When Dorothy came back with her clothes, Shad was still busy washing the cat. Little Mia could not resist Shad, so she could only accept his rubbing and washing in the bathtub with a little depression. The orange cat Mia is a short-haired cat, but even so, after washing, because the cat hair was wet and stuck to its body, it still looked a lot thinner.
Although there are machines similar to the "hair dryers" in the hometown of strangers, it is a pity that Shade's family does not have such a steam blower. Therefore, after washing the cat, he did not forget to quickly hug Mia with a large towel, and then carried it to the fireplace to dry it.
The cat stood in front of the fireplace very obediently, and then suddenly shook its body to shake off the water. The wet fur thus "stood up" again, and the clean and tidy orange cat Mia returned to normal again.
It sniffed the smell on its body, and then seemed to have forgotten the humiliation of being caught by Xia De just now. It happily followed Xia De around again, and its arrogant look did not show any sign of the "rage" it had at the beginning of the wash.
Sometimes, Shad really felt that this cat was so emotional that it didn't seem like a cat at all.
In short, although it was not the first time to attend such an important banquet, the preparations before the banquet were still troublesome. It took Dorothy more than two hours to change her clothes, and she even needed Shad's help during the process.
Before they left home on this Sunday evening, Shad did not forget to take the time key given by the elf girl Emilia. Although tonight was a date with Dorothy and Leicia, it would not delay him from leaving for three seconds to start a new and interesting adventure.
Dong Dong Dong~
While Shad was still discussing with Dorothy whether to take the many relics to the party, there was a knock on the door downstairs.
"Have the servants arrived to help you move the statue?"
The blonde girl, who was dressed up in a gorgeous red dress, asked in confusion, looking at the clock on the wall:
"It's not time yet."
It was impossible for Shad to carry the stone statue to the Yodel Palace by himself, and it was even more impossible for him to turn the toy into a stone statue when he arrived at the gate of the Yodel Palace, so he asked Miss Carina in advance to send a carriage to pick him up and move the stone statue to the Yodel Palace as well.
"Not Miss Carina's."
Xia De was also a little confused. He went to the window to take a look, then walked downstairs alone.
After opening the door, I saw my boss, Director Anros of MI6, standing outside the door, holding the brim of his hat with his hands. He walked in:
"Your clothes are really nice... I hope you don't think my appearance brings you bad news again."
Dark Anros said, taking off his hat and holding it in his hand.
"As long as you're not here to tell me that someone is trying to assassinate Princess Ajelina tonight."
Shade said half jokingly.
"We are a peaceful country. How can there be so many assassination cases? Also, do you think too little of your colleagues?"
Director Anlos asked back with a smile, and then stated his purpose:
"As you know, Her Highness Ajelina is already seventeen years old, and His Majesty intends to marry her off... to arrange an engagement for her in the near future. The reason why tonight's birthday party is held at the Yodel Palace is also to gather and examine those possible candidates. It won't delay your enjoyment of the party tonight, but if you have the chance, try to contact the people on this list."
He handed Shade an envelope, and when he opened it, there were three photos and three names:
"Two sons of dukes, one is the son of Marquis Philip of the New World Development Corps..."
"Yes, you will have preliminary contact with these three people tonight. Afterwards, give me an investigation report stating your impression of these three people. This will affect His Majesty's final decision."
After saying this, he lowered his voice:
"Marquis Philip and Miss Carina don't get along very well. He is very reluctant to let Miss Carina interfere in the trade issues of the New World and regards Miss Carina as a separatist of the kingdom. This time when little Philip comes back from the New World, if he meets you at the banquet, he will definitely be hostile to you, so be careful. Oh, speaking of which, the logistics work of the New World Development Corps currently in charge of His Highness Leicia is also constrained by his father."
The relationship between Shade and Leicia was not exposed, but as the director of MI6, it would be strange if Dark Anros didn't even know about it. Of course, he didn't tell the king about it, after all, he was loyal to Miss Carina.
After warning Xia De, he returned to his normal volume and patted Xia De on the shoulder:
"You are the most suitable person to do this task. Of course, there are other ways to get to know them better besides you. So, don't be too nervous about this task. Just do it when you have time. Try to be natural. If there is no opportunity to talk, don't deliberately create an opportunity."
"I see."
Shade nodded, and in his mind he had already begun to think about how to cleverly praise the three young people. He would not use cheap means to directly discredit others, after all, sometimes inappropriate compliments can also be annoying, especially since Shade knew that descriptions such as "very ambitious" and "very active, very concerned about politics and military affairs" were definitely not suitable traits for a princess' spouse in the eyes of Larousse III.
