The order of the game was decided after the seven people gave way to each other. Xia De was in the middle, that is, the fourth place. He saw his opponents taking off their coats, wearing white shirts and looking ready to fight, and he felt funny in his heart.
He had played many Rhodes games at banquets, but this coin-tossing game was his first time.
"I wonder what Mia is doing now."
When he was bored, he thought of his cat, and then he suddenly wanted to laugh. Because his opponents were so enthusiastic and deliberately showing off, they really looked like cats who wanted to eat in the middle of the night, so they tried their best to act coquettishly and show affection to him:
"The nobles of Huntington City are really interesting."
The crowd gathered and talked about Her Royal Highness the Princess's banquet games.
The first to appear was the youngest son of Marquis Hersius, Mr. Miguel Hersius, 20 years old. The young gentleman wore a white shirt with a warm brown vest over it.
Holding the coin in hand, he was blindfolded by a servant at the starting line. Then, amid the noise of the crowd, he waved his hands around him and threw the first coin:
"Go ahead!"
"oh!"
He threw the coin with such force that it flew over the coffee table and almost hit the wife of the mayor of Huntington who was sitting on another sofa. People burst into laughter, and the plump lady also laughed and cursed in a low and elegant voice. Even Princess Margaret covered her mouth and chuckled, which made the atmosphere even more lively.
Mr. Hersius, who was blindfolded, could not see anything, but he knew he had missed the target when he heard the laughter. So he held a gold coin in each hand and threw them forward at the same time.
This time he knew how to control the power, but unfortunately the two gold coins just hit the table and then rolled to the side.
The second person to appear was Baron Galar, who was 29 years old and had two very delicate mustaches under his nose. He also held the coins and let the servant cover his eyes, then shook one of them tentatively. The gold coin reflected the light of the gas lamp, and Shade was also wondering whether the other party could hit it:
"May God bless you!"
Baron Galar said softly, and then suddenly raised his hand. The coin was thrown high into the air, almost hitting the ceiling. After falling in a parabola, it flew accurately to the table, and then with a clanging sound, it actually fell into the glass.
"Baron Galar, you got it!"
Someone said it immediately, followed by applause and booing. Regardless of whether the shot hit the target or not, people enjoyed the process rather than the result.
Because he had just been blindfolded and knew the exact location of the cup, it was not surprising that the first gold coin hit the target. But the baron was not so lucky with the next two gold coins, which hit the coffee table but failed to touch the glass.
The third person to appear was the grandson of a duke. Shade did not hear the other person's identity clearly. This young gentleman was more cautious than the previous two. After the first miss, he adjusted his hand movement in time according to the sound, and the second coin hit accurately. As for the third coin, although it hit the edge of the glass, it bounced a little and the gold coin fell on the table, which was indeed a pity.
"The next one is Mr. Holmes from Delarion."
Hearing the princess's personal maid calling his name, Shade walked out of the crowd. Like the three gentlemen before, he first got the coin and then asked the servant to help cover his eyes. The cloth was tied very firmly, and the cloth itself was very thick, so there was indeed no possibility of peeking:
"This game is definitely not as interesting as Rhodes."
Xia De thought to himself, holding two gold coins in his left hand and picking up the third one with his right hand to throw. He also took off his coat and wore only a white shirt, just like his opponents. Under the bright crystal lamps and gas lamps, his well-proportioned figure attracted many people's attention.
down.
Shad's hand moved slightly downward.
Slightly to the left.
Shad's hand moved slightly to the left.
Relax your muscles, yes, relax some more.
Xia De adjusted his strength.
cast.
He casually threw the gold coin forward. Under the gazes of people who were either laughing, nervous, or expectant, the gold coin fell directly into the glass cup at the far vertex of the triangle, and swirled in the quilt with a clanging sound.
"Great! It hit the target!"
Xia De was satisfied with the answer, and the voice beside him also reminded him softly:
Marguerite d'Anjou is applauding you.
"So why did she invite me?"
Relax a little bit, left, right, okay.
The second gold coin was thrown by Shade immediately afterwards. Before people even stopped applauding for the first time, they saw the gold coin accurately fall into the second goblet again:
“It hit again!”
This time it was a man's voice, and it seemed that he was one of the blood-sucking species from before, who also came to watch the banquet game here.
Xia De held the last coin in his right hand, and after a moment's hesitation, he gently threw it forward. When he took off the cloth covering his eyes, he saw a gold coin in each of the three goblets.
He clutched the piece of cloth and walked towards the tea table amid the people's celebration. The ladies on the sofa also praised Xia De, of course, not only because he finished the game early, but also because of his handsome appearance and temperament, which really made people like him.
"Congratulations, Mr. Holmes, you did a great job."
Princess Margaret said softly, and asked the servant to give the three gold coins to Shad. Then she took off her earrings, took out the jewelry box and gave it to Shad.
