The Rhodes card game at Lakeview Manor was one of the most important games at the banquet, especially since Shad, the 1853 champion of the Big City Players, had promised in advance that he would definitely participate.
The Rhodes card game will be held at 10 o'clock in the evening, so the three people in the room read together, and it only lasted until about 9:30.
After everything was cleaned up, the door that had been closed for more than an hour was opened, and Dorothy, with a flushed face, left the room first, holding a book.
She ran into Tifa head-on, but because she was shy and walked with her head down, she didn't even look at who was wearing the maid skirt.
The writer passed by Tifa in the corridor, and the black-haired maid stopped curiously to look at Dorothy's back. When she turned around, the door that had just been closed was opened again, and Leisia, who was full of energy and had fair skin as shiny as milk, also came out.
The maids waiting at the door nodded to Leicia, who adjusted the silver crown on her head and thanked her maids with a smile. Turning around, she saw Tifa looking over here, who greeted her respectfully:
"Good evening, Her Highness Leicia."
She noticed that Lesia's hairstyle had changed.
"Oh, it's Miss Servet, what are you doing? Didn't Miss Carina ask you to go around the party?"
It can be seen that Leicia is in a good mood. Normally, she would not take the initiative to talk to Tifa.
"Your Highness, the young lady asked me to come to Mr. Hamilton. She has something important to tell him."
Leisia smiled and pointed to the room she had just walked out of:
"He's in there, just go in..."
As she was about to leave the third floor with her maids, she turned around and asked Tifa after taking two steps:
"How do I look now? Are my clothes and expression normal?"
Tifa's expression remains unchanged:
"Your Highness, you look radiant. Even without makeup, you are more charming than the ladies who wear makeup."
"is that so?"
Leicia smiled and touched her face before leaving the third floor. Tifa stood there and watched the princess leave, then entered the room.
"Meow~"
In Lecia's lounge, the man's shadow covered the black coat thrown on the carpet, and then a hand reached out, picked up the coat, patted it slightly, and put it on the chair.
Xia De, who was only wearing a white shirt on his upper body, straightened his collar, then opened the door of the bedroom closet and let Xiaomia out of the closet.
As soon as the closet door was opened, the cat jumped out, crying in grievance, and after being picked up by Xia De, it expressed its dissatisfaction with its voice.
However, before Shad could comfort his cat, he heard laughter coming from the bedroom door.
Turning around, I saw the black-haired maid standing at the door of the bedroom with a smile on her face. Although she was just a maid, she accompanied her mistress to the banquet and put on some light makeup. Her lips were particularly plump with lipstick on, and her eyes were full of smiles under her black eyelashes.
The bedroom window was open, and the night breeze blew on the two of them. Tifa smiled at the embarrassed Shade:
"Miss and Miss Sylvia want to see you."
"Well... did you meet Leicia... in the corridor?"
"Yes, Your Highness seems to be in a good mood."
Tifa said with a smile, as if she hadn't given it any thought, but Shade didn't believe that she couldn't guess anything:
"The three of us were just reading together."
"Yes, reading... must be very tiring, right? Two sorceresses..."
Tifa's smile grew wider, and seeing Shade's embarrassed look, she said:
"Miss and Miss Sylvia are waiting for you. Don't worry, I won't tell you where I found you."
After that, she took out a thumb-thick metal bottle from her skirt pocket. Because it was kept close to her body, the bottle still had the warmth of her body temperature:
"Perfume. I think it would be better for you to smell my perfume than for the lady to smell the perfume of Her Highness Leicia and another lady."
She handed the small bottle to Xia De, and when Xia De took it, she tickled his palm.
Xia De didn't know what to say:
"Tifa, you really..."
The maid suddenly reached out and put her right index finger against his lips, then used her left hand to lift the black hair by her ear and winked at Xia De. The two were very close at this time, and Xia De could see the smile in her eyes and his reflection in her eyes:
"You don't have to thank me."
She is the most capable witch around you, right
"Her" voice always rings at the most appropriate time.
When Tifa knocked on the door and led Shade into Miss Carina's lounge, the two witches sitting on the sofa were talking about the Chosen One.
Miss Carina sat on the long sofa, and Miss Sylvia sat on the short sofa with her back to the window, so Shade sat opposite Miss Sylvia. The light in the room was bright, and Shade handed Mia to Tifa, then looked at Miss Carina's expression.
The Duchess suddenly sniffed, then turned to look at her maid:
"Tifa, I asked you to go find Shade, and it seems you really made full use of your time."
The black-haired maid lowered her head and said nothing. She gently placed Mia on the back of the sofa, then prepared a cup and poured tea for Shad.
Miss Carina was just teasing, so she didn't pursue the matter. But when Miss Sylvia looked at Shade, the young detective defended herself:
"Everyone is free to enjoy the party."
