In short, after meeting the bride and groom, the party officially began for Shad and Dorothy.
Dorothy had temporarily separated from Shard to meet her literary friends, and Leithia was probably with Princess Margaret, who was entertaining this visitor from the South.
Therefore, Xia De planned to meet the Great Witch first. Witches always hated lively banquets because there were too many men at the banquets, but they had to attend this banquet. Only in this way could the two of them get to know each other reasonably and then gradually deepen their relationship.
Mr. Asberg prepared a separate lounge on the third floor of the Lake View Manor for the guests attending the banquet, especially the guests from his wife's family. When Shad stepped onto the third floor with Mia in his arms, the memories of the midsummer night came to his mind again. He stopped at the last step of the stairs and looked at the door of the banquet hall opposite the stairs.
A few months ago, Dorothy broke through the door and flew out, and then the doctor desperately used the sublimation language to severely injure "Mrs. Lazoya" as if it were right in front of me:
"I really miss it..."
The last time I came here, the corridor was still filled with blood mist and the exploded door had destroyed the corridor, but on this early winter night, peace had already returned here.
The door of the banquet hall was open, and inside was a long table filled with food. Various gold and silver utensils under the gas lamp showed the wealth of the Eisberg family. Guests who didn't eat could get food here, but there were not many people inside at this time. After all, for this grand wedding, there were tables for food everywhere in the mansion and the estate, and there was even a tent in the back garden for roasting lamb legs... ...
"Meow~"
Seeing that Xia De had no intention of entering the banquet hall but turned to the side, Mia suddenly called out and stretched out her little paw to pat her arm. This cat has always shown special wisdom when it comes to eating.
"I'll get you something to eat later."
Xia De patted the cat's head, and it stopped meowing.
"Are you getting smarter?"
The lounge prepared by the Asberg family for important guests was on the left side of the corridor on the third floor. Of course, it was not accessible to anyone, but when Shade arrived at the staircase, the guards in charge just glanced at him and respectfully called out the name "Hamilton of Rejade", and then enthusiastically led him to the door of Miss Carina's room.
The pendant on his chest was burning hot. The two witches were indeed inside. When Shade entered the room, they were standing at the window, holding wine glasses and chatting while looking at the lively courtyard outside.
In the night, the two witches in their evening gowns attracted Shad's attention. Dorothy had just said that the most beautiful girl at the ball was the bride, but Shad knew very well that the most beautiful girls should be these two ladies.
“Ahem.”
Seeing that Shad was staring at the ladies in the window, the little princess Ajelina coughed and told Shad that she was here too.
It was rare for Shad to see Ajelina not with Leicia. At this time, the little princess had changed out of her bridesmaid dress and was wearing the cumbersome princess dress she wore every day. She was sitting on the sofa in the lounge, looking at a document with some unhappiness.
"Good evening, Miss Carina, good evening, Her Royal Highness Ajelina, good evening, Miss Sylvia."
He greeted everyone in order of their status. The sixteen-year-old princess' face lit up with joy and she wanted to put down the documents in her hand, but when she saw Miss Carina turning from the window, she bit her lip and continued to read the pages in her hand obediently.
"Good evening, Shad."
Because Miss Sylvia was "not familiar" with Shade yet, only Miss Carina greeted him. The witch holding the red wine glass turned around, and the red wine in her hand, which was like the purest ruby, made her look even more attractive:
"Would you like to try this red wine? This is a personal gift from Princess Margaret to me. It tastes very good."
The Duchess smiled and said that she could taste the origin of the wine. After all, the raw materials for making wine were the defective grapes that could not be eaten in her manor.
"Thank you, but I don't want to drink now. Oh, what is Her Highness Ajelina looking at?"
Shade asked curiously. Miss Carina glanced at Tifa, and the black-haired maid explained softly:
"Yesterday, at the dinner hosted by His Majesty for Princess Margaret of Anjou, Her Royal Highness Margaret recommended her mathematics teacher to His Majesty, Miss Emma Sylvia, a well-known scholar in the United Kingdom of Carsenrick. She hoped that Miss Sylvia could obtain access to the libraries of several schools in the Tobesk University District."
The young scholar Miss Sylvia stood at the window, with her left hand across her chest and her right hand raised to him:
"Thank you for your generosity, His Majesty Larousse III."
"Just now, while waiting for the banquet to start, the young lady met Her Highness Ajelina, and asked Miss Sylvia to come up with some questions to test Her Highness's math level."
