The rain never stopped, and when the group left the villa, it even got heavier. Rain clouds covered the entire Green Lake area, and the two cities on both sides of the river were equally hit by the heaviest rainstorm since the spring of 1854.
After leaving the villa, Megan took her maids and Shade back to the cruise ship anchored on the Duin River. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon, and it was almost time for dinner.
There was definitely no time to go to the Glass City, so the last remaining target for today was the private cruise ship of Rotten Eye Barry docked in Green Lake. Based on the clues found in the first three locations, Megan believed that the cruise ship should have the most direct connection between the cultists and the island.
Shad didn't care about this, but he had accepted Megan's invitation, so he planned to go home and bring Mia over so that the cat could also enjoy a good dinner. When saying goodbye to Megan, Megan even sent someone to send Shad back to the Green Lake Hotel - even though she knew Shad would definitely not live there, and smiled and said that maybe Shad would need his help when he came back.
Today he thought he would be able to go home in the evening, so he did not ask the girls to help take care of the cat. Therefore, when he returned home, he thought no one was home, but when he walked out of the basement where the crystal shoes landed, he unexpectedly saw Luvia's shoes on the shoe rack in the hallway on the first floor.
"Luvia, are you off work so early?"
Shade shouted upstairs, and the voice of the purple-eyed girl came from the third floor immediately. She was busy in the room where the astrology equipment was set up, and Shade thought that if Luvia hadn't eaten dinner yet, he would not go to eat with Megan.
"I didn't leave work early. I took a leave of absence to come here early to set up the equipment. The association has confirmed that the lunar eclipse at the end of the month will occur next Wednesday, which is the 30th day of the Sowing Month. In the morning, the doctor brought me a notice from the academy, asking all students of the correspondence astronomy academy in the central region of the Old Continent to record the star signs in advance."
Today is the 21st day of the Moon of Seed, and it seems that the astrological records need to be very comprehensive.
When Shade picked up Little Mia who came to greet him and walked up the stairs, Luvia was still upstairs. Shade also came to the third floor and looked at the purple-eyed girl leaning forward slightly in front of the astronomical telescope, looking at the sky with the setting sun:
"Shad, you should take your cat to dinner. I think I'll be busy for a while."
She said this without turning her head, but her tone sounded very excited. After all, an astronomical phenomenon like a "lunar eclipse" doesn't just happen.
"So do you need me to bring you anything? Megan Edwards invited me to dinner, I can pack something to bring back."
Luvia finally turned her head, but she still didn't straighten her back:
"What? A lady invites you to dinner, and you want to pack food for another lady? Oh, Shade, how did you become..."
She joked, then turned back to adjusting her stargazing equipment:
"You can bring anything you want, or I can just eat bread at home."
"How can that be? I'll bring you food when I come back. It's past five now... I'll be back around seven-thirty."
Considering that they had to go to Green Lake, Shad extended the trip a little.
"It's OK to wait a little longer. This is different from observing the sea of star whales last fall. Observing the lunar eclipse requires more equipment..."
She turned around again and asked Xia De with an expression that was one part shy, three parts bold, and six parts teasing:
"Why, when I bent over, did you finally notice that I have a nice figure? Your eyes were focused the whole time."
"Oh, I..."
"Why are you in such a hurry? I'm definitely not leaving tonight."
The purple-eyed girl said generously, and waved to Little Mia:
"This time, you'll probably have to sleep in the closet again."
It can be seen that the cat is obviously the most unhappy one at this moment.
After bidding farewell to the busy Luvia, Shade took Mia back to the Green Lake area. Before entering the hidden wall, he turned the cat into a toy, but when Shade reached out to touch the ancient god statue, he looked at the items piled up by the wall.
Although he thought nothing would go wrong tonight and that it would not be very dangerous to check the cruise ship, he thought it would be better to be cautious since he was taking the risk and the abnormal cloud column that appeared above the central island in the afternoon was still vivid in his mind.
He first looked at the Night Watchman, then shook his head:
"No, it's not that exaggerated."
Then he reached out and picked up the "Felianna Notebook", took out the two cards sandwiched between them, and put "Twin Lovers" into his pocket:
“Safety first.”
Then, he put the red leather-covered book that Miss Danister had given him, which was the alchemical item that could release the magic of the thirteen-ring sorceress, into his pocket. Finally, he put the small book with the angel feather on his body.
Now, Xia De felt much more at ease.
