Princess Margaret, being the main guest of this banquet, could not stay here for too long. After informing Miss Silvia of the specific time and arrangements for going to the airship, she stood up to leave.
But as soon as she stood up, the Princess pursed her lips and sat back down.
She glanced at her personal maid, who tactfully left the room for a moment. The Princess then looked at Miss Silvia’s personal servant, the lady who had brought Xia De here, but the latter remained unmoved.
Princess Margaret bit her lip again, then asked softly:
“Teacher, are you still unwilling to let me be your apprentice?”
Xia De held his breath in the wardrobe, while the Great Witch looked at her suspiciously:
“Margaret, we have discussed this question many times. I am willing to be your teacher, but you cannot become my apprentice. You do not have talent for space, and this cannot be changed.”
“What if I can engrave the Ling Rune of 【Space】 for myself?”
The Princess asked with some excitement, but the Great Witch still shook her head:
“You know my personality very well. To inherit my position in the Council, besides space, you also need to understand mathematics. I want to find a student who can truly inherit all my Knowledge. But mathematics... if you don't know it, you don't know it. Even if you acquire Knowledge through extraordinary powers, the logic and way of thinking won't change so easily.”
Xia De’s eyes widened, peeking out from the wardrobe's crack, afraid to miss any detail. Although it was somewhat unethical, this conversation was far more interesting than the banquet itself.
He understood Miss Silvia’s thoughts well; this Great Witch wanted to find a true heir. He also understood Princess Margaret’s thoughts. Although she had become Cerces’s student through royal connections, even becoming a student of a Vice-Dean, historically, no member of the royal family had ever become a High-Ring Sorcerer, never. This might be a coincidence, or perhaps an inevitability under some unspoken understanding.
Therefore, if Margaret Anjou wanted to go further on the path of a Ring術士, Miss Silvia was the best choice.
“Teacher...”
The Princess lowered her head in silence, stood up, and prepared to bid farewell. But then she suddenly asked:
“Do you have a suitable apprentice candidate now?”
“You know I rarely lie, and I would never lie to you. Yes, I do.”
Margaret Anjou looked up at her teacher in shock; she had only asked casually just now:
“Why?”
“Her core Ling Rune is... 【Space】, and she possesses spatial divine arts that even I cannot analyze. Moreover, she can easily discuss functions and spatial geometry with me without any preparation, showing profound attainment in higher mathematics, even having her own insights into imaginary numbers, and her views on groups and sets have pointed out the direction of my future research.”
Miss Silvia looked at her student with considerable regret:
“I can’t think of a better candidate than her.”
Princess Margaret could no longer control her expression:
“Teacher, does such a person truly exist?”
“She truly exists.”
The Great Witch controlled the urge to look at the wardrobe.
“Is she an old scholar immersed in academia for many years? Which school in the United Kingdom is she from?”
“She is very young, even younger than you. She doesn't belong to any school; in fact, according to what I know...”
Miss Silvia looked at her student. Her Royal Highness, the Princess, knew her teacher well and knew that she was about to reveal a cruel truth:
“According to what I know, she is self-taught and has not even attended elementary school.”
She did not mention that, according to the information provided by Miss Jialinna, Xia De might not have even been literate before this Summer, and all this Knowledge and talent were acquired by him through adventure and effort over the past six months.
But even with Miss Silvia’s “pity,” the Princess still painfully closed her eyes:
“Teacher, are you saying that geniuses truly exist in this world?”
“Yes.”
The Great Witch cautiously expressed her opinion:
“Sometimes, talent is really important. But you don’t need to be too sad; she refused me.”
“What?”
The Princess, wearing a silver diadem, opened her eyes again:
“She doesn’t want to be your apprentice?”
“Because many people want to teach her.”
Miss Silvia pursed her lips, which indicated she was thinking of something unpleasant.
“Then, Teacher, may I meet her?”
Princess Margaret asked again, and the Great Witch immediately shook her head:
“She is not in this City, and she will not reveal her identity to you.”
“Where is she?”
“Tobesk City.”
The Princess nodded:
“I understand, Teacher. Since she refused you, please remember, I will never refuse you... I was here first, after all.”
This young lady, who appeared intellectual and graceful with a royal demeanor to Outsiders, showed a pitiful expression, but this did not move the Witch sitting on the sofa. Miss Silvia smiled:
“Margaret, you’ve used that trick many times. If I take you as an apprentice out of sympathy, it will be a tragedy for both of us... Enjoy this banquet, there will be a lot to do after we go to Tobesk.”
