"Mr. Hamilton!"
It was Tifa's voice outside the door. She was back again, and her tone was a little anxious:
"Queen Diana wants to see you, but she can't find you anywhere, so the young lady asked me to take you back quickly."
Xia De looked at Lesia's expression again. She had a tense face and was breathing heavily.
Ajelina held the cup and sipped the hot black tea, looking back and forth at the two people here with great interest:
"Mr. Hamilton, you'd better wipe off all your lipstick before you go."
She kindly reminded Xia De, and when Xia De looked at her, she even took out her handkerchief. It was a silk handkerchief with a butterfly pattern embroidered on it:
"I can lend you this."
Because of Princess Ajelina's reminder, Shad showed no sign of impoliteness when he met Queen Diana. The meeting place was exactly the same waiting room where Shad waited to meet Larousse III after he was shot in the street last time.
Queen Diana did not meet Shade alone, so besides Miss Carina, there were several other noble ladies around her whom Shade did not know. Because they were the ones who had just accompanied the Queen down from the third floor, Shade guessed that they should also be people related to the royal family.
When Shad was brought into the room by the servants, Queen Diana was holding the round pearl, which was half the size of her fist, and showing it off to others under the light of the gas lamp.
This kind of jewelry is irresistible to both men and women. Even the queen has never seen it before. After all, even if the naturally formed pearls are larger than this, they will never be as round as this.
"Good evening, your highness. Good evening, ladies."
Shad greeted everyone here, and since he didn't know most of them, it was appropriate to address them as "ladies."
"Look, who's here?"
Queen Diana's enthusiasm seemed a little too much. She smiled and called Shad over, handing the pearls in her hand to others for inspection.
Half of the people here are now looking at the pearl, and the other half are looking at Shad.
The ladies occupied the sofa, but fortunately a servant brought a chair in time so that Shade had a place to sit.
"Detective, I heard about what happened at the opera house a few days ago. Thanks to you for saving little Ajelina, otherwise I really don't know what would have happened."
In fact, judging from the situation that day, Princess Ajelina should be fine even if Shade wasn't there.
"That's what I should do."
Shade said, he looked at Miss Carina beside the Queen, who nodded to him.
"So, I mean, there's nothing to pay attention to in the following conversation."
While Xia De was thinking, the queen spoke again:
"Today is my birthday. I didn't expect you to give me such an expensive gift. It's great. This is probably the most precious gift I have received this year."
Before coming here, Leicia told him how to answer here, so Shade started to recite directly:
"Such beautiful jewelry is only worthy of a lady of your noble status."
"See, the knight also speaks like an opera. However, I know you are not that kind of rich person, so I will not take this gift for nothing. The last time we talked here, I promised to give you a precious Rhodes card."
She nodded to the maid standing behind Shade, who placed a metal box on the coffee table in front of Shade.
It was made of brass, but there was a glass plate on top. Through the glass plate, you could see the soft velvet lining inside, and on the lining was a card.
The cards were upside down, and Shad could only see the patterns on the back of the cards.
"You are very kind."
He said with a smile.
"Yes, I'm really polite."
Queen Diana's answer was unexpected. She opened the white bone folding fan dotted with glitter in her hand, covered her mouth, lowered her head slightly, curved her eyes, and smiled:
"Take a look at this card. It's not easy to get it."
Miss Carina raised her eyebrows at Shade, who nodded in surprise:
"Yes, Your Highness."
He picked up the box and found that among the four metal plates on the side, there were small grooves on the top of the left and right plates, which embedded the glass plate above. So he carefully pulled out the glass plate, and just as he was about to reach out, he shook his head and took out the prepared white gloves from his pocket and put them on.
This action made the ladies laugh. Shade did not look up, but turned the card over to check the surface.
The face that was originally smiling with relief suddenly showed a look of astonishment:
"What?"
The front of the card only has white, black, and cool colors close to the two colors. White occupies most of the card surface, and the black humanoid creature is in the center of the card surface, half of its body is exposed, and its side is facing the outside of the card surface. It has no hair on its head, and two wings extend from its back. There are curved spikes on the top of the wings, and the exposed eyes are clearly snake eyes, and it seems to be tilted to look at the person outside the card. There are continuous scale marks of strange shapes on its face, and it is unknown what kind of creature it is.
