It was Thursday. When Xia De woke up early in the morning, he heard the sound of rain hitting the windows outside. He put on his slippers, pulled open the curtains, and saw that it was drizzling in the peaceful Tobesk morning:
"Autumn rain, it looks like the temperature is going to drop again."
Compared to the somewhat long Summer, Tobesk's Autumn is relatively short. Once harvest month passes, it's as if a small part of Autumn has already gone. People in the countryside would consider storing food for winter in the next month and thinking about their winter income, while a Detective living in the city would also have to consider whether he needs to use the fireplace in the living room on the second floor during winter.
Although residents of Saint Delan Square enjoy unified heating from steam pipes, a fireplace is still essential if one wants to be more comfortable in winter.
"However, an iron grate must be installed in front of the fireplace, otherwise Mia running into it would be terrible."
Thinking this, Xia De stroked the cat he was holding. The cat was lazily sprawled in his arms. He wondered if it was his imagination, but Xia De always felt that a cat who had just woken up was softer than a cat usually was...
Thinking this, he reached out and poked Mia's belly, which resulted in the cat not bothering with Xia De again until after breakfast.
Xia De had no plans to go to Middlesburg this morning. After breakfast, he took an umbrella, and with Mia, who was unwilling to go out, left home and headed to Feather Pen Street.
After knocking on the door of Dorothy's rented apartment, the landlady glanced at Mia, who was wrapped in Xia De's coat with only her head exposed to prevent her from getting wet in the rain, before reluctantly letting him in.
Xia De politely folded his umbrella and placed it in the storage bucket behind the door. He then wiped his shoes clean on the doormat before going up the stairs.
"Oh, Xia De, good morning. I hope you coming to visit me so early this time doesn't mean you've brought more bad news."
Dorothy said with a teasing smile. Because of the rain, she seemed to have no plans to go out today, so she was wearing loungewear.
It was a blue fabric dress, whose style resembled what noble governesses would wear. The front of the upper body had two parallel vertical rows of decorative silver buttons, which was probably a new style for this Autumn.
"I heard Leia went to your place yesterday morning?"
"Yes, she went to my place with Angelina, taking advantage of Princess Angelina's outing. We talked about the Ling Rune of Sleep."
Xia De sat on the sofa and took the teacup offered by the Golden-haired girl, who then sat on the sofa opposite him:
"Angelina went? I didn't know that. I only heard Leia say she was coming to find you on Tuesday morning."
"Leia and Angelina seem to have a very good relationship, better than with her other siblings."
"There's a reason for that."
Dorothy winked at Xia De but didn't explain the specific reason:
"So Detective, why have you come to see me? Is there a troublesome matter that needs to be resolved?"
Xia De took out the bronze butterfly pendant from his pocket, then split it into two halves, and explained the rumors of the twin gods he knew, as well as his experiences in Middlesburg.
It was a relatively long story, which Xia De tried to keep brief, starting from the Bard at Sicar Inn, all the way to Professor Manning last night, lasting a full ten minutes.
During this time, Dorothy picked up the two Red Butterfly pendants to examine them. After Xia De finished speaking, she smiled and shook her head:
"Leia and I have thought of many ways, but we still can't solve the problem of not being able to meet each other. Yes, we really have tried many ways."
It seemed she didn't believe the problem could be solved so easily:
"Initially, we only communicated through diaries after swapping bodies. Later, we gradually became curious about each other, to the point where we finally decided that we must meet. Time doesn't seem to have passed long, but it always feels like that was a very long time ago."
She said with a hint of melancholy.
"So, have you ever sought the help of the Old God, the twin gods' power?"
"No."
The Golden-haired girl shook her head.
"Then let's try it. I'll go to the address Leia left me in a while and have Angelina's maid take half of the Red Butterfly into Yodel Palace. At ten o'clock, you and I will walk past the Yodel Palace entrance with umbrellas, and Leia can stand by the window and look at us. Then you can try to make eye contact, and that way you'll know if this works."
Xia De separated the Red Butterfly that Dorothy had put back together, handed one half to her, and put the other half into his pocket:
"Don't refuse. I happen to need to tell Leia that the matter she asked me to investigate in Middlesburg has also yielded results, so I'll send the letter and this half of the Red Butterfly together."
Seeing Xia De's insistence, Dorothy gave him a gentle smile:
"Alright."
She seemed to be in low spirits, which Xia De could understand. Perhaps many previous attempts had failed, and she didn't want to be disheartened again.
"Let's go back to Saint Delan Square together. I'll deliver the letter, and you can help me look after Mia at my place. When the time comes, we'll go to Silver Cross Avenue."
Xia De handed the cat, who was curled up in his arms, to Dorothy.
"Why did you bring her out?"
Mia looked pitifully at Xia De from Dorothy's arms, clearly unwilling to leave him outside the house.
