In any case, after meeting the bride and groom, the banquet officially began for Xia De and Dorothy.
Dorothy temporarily separated from Xia De to meet her friends in the literary world. Leia was probably with Princess Margaret now, as she needed to entertain this guest from the southern country.
So, Xia De decided to go see the Great Witch first. The Witches always disliked lively banquets because there were too many men, but they had to attend this banquet. Only then could the two reasonably get to know each other and gradually deepen their relationship.
Mr. Eisberg had prepared separate lounges for the distinguished guests attending the banquet, especially those from his wife's family, in a corridor on the third floor of the Lakeview Manor mansion. When Xia De, holding Mia, stepped onto the third floor, memories of that summer night resurfaced. He stopped on the last step of the stairs, looking at the banquet hall door directly opposite the staircase.
A few months ago, Dorothy burst through the door and flew out, followed by the doctor desperately using Sublimation Words to severely injure "Madam Lasoya." The scene seemed to be right before his eyes:
"I really miss it."
The last time he came here, the corridor was still filled with blood mist, and the exploded door had ruined the corridor, but on this early winter night, it had long since returned to peace.
The banquet hall door was open. Inside was a long table filled with food, and various gold and silver utensils gleamed under the gas lamps, showcasing the Eisberg family's wealth. Guests who hadn't eaten could get food here, but there weren't many people inside at the moment. After all, for this grand wedding, dining tables with food were set up throughout the mansion and the manor, and there was even a tent specifically for roasting lamb legs in the back garden.
"Meow~"
Seeing that Xia De had no intention of entering the banquet hall and instead turned to the side, Mia suddenly meowed, extending her small paw to pat his arm. This cat always showed a unique wisdom when it came to food.
"I'll get you something to eat later."
Xia De patted the cat's small head, and it stopped meowing.
"Are you getting smarter and smarter?"
The lounges prepared by the Eisberg family for important guests were on the left side of the third-floor corridor. Of course, one couldn't just enter casually, but when Xia De arrived at the staircase, the guards on duty merely glanced at him, respectfully called out the name "Hamilton of Leijiede," and then enthusiastically led him to the door of Miss Jialinna's room.
The pendant on his chest was hot, and both Witches were indeed inside. When Xia De entered, they were holding wine glasses, standing by the window, chatting while looking out at the lively courtyard.
In the night, the two Witches, with just their backs in evening gowns, firmly captured Xia De's attention. Earlier, Dorothy had said that the prettiest girl at this ball was the bride, but Xia De knew very well that the prettiest girls should be these two ladies.
"Ahem."
Seeing Xia De staring intently at the ladies by the window, the little princess Angelina coughed, letting Xia De know she was also there.
Xia De rarely saw Angelina not with Leia. At this moment, the little princess had changed out of her bridesmaid dress and was wearing the kind of elaborate princess gown she usually wore, sitting on the sofa in the lounge, looking at a document with some displeasure.
"Good evening, Miss Jialinna, good evening, Your Highness Angelina, good evening, Miss Sylvia."
He greeted them in order of their status. The sixteen-year-old princess's face lit up, and she was about to put down the document in her hand, but seeing Miss Jialinna turn from the window, she bit her lip and dutifully continued to read the papers in her hand.
"Good evening, Xia De."
Because Miss Sylvia was "not yet familiar" with Xia De, only Miss Jialinna greeted him. The Witch, holding a red wine glass, turned around. The color of the red wine in her hand, like the purest ruby, made her look even more captivating:
"Would you like to try this red wine? It's a personal gift from Princess Margaret, and it tastes excellent."
The Duchess said with a smile. She could, of course, tell the origin of these red wines. After all, the raw materials for brewing were the flawed grapes from her manor that couldn't be eaten.
"Thank you, but I don't feel like drinking right now. Oh, what is Your Highness Angelina looking at?"
Xia De asked curiously. Miss Jialinna glanced at Tifa, and the Black-haired maid explained softly:
"Yesterday, at the banquet where His Majesty entertained Princess Margaret Anjou, Her Highness Margaret recommended her mathematics teacher to His Majesty, this scholar Miss Emma Sylvia, who is very famous in the Carson Rick United Kingdom, hoping that Miss Sylvia could obtain access permits to the Libraries of several schools in the Tobesk University District."
The young scholar Miss Sylvia stood by the window, her left hand across her chest, her right hand raising a glass to him in salute:
"Thanks to the generosity of His Majesty Larus III."
"While waiting for the banquet to begin, Miss encountered Her Highness Angelina and asked Miss Sylvia to set some problems to test Her Highness's mathematics level."