"That saves a lot of trouble."
After bidding farewell to his boss at the door, Shad turned back upstairs. He promised Ajelina to help her escape the arranged marriage, so the original plan was to use Margaret's intelligence and manpower to plant some false impressions of "having had contact with the gray gloves of the Carsonrick agent organization" on those possible marriage partners. This was actually not difficult, and Shad didn't even have to do it.
With Director Anros' temporary mission, it became easier to help Ajelina.
Shad also told Dorothy about the task he had just received. Unexpectedly, the writer came up with a way to make Shad's work easier:
"Just let Ajelina write the investigation report and don't waste your time. Don't underestimate Ajelina because she is only seventeen years old. My sister is not simple at all."
The soul at this time was still Dorothy, but she used the tone of Leicia. Sometimes Shade was worried that the two would not be able to tell each other apart:
"She will be happy to help you complete the report. Leisia is not attracted to her simply because she wants to help her. You can't understand Ajelina's little thoughts, Shade."
As the dim sunset shone over the foggy "Pearl of the North" Tobysk, Princess Ajelina Cavendish's seventeenth birthday party was held as scheduled. Private carriages from all over the city transported the well-dressed gentlemen and ladies to the gate of Yodel Palace. The royal butlers and servants guided the guests at the gate to avoid entering places they should not enter, while familiar people greeted each other, compared their outfits, and praised the decorations made by Yodel Palace for this birthday party.
"Speaking of which, I've always had something strange going on."
Shad and Dorothy walked together on the red carpet. The writer put her arm around Shad's arm, with a serene smile on her lightly made-up face:
"What's so strange?"
"In almost a year of knowing you, I've never heard of any of you having a birthday."
"We don't even want to tell you our birthdays, do we?"
Dorothy Louisa looked around at the guests who came to the banquet, then looked down at the red carpet:
"After the age of eighteen, people usually don't want to take the initiative to celebrate their birthdays. Besides, we are a little older than you... so how can we take the initiative to celebrate your birthday? Oh, my knight, don't you understand? Every birthday is telling the girl..."
She touched her face tenderly:
"The years of youth have moved one step further away. Those beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous and fascinating things have gone away from us for another year. Although I won't reject the flow of time, at least I won't take the initiative to celebrate my birthday."
This way of speaking is quite Dorothy's style.
"You should at least tell me and buy a small cake at home to celebrate, right?"
Xia De said, regretting that he couldn't bring Xiaomia with him.
"So what's your birthday?"
Dorothy changed the subject, resolving not to celebrate her birthday in front of Shad.
"My birthday? The information provided by the school does not record my exact date of birth, but only says it was in the summer. So, I plan to use the day I met the doctor, which was also the day Uncle Sparrow passed away, the day when the silver moon shone, as my birthday."
Dorothy noted the day: it was Saturday, the twenty-second of the Sunny Month, in June.
As the host of the birthday party, the little princess Ajelina dressed up at the entrance of the banquet hall, greeted the visiting guests and accepted their gifts. Miss Carina didn't like to deal with too many people, so she arrived early and chatted with the local ladies she knew in the lounge upstairs. Behind Shad, the servants of the Yodel Palace escorted a cart with a long and narrow wooden box, following Shad and Dorothy closely.
The box was tied with a bow, and it was obviously a gift for Princess Ajelina. People who saw the box were curious about what it was, and this question was answered at the door of the banquet hall.
"Good evening, Her Highness Ajelina."
"Good evening, Mr. Hamilton of Rheed, and good evening, Miss Louisa."
The little princess responded to Shade's greeting appropriately, then looked behind him curiously:
"Excuse me, what is this..."
"This is your birthday gift. I bought a statue of a work of art at a high price. I hope you like it."
Xia De smiled and introduced that it was very impolite to open the gifts in front of the guests, so Ajelina just accepted it with a smile instead of looking at it on the spot.
Then, she took the gift box containing the golden bookmark that Dorothy handed to her. When she looked at Dorothy, Ajelina clearly felt that she was instinctively afraid, but she didn't know why - she didn't know all the secrets of Dorothy and Lesia.
Shad didn't want to stay at the door for too long, so he said hello and took Dorothy to find Leisia. Unexpectedly, at this time, a young man with brown hair wearing a red officer uniform of the Royal Army and black boots strode over.
Chad had seen that face not long ago. This was one of the marriage candidates favored by Larousse III, the eldest son of Marquis Philip, Mr. Daniel Philip.