Tifa's hand trembled as she poured the tea, and the elegant maid almost couldn't hold back the smile on her lips.
"Yes, a young gentleman and a cheating maid. If you had applied the perfume more evenly, I might have believed it."
Miss Carina smiled and shook her head at Shade, and was very satisfied to see the surprised expression on his face. She did not answer Miss Sylvia's curiosity at this time, but said to Shade:
"Let's get back to the topic. Sylvia and I just contacted the parliament and asked if there was a reasonable explanation for the abnormal phenomenon at Lakeview Manor tonight. The situation is very interesting. The Speaker performed divination and believed that this matter was related to the Apna Library."
The "Apna Library" is a small-scale ring magic group that is friendly with the Five Gods Church. Because they suspect each other of spying on their collections, their relationship with the three major colleges is very bad. During the battle of Midhill Castle, Shade had heard of them in the natural church in the narrow space, and he also suspected that one third of the "Time Perception" slate that was divided into three parts was in their hands.
"What does this have to do with the Apner Library?"
Shade asked suspiciously.
At this time, most of the maids in the room had left, leaving only Tifa and Miss Sylvia's servants.
Miss Carina chose her words carefully:
"The Speaker used some special means to confirm that the Apna Library has fragments of poems about the chosen one of 'knowledge and wisdom'. These are quite important fragments of poems. What happened tonight is related to a certain ritual corresponding to the fragments of poems."
"Ceremony of the Chosen One?"
Xia De suddenly widened his eyes. He didn't expect that before he met the chosen one, someone had already reached the last step.
"Of course it's not the final ceremony. What's about to happen tonight is related to the 'Secret Keeper' who gave the five tests as recorded in the 'Secret Art of Immortality'."
Miss Sylvia said.
Xia De frowned slightly. He never thought that the wedding banquet at Lakeview Manor would be related to such a thing.
"This is all the information the parliament has at the moment. Your Excellency the Speaker has asked the two of us to decide our next steps."
Miss Carina also said that she grew up in Tobesk and knew the area well:
"There is no island in the center of Lake Schluch, but I think there will be one soon. Since it is related to the Chosen One, Sylvia and I will go and see it in person when the relic officially appears in the center of the lake."
"Did the Apna Library inform the church of the information? They are just a small group of ring sorcerers. Do they want to control the Chosen One themselves?"
"The Apna Library's actions this time were definitely not notified to the Five Gods Church in advance."
Miss Sylvia was certain of this:
"So far, although there is a team of church ring sorcerers in Lakeview Manor, they are here to protect Margaret, and there are only two high-level ring sorcerers among them. If the church knew that something related to the Chosen One was about to happen here, it would definitely not be just these people. But since the Speaker can get the current information, maybe there will be others who can get this information. I think there are probably a lot of dangerous guys who have sneaked into the banquet."
Xia De resisted the urge to nod, because Dr. Schneider was obviously a "dangerous guy":
“What do I need to do?”
"This matter has nothing to do with you, just enjoy the party."
Miss Carina said, and then pointed at Miss Sylvia:
"Emma and I are here, there's no reason for you to handle everything. You don't need to do anything, just keep yourself safe."
"Is there really nothing I need to do?"
Xia De confirmed it again, and the witch nodded:
"You have been responsible for most of the things in the past, and sometimes I feel that I am too harsh on you. I will tell you what happened in the center of the lake in a moment, and you just need to wait in the manor."
After saying that, he looked at Tifa again:
"Tifa, go play Rhodes with the Knight. He was right just now. Everyone has the right to enjoy the banquet. Don't say I'm too hard on you. Don't refuse. I'm going to the center of Schluch Lake with Sylvia to investigate. You don't need to follow us."
Tifa hesitated for a moment, then nodded:
"Yes, ma'am."
So Shad also stood up and said goodbye, and left with Tifa.
When the door was closed, Miss Sylvia asked:
"From what you said, Mr. Hamilton has always played a big role in previous events involving the Chosen One?"
"Very big?"
Miss Carina raised an eyebrow.
On the night of the Battle of Midhill Castle, after meeting Luvia at No. 6 Saint Teresa Square, she learned that when Yin Luna performed the ritual to kill the "Silver Boy", it was Shade who used the Moonlight Greatsword to fight against the Words of the Vampire's Sublimation; after the Dark Chosen One Darkness broke into the dark realm, she witnessed with her own eyes Shade's long-distance raid, fighting all the way from the city into the relics, and finally somehow invited out the demigod-level witch of the previous era; in the Battle of Midhill Castle last month, Shade even slashed the door open with a sword and entered death, and faced the Chosen One Joe Yin Barton in a special state under the dark moon.
"His story..."
Even the Great Witch felt incredible when she thought of these stories. After all, when she first met Shade at the Lucky Southern Cross Club on a midsummer night, he was a genuine first-ring warlock.