Girls like to use jewelry boxes to store their jewelry, unlike Shad who puts everything directly into his pockets... ... or turns it into toys and puts it in his pockets.
Although he didn't know how much the earrings were worth, Princess Margaret's generosity impressed Shad. After receiving the jewelry box, he expressed his gratitude respectfully and praised Princess Margaret's beauty in poor Carsenrick.
All of this was in accordance with etiquette and tradition, so even if Shade, a Delarion native, won the banquet game, no one would say anything. Princess Margaret stayed to chat with Shade for a few more words, and allowed the noble girls who were very interested in Shade to ask him about the New World and Delarion.
Soon, the melodious sound of the cello sounded, heralding the start of tonight's dance. It was half past eight, and there was still more than an hour before the party ended. The people around went their separate ways to enjoy the party tonight, but when Shade wanted to turn around and leave to find Mr. Bernhardt who was still playing cards, the princess called Shade again:
"Mr. Holmes, the party has begun. Now that you have won the game, are you interested in dancing with me?"
"Um?"
Xia De was a little surprised and hesitated whether to agree. The other witch's power was pitifully small. If she danced with gloves, she wouldn't have to worry about being discovered. This was only possible when she was in direct contact. He hesitated because he didn't know what the princess wanted to do.
"Oh, Your Highness, you didn't add this bet to the game just now!"
Before Shad could speak, Mr. Mig Hersius, who was the first to throw the gold coin, hurriedly spoke up to object.
At this time, there were still quite a few people gathered in the sofa lounge area. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Mr. Hersus blushed and said:
"Your Highness, you never dance easily with anyone at a ball, how could you dance with this Delarion man..."
These southern nobles still have some opinions about the Drarion people, especially since Shad just defeated them.
Margaret of Anjou, wearing a crown, frowned in dissatisfaction. Mr. Hersius could see that the princess was very unhappy with his words, so he quickly added:
"I want to bet Rhodes with this gentleman. If he wins, I have no objection to it! Rhodes is the most important part of the banquet game. I think Mr. Holmes will not refuse."
"Ha, after being in this world for so long, I finally encountered something like this!"
The stranger was thinking with some joy in his heart, while the people around him were talking in low voices, no one objected or agreed.
Princess Margaret, who was about to lead a delegation to visit Tobesk, could not allow a conflict between her own nobles and foreign gentlemen to occur at her farewell party. She tried to mediate, but Shade suddenly said:
"You want to play Rhodes with me?"
He stared at the other person, and while Mr. Hersus felt a little uneasy, he slowly took out his Rhodes deck.
He apologized to the young girls around him, then sat opposite the princess. He leaned forward slightly, slapped the deck of cards on the table, pressed the top of the cards with his right hand, and gently pulled them, arranging the cards in a fan shape on the coffee table.
Pick up the last card and gently push it to the right, and the back-up deck will smoothly turn to the front-up deck; then push the card to the left again, so that the back-up deck will turn to the front-up deck again. Put the cards together again, rinse them a few times, and slap the rearranged deck on the table:
"How do we play?"
He asked with a smile.
"Um... ... "
Mr. Hersius, who was shocked by Shade's "performance", hesitated for a moment, then shook his head decisively:
"I respect the princess's opinion. Sorry, sir, I was abrupt just now."
After saying that, he turned around and left. This kind of exit is still decent, but if you really play cards and lose, then you will really lose face.
"what happens?"
Mr. Bernhardt, who heard the noise here, finally came over.
"Nothing, someone wants to play Rhodes with me."
Shade said, Mr. Bernhardt first greeted Princess Margaret who was standing up, and then asked Shade in surprise:
"Who's so bold as to bet on Rhodes with you?"
He knew very well that Xia De was the champion of "Big City Players 1853", and he had also witnessed Xia De's card skills and luck in the Sin Mansion.
"It was Mr. Mig Hersius, but he was scared away!"
Someone said, which caused a burst of laughter and the atmosphere of the dance became more lively.
"Viscount, is Mr. Holmes very good at cards?"
Princess Margaret asked curiously, the middle-aged vampire noble trying to find the words:
"Your Highness, it's not a question of whether he is good or not. It's that... Mr. Holmes often plays Rhodes with those rude sailors on the ship, so he has developed good card skills. What's more, his luck has always been unmatched."
"So that's how it is."
The princess with long blond hair chuckled and said. After Shade took back his cards, he extended his hand to the princess:
"Your Highness, it is an honor to dance with you... Please forgive me, I am not good at this."
"It doesn't matter."
Princess Margaret placed her hand on Shad's outstretched palm, and together they walked towards the crowd that was dancing to the music.
Mr. Bernhardt was left standing there alone, very confused about what happened while he was playing Rhodes:
"Hasn't Princess Margaret of Anjou always been rude to men?"
