After bidding farewell to Father John, who seemed to be very leisurely every day, Shad hurriedly took a carriage to Quill Pen Street with gifts. When he saw Dorothy, Luvia had already arrived.
Dorothy went to the Yodel Palace as a guest of the banquet, so she wore a formal ball gown. This sky blue dress matched her long golden hair very beautifully. Luvia went to the Yodel Palace as an employee of the Prophet's Association, so she wore the relatively simple black silver-edged lady's clerk uniform dress of the Prophet's Association.
After Xia De praised them for being beautiful, the two ladies were very happy and asked Xia De to stay in the living room for a while. They still needed some time to go to the bedroom to tidy up their clothes.
So Shade went to the kitchen to make tea and sat on the sofa to wait. Dorothy's apartment looked even messier than when she came in the morning. Clothes, skirts, and shoes were scattered everywhere, and the coffee table was mostly occupied by a makeup box with a mirror.
I happened to have nothing to do, so I decided to formally learn the Mind Blast. This magic does not require complicated ritual materials, as long as you get the Mind Crystal, and then...
Xia De pinched the ring on his right index finger with his left hand, closed his eyes, and rotated it slightly, letting the tip of his finger caress the spiritual crystal on it.
At the same time, he whispered a strangely pronounced spell in his mind, and used his mental power to perceive the scenery in front of him in the darkness.
Suddenly he frowned, and the spirit surged to his right index finger. Xia De stretched out his finger and pointed forward, and the invisible spiritual power entered the air through the amplification of the ring.
"Father John really didn't lie to me."
He smiled and opened his eyes to look at the ornament on his finger. Only by using magic could he sense how smoothly this ring facilitated the flow of his own spirit:
"The craft of alchemy can really make a lot of money."
Sighing in his heart, he reached out to pick up the teacup that had just been placed on the coffee table, then leaned comfortably on the sofa.
As I looked around with my teacup in hand, I could hear the blonde writer and the brown-haired prophetess whispering about shoe styles and stocking styles.
They thought Shade couldn't hear it, but the echoes from the past had the effect of passively enhancing hearing, and coupled with his improved physical fitness, Shade could hear such subtle sounds.
"Speaking of echoes of the past, I wonder what sounds we'd hear if we used this magic here..."
Because he was too bored, Xia De, who was holding a cup of tea, came up with this idea. He knew that eavesdropping in someone else's home was very impolite and that this behavior was close to a crime.
I heard "her" laughter, probably mocking Xia De's idea.
"That's right, don't be so rude."
The stranger thought to himself, leaning back and leaning his body completely on the soft sofa. The sofa in Dorothy's house was softer than the one left by Detective Sparrow. Maybe Mia would like the sofa here.
Xia De took a sip of tea, and then heard the two ladies in the bedroom change the topic from the choice of stockings to the choice of waist-cinching skirts, and thus discussed some things that were not suitable for Xia De to hear.
"Hmm... I'd better use the echo of the past to listen to the voices of the past."
So in order to avoid hearing the current sound, Shade on the sofa decided to use that very impolite magic.
He took another sip of tea, activated the magic, and heard Dorothy's voice very clearly:
"Luvia, when you're done with the card game, you must dance with me."
Dorothy and Luvia have always had a good relationship, and this conversation should have happened not long ago, which means that although Shad's behavior was impolite, it was not considered as intruding on other people's privacy.
Now he felt relieved and took another sip of tea. Then he heard Luvia's voice:
"Of course it's no problem, but it's a pity that I finally have the opportunity to attend such a party, but I can't move around freely like you. Dorothy, you are so lucky that you got to know Princess Ajelina through detective stories."
Although Dorothy's invitation was given by Resia, it was in the name of the little princess. Hearing this, Shad couldn't help but start to wonder what the relationship between Princess Ajelina and Resia was like. A few days ago at the opera house, Ajelina Cavendish was obviously a little afraid of Resia.
Luvia is still talking:
"Dorothy, that's a very nice dress you have."
"Oh, this one? This is a custom-made dress from Mrs. Rhine. Do you know how much gold this dress is worth?"
Dorothy's voice did not utter any number, but she seemed to have indicated it with her hands.
"But the price is still acceptable. This dress is really beautiful."
Luvia continued to praise, and Xia De nodded with his teacup in hand. The sky blue dress he had just seen was indeed beautiful.
Luvia spoke again:
"but... ... "
She hesitated to speak.
"What's wrong?"
Dorothy asked curiously, and Shad heard her rummaging through the clothes hangers.
"How much padding did you put on? Why is it so big?"
“Ahem!”
