After greeting the doctor, Xia De took a carriage to the city on the other side of the lake. Every time he passed the army camp near Crossroads Village by carriage, he could see a different scene. Today, when he arrived at the camp at sunset, he unexpectedly found that the expansion of the camp had been completed for the most part, and it was obvious that there were more soldiers in the camp.
Continuing to walk inside, I was surprised to find that there was another small camp outside the exit leading to Carsenrick on the side of the camp.
"An old southern military camp."
Captain Rades came over to greet Shad and said, standing with Shad, watching the soldiers on the north and south sides busy reinforcing the camp fortifications in the sunset.
At this time, simple towers made of metal pipes and metal clips have been built on both sides of the camp to facilitate reconnaissance from high places. Moreover, Shade noticed that not only the side leaving Dlarion had to be inspected, but also the side entering Carsenrick had to be inspected.
"As I recall, the Carsenrick camp is about a mile to the southeast, isn't it?"
"We are also temporarily increasing our forces. It is said that this is an order from the bigwigs in the capital as a way to show a strong attitude in the negotiations."
The captain shook his head.
"Detective, the recent situation is not right. Although it seems calm on the surface, even the low-level soldiers can see that this escalating confrontation is bound to cause problems. You should be careful in Mikaela Blast Furnace City. I heard that people who look like Draerion will be insulted and abused there."
Xia De was not worried about this:
"Have you received any other orders recently besides accepting new soldiers and expanding the camp?"
The captain did not hide the truth from Shade:
"Increase vigilance, and do not fire towards the south without permission. Also, increase the intensity of searching for spies, and require soldiers on patrol to carry guns and a certain amount of bullets. We are given limited authority to open fire within the territory of Delarion."
Schade did not ask Captain Raddes whether he thought a situation would actually occur in the Green Lake area that would require the use of firearms. This question was meaningless.
Although Carsenrick also set up a checkpoint on the other side of the military camp at the intersection, fortunately their inspection was not as strict as that on Draerion's side, and they let Shad pass after just a few questions.
He then took a carriage to the city and successfully found the local "Glass Bottle Theater" in the big city on the south bank of the lake. The visit of the "Golden Dawn Opera Company", which was famous throughout the Old World, aroused the enthusiasm of the citizens. In the carriage, Shade heard the driver mention that it was difficult to buy tickets tonight.
Even though Miss Vanessa Benanis has not performed on stage for many years, the Golden Dawn Opera Company's reputation is still astonishingly great.
Margaret arranged in advance for a maid to wait for Shad on the first floor, and took Shad to the box on the fourth floor through a hidden staircase on the side of the opera house.
Miss Benanis and Hillis were managing the backstage, so they didn't show up. Audrey, who came with Miss Sylvia at noon, was not here either.
"Teacher Sylvia is not coming tonight. She said that there was an interesting space folding phenomenon in the east of the city, which caused the matter in the two spaces to completely overlap, thus producing a high-density alloy. She wants to investigate. Miss Edwards went with the teacher, but she said she would only be half an hour late and would be here soon."
Margaret said to Shade, who nodded and didn't care:
"I saw on the sign downstairs that tonight's play is 'Bell Tower Lovers'?"
"Yes, Miss Carina said that you have been studying this fairy tale recently, and Miss Benanis specially arranged this performance."
The blonde princess was in high spirits. After Xia De sat down, she blinked at him, then leaned forward and kissed Xia De's cheek:
"Is this the first time we've been alone together since we came to the Green Lake area?"
"Yes, every time we meet, it's always so busy."
"I thought you'd bring your cat... Oh, come have a drink with me."
She waved her hand to let the maids go out first, and then poured two glasses of red wine herself. Although Xia De didn't like drinking, low-alcohol red wine was still okay.
After clinking glasses, both of them took a sip, and the blonde princess's face turned red.
"Margaret, how does it feel to be a witch's apprentice?"
"It's a little different from what I expected, but I really learned a lot. Miss Benannis is very nice to me, and Miss Lathers has been helping me. But to be honest, I feel that my talent is really poor."
Although she expressed her worry in her words, she actually hugged Xia De's arm:
"I can't compare with the maid of Duke Carina. Both teachers think highly of Miss Servet. Sometimes I have nightmares. In the dreams, Teacher Benannis and Miss Lasers found that I was not suitable to be a witch apprentice at all, so they expelled me from the parliament."
