The two held hands together and looked at Shad closely again. Margaret Anjou subconsciously avoided looking into his eyes. She thought it was an instinctive reaction caused by her subconscious fear of the powerful ring warlock.
Before meeting with Charles alone, Princess Margaret had thought about many things that might happen after the meeting, but she had never expected Charles to be so calm:
"Hamilton of Rejade, you don't seem surprised at all that I'm a student of Sexes? You recognized me last week?"
She asked softly, speaking first in an attempt to seize the initiative in the conversation.
"No, no, Your Highness, of course I did not recognize you. But what does it matter to me whether you are a ring wizard or not?"
Shade loosened his hand. Because of the gloves, the princess, who only had a slight witch power, still didn't notice that Shade was wrong:
"Besides, since you have revealed your identity as a ring wizard to me, I think you won't threaten me with words like 'Knight, you don't want your identity to be exposed, do you?'"
He half leaned against the wall and looked at the princess:
"I think I can trust you. Miss Carina has praised you. You are a very qualified royal lady."
Princess Margaret was a little surprised by this sudden compliment. She thought that the handsome gentleman opposite her would be as wary of the strange ringmaster as she was.
The princess still maintained the elegance and dignity of a noble girl:
"Mr. Hamilton, yes. We all come from three major colleges and there is no conflict between us. This is enough for us to trust each other. In fact, I want to thank you for helping me capture the head last week."
Princess Margaret's mouth twitched as she thought of the scene in the foggy alley where Shade swung the scary black chain at the wall of human heads. She didn't know what level Shade was at, but she thought he must be middle level, much stronger than her fourth level:
"Detective, I asked you to come here this time because I want to give you a commission. Yes, I want to give you a commission as a ring wizard."
Xia De raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect that he was called out for this matter:
"That's really interesting. Could you please tell me what exactly needs to be done for your commission? Normally, I wouldn't do anything illegal."
"I would like to ask you to help me find a sorceress."
Under the gaslight, she subconsciously lowered her voice, as if she was afraid of someone:
"Yes, a sorceress. I know some information about her, but I can't go to her myself, or even let someone with an obvious relationship with me go to her, otherwise once I am discovered..."
She hesitated, but still said her goal:
"She lives in Saint Teresa's Square or the surrounding neighborhoods. She is female and should be no older than 30 years old. Her job may be related to mathematics, or at least she is proficient in mathematics. She should have a good personality, good looks and figure, and she doesn't like to make friends with men."
The princess couldn't tell Shade that she was afraid that Miss Sylvia would discover her "little action", so she made up a random reason to explain why she entrusted Shade to do this:
"Many nobles and high-ranking officials of your Delarion live in Saint Teresa Square and the nearby blocks. I can't investigate by myself. Once a diplomatic issue occurs, it will be no small matter. Detective, you live in Saint Teresa Square, which should be convenient for investigation. Help me find the sorceress. You can name the commission fee as you like. Gold pounds are not a problem."
Although she didn't say it, Shade subconsciously understood that the other party was looking for him, or in other words, looking for Miss Sylvia's nominal "apprentice". He heard the witch tell the lie she told the princess:
"Um... ... "
Seeing Xia De's hesitation, the princess frowned slightly:
"Excuse me, what's the problem?"
"No, it's just that I'm not sure..."
If Shade refused at this time, the princess might go find someone else to investigate, which would cause more trouble. But the problem was that Shade was sure that he couldn't find anyone according to the other party's description. If he really found a target like "Miss Pavo", it would definitely be a wrong answer:
"I'm not sure if I can really find her. If she is really a sorceress living nearby, she must be hiding very deeply."
"Yes, the other party is quite capable, so I don't ask you to find it, just give it a try. Mr. Alan Madison thinks highly of you. He has heard a lot about you from Dr. Schneider and knows that you are a kind, upright, and resolute gentleman, and that there have never been any accidents in the cases you have handled."
Shade was not quite sure how the doctor evaluated him, but it was obvious that the "second-hand evaluation" the princess heard was problematic. Among the four cases left by Detective Sparrow, except for Mia, the other three had big surprises.
After thinking about it, he finally nodded:
"I can take this task. I will give you a reply before you leave this place."
He was wondering whether he should compile an investigation report in the tradition of Detective Sparrow, or tell the young witch directly:
"As for the reward, I don't think it will cost any gold pounds."
The princess quietly took a step back, and counting the time until the salon started at seven o'clock, she slightly quickened her speaking speed:
"You are a distinguished guest who has come from afar, so there is no need to mention the gold pounds. Your Highness, I currently have a commission regarding Sir Prissy, which was initiated by his local admirers. I would like to learn about Sir Prissy from you, which will be very useful for me to complete the commission."
Sir Prissy and Princess Margaret were a team, of course, in her opinion, Shad didn't know this. Hearing Shad's request, she breathed a sigh of relief and sincerely admired the gentleman's demeanor in front of her.
According to rumors, Shad Hamilton first used sweet words to seduce the Duchess's maid, and then became rich by hooking up with Carina Cavendish. But according to what she learned after arriving in Tobesk and what she saw at Lakeview Manor, it might be that Carina Cavendish hooked up with this young and promising ringmaster:
"That's all right, Chevalier. I can tell you something about him, but not now. How about Sunday? I'll come to your house on Sunday. I've always heard of the reputation of St. Teresa's Square, but I haven't visited it yet, and Sunday is the only time I have some free time."
After a pause, he added:
"Knight, you have won my friendship, the friendship of Marguerite of Anjou."