Xia De on the sofa started coughing violently. He put the teacup on the coffee table with trembling hands, touched his chest and lowered his head. The tea was inhaled into his trachea, and his whole body was shaking with discomfort.
"Shad, what's wrong?"
Hearing the noise outside, the two ladies in the room immediately asked.
"No, cough, cough, nothing, I just choked."
He stood up while coughing violently:
"Can I use the bathroom?"
Then he walked quickly to the bathroom, and the sound of coughing on the way showed that he was really choked.
"Really? Why are you so careless?"
Dorothy complained in the bedroom, and Shad learned a simple universal truth from this incident -
There is always a price to pay for eavesdropping on other people's conversations.
“Ahem!”
Listening to the laughter in his ear, he held the washbasin in the bathroom and patted his chest. But to be honest, Shad was still very curious about the next sentence of the conversation and how Dorothy answered.
The girls spent another half an hour packing before they finished. Shad went out a step ahead and found an empty four-wheeled carriage at the intersection of Quill Street and Seminary Boulevard. He asked the driver to wait at the door of Building B, No. 221 Quill Street, and then the three of them went to Yodel Palace together.
Luvia was going to meet up with the rest of the association, so she got off the carriage in front of the Prophet's Association. Shad jumped off the carriage first, and then, under the gaze of Dorothy who was leaning out of the window, he reached out to Luvia and helped her get off the carriage.
"Then we'll see you at the party later!"
Luvia smiled and waved to Shad and Dorothy. The black iron gas street lamp beside her made the girl with makeup look more beautiful than usual.
The gas street lamps on Silver Cross Avenue are of uniform style. The top of the black street lamp poles is bent into complex patterns of iron metal gas lamp shells with different heights. The glass covers of the three gas lamps are imprisoned inside the iron frame shell, and the inside of the gas lamps is connected to the gas pipeline of the street lamp pole. Although the shape of the gas lamps is not as good as that of the gas lamps in the homes of the nobles, the relatively simple and plain appearance will not damage the reputation of the central street of the Steam City at all.
After saying goodbye to Luvia, Shad and Dorothy were unable to continue moving forward in the carriage, because in the middle section of Silver Cross Avenue where the gas street lights were gradually lighting up, in order to prevent carriages from blocking the road, private carriages could move forward, but rented carriages were not allowed to move forward.
So Shad and Dorothy had to get off the carriage early. There were actually quite a few guests like them. After all, not every noble had a private carriage.
Just after paying the fare, Xia De heard someone calling his name.
The four-wheeled carriage with a black carriage slowly stopped on the street, and Director Anlos stuck his head out of the window;
"Good afternoon, Shad. Come up and let's go in together."
Director Anros also had his hair done today and wore a tuxedo, but the style was relatively simple and without much decoration. If you didn't know his identity, you would never associate this ordinary-looking, unremarkable man with the director of MI6.
"Is it convenient?"
"What's the inconvenience? Oh, this lady is..."
"My companion tonight, Miss Dorothy Louisa."
Xia De introduced it, and Director Anlos suddenly realized:
"I know this name, the lady who serializes detective stories in the Steambird Daily. Your stories are also very popular in our department. Oh, I knew it, Detective Hamilton, it's Shade!"
"Dorothy, this is my friend, Mr. Dark Anros, who works in logistics management for the Royal Army."
Xia De gave a brief introduction and winked at Director Anlos, meaning that his identity was not exposed.
Director Anros smiled and nodded:
"Come up together, I will take you in. Now to enter the Yodel Palace you need to surrender your weapons and even undergo a simple body search, which is too troublesome. If I take you in, you won't be offended by those unreasonable servants."
In addition to Mr. Anlos, there was also a lady of similar age and slightly plump figure in the carriage. This should be Director Anlos's female companion, but not Mrs. Anlos. Xia De heard that his boss was still unmarried.
"So do I need to surrender my weapon?"
The careful body search was probably because of Prince Sax's recent intrusion with a gun. Shade's normal revolver could be turned into a toy, but the Gun of Kindness was still on him.
"No, that's not necessary. I am armed as well, and we can guarantee your loyalty."
Director Anros said, sitting next to his female companion, facing Shade, and lowered his voice a little:
"The incident at the opera house last Saturday was closed. Her Highness Ajelina thinks highly of you and praised you a lot in front of His Majesty and the Queen. If you are lucky tonight, you might get another chance to be summoned by His Majesty."
“It’s really my honor.”
Having said that, Shad had no interest in meeting Larus III.
Compared to the boring middle-aged man, Xia De is more interested in the girl around him and the Rhodes cards.