“Mr. Hamilton!”
It was Tifa’s voice from outside the door; she had actually returned, and her tone was anxious:
“Queen Diana wants to see you, but she can’t find you anywhere. Miss told me to bring you back quickly.”
Xia De looked at Leia’s expression again; she was holding her breath, her face taut.
Angelina held a cup, sipping the slightly hot black tea in small sips, watching the two people there with great interest:
“Mr. Hamilton, you’d best wipe off all the lipstick before you go.”
She even kindly reminded Xia De, and seeing Xia De look at her, she even took out her own handkerchief. It was a silk handkerchief embroidered with a butterfly pattern:
“You can borrow this.”
Because of Princess Angelina’s reminder, when Xia De met Queen Diana, there were no traces of impropriety on his face. The meeting place was the same waiting room where Xia De had waited to see Larus III after being shot in the street last time.
Queen Diana did not meet Xia De alone, so besides Miss Jialinna, there were several Noblewomen Xia De didn’t know around her. Since they had just accompanied the Queen down from the third floor, Xia De guessed that these were also people related to the Royal Family.
When Xia De was led into the room by a servant, Queen Diana was holding the perfectly round pearl, about half the size of a fist, showing it off to others under the gaslight.
This kind of jewelry, which neither men nor women could refuse, even the Queen had never seen. After all, even if naturally formed pearls were larger than this one, they would never be as perfectly round.
“Your Highness, good evening. Ladies, good evening.”
Xia De greeted everyone there. Since he didn’t know most of them, calling them “ladies” was appropriate.
“Look, who’s here?”
Queen Diana’s enthusiasm seemed a bit excessive. She smiled and waved Xia De over, handing the pearl in her hand to others for inspection.
Half of the people here were looking at the pearl, and the other half were looking at Xia De.
The Noblewomen occupied the sofa, but fortunately, a servant promptly brought a chair so Xia De had a place to sit.
“Detective, I heard about what happened at the Opera House the other day. Thanks to you for saving little Angelina, otherwise I really don’t know what would have happened.”
Actually, given the situation that day, even without Xia De, Princess Angelina probably would have been fine.
“That’s what I should do.”
Xia De said, looking at Miss Jialinna beside the Queen, who nodded at him.
“So, it means there’s nothing to be careful about in the following conversation.”
Xia De thought to himself, and the Queen spoke again:
“Today is my birthday, and I didn’t expect you to send such a valuable gift. It’s excellent; this is probably the most precious gift I’ve received this year.”
Leia had told him how to answer before he came, so Xia De immediately began to recite:
“Such beautiful jewelry is only worthy of a lady of your noble status.”
“Look, the Knight speaks as if he’s performing an opera. However, I know you’re not a rich person, so I won’t take this gift for nothing. Last time we talked here, I promised to give you a rare rhode cards.”
She nodded to the maid standing behind Xia De, who placed a metal box on the tea table in front of Xia De.
It was made of brass, but with a glass top. Through the glass, one could see a soft velvet lining inside, and a card resting on the lining.
The card was face down; Xia De could only see the pattern on the back of the card.
“You are truly too kind.”
He said with a smile.
“Yes, I am truly very kind.”
Queen Diana’s answer was unexpected. She unfolded her white bone fan, adorned with glitter, covering her mouth, and bowed her head slightly, her eyes curving into a smile:
“Take a look at this card; it was really not easy to get.”
Miss Jialinna raised an eyebrow at Xia De, who nodded in surprise:
“Alright, Your Highness.”
He picked up the box and found that among the four side metal plates, the left and right ones had small grooves at the top, holding 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 again and took out the prepared white gloves from his pocket to put them on.
This action made the Noblewomen laugh. Xia De didn’t look up but turned the card over to examine the card face.
The relaxed smile on his face instantly turned to a shocked expression:
“What?”
The front of the card only had white, black, and cool tones near these two colors. White occupied most of the card face, with a black humanoid creature in the center of the card, half-exposed, facing sideways out of the card. It had no hair on its head, and a pair of wings extended from its back, with curved spikes at the tips of the wings. The revealed eyes were clearly snake eyes, and they seemed to be looking obliquely at the person outside the card. Its face had strangely shaped, continuous scale marks of an unknown creature.