The little princess quietly showed a distressed expression to Xia De from behind the papers, clearly having been sitting there for more than an hour. Now that the banquet had begun, she still hadn't received permission to leave, and her feelings were completely written on her face.
Miss Jialinna smiled:
"Since gaining my title, I rarely inquire about the education of family members. Now it seems that the mathematical level of the royal family has indeed declined quite a bit over the years."
Angelina, secretly looking at Xia De, almost had "Save me" written on her face.
"May I look at these problems?"
Xia De asked, then walked to the sofa and took the handwritten drafts:
"Oh, these are indeed very professional problems. But I think Her Highness should be allowed to ponder them slowly back home. After all, this is a wedding banquet, and it's a bit too noisy, which isn't conducive to concentration."
The sixteen-year-old princess immediately nodded, then looked expectantly at her Grand Aunt. Miss Jialinna's smile did not fade:
"Alright then, Angelina, remember to send the answers to my manor before tomorrow evening."
"Yes, no problem!"
The little princess said loudly, then realized her behavior was unladylike. She blushed as she tidied up the papers on the table, about to leave with her maid, but then stopped and asked Xia De:
"Knight, the riding competition around Lakeview Manor will begin in twenty minutes. Are you interested in participating? I heard from my mother that you performed very well at the racecourse last time."
Xia De naturally nodded in agreement. Dorothy had just told him that Leia wanted her to convey to Xia De to accept Angelina's invitation:
"Of course I'll participate, that will be very interesting."
"Then I'll go prepare a horse for you now. We'll see each other later. I'm going to change!"
With that, she left the room excitedly.
"Change clothes?"
Xia De looked at Miss Jialinna in surprise. The latter placed her wine glass on the windowsill, her red nail polish reflecting a somewhat eerie color under the gas lamp:
"Since it's a game at the wedding, it's naturally a two-person horse racing competition. If you want to participate, you must have a female partner. I think Angelina is assuming you'll choose her as your partner."
Miss Sylvia, who was beside them, also smiled:
"I heard Miss Jialinna say that you have an affair with her grand-niece. Is it this one? But looking at her, she clearly..."
"No, no, no, of course not her, Her Highness Angelina is only sixteen!"
Xia De was startled and quickly defended himself. Although the age of adulthood in this world was sixteen, Outsiders had their own rules:
"Ladies, please don't tease me. Tonight's banquet is very lively, aren't you going to go down and walk around?"
He also walked to the window and looked out at the courtyard, illuminated by countless lights, with the two Witches. At this time, more and more guests were arriving, and laughter and revelry occasionally came from the erected tents. It was a pity the sun hadn't completely set yet, otherwise the courtyard illuminated by lights at night would appear even more splendid.
When Xia De and Dorothy walked in earlier, the central pathway in the courtyard was still somewhat empty, but now there was a long table with various delicacies and a five-tier cream cake.
Xia De immediately felt Mia, whom he was holding, becoming restless again.
"You know, we always dislike such lively occasions."
Miss Jialinna said, then glanced at Miss Sylvia:
"Xia De, don't you have something to say?"
"Oh, yes."
Xia De took out his written thesis draft:
"Miss Sylvia, if you have time, please help me look at this in the next two days."
"A thesis?"
The young Great Witch was a little surprised but still nodded:
"No problem, but if you want me to help you proofread the details, you'd best give me the finished manuscript. Imaginary numbers? You actually have research on this? Very interesting, you really should consider my previous suggestion."
This referred to becoming her apprentice, but she dared not say it in front of Miss Jialinna.
Miss Sylvia, mimicking Miss Jialinna, placed her wine glass on the windowsill and quickly flipped through the manuscript, her attention completely captivated.
"Xia De, Sylvia and I will probably stay here. If you encounter any insoluble trouble during the banquet, you can come here to find me."
"What kind of trouble would there be at the banquet?"
Xia De asked curiously, then thought for a moment:
"Could MI6 and Gray Gloves have some plan?"
"Why would you think that?"
Miss Jialinna asked curiously. Xia De nodded; he indeed hadn't received any orders from either side regarding this banquet:
"Could there be a thief here?"
The city had been experiencing frequent theft cases in recent weeks, even at an abnormally high frequency.
"Oh, I do suspect that some kind of humanoid relic related to theft has appeared in the city, but Lakeview Manor has nothing to do with that matter."
The Witch said again, no longer giving Xia De a chance to guess, narrowing her eyes and looking out the window, she said softly:
"There's a small problem with Schluch Lake, between Lakeview Manor and Lemeir Racecourse."
"What small problem?"
"Simply put, it seems something big is about to emerge from the center of the lake."
