Luvia, who was holding a pile of books on the stairs, saw Shad and the girl behind him and blinked in surprise. Grace Helen looked at her in even greater surprise:
"you... ... "
Luvia's figure was reflected in Hongdie's eyes, and the interlaced shadows revealed another figure that normal people could never see. The special characteristics of the relic allowed Hongdie to peek into the special other self of the mortal in front of her. They couldn't know why the shadow was so special, but before they spoke, Shade said:
"Luvia, let me introduce you to Miss Grace White and Miss Helen Black, whom I have mentioned to you many times. This is Miss Luvia Annette, my future..."
"lover."
Luvia took the initiative to speak, and Shade patted the girl in the black and white dress on the shoulder. The latter smiled knowingly and did not mention her discovery again. Then, in the flying red butterflies, they transformed into the slightly shorter Grace and Helen:
"Sister Luvia."
The two girls looked very well behaved.
Luvia looked at the two girls who were about fifteen or sixteen years old, and then looked at Shade:
"I've heard about you from Xia De a long time ago. Nice to meet you. Although Xia De introduced you, you really look... young."
Xia De felt that he could read a serious misunderstanding of him from her eyes.
In short, even though he has not yet found a way to go to Randall Valley City and has not opened a new time key, Shad's life is still a bit busy, but also very fulfilling.
The steam capital of Tobysk is so charming to outsiders. He lingers in this metropolis, enjoying his peaceful life.
Wednesday, the fifteenth day of the first month of the year 1854, at ten o'clock in the evening, at the Queen Maria Opera House.
As the high-pitched singing reached its climax, the applause from the gentlemen and ladies sitting in the rows of seats in the brightly lit opera house sounded almost like an exploding steam bomb.
This is a famous opera called "Cedrian's Revenge". The script was written in the early days of the Sixth Epoch, when there were no current Delarion and Carsenric. But now in 1854, this is already one of the most famous operas in the entire human world.
The busy year of 1854 had already reached the middle of the month. People who had dealt with many chores since the beginning of the year could take a break. So Her Highness Resia Cavendish invited her sister and Knight Hamilton of Rheged to appear in the opera box together on this noisy night.