That evening, before leaving Huntington, Xia De visited Viscount Bernhardt's manor and asked him to send someone to Professor Drake's house to copy the text materials.
Viscount Bernhardt was also very happy to learn that Xia De's investigation had made progress, but he mentioned another matter, which was the farewell dinner to be held at Rothschild Manor tomorrow night.
This was a farewell dinner for Princess Margaret Anjou, who was representing the Anjou Royal Family on a visit to Tobesk, so the banquet was of a very high standard. Tomorrow night's banquet would not only have local nobles but even Carson Rick nobles who had traveled all the way from Weilandale.
As a very prestigious local noble, Viscount Bernhardt had, of course, already received an invitation. He invited Xia De to go with him, and Xia De also intended the same:
"Viscount Bernhardt, my carson rick isn't very good, so I might stay with you all night tomorrow."
Xia De said apologetically, but Viscount Bernhardt didn't mind this at all:
"It's your first time attending a Carson Rick noble banquet; it will be very interesting."
Saturday night was actually Xia De's traditional evening lesson time. Of course, since the beginning of this month, it had also become Leia and Xia De's private date time.
On Saturday morning, Xia De informed Leia in advance through the flower shop on Silver Cross Avenue that he had something to do in Huntington tonight, so they couldn't meet in the evening.
Leia didn't give Xia De any reply immediately, but when Xia De arrived at Doctor Schneider's clinic with the cat for this week's study group, he almost immediately recognized Dorothy, who had arrived early, was actually Leia.
He couldn't keenly distinguish between the two souls, but from the dissatisfied look "Dorothy" gave him, he knew it couldn't be the Golden-haired girl's own thoughts.
Most of this week's study group time was spent with Doctor Schneider helping the other members of the group calculate their respective credits to discuss the details of the year-end exam a month later. When it came to Xia De's matters, the doctor seemed to have a headache.
Xia De was currently considering applying to jump from second year to fourth year, so he had specially borrowed a large number of books from the Library for "study" a while ago. But the problem now was that he was still short on practical credits. In the best-case scenario, he would have to open a time key once a week and encounter valuable major events each time to barely accumulate those credits.
But obviously, Xia De couldn't be that efficient.
"Miss Daniste, the librarian, said she would help me."
Xia De quietly informed the doctor of this news. The doctor was stunned for a moment, then nodded without asking anything, clearly aware of some of the academy's connections, but he hadn't expected Xia De to have such a relationship with that Thirteen Ring Sorcerer.
After the study group ended, it was only four in the afternoon. "Dorothy" left Doctor Schneider's clinic with Xia De in a carriage. The Golden-haired girl silently boarded the carriage, and only when the carriage slowly moved forward did she mention Xia De's plans for tonight:
"Huntington? You're not going to tell me, Knight, that you already know Princess Margaret Anjou, are you?"
There was a strong questioning tone in her voice.
"Yes, but she thinks I'm Mr. Holmes, not Hamilton of Leijiede."
Xia De told the truth, holding Mia and sitting opposite the Golden-haired girl, apologizing profusely:
"I know I shouldn't take up tonight's time, but for certain reasons, I must attend that banquet."
"You don't have to explain this to me. Am I the kind of girl who is unreasonable?"
Leia brushed a strand of Dorothy's pretty golden hair away and looked Xia De up and down:
"I know you have more important things to do, but I hope you haven't forgotten that the 'Red Butterfly Day' comes every 22 days."
"Yes, this Sunday night."
That memorable stormy night for Xia De was a Saturday, the 26th of withered leaf month. Therefore, the first Red Butterfly Day ended on the 27th. Starting from the night of the 27th, the 21-day waiting period had to restart, so by this Sunday night, the second "Red Butterfly Day" would arrive again.
Both Dorothy and Leia liked to use this term to refer to that special day.
"If you have no other plans, I can prepare for Sunday night and Monday's activities in advance."
Xia De suggested, Leia shook her head:
"On Monday, I will accompany my mother to welcome the visiting delegation of Margaret Anjou. I have already discussed with Dorothy that we will postpone Red Butterfly Day to next Tuesday, the 19th of frost descent month."
"But there's also something that day. Tuesday is your sister, Princess Mona Cavendish's wedding."
Xia De reminded her, Leia smiled and nodded:
"Yes, so Dorothy and I can meet at the wedding banquet. Isn't that more interesting than an ordinary day?"
"Oh, yes."
Xia De suddenly understood. Leia looked at the street view outside the window, then reached out and closed the car window. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her face slightly red, she looked at Xia De:
"Dorothy and I can meet you at the banquet, Xia De. I prepared a handwritten copy of the "summer night collection" in advance. Would you like to read it with us at the banquet?"
The "summer night collection" was the inspiration for Dorothy's award-winning work "A Midsummer Night's Wish" and was a very famous collection of essays.
"Reading a handwritten essay at a wedding banquet?"
Xia De was stunned, then understood when he saw "Dorothy's" slightly flushed cheeks:
"Of course, yes, reading the 'summer night collection' with you at the banquet."
