This wasn't the first time Shade had expressed his stubbornness, and although it was regrettable, the witch wasn't disappointed.
"I'm fine here, I'm just an ordinary person. Have you finished the matter at the Jodel Palace? I heard from the newspaper that there is an important meeting this afternoon?"
"Important meetings are not as important as you."
Miss Carina looked at Shade:
"It looks like you don't have any other travel plans today. In that case, I'll comfort you. Please accompany me to the party tonight. I originally didn't plan to go, but I remember that we rarely danced together."
The evening banquet was held at Villard Manor in the city. In name, it was Count Villard welcoming his relative, Count Dewey of Carsenrick to Tobesk, but Count Dewey was actually the leader of the second delegation from Carsenrick, and his status was similar to that of the leader of the first delegation, the annoying Count Lewis.
This banquet was actually ordered by the king to privately contact the Carsenrick delegation to complete the last unofficial "tacit agreement" before the formal negotiations in the Green Lake area. Therefore, many Carsenrick nobles who were stationed in Tobesk were invited to the grand banquet, and even the Carsenrick ambassador to Delarion was invited to attend.
This should be the first time that Shad attended such a high-profile banquet as Miss Carina's male companion. When the maids were helping him prepare his dress at home, Shad was still worried about seeing Resia at the banquet, but fortunately Resia would not attend the banquet. Only Ajelina was asked by King Larousse III to attend.
Spring has arrived, and banquets held outdoors in the manor no longer need to consider temperature restrictions, so the ladies' evening dresses are no longer as bulky as in winter. When the lights came on, the carriage drove up a slope and stopped at the gate of the manor surrounded by white walls. Shade, who got off the carriage first, found that the ladies' clothes were very different from winter.
Of course, he did not forget to turn around and held Miss Carina's hand in a gentlemanly manner, asking her to get off the carriage as well. The witch was wearing a red dress with shiny silver thread sewn on the hem, which could better set off her tall figure under the light.
She seemed to be in a good mood, motioned to Shade to take her hand, and walked into the manor with her. There was no maid following her. Now Tifa and the other maids had already gone to the lounge in the manor specially prepared for Miss Carina. She had to meet a few guests in a while.
The guests who came to the banquet kept nodding to the Duchess, and as the beautiful witch walked onto the red carpet in the manor courtyard, she looked at the colorfully decorated front yard, the paper boats with candles floating in the narrow waterway on the ground, and the tables with food, and smiled and whispered to Shade:
"Before I met you, I never thought that one day I would be like my mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, holding a man's hand and attending an important banquet in the kingdom."
“There will be more opportunities like this in the future.”
Shade replied in the same soft voice, which made the witch's powdered cheeks look even redder.
Because it was not a formal banquet, the atmosphere in the manor was very relaxed that night. In the past, Miss Carina always sat and chatted with the noble women she knew, but since Xia De was with her today, she could enjoy the atmosphere of the banquet like an ordinary person.
Of course, before that, Miss Carina first met the owner of the manor, Count Willard, and then, through the introduction of Mrs. Willard, she met her cousin, Count Dewey of Carsonrick. Compared with Count Lewis, this tall and thin southern nobleman can obviously be called a qualified gentleman. Although he speaks in a pretentious tone, compared with Count Lewis, who is called "the pig of Willendel", this small problem is not a problem at all.
People holding glasses of wine were chatting and talking beside a long table in the courtyard with cooked food and snacks, when the ambassador of Carsenrick came over. Although the stranger had been in this world for nearly a year, this was the first time he had seen this gentleman.
They chatted in Drarion, talking about the weather and food in Tobesk, and the schedule of the Green Lake delegation, and then Miss Carina extended an invitation to Count Dewey to visit Yodel Palace tomorrow.
Shade stood beside Miss Carina as a foil, and did not speak the whole time. He felt that his smile was almost stiff. Fortunately, he could admire Carina Cavendish's profile at such a close distance. Amid the background noise of the lively open-air banquet, he watched the warm night breeze pass through the long tent illuminated by gas lamps, blowing the red hair around her ears.
