As promised, the princess hosted a dinner for Shade in the restaurant of Sofia's mansion. The table was filled with silverware and plates, so Shade got to know more dishes and experienced the luxurious life of the top nobles of that era. Compared with dangerous adventures, this was the real "experience".
The species in this world are very similar to those in his hometown, and the different cooking methods can also bring him some new flavors. The dish that impressed Xia De the most was "Cold Water Port Ice Fish". The stewed fish was placed in hot fish soup, but the fish belly was filled with frozen cream, and the frozen cream was filled with caviar.
The unique blend of cold and warm flavors and the umami taste of fish brings out the flavors of fish, cream, caviar and soup to the extreme.
Unfortunately, Shad doesn’t like caviar, so he didn’t enjoy the dish.
Compared to this complicated fish dish, what Shade liked more was the white bread as a side dish. He had eaten so many breads in this world, but it was not until this time that he really tasted the taste of his hometown.
Seeing Shade's stunned expression in the light of the candlestick, Lecia thought there was something wrong with the bread, so she immediately asked the maid beside her to check the bread.
Xia De shook his head and told the maid not to come over:
"Thank you very much, Leicia."
The princess blinked, not knowing what Shade meant. But seeing how happy he looked, she didn't ask any more questions. After all, Shade always looked very secretive.
Halfway through dinner, a middle-aged man in a Delarion Army uniform knocked on the door and walked in. He lowered his head and handed Lecia a folded letter, then turned and left without even looking at Shade.
Xia De was not curious about other people's affairs, but Leicia took the initiative to tell Xia De the content of the letter:
"It's a letter from Tobesk. Father intends to sign a new trade agreement with Carsenrick next week to allow the export of the previously regulated Type III special alloy. Oh, this special steel is the main material for the barrels of steam cannons and the pistons of super-powerful steam engines. Although both countries can manufacture it, Delarion's craftsmanship is better."
As she spoke, the middle-aged maid, Ms. Hels, who was standing behind Leicia, handed the princess a box of matches. Leicia nodded apologetically to Shade, stood up and walked to the window, and the young maid who was standing next to Shade handed her an empty plate.
Leicia used a lit match to light the letter in her hand, then placed it on the plate. She made sure that the letter was completely burned to ashes before turning back to the dining table.
She said nothing, and Shade asked nothing. Shade knew that having the surname Cavendish meant more than noble birth, wealth, and power that ordinary people could hardly imagine.
"Come to think of it, among the ring sorcerers I know, Miss Carina seems to be the only one who lives the most comfortable life."
But she bears the curse of the witch.
"She" whispered in Xia De's ear, Xia De nodded and shook the grape juice in the wine glass:
"Sure enough, no one's life is perfect. My life now is good enough."
It was already eight o'clock in the evening when Shad, soaking wet, returned home. After dinner, Leisia wanted to keep Shad for a while to discuss the "Little Match Girl" with her, but Shad missed his cat at home, and Dorothy was still helping him look after the house, so it was inconvenient for him to go back too late.
As they walked up the stairs, Dorothy heard footsteps and stood on the second floor holding Mia, looking down.
Seeing that it was Shade who had returned, Mia was extremely excited. She broke free from the writer's hand and hopped down the stairs. But when she got closer, she found that Shade was soaking wet and hesitated on the higher stairs. The cat turned around and returned along the stairs. Then, she was hugged by the blonde girl who couldn't help laughing:
"Good evening, Shad. Look, your cat is really heartless. Oh, tell me, did you swim from your basement to Coldwater Harbor?"
"You guessed it right."
Xia De wiped his hair with the towel he had placed on the shoe cabinet:
"Have you had dinner yet?"
"Of course I did. Leicia told me that she would invite you to dinner. Your cat and I will have to solve the problem of eating by ourselves."
"Mia is not my cat yet."
Shad whispered, and he and Dorothy went into the second-floor room.
She was not planning to stay here any longer. It was already late at night, so after simply packing her belongings, Dorothy, who was helping to look after the house, prepared to leave.
But before she left, she said one more thing:
"Do you know what little Mia likes to do when you leave her home alone?"
"Maybe sleeping on the sofa?"
Shad guessed.
"No no, he was acting weird today when I was at your house."
The two stood in the hallway downstairs, and Shad planned to see Dorothy off before taking a bath.
"What happened to it?"