"She's always indoors; she should come out for some fresh air. I even plan to take her to see the big mountains once the situation in Middlesburg stabilizes. This cat always likes to bully her own kind; maybe I can find a tiger in the mountains to help her change her temper."
"I bet you wouldn't bear to throw Mia to a tiger."
Dorothy said with a smile, hugging the cat who was unwilling to leave Xia De tightly:
"Speaking of which, why haven't you bought her from your client yet?"
"Miss Gaode is seriously ill. How can I bring that up in this situation?"
Xia De sighed:
"I wish her good health. If she's truly gravely ill, after the Middlesburg matter is over, I'll personally go to the town where her hometown is. Taking a train from Middlesburg is much faster than from Tobesk."
"Why wait until the Middlesburg matter is over?"
Dorothy asked suspiciously:
"I heard you say that Middlesburg has a big problem, but what does that have to do with you... Wait, Xia De, you're not going to do something dangerous again, are you?"
Xia De quickly shook his head:
"Don't worry, I'm just investigating some things there. At least for now, I haven't thought of any specific plans."
"That's best. Although I hope you can become a so-called hero—"
This was the first time she had used such a tone to address Xia De.
"—but I don't want to suddenly hear you say in a few days that you've also solved the problem of Middlesburg."
"The situation there probably won't be resolved in a few days."
Xia De whispered in his heart, then heard "her" soft chuckle again.
Although the rain wasn't heavy, it seemed like it wanted to last all day. Dorothy carried Mia to Saint Delan Square No. 6 first, while Xia De, holding an umbrella, walked through the muddy puddles on the road to "Mary Jane Flower Shop" on Silver Cross Avenue.
Although it was his first time there, someone greeted him as soon as he walked in:
"Mr. Hamilton."
After confirming that the person was Angelina's maid, Xia De handed her the letter and half of the butterfly. The maid immediately changed clothes and prepared to enter Yodel Palace.
Xia De later learned that all the owners of the entire flower shop were actually Angelina's maids.
It was already close to ten o'clock. After Xia De returned home, he only had a cup of tea and chatted with Dorothy about her hamilton detective story collection. After hearing her say that she wanted to adapt Xia De's experience of investigating the academy murder case yesterday into a story, the two went out again.
This time, Mia had hidden in the bedroom closet beforehand and wouldn't come down no matter how Xia De called her. This cat inherently disliked going out, and disliked going out even more in the rain. After the experience of being lured by Xia De with bacon and then caught and taken out this morning, she would probably have to think carefully before biting food from Xia De's hand for a long time.
According to Xia De's understanding of this cat, "a long time" would probably last an entire afternoon.
Dorothy's mood was still not very high. As she walked with Xia De on Silver Cross Avenue, holding an umbrella, she only chatted with Xia De sporadically.
The rain pattered, and even the usually bustling Silver Cross Avenue had few pedestrians. Only carriages rushing by would splash small amounts of water onto the roadside.
Because they had timed it perfectly, when the two passed by the street opposite Yodel Palace, it was exactly ten o'clock in the morning. Xia De and Dorothy both raised their umbrellas slightly back, then turned to look at the tallest building of Yodel Palace.
The main building of Yodel Palace was some distance from the street. When looking at the window, it was a bit blurry through the rain. But the two still accurately caught sight of the dazzling red long hair by the window on the third floor to the left. Xia De, squinting, vaguely noticed another shorter red-haired person beside her.
"How is it?"
Xia De asked Dorothy expectantly, but to his surprise, the Golden-haired girl Writer stood there stunned, maintaining her posture of looking into the rain.
"What's wrong?"
Dorothy shook her head, tightly gripping the half-winged Red Butterfly in her left hand, and dropped the umbrella to the ground.
She turned around, looked up, her eyes slightly red, and stared blankly at the Yodel Palace window in the rain. The rain wet her golden hair and shoulders, and water slid down her fair cheeks.
Xia De wasn't sure if it was rain or tears.
Avoiding a rapidly passing four-wheeled taxi carriage, as the accumulated water on the ground splashed onto Xia De's boots, he bent down to pick up the umbrella that was almost blown away by the wind, then stood behind Dorothy to shield her from the rain, and together with her, looked at Yodel Palace under the gloomy sky.
Tobesk in the rain was like a faded oil painting, leaving only black and gray. But the two half-winged Red Butterfly pendants seemed to be the only color in the black and white scene at that moment.
He already understood. Old John's Red Butterfly pendants, casually made based on that folk song or poem, were effective.
He understood even more that in that distant building, by the window, there was another girl looking here, looking at Dorothy, and also shedding tears.
"Joy? Relief? Or some other emotion?"
Xia De didn't know, and couldn't guess. He was in a good mood at the moment, silently standing behind Dorothy with his umbrella, thinking only that folklore and history were truly interesting.
PS: I added three chapters this morning, totaling 10,000 words. I will add another 10,000 words tomorrow, plus the original 5,000 words that should have been updated, meaning a total of 15,000 words will be updated tomorrow.
