When Ms. Kaufman heard what Shade said, her smile froze. She didn't expect that the man next to the wealthy female businessman would speak so rudely, and she didn't expect that he was from Carsonrick's side.
She exchanged a few more words with Audrey before getting up to leave, and even revealed during the conversation that Delarion intended to give a title to the owner of Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals as long as Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals could support some of Delarion's proposals.
Audrey did not express her opinion, but cooperated with Shad to change the subject. She sent her to the cabin door and then sent a maid to take her ashore.
When the cruise ship sailed out of the dock in the rain, the brown-haired lady smiled and said to Shade who was following behind her:
"About Carsenrick's acquaintance, did you say that on purpose?"
"Yes, I can see that you don't want to get involved in the troubles between the two countries. So, letting her know that the Kasenrick people have also begun to contact you will make them treat you more cautiously. Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals is large enough. As long as you maintain a good balance and don't express your views casually, there will be no trouble for the time being."
Shade said, and the witch looked at him curiously:
"I am becoming more and more curious about what your job is."
Shade thought for a moment:
"If there is a chance next week, I will tell you my real name and identity."
After all, Miss Carina will be here next week, and then there will be no need to hide it like this.
The witch was a little surprised, but a smile immediately broke out on her face:
"Okay, then I'll be looking forward to it. When an important guest arrives next week, I'd like to confess something about myself to you."
"Meow~"
As the two were talking, Mia's furry little head suddenly popped out from between the buttons on Shade's chest. After seeing the strange woman in front of her clearly under the light of the gas lamp on the side of the cabin, she immediately shouted at her threateningly:
“Meow!”
"We'll eat soon, don't worry. Besides, she's the one who gave us dinner, not an enemy."
Shade stroked the little head to comfort it, while Audrey looked at the cat carefully:
"Is this your cat? It does look pretty... but not as big as I thought. Do cats like this eat a lot?"
"Yes, I have never seen little Mia look full."
Actually, if you think about it carefully, it doesn't eat much, it's just that the frequency is a little high.
"So why a name like Mia?"
The two turned and walked deeper into the cabin, and Shade said something he had said countless times:
"Actually this is not my cat. It is fostered by a lady whose name I cannot reveal. However, she gives me 10 pounds a month as the cost of raising the cat. She also regularly sends letters to inquire about the cat's condition and even asked me to take a photo with Mia and send it to her."
Xia De felt that the witch beside him was looking at him with increasingly strange eyes.
It was still raining outside, so even if they were eating on the yacht, they couldn't enjoy the scenery while dining on the deck. Audrey felt a little sorry about this, but Shad felt that the warm and comfortable restaurant on the yacht was also very good.
It was obvious that the witch's maids had put a lot of thought into preparing this dinner. The square table was decorated with golden candlesticks and candles mixed with spices, and steaming hot food was prepared in gold and silver utensils. It was not as luxurious as a formal banquet, but Shade and Mia were both very satisfied. Shade especially liked the fried cod fillet with red pepper sauce.
As a guest invited to the dinner, Xia De also brought a bottle of "blood-brewed" red wine made from grapes as a gift in accordance with social etiquette.
"It's really good. This is the best red wine I have ever tasted. What winery produced this?"
As expected, the witch also expressed her appreciation for the liquid that looked like liquid ruby. She looked at the wine glass in the candlelight:
"Looking at the color, I guess a circle wizard must have participated in the brewing process. I'm afraid that even those guys who call themselves potion masters would find it difficult to replicate such a high level of skill."
"I made this using a spell... or rather a divine spell, and it's related to a god who is associated with 'wine'. But that great one has a bad temper, so I won't explain it in detail on this dark, windy, rainy night."
Xia De said this carefully, and stopped Xiaomia from curiously picking up the clam shells on the table.
The witch did not guess that he was talking about the evil god:
"It seems that you had a lot of adventures before coming to the Green Lake area. Who could it be that is the old god related to wine?"
As he spoke, he naturally placed his right hand on the table, raised his forearm to support his slightly tilted head, and looked at the man and the cat in the candlelight with his brown eyes.
The rain outside the boat was still so heavy, but she felt at ease at this moment. Megan's voice in her heart mocked her for being too old and eager to find someone to rely on, but the witch herself mocked another soul, saying that they were one.
The warm yellow light made her feel sleepy. Looking at the interaction between the man and the cat across the table, the witch actually felt a little sleepy. The light became blurry, and as her eyes gradually closed, the light from the candle wick produced strange light and shadow.
In the strange light and shadow of the light source, the person and the cat across the table became increasingly blurred. Finally, the figures of Shade and the orange cat completely melted in the glare, and she then saw the moon and the sun forming a wonderful pattern in her illusion.