The background of the card was a dense array of temple and spire ruins.
The upper right corner of the front was marked with the number 11, and the upper left corner was a small star symbol. Between the two, in the center of the top of the card face, a black vertical line was drawn in a white circle; this was the symbol of the Founding series.
At the very bottom of the card face, there was a small blank space where two lines of small text were written:
【If this card is drawn and it is the first face-down card, ignore all rules and conditions and win directly; if this card is drawn and it is not the first face-down card, the holder has the right to keep all remaining cards unrevealed before the end of this round, and can continue to draw cards after busting.】
“founding·darkness?!”
Xia De could barely control his voice.
Miss Jialinna was clearly aware of this card beforehand, and among the other Noblewomen, the few who knew about rhode cards also raised their eyebrows.
Queen Diana, who was covering the lower half of her face with a feather-decorated fan, nodded, the smile in her eyes becoming even more obvious:
“Yes, Genesis Darkness. It was truly not easy to obtain this card. It was accidentally discovered by the ice-gathering legion in the far north of the Old Continent, at the very top of the Sothos Glacier. It was frozen at the top of the glacier, in ice like an altar, having lain there for who knows how many years, facing the sun. Seventy years ago, this card was brought to Tobesk by the then legion commander and presented to the Royal Family. Since then, the card has remained in the Royal Family’s treasury, only traceable in the warehouse catalog. I think, Knight, you should like it.”
“Ice-gathering legion” did not mean that this army specialized in gathering ice in the far north, but rather that they were stationed in the northern Old Continent year-round, which is why they had this nickname. Their official name was the Delarion Royal Army Third Legion Polar North Garrison.
“I like it, I like it very much, but Your Highness, the value of this card is truly too great.”
Xia De stood up from his chair, speaking with some trepidation.
The trepidation was, of course, feigned. After The Innocent Creator’s reminder, Xia De understood the value of the all things are impermanent card, and thus resolved to collect all thirteen all things are impermanent cards. He now wished he could just stuff the card into his pocket, then quickly run home and laugh out loud with his cat in his unlit study.
It was just that in this situation, he still had to put on a show.
“You saved me, helped little Angelina, and also gave me this birthday gift.”
The Queen took the fan away from her face and took the pearl back from Miss Jialinna’s hand:
“But you’re right, the value of this card is a bit high. How about this, I heard that rhode cards players like you prefer to win rhode cards by winning.”
Special rule rhode cards start at least at 40 pounds per card. Depending on the year of issue and other historical value, the price of the cards is almost limitless. Exchanging a house for a card is not uncommon among nobles. But for top nobles like Duke Lucas, spending money to acquire a set of 54 special rule cards might take some time, but it is by no means impossible.
However, true rhode cards players can allow themselves to buy cards, but they prefer to acquire cards by gambling, so even though Xia De had played cards with many nobles, he had never seen anyone own more than ten special rule cards.
“Yes, we prefer to win rhode cards by playing rhode cards.”
Xia De nodded, more or less understanding Queen Diana’s idea.
“Marquis Graselli has organized a card game at my birthday party. How about this, I’ll keep this card for now, and you’ll need to win against your opponent in the gamble for this card to be yours. And if you lose, I will auction this card.”
She smiled and glanced at Miss Jialinna:
“Then, you can have others buy this card for you.”
“That’s a very good idea, Your Highness.”
Xia De put the card back into the box.
“Oh, Hamilton of Thunder Jeed, are you that confident?”
The Queen asked with a smile.
“Yes, Your Highness. After all, I’ve never lost when playing rhode cards.”
When he said this, the strong confidence on his face almost made the man standing under the crystal chandelier seem to glow all over.
The news that Queen Diana would take out the Royal Family’s treasured Genesis Darkness rhode cards and gamble against Hamilton of Thunder Jeed at the banquet’s card game, with whether he won or lost as the condition, quickly spread throughout Yodel Palace.
She wanted to personally watch the card game, and Marquis Graselli, who had originally invited Xia De, immediately re-discussed the rules with the Prophet Association staff after hearing the news. After receiving permission, he had the servants of Yodel Palace bring in 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 attending the banquet could continue to enjoy the banquet, and the flow of the banquet would not be disturbed. Guests who loved rhode cards could watch from the side.