On the other side, Shade and Princess Margaret had already started dancing right under the crystal chandelier. Carsenrick's dance music was relatively soothing, or the current one was relatively soothing, so it didn't require too much intense movement.
But even so, Shad still controlled his pace very carefully, moving his feet according to the "slow four" steps taught by Leicia, and Princess Margaret seemed to be very good at dancing.
Shard put his right hand together, with his middle and ring fingers slightly bent inward, tightly clasped the edge of Princess Margaret's skirt below the left shoulder blade, and slightly held the princess's right hand. This contact area was not large, because the princess obviously did not want to have too much contact with Shard.
Sure enough, she had a reason for inviting Shade to dance. To the sound of the violin, the princess said very cautiously:
"Mr. Holmes, I'm sorry to involve you. I've heard from Mr. Bernhardt that you've had a long adventure in the New World and have extraordinary attainments in swordsmanship, gunmanship, and horsemanship, so I invited you to participate in the game just now."
Needless to say, it was the princess who asked Mr. Bernhard to hide the goods, and the latter "bragged" a little about his friend.
"So you invited me to the game because..."
"The earrings."
She lowered her voice to prevent a third person from hearing:
"It wasn't my idea to use the earrings as a bet. It was my cousin, the annoying Yin Lin's idea."
She was talking about Yinlin Cullen, the daughter of Duke Krum Cullen, who had been sitting next to Princess Margaret. This lady's mother was the sister of the contemporary King of Carsenrick, Lionlain, so she was Princess Margaret's cousin.
"That was my birthday present from my mother, so..."
She said a little embarrassedly, and Xia De finally understood:
"After this dance, wait half an hour. I will meet you in the courtyard while you send a maid to take the earrings away."
"I'm so sorry for involving you in this."
The princess apologized again, but Shad didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Everyone has relatives who are helpless but do exist, of course, outsiders don't have them. This kind of contradiction and conflict between noble girls, which eventually turned into a dispute over jewelry, is actually very common in contemporary court novels, but Dorothy thinks similar plots are "boring and clichéd."
Therefore, Shad did not intend to tell Dorothy or Lesia about the story that happened at this Carsenrick-style banquet tonight. After all, this story was too boring.
"Are you satisfied with the banquet, Mr. Holmes?"
The princess asked again, probably to lighten the mood.
Xia De thought about it, and finally did not forget Leicia's "prank":
"It's very good, especially the food. Mr. Bernhardt recommended the vegetable salad to me. The Carsonrick sweet onions, purple cabbage and Huntington radish are all very delicious."
So Princess Margaret did not talk to Shad about food again until the dance was over.
Shade and Princess Margaret danced only once before politely parting ways. The princess returned to the sofa lounge, apparently not wanting to dance a second time, while Shade found Mr. Bernhardt, a rather upper-class vampire seed lord who was very surprised by Shade's performance:
"You're really good with the younger girls."
He didn't feel there was anything wrong with this, but was surprised by Xia De's method:
"There are actually some rumors among the nobles of Willendel that Her Highness Margaret is not very close to men on weekdays."
Mr. Bernhardt lowered his voice while holding his glass, and then made a strange expression. Shade nodded in understanding, knowing that this was because Margaret Anjou had never given up on becoming the apprentice of the Great Witch.
Although they had agreed to exchange the earrings, in order not to attract attention, Shad did not leave immediately, but watched people play Rhodes with Mr. Bernhardt.
Mr. Bernhardt was having a bad time tonight, so he didn't plan to play cards anymore. Shade didn't want to attract attention at the party, so he didn't join the game.
However, Mr. Bernhardt mentioned that when Shad went to Miss Sylvia's place, a lady joined the card game and left only after winning two special cards in a row.
Although the society is open now, it is rare for women to openly play cards with men at a banquet. Mr. Bernhardt told Shade about this interesting incident and pointed out the location of the lady.
She didn't dance with anyone, but chatted with a middle-aged gentleman who looked like a scholar, standing by the window and looking at the night view of the courtyard. Because I could only see her back, I couldn't tell her age. The lady was wearing a long dress with black on top and red on the bottom, and her hair was a rare light golden color that was close to white.
They were a little far away from Shade and Mr. Bernhardt, but Shade still frowned slightly:
"Ringmaster?"
"That lady is a ring wizard?"
Bernhardt looked over with some interest:
"I'm pretty sure she didn't cheat when she played cards just now."
"There are quite a few ring sorcerers at this banquet."
Shade muttered, and Mr. Benhart nodded without saying anything more:
"As long as they don't cause any trouble, aren't we here just to attend the banquet?"
"Yes."
Shade looked in the direction of Princess Margaret again, making sure that there was no ringmaster around her:
"There is still one hour left before this party ends... I hope everything goes well."
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