Considering that Xiaomia rarely hangs out in Green Lake, Shad walked out of the wall of the hotel warehouse and restored the cat.
Although it was raining on the ground, the basement was still dry. The cat obviously liked this place where a lot of food was stored, but unfortunately it was not the time to let it eat yet.
When leaving the hotel through the back door, Shad stuffed the cat into the inside pocket of his coat and opened his umbrella, and then he did not forget to check on the boy in the trash can.
The boy was still gone, but everything Shad had left in the morning had been taken away. The boy couldn't write, so he left a drawing in his trash can, smearing soot on newspaper.
Xia De didn't quite understand the meaning of the painting, but he could guess that the boy had a place to shelter from the rain in this kind of weather.
After all, it didn't look like this was his first year wandering here.
"After Green Lake is over, I can... No, I can't think about that now."
Holding an umbrella, he walked back to the front door of Green Lake Hotel from the back door, and then boarded the carriage prepared by the witch for him. On a rainy evening, there was no one on the street, and the carriage with the "Paradise Island Pharmaceutical" logo carried Shade all the way to the dock.
The witch's cruise ship was moored at the pier. Shade handed the umbrella to the maid and walked towards the cabin with the cat in his arms. The red-haired head maid motioned for Shade to wait in another room first:
"The lady is meeting a guest and will be finished in ten minutes. Please go and have a cup of hot tea first. Dinner is ready. In addition, in five minutes, please knock on the door and go to the lady directly... The lady needs someone to see her with a man."
Xia De nodded in understanding. The big witches probably all have the same troubles recently.
Then, he noticed that the young maid in front of him looked at the cat he was holding. She pursed her lips and made a restrained expression. It can be seen that she should also like a cute cat like Xiaomia.
The stranger who met the witch was also a woman, the wife of the mayor of Green Lake, the daughter of the Earl of Chichester, Ms. Sarah Kaufman. It is said that the current mayor Roland Kaufman was able to become the mayor because of the power of his wife's family.
Of course, this kind of thing must never be said in front of the mayor.
Ms. Kaufman came to Megan because the ongoing negotiations between the two countries required the presence of some important business representatives. Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals certainly met the requirements, but the problem was that it was difficult to classify Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals as a company of a certain country. They had businesses in both Delarion and Carsonrick, and the registered place of Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals was in the Principality of Milson, which was independent of the two countries.
Therefore, Delarion asked Ms. Kaufman to contact Megan first to test her ideas, and then send more important people to contact her. If they can find an opportunity to let Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals announce that it is a Delarion company, it would be even better.
But Megan and Audrey would have to be crazy to do that.
Xia De then went to a nearby cabin to drink a cup of hot tea. After the maid knocked on the door to indicate that it was time, he hid Mia, who was very conspicuous, in his pocket, and then went to the top floor of the cruise ship and knocked on the door of the reception room.
"Come in."
A familiar voice came from inside the door. Judging from the heat from the pendant on her chest, it should be the witch Audrey who was speaking, not the sorceress Megan.
Xia De pushed the door open and saw a lady with brown shoulder-length hair and a plump lady with an oval ring on her finger sitting opposite each other, and their maids stood on one side of the masters. The lady should be the mayor's wife. She was quite elegant, but she looked over 40 years old. Even with makeup, she couldn't hide her old age.
The witch, whose actual age was unknown, sitting opposite her looked even younger.
Xia De pretended to be surprised and said:
“Meghan, I didn’t know you had a guest. Jill just said you were here, so I came straight over.”
The warm yellow light in the cabin illuminated the lazy witch. She waved to Shade:
"Sweetheart, why are you here just now? Come here."
Xia De accepted the title with a smile and sat next to her. The witch also introduced herself to Ms. Kaufman:
"This is... my new friend."
After saying this, he winked at the forty-something noblewoman:
"Please don't tell anyone about this. I'm not ready yet."
Ms. Kaufman smiled and nodded, with an expression of understanding:
"So do you agree to the proposal just now? The ball next week will welcome Duke Carina Cavendish to our city. It will be very lively."
"are you going?"
So the witch asked Shade in a very gentle voice. Shade made a thoughtful expression, and his left hand naturally stretched out and rested on the back of the sofa, as if he wanted to embrace the young lady with brown hair:
"Megan, I told you not to always arrange my affairs. But if time permits, you can consider attending... Will there be any members of the Carsonrick delegation? I am familiar with several representatives in the delegation. If I meet them, it might be a little awkward."