“Okay, Teacher. Then we’ll see each other later... I was here first, after all.”
Princess Margaret left the room, seemingly in good spirits. And after the door closed, Xia De waited for more than ten seconds before pushing open the wardrobe door and taking off the red lady’s soft hat that had fallen on his head when he rushed into the wardrobe:
“Miss Silvia, I will not meet her in Tobesk.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you meet her either.”
The Witch said, sighing, and looked at the moon outside the window:
“But I have a premonition that this visit to Tobesk will definitely not be simple. Now that we have suddenly obtained new fragments of the poem, it is reasonable to believe that the fourth Chosen One will probably soon step onto the elusive stage of fate... The question is, where will this stage be this time?”
Xia De did not stay long in Miss Silvia’s lounge. Shortly after Princess Margaret left, he also returned to the banquet hall on the first floor of the manor and met up with Mr. Bernhardt.
When he found this gentleman, he was resting on a sofa in a corner of the hall, playing rhode cards with Baron York, the “medicine peddler” with gold-rimmed glasses, surrounded by a circle of onlookers.
Xia De saw that they were playing intently, so he stood behind the crowd without interrupting. But listening to the discussions of the people around him, these two gentlemen were betting their valuable wine collections, which, in the eyes of rhode cards players in Huntington City, was a high-class wager second only to “special rules” rhode cards.
rhode cards truly lived up to its reputation as the most popular game of this era. At banquets in Carson Rick, people also used the rhode cards games of nobles as a symbol of status. Those speaking Carson Rick were discussing the progress of the game, predicting who would win, and Xia De saw that the game had just begun and would last for a long time, so he turned to search for Princess Margaret’s whereabouts.
He still remembered that Miss Silvia had given him an invitation to make him pay attention to unusual events around the Princess during the banquet.
At this time, the dance was preparing to begin, and the manor’s servants were clearing away the long tables. Her Royal Highness, the Princess, was also in a nearby sofa lounge area, sitting with local Noblewomen, noble youths, and noble ladies, discussing something. The other nobles accompanying the delegation were also talking in twos and threes with local nobles from Huntington City, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
When Xia De saw the Princess, the Princess also saw him. After a slight 愣, she had her maid call Xia De over:
“This is Mr. Holmes, who operates a winery in the New World and is a friend of Viscount Bernhardt.”
She introduced him to the others, and then stated the purpose of calling Xia De over:
“Mr. Holmes, you are a Delarion, and probably don’t understand Carson Rick banquets. Our large banquets here will prepare some interesting games. Are you interested in participating? We happen to be missing an interesting player.”
Xia De blinked. Although curious why the other party had called him to play a game, he still nodded:
“Of course, it is my honor.”
Anyway, he had nothing else to do.
“But what should we play? I am quite confident in rhode cards.”
Xia De said with slight modesty, and Princess Margaret smiled:
“The gentlemen here are all very good at rhode cards, so let’s try other games.”
Saying that, she ordered a servant to bring three empty stemmed glass cups, and placed the three cups tightly together in a triangular shape on the tea table. Then she called for someone to bring an opaque black cloth, and the Princess asked her personal maid for three coins.
Those were not ordinary Carson Rick crowns; they were “Carson Rick Kingdom Commemorative Gold Coins” cast from pure gold. These commemorative coins were also considered a large denomination currency. An Outsider who had deeply understood the world’s currency system knew that one gold coin could be exchanged for 10 to 12 crowns.
“Cover your eyes with the cloth, stand at a distance, and throw the gold coins into the cups. If anyone can throw three gold coins into the three wine glasses respectively, these three gold coins, and my earrings, will belong to him.”
Princess Margaret announced. This was actually directed at Xia De, as the young gentlemen around seemed to already know about this matter.
Xia De nodded suspiciously, indicating understanding, still not knowing why the other party had specifically called him over. This certainly wasn't to demonstrate the friendship between the two countries.
In any case, this unexpected banquet game began. There were a total of seven people who signed up for the game, each looking incredibly confident.
Princess Margaret had people clear the open space in front of the tea table and pulled a cloth strip to serve as the starting line for throwing coins on the ground. And the banquet game personally hosted by the Princess, as well as the “precious” game prize, also attracted more people to come and watch.
After all, the dance had not yet begun, and this was the liveliest place right now.
——Outside Story——
PS: A total of 3 chapters will be updated tomorrow, each chapter 5k.
7017k