Miss Carina's ears seemed to be turning slightly red, and then she put her hands behind her back and pinched Shad lightly, obviously warning Shad not to look at her so blatantly.
Shade looked away, and then heard someone calling his name softly. So he temporarily left the conversation, and then found that it was an unfamiliar Carsenrick woman who was looking for him.
"Her Royal Highness Margaret sends you her regards, Mr. Hamilton."
The brown-haired lady in her thirties wearing a blue dress greeted him in a low voice and handed a letter to Shade. Then she spoke in a normal voice:
"I am the sister of Countess Dewey. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hamilton. I have read about your performance in the City Tournament in the newspaper. When I met you in person, I was even more impressed than what was described in the newspaper."
The lady even asked for the blessing written by Shade on paper for her two nieces, and then left with satisfaction. Shade put the letter away and returned to Miss Carina. They were talking about the import and export trade between Delarion and Carsenrick, which was probably caused by tariffs.
"We signed the last tariff agreement ten years ago. The agreement took half a year to negotiate. I was a secretary at the meeting and remember the situation very clearly."
Count Dewey smiled and said:
"At that time, in order to obtain financial subsidies from Carsenrick for wheat, industrial alcohol, and special air bags for the Mark III special steam engine, you, Delarion, demanded higher tariffs. This alone took two months to discuss."
"In addition to these, there are also special subsidies for the transmission shafts of large steam locomotive ships and the development of steam floating airships. Delarion also has a lot of opinions on this."
Standing next to Miss Carina, Shade spoke up and smiled at the Duchess's surprised expression:
"But later we found out that Delarion also had subsidies for special alloys, so the two sides reached a mutual understanding in the agreement and finally reached terms that satisfied both countries. I believe that this time's Green Lake negotiations will also have a satisfactory result, just like the past."
He raised the glass in his hand slightly:
"Ten years ago, before the tariff agreement, the whole city was in an uproar, but we managed to get through it safely."
Count Dewey nodded unexpectedly:
"This is Hamilton from Rejade, right? Yes, you are right. We all need to have faith. Faith is more precious than gold."
It was not until she politely said goodbye to the two earls and began to enjoy the atmosphere of the open-air banquet with Shade that Miss Carina could not help but ask curiously:
"How do you know these things? Even I only know the information about the meeting ten years ago."
"Oh, Karina, please don't think of me as a useless man who lives off you."
Xia De said, straightening his tie:
"Now that I'm standing by your side, I certainly won't embarrass you. Although I'm not interested in politics, it doesn't mean I don't know anything."
"But you still didn't answer, how do you know those things."
The witch asked curiously, looking at Shad's handsome face under the gas light in the courtyard.
Xia De explained softly:
"One of the members who represented Delarion in the tariff negotiations was my neighbor, Mr. Smith, the former chief financial secretary of the kingdom. And I know something about him."
In fact, after Shade defeated the twin monsters in the sixth era of the past life, he obtained some important life memories of Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith. The conclusion of the tariff agreement was one of the most important political achievements in Mr. Smith's life. Shade had read it once in his memory, and with the help of the "Silver Moon Library" to enhance his memory and "her", he was able to say it casually just now.
"Shad, you always act like you know everything, so now do you know what I'm thinking?"
The witch asked with a smile, and stopped with Shade, looking at the magician who was invited to perform "steam magic" in the courtyard. This kind of magic usually involves complex machinery, so it is also called "mechanical magic", and at this time the magician was trying to make a bird assembled with mechanical gears fly.
"What you are thinking is what I am thinking too."
Xia De said softly, and then the witch patted his arm, and she scolded him:
"Really, how can you think about that here? You lecherous, loose man."
She was smiling in the night, under the gas lamp in the courtyard, among the crowd. She looked younger and more charming than usual. Xia De even felt that his heart was touched.
So, in accordance with his own wishes, Shade suddenly kissed Jialina lightly on the side of her face, which made her blush even more gorgeous. She did not blame Shade for his contempt, but covered her mouth and lowered her head to laugh softly. At this moment, her figure was almost completely overlapped with Leicia's.