The picture made the witch who pursued knowledge feel fascinated for the first time in a long time, as if it represented the ultimate answer to the world. Fortunately, her long-term mental distraction and soul damage made her realize that something was wrong with her. She tried to open her eyes and look at the "sun" again, but it was clearly a young orange and white cat "staring" at her.
As Mia called out "Meow~", the witch was startled, feeling as if she was yelled at by something indescribable. She suddenly woke up from her half-asleep stupor, and then realized that she almost fell asleep just now.
"Feel sorry."
She apologized for her loss of composure, and at the same time felt hot all over, as if a stream of fire was circulating in her body. Shade held the table knife in one hand and the cat in the other, and looked at her curiously with Mia, whose head was lowered, not knowing what was wrong with her.
"I'm going to the bathroom to touch up my makeup."
After saying that, she stood up and left. Xia De looked at her back suspiciously:
"What's wrong with her?"
Although her mental state is better than when you first met her, it has only recovered less than one-fifth of its original state.
"She must be exhausted too, right? She cast quite a few spells throughout the day."
Shad thought to himself, patting and then pawing at his cat, and decided to finish the final investigation as soon as possible after dinner.
Audrey said she was going to touch up her makeup, but she came back very quickly. However, her makeup didn't look much different, and it didn't look like she was touching up her makeup. Of course, Xia De wasn't stupid enough to ask.
After the witch sat down again, she handed a small teardrop-shaped purple crystal bottle to her maid and placed it in front of Shade.
The bottle was made entirely of crystal, but it also had a silver metal base and a metal cap for threading a string. It looked very valuable. Shade had only seen similar objects in the makeup boxes of Resia and Karina. The liquid in the bottle was not easy to distinguish because of the color of the bottle itself.
Audrey says:
"This is my blood, don't you want it?"
Xia De looked at her in surprise:
"I want to check if there is any problem with your family's bloodline. However, you don't even know my real name. Are you really willing to give me your blood?"
Shade asked, and the witch looked at him through the candlelight:
"You mean you could be a con man who preys on women?"
"No, I certainly don't..."
"I seldom trust others, but once I do, I will never doubt them. It's just two drops of blood. It's not a big loss for me. It's the best way to confirm whether you are really worthy of my complete trust."
Xia De understood what she meant, so he put away the bottle of blood and planned to go to Midhill Castle for identification as soon as possible:
"I am very happy to accept this trust test. How about I leave some valuable things as collateral?"
“What’s the point?”
Audrey asked, and Shade thought for a moment:
"It doesn't make any sense, I just want to show my sincerity."
He didn't say anything about leaving his own blood, but reached into his pocket and took out the piece of refined gold ore that he had obtained during the group mission last Thursday night:
"This one, although it's not very valuable, it's not easy to find if you're in a hurry."
The maid held the ore in front of the witch, who looked at it in surprise:
"First it was orichalcum, then it was adamantium. Is your main business the ore business? You don't happen to have mithril, do you?"
Xia De was choked and quickly explained:
"No, no, I'm not in the mineral business."
After thinking for a while, I added:
"But I do have a share in the gold mine. As for mithril... I did have some some time ago, and it was quite large, but I gave part of it to a lady to repair her damaged jewelry, and I used part of it to strengthen my own pendant... Don't look at me like that. Yes, that lady is indeed not the ones I mentioned before, but I am talking about a nun, a nun who is pure-hearted and indifferent."
Shade emphasized, and the witch looked at him with a smile:
"It seems like you are really popular with girls. Well, I will keep this piece of gold with me for now. I will return it to you after you give me the results of my blood analysis."
Xia De nodded, untied the napkin from his chest, and looked out the window again:
"It's still raining, which is good. We won't be discovered easily. It's getting late, shall we set off?"
"Yes, it's getting late."
The witch felt a little regretful, but she also knew that the next thing could not be delayed:
"Let's go."
The boat had been heading south during the meal, so when it was ready to depart, it was clearly close to the entrance of Green Lake.
Of course, Little Mia couldn't be brought along for such a dangerous activity. Audrey decided that she and Shade would go together, and no one else would participate, so Shade wanted to entrust Little Mia to the care of the maids on the ship.
After all, Mia was willing to let Tifa take care of her, so other maids wearing similar clothes would probably be fine. But Shad's idea was still too naive. When he tried to let the witch's maid Jill hold the cat, the cat struggled desperately.
Shade didn't know why the beautiful maid in front of him couldn't do it, or why any maid on the whole ship couldn't do it. He could only attribute it to the fact that Mia was not familiar with these maids, so he had to turn the cat into a toy and put it back in his pocket.
"Your magic can also transform living things?"
The witch was surprised to see this scene.
"I can only transform creatures that fully trust me. So far, apart from this pet cat, I have not found a second living creature that can be transformed. I don't know whether this cat is easily trusting others or is too vigilant."
Shade patted his pocket to make sure he was ready, then made an inviting gesture to the witch at the hatch.