The little princess quietly showed Shade a distressed look from behind the pages. It was obvious that she had been sitting here for more than an hour. Now that the banquet had begun, she still had not been allowed to leave. Her mood was completely written on her face.
Miss Carina smiled and said:
"Since I received the title, I have rarely asked about the education of my family members. Now it seems that the mathematics level of the royal family has indeed regressed a lot over the years."
Ajelina, who was quietly looking at Shade, almost had "save me" written on her face.
“Can I see these questions?”
Shade asked, then walked to the sofa and took the handwritten paper:
"Oh, this is indeed a very professional question. But I think that Your Highness should go back and think about it slowly. After all, this is a wedding banquet, and it is still a bit too noisy, which is not conducive to concentration."
The sixteen-year-old princess nodded immediately, and then looked at her great-aunt expectantly. Miss Carina's smile remained unchanged:
"Well, Ajelina, remember to send the answer to my manor before tomorrow evening."
“Yes, no problem!”
The little princess said loudly, then realized that her behavior was very unladylike. She blushed and picked up the papers on the table. She was about to leave with her maid, but she stopped and asked Xia De:
"Knight, the Lakeview Manor riding competition will begin in twenty minutes. Are you interested in participating? I heard from my mother that you performed very well at the horse farm last time."
Shade naturally nodded in agreement. Dorothy had just said that Leicia had asked her to tell Shade to agree to Ajelina's invitation:
"Of course I will. It will be fun."
"Then I'll go get your horse ready now. We'll see you later. I'll go change my clothes!"
With that, she happily left the room.
"Change clothes?"
Xia De looked at Miss Carina in surprise. The latter put the wine glass on the windowsill. The red nail polish on her fingers reflected a strange color under the gas lamp:
"Since it's a game at the wedding, it's of course a horse race for two people. If you want to participate, you must have a female companion. I think Ajelina has tacitly agreed that you want her to be your female companion."
Miss Sylvia on the side also laughed:
"I heard from Miss Carina that you had an affair with her niece's granddaughter. Is it this one? But looking at her, it's obvious..."
"No, no, no, of course not her. Her Highness Ajelina is only sixteen years old!"
Xia De was so frightened that he quickly explained that although the adult age in this world is sixteen, outsiders have their own rules:
"Ladies, please stop making fun of me. Today's party is very lively. Don't you want to go downstairs and take a look?"
He also walked to the window, and together with the two witches, they looked at the courtyard illuminated by lights. At this time, there were more and more guests, and laughter and noise could be heard from the tents from time to time. It was a pity that the sun had not completely set, otherwise the courtyard illuminated by lights at night would have looked even more gorgeous.
When Shad and Dorothy walked in just now, the walkway in the middle of the courtyard was still somewhat empty, but now there was a long table. In addition to various delicacies, there was also a five-layer high cream cake on the table.
Xia De immediately felt that Mia, who was in his arms, was becoming restless again.
"You know, we never like this kind of lively occasion."
Miss Carina said, then glanced at Miss Sylvia:
"Shadow, don't you have something to say?"
"Oh, yes."
Xia De took out the draft of the paper he had written:
“Miss Sylvia, if you have time, please help me take a look at this in the next two days.”
"paper?"
The young witch was a little surprised, but nodded:
"No problem, but if you want me to help you proofread the details, you'd better give me the finished manuscript... Imaginary numbers? You actually know something about this? Very interesting, you really should consider my last suggestion."
This meant becoming her apprentice, but she didn't dare say it in front of Miss Carina.
Miss Sylvia followed Miss Carina's example, placed her glass on the windowsill, and hastily flipped through the manuscript, completely absorbed in her attention.
"Shad, Sylvia and I will probably stay here. If you encounter any problems that cannot be solved during the banquet, you can come here to find me."
"What kind of trouble will there be at the party?"
Xia De asked curiously, then thought for a moment:
"Do MI6 and the Gray Gloves have some plan?"
"What makes you think so?"
Miss Carina asked curiously, and Xia De nodded. He did not receive any orders from either party regarding this banquet:
"Could it be that a thief appeared here?"
Thefts in the city have been frequent in recent weeks, even to an abnormal rate.
"Oh, I do suspect that some kind of humanoid relic related to theft appeared in the city, but Lakeview Manor has nothing to do with that."
The witch continued, not giving Shade any more chances to guess. She squinted her eyes and looked out the window, and said softly:
"There were some minor issues at Schluchsee Lake between Lakeview Manor and Lemaire Stud Farm."
"What little problem?"
"In short, it looks like something big is about to emerge from the center of the lake."