The background of the card is densely packed with ruins of temples and spires.
The number 11 is marked in the upper right corner of the front, and a small star symbol is in the upper left corner. Between the two, that is, in the center of the upper edge of the front of the card, there is a black vertical line in a white circle, which is the symbol of the "Founding" series.
There was a little blank space at the bottom of the card, with two lines of small words written there:
When this card is drawn, if it is the first hidden card, you will win directly regardless of any rules and conditions; when this card is drawn, if it is not the first hidden card, the holder has the right to not show all the remaining cards before the end of this round, and can continue to draw cards after the burst, but only the first two special cards drawn in the subsequent draws can take effect.
"Origin Darkness?!"
Shad could barely control his voice.
Miss Carina obviously knew about this card in advance, and the few other ladies who knew about the Rhodes card raised their eyebrows.
Queen Diana, who was covering the lower half of her face with a feather-decorated folding fan, nodded, and the smile in her eyes became more obvious:
"Yes, Origin Darkness. It was not easy to get this card. It was accidentally discovered by the Ice Harvesting Corps in the far north of the Old World at the top of the Sothos Glacier in the far north. It was frozen at the top of the glacier, like an altar, and it has been lying in the ice facing the sun for many years. Seventy years ago, this card was brought to Tobesk by the then Corps Commander and presented to the royal family. Later, the card has been lying in the royal treasury and can only be found in the warehouse catalog. I think, Knight, you should like it."
The "Ice Harvesting Corps" does not mean that this army specializes in harvesting ice in the Far North, but that they are stationed in the north of the Old World all year round, hence this nickname. The official name is the Third Corps of the Draerion Royal Army, the Far North Garrison.
"I like it, I like it very much, but your highness, the value of this card is too great."
Shade stood up from his chair and said with some trepidation.
Of course, the panic was fake. After the innocent creator reminded him, Shade understood the value of the Vientiane Card, and thus decided to collect all thirteen Vientiane Cards. He now wanted to stuff the cards directly into his pocket, then run home and laugh loudly in his dark study with the cat in his arms.
But in this kind of situation, I still have to pretend.
"You saved me, helped little Ajelina, and gave me this birthday present."
The queen took the fan away from her face and took the pearl from Miss Carina:
"But you're right, the value of this card is a bit too high. How about this, I heard that Rhodes players like you like to win Rhodes by winning."
The price of a special rule Rhodes card starts at 40 pounds. Depending on the year of issue and other historical values, the price of a card is almost capped. It is not uncommon for nobles to exchange a house for a card. But for top nobles like the old Duke Lucas, it may take some time to spend money to acquire a set of 54 special rule cards, but it is definitely not impossible.
But real Rhodes players can allow themselves to spend money to buy cards, but they prefer to get cards through gambling. Therefore, even though Shade has played cards with many nobles, he has never seen anyone with more than ten special rule cards.
"Yes, we prefer to win Rhodes with Rhodes."
Shad nodded, and he almost knew what Queen Diana was thinking.
"Marquis Grassley held a card game at my birthday party. How about this? I'll keep this card first. You need to beat your opponent in the game before this card belongs to you. If you lose, I'll auction this card off."
She smiled and glanced at Miss Carina:
"Then you can ask others to buy this card for you."
"That's a good idea, Your Highness."
Shad put the cards back into the box.
"Oh, Hamilton of Rejade, are you so confident?"
the queen asked with a smile.
"Yes, Your Highness. After all, I have never lost a game of Rhodes."
When he said this, the strong confidence revealed on his face almost made the man standing under the crystal chandelier seem to be glowing all over.
The news that Queen Diana was going to take out the Founding Dark Rhodes card, which was treasured by the royal family, and gamble with Hamilton of Regede on whether he would win the card game at the banquet quickly spread throughout the Yodel Palace.
She wanted to watch the game in person, and after hearing the news, Marquis Grassley, who had originally invited Shade, immediately renegotiated the rules with the staff of the Prophet Association, and after obtaining permission, he asked the servants of the Yodel Palace to carry a huge round conference table and place it in the center of the banquet hall on the second floor.
Around this round table, other guests can continue to enjoy the banquet without being disturbed, while guests who love Rhodes can watch from the side.