Xia De nodded slightly, and before the princess was about to leave, she asked again:
"I heard that Sir Prissier is a distant relative of the Angevin royal family. His grandmother and your grandmother are twin sisters. I wonder if there is anything special about his paternal lineage, the Prissier family."
"Will the admirer still entrust you to investigate this?"
The princess with light golden hair asked curiously, and then answered casually:
"Prisha is a very old surname, and it was a noble family before the establishment of the United Kingdom. I have heard that a long time ago, this surname represented a very ancient family of ring sorcerers, and extraordinary and sacred powers were passed down in their bloodline. Of course, this is just a rumor. If you are curious about this, we can talk about this topic on Sunday."
After saying this, he was about to turn around and leave, but after hesitating for a moment he asked again:
"Excuse me, Mr. Hamilton, who did you learn mathematics from? Was it a scholar or a college?"
Shade blinked:
"Have you not investigated my identity? I do not have any diploma or graduation certificate. I learned mathematics by myself after becoming a ring sorcerer."
Of course, Margaret Anjou could not find out the exact date when Shad became a ring mage, and Mr. Alan Madison would not tell her that.
"Talent and years of study? I understand."
She took a deep breath and looked very shocked. After saying goodbye to Shade, she left the staircase and led her maid to the room at the other end of the corridor where the reading salon was held. She couldn't be late for such an occasion.
Shade stood in the shadow of the stairs and looked at Princess Margaret's back:
"Generally speaking, when it comes to the so-called 'ancient family', there must be a lot of stories behind it. I just wanted to try and see if I could start from the princess's perspective and try to collect the spiritual light of the 'Moon of Guidance', but I didn't expect there would be such a rumor."
Are the rumors about the ancient family related to you
"Nothing."
He was ready to go back:
"At least, it's irrelevant at this point."
It was seven o'clock in the evening and all the invited guests arrived on time. After polishing his shoes, Shad sat down again next to Sir Prisha.
Leisia smiled and clapped her hands, signaling everyone to be quiet, then stood in front of the bonfire and took out a book. She thanked everyone for coming, and especially thanked Princess Margaret, and then the reading salon officially began.
The reading salon is not a particularly serious event. People can enjoy tea and desserts while participating in interesting activities.
The salon was hosted by Leicia, who first invited people to share the books they were reading recently. Those who were willing to share could stand up and go to the fireplace, turn their backs to the fireplace to show the books they brought, and share the interesting content they had read or the knowledge they learned from the books. The book Shade brought was Dorothy's "Hamilton Detective Stories", which was a popular novel that was not suitable for such an "elegant" reading salon, so Shade did not take the initiative to share it.
Princess Margaret brought Carsenrick's traditional fairy tale collection "Dream Poems". The 1853 edition added fifteen new fairy tales, among which the story about the mermaid princess was the focus of her sharing.
Baron Lallelle of Tobesk shared a book called "Lightning on the Mountain Top". People set up an array of iron rods on the top of the mountain to attract lightning, so as to infer the specific cause of lightning and estimate its specific power.
It's a pity that this book is not a popular science book, but a first-person disaster biography. Most of the people who encountered misfortunes in the mountains have not been found to this day.
Sir Prisha, who was beside Shad, shared the essay collection "Moon Songs" he read in Tobesk. This book was published in the spring of this year. The author is anonymous. The essay collection is divided into three chapters: "Yellow Moon Chapter", "Red Moon Chapter" and "Silver Moon Chapter". Each chapter contains essays corresponding to a specific moon. There are 17 articles in total. It can be seen that Sir Prisha likes this book very much, and he focused on sharing "Yellow Moon Chapter".
Sharing their own books livened up the atmosphere of the salon. Some of the well-dressed gentlemen and ladies actually took out popular science books and even popular novels. Leicia wanted to let Shade participate in the speech, but Shade shook his head slightly, so the princess did not mention Shade's name.
After the book sharing, people gathered in twos and threes to talk about their favorite topics.
Princess Margaret, of course, sat with Resia, surrounded by noble ladies of the same age; Prince Nasser Cavendish gathered his familiar friends and chatted on the other side; and Shad wanted to continue talking to Sir Prisha about the glory of Carsenrick, but unexpectedly, the little princess Ajelina came over:
"Knight, do you mind if I sit here?"
She brought her friend, Lisa Asberg, the youngest daughter of the Asberg family, and sat on the sofa to Shade's right:
"Knight, what are you talking about?"
"Good evening, your highness. We were talking about scenery and detective stories."
Sir Prisha said respectfully, and Shade added:
"Yes, Sir Prissy also asked me why I didn't write my own story myself. Oh, writing a book is a very troublesome thing. Besides, even if I were to write it, I would not use my own name as the name of the protagonist of the story. People would think I was bragging about myself."
"So what name would you use?"
The little princess said happily that Leicia was not here now, and she sat next to Shade, which was a very good progress.
"How about the name 'Angie'? I've always liked that name."
Sir Prisher suggested.
"I feel like the name Hamilton Knight is better."
Miss Lisa Asberg said, blushing.
Xia De thought of his friends from his hometown, and then he thought of a name:
"Jenkins..."
Then I thought of my friend's hobby, so I made up a last name and added some background:
"Jenkins Williamson, with a cat named Chocolate. It sounds like a good name, but Your Highness, let's not talk about detective stories. People have read my stories in books and newspapers. What are you reading recently? I heard that the royal grammar teacher is a very serious old gentleman."
March hung high in the night sky, and the atmosphere in the bright second-floor room was just right. The Silver Cross Avenue was deserted, and the evening breeze blew the dead leaves into the alley. So far, there had been no disturbances in Leicia's reading salon.