She said these words partly because she wanted to start a suitable topic, and partly because she really wanted to express her own troubles. When she was in Willendel City, there was no one that Her Royal Highness could say these words to.
So Shad talked to her about other witch apprentices he knew. He was not very familiar with Miss Aurora's niece, but he was very familiar with Miss Rita Swift from Cassandra's mother-in-law.
As they chatted, Margaret unknowingly kicked off her high heels and sat sideways on the sofa. Shade was originally talking about his views on witches and witch apprentices, and wanted to see what Margaret had learned recently.
At this moment, he suddenly found that the blonde princess's smiling eyes were getting closer and closer to him. Fortunately, the human race has a "nose", so before her eyes hit Shade's eyes, the blonde princess tilted her head slightly and kissed Shade.
Shad didn't know when the opera on the stage below the box started, but at least he knew that Margaret was indeed thinner than the last time they met.
Her Royal Highness the Princess has been under a lot of pressure in recent months. Although she and Xia De have had several communications, it was only when they actually met and were alone that the suppressed emotions in her heart really burst out.
Of course, she would not have her first private affair with Shade in such a place, but there was still excessive intimacy and tenderness. The two hugged each other, and Shade listened to Margaret talking about the things in Willendel in the past two months and the new power she had gained. Margaret was also a ring magician who was good at the power of "enlightenment", but unlike Leicia and Dorothy, her core spirit rune earth puppet and poet made her choose to manipulate puppets, so she always carried a puppet she made with her.
After becoming a witch apprentice and learning the power of memory from Sirius, she is trying to make puppets out of clay and give them powers with the threads of memory, even to the point where they are almost the same as living people. This is difficult, but it is enough to keep her on the path to the thirteenth ring.
In addition to this knowledge, after becoming a witch apprentice, she also learned many incredible secrets about the Witch Council. Because she saw more and knew more, she could better understand what Shade had been doing all along:
"Knight~"
She kissed Xia De's neck gently, her eyes were a little blurry, and her messy blonde hair half covered Xia De's face. Compared with the red-haired princess, the blonde princess of the South Country was passionate but more restrained.
Her arms were already around Shade's neck, listening to Shade's response to her every word. The topic shifted from the life of a witch apprentice to the current situation. Margaret didn't really want to talk about this, because she couldn't be sure of the direction of the next Green Lake negotiations:
"Did your princess say anything?"
"Lecia was disappointed that she couldn't come to Green Lake, but she also knew that her father wouldn't let her participate in everything. As for this negotiation...Lecia didn't express her opinion, and she's probably just waiting and watching."
"In fact, there are more people who want to start a controllable local war than those who want peace. However, I heard that the church is lobbying the two countries to suspend negotiations, and the newspapers plan to spread the word among the people... Let's not talk about this."
She kissed Shade again, and this time she didn't even care about the etiquette of a royal lady. She covered Shade's legs with her skirt and sat sideways in Shade's arms.
"I've thought about it."
She whispered in Shade's ear:
"Now the Duke and my brother are both refusing me to interfere in the next few important negotiations. In this case, I will simply withdraw. I have a hunch that no matter what the outcome of this negotiation is, people in the future will not leave a good reputation for the participants in history books. Instead of this, I might as well concentrate on helping the two teachers and dealing with other difficult matters."
Since the Battle of Randall Valley, Margaret seemed to have changed her view of her life and the world. Shade understood what she meant and nodded slightly:
"That's good. You can learn a lot from following Miss Benanis. And if you withdraw from the negotiations, those hidden assassins will not pay attention to you."
"You're concerned about me, Knight?"
"Yes, isn't this the way it should be?"
Margaret, who was wearing a lipstick that Shade couldn't tell what shade of red it was, smiled brightly. Listening to the passionate soprano voice coming from outside the box, she bit her lip and asked in Shade's ear:
"Did you and the teacher, I mean Miss Sylvia, ever do this the afternoon I came back from the meeting and the study was filled with fabric boxes?"
This was followed by a short sentence that only the two of them could hear.
Xia De was a little surprised that the princess of the royal family could actually say such words:
"This is a privacy issue between Miss Sylvia and me. I can't talk about it without her permission."
The blonde princess's eyes were full of smiles, and she reached out to the top button of Shade's shirt:
"Then... give it a try."