Xia De pointed upstairs and asked suspiciously:
"Can he suddenly fly? Can he suddenly talk? Or does he suddenly have some extraordinary abilities?"
He did not forget that the cat had once absorbed divine power.
"Of course not. Why would you think that? Mia loves going to room two on the second floor."
That is the room where a mass suicide once took place and now there is no furniture in it.
"I don't know what it wants to do. After I followed it in, I could only see it sniffing around..."
The blonde lowered her voice:
"Shad, there won't be a rat hole in your house, will there?"
"It is absolutely impossible. My kitchen can't even support Little Mia and me, so how can I have mice? And, Dorothy, do you really think that timid cat has the courage to go to trouble with mice?"
Dorothy thought for a moment, and then she laughed too:
"That's fine. Oh, when are you going to see Lecia next time? Have you talked to her?"
"I'll go on Monday. There's nothing for me to do there right now. I'm still short of 15 credits. Even if I defeat the evil god again in Coldwater Harbor, I won't get a single point."
It was Wednesday night, and there were still two and a half days until Saturday afternoon. Shade was not particularly panicked. Tomorrow, Father Augustus invited him to go on an adventure, and Iluna would be back soon. He only needed to completely contain a relic of clerical level or above, and then pay a small vial of mercury, which would fully satisfy his 15 credits.
If all else fails, he can even ask Miss Carina for help. The generous Duchess will surely be happy to help.
Thursday came, and Shad woke up half an hour earlier than usual. When he got out of bed, he woke up the cat who was sleeping curled up next to his pillow, which made it very unhappy.
Today is the day when Iluna returns from the Church of the Sun. The brave performance of the brown-haired girl on the night of the God's Descent in Tobesk proved her identity as the Chosen One. She returns to the Church to accept the reward and the old gentlemen stationed in the Church want to talk to her about the Chosen One.
The train was expected to arrive at Tobesk Station at 7:30 in the morning, but because trains in this era were never on time, Shad planned to leave earlier.
He hurriedly finished his breakfast, and seeing that the cat, who had a very punctual schedule, had not yet woken up, he put cat food and goat milk next to the dining table and let Mia eat them directly. Then he grabbed the newspaper and coat and hurried out.
It only rained for half a day in Tobesk yesterday, and even the road surface was completely dry this morning. Today is the first day of August. When Shade came to this world, it was the end of June. June was called the Sunshine Month, and the following July was called the Thunder Month because July had more rain. August also has a nice name, which is the Flower Month.
This is the middle month of the year and the last month of summer. Flowers bloom most vigorously in August, and there are celebrations and customs in various parts of the Old World.
Of course, you can't see it in the city.
It was only 6:20 when I left the house, but I looked out from the carriage with a newspaper and saw that the city was already bustling. The lower-class citizens who were busy working to support themselves and their families were not used to enjoying the early morning like Shade, who had flexible working hours. In this progressive and crazy era, most of the achievements were actually made by these people who were used to the city's early mornings of 5 or 6.
The carriage passed the street where Shad was shot half a month ago, and dropped Shad off at the entrance of Tobesk Station. Shad stood at the entrance of the post office next to the station and waited for a while, and the fortune teller with purple eyes also arrived.
"Good morning, Shade!"
Hearing the greeting, Xia De put down the newspaper in his hand and walked over with a smile.
"Is there any big news in the newspaper?"
Luvia seemed to be in a good mood today, and there was no sign of any aftereffects from the divination the day before yesterday.
"There's not much news in the newspapers. The mayor's speech, some roads in the southeastern suburbs of Tobysk closed for repairs, and the Peace Church solicited poems for Armistice Day... But there is news in Coldwater."
He raised an eyebrow.
“Is it related to seafood?”
Luvia asked, and Shade pointed to a street-side restaurant that had already opened:
"We can go here and talk about this. This is not something that can be explained in just a few words."
When Iluna came back from the Vatican, her friends from the Ringwitch Team would come to pick her up, so Shad and Luvia had already made an appointment with Iluna to meet at a restaurant on the street after she said hello to her friends.
While waiting, in the leisurely morning hours, the stranger and the fortune teller sat at a table by the window and talked about Shade's experience in Coldwater Harbor yesterday. Although the city was still foggy, it was still quite good compared to the rainy weather. Luvia listened carefully to Shade's speech until 7:20, when a lot of dusty people carrying luggage suddenly poured out from the station entrance.
They both looked out the window:
"The train arrived early!"