The Golden-haired girl bit her lip lightly, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Xia De:
"I'm really looking forward to Tuesday. It's true, today was supposed to be our date."
"After Princess Margaret Anjou arrives in Tobesk, there should be many large banquets and balls held in the city, then—"
Xia De lowered his voice slightly and held Leia's right hand with his left:
"You can even meet me with your body, and do you still want to dance together? Attending banquets and balls are our legitimate opportunities to meet."
Leia smiled:
"Yes, speaking of which, Margaret Anjou's visit is actually a good thing. Knight, I'm very happy that while you're thinking of the Golden-haired girl in front of you, you can also miss my body."
She reached out to touch the cat in Xia De's arms. The sweetly sleeping cat let out a dissatisfied meow and squirmed, trying to avoid her hand.
"Since you're attending that banquet tonight, why not play a trick on the Anjou princess?"
Saying that, Leia rummaged through Dorothy's handbag, quickly wrote a line, and handed it to Xia De:
"Put this next to Margaret Anjou, but don't let it be known that you put it there. I remember this princess is a bit older than me? I interacted with her during my visit to Carson Rick this summer. She is a very interesting lady."
Leia wrote it in Carson Rick, and she controlled the writing method, so it didn't look like her handwriting at all.
"Greetings, Your Highness. The purple cabbage at the banquet is still as delicious as it was back then."
Xia De looked at it suspiciously several times, making sure there was no deeper meaning he couldn't understand:
"What does this sentence mean? Is purple cabbage a substitute?"
"No, it's just purple cabbage."
A rare expression appeared on Dorothy's face. It was a smile, a mischievous smile:
"You probably don't know about the Weilandale purple cabbage incident eight years ago. Margaret Anjou, who was only in her teens at the time, because she didn't like to eat purple cabbage, deliberately blamed her maid for putting sand in the vegetable salad during a dinner in the autumn of 1845. She wanted to use this to avoid that vegetable.
The poor maid, who had done nothing wrong, was almost immediately dismissed. A few weeks later, the maid immolated herself at home, and people only found part of her remains. In a suicide note sent to a friend in advance, she said that she had done nothing wrong but was still treated this way, and her reputation suffered greatly, so she no longer wished to live."
The Golden-haired girl recounted this past event, but there was no expression of regret on her face. Xia De understood and slightly widened his mouth:
"You're not going to say that this matter is related to MI6, are you? Political struggles in the kingdom? Or the silent struggle of spies?"
Leia smiled:
"Yes, Xia De, you are always so perceptive. I only heard the truth from Jialinna three years ago.
That maid was actually an MI6 spy planted by the Anjou Royal Family. Her sudden dismissal at the time led MI6 to misjudge, thinking she had been discovered. So they urgently transferred the maid and bought a female corpse of similar build locally to replace her."
The carriage rolled over the road, slowly driving towards Saint Delan Square. Xia De listened to the spy secrets from many years ago and carefully sighed:
"This must have caused quite a psychological shadow for Princess Margaret Anjou, right?"
After all, it was only because she hated eating purple cabbage that led to the maid's "self-immolation."
"Yes, you can also try tonight to bring a dish with purple cabbage to the princess."
Leia suggested, but Xia De shook the note in confusion:
"So, the purpose of giving her this note is—"
"To play a little trick on her. And to get back at her for taking up my date time tonight."
Leia's face still held a smile, but Xia De knew, no matter how he thought about it, that the latter was the important reason.
The young Outsider wisely did not point this out. Considering that giving this note would only make the princess feel bad all night and would not cause greater trouble, Xia De agreed.
"Has MI6 always had spies planted around the Anjou Royal Family?"
He asked curiously.
"I'm not responsible for that."
Leia shook her head, but then said very confidently:
"But there will definitely be MI6 people at the banquet in Huntington City tonight—I'm not talking about you. Even if the Ring術士 of the Pantanal Voodoo Society you mentioned doesn't appear, the conspiracies and plans surrounding that banquet will certainly not be few."
"In peacetime, agents are still so busy."
Xia De sighed, turning to look at the street scene of Tobesk in deep winter from the carriage window. People came and went on the streets. People who had been busy all year would not be idle even at the end of the year. In such a prosperous era, undercurrents were always surging.
Leia did not discuss this topic further:
"A while ago, I helped you change that bed—Dorothy was too excited that night. I also helped you replace the old furniture in the master bedroom and confirmed that the fireplace could be used. Do you need me to prepare winter firewood for you in advance? If so, in a few days I'll send someone to help you waterproof the basement, otherwise, the firewood will get damp, and there will be a lot of smoke when it burns."
Her Royal Highness covered Xia De's mouth with her hand, her emerald eyes "glaring" at Xia De:
"I have plenty of pounds. If I don't help you with these trivial matters, won't Jialinna? Are you trying to reject me and then accept her kindness?"
At this moment, Xia De could almost directly see Leia's soul from those pretty eyes.
She released her hand, tossed the cat in Xia De's arms aside, then directly wrapped her arms around Xia De's neck and kissed him, giving him no chance to refuse.
