"A big guy?"
Connecting it to what had happened at Lakeview Manor, Xia De immediately thought of a divine descent, a look of panic appearing on his face, but then he remembered that the relic, the profane cross, was on him, which he used to steal...
"Although I don't know what you're thinking, from your expression, you're probably mistaken."
Jialinna reached out and tapped Xia De's forehead with her slender, fair finger.
Silvia added, still looking through Xia De's manuscript:
"It should be some kind of relic, a location-based relic, and we don't know what it is yet. It will likely fully appear in the center of Schluch Lake tonight between eight and ten o'clock. Only we know about this currently; Witches have a perception of elements and relics that is beyond normal levels."
"That's roughly the situation."
Jialinna said, handing her wine glass to Xia De, gesturing for him to taste it. Xia De then drank the remaining red wine at the bottom of the glass, and Tifa continued to pour more.
"Do we need to cancel the banquet? After all, there are so many ordinary people here."
Xia De asked.
"No need, the opponent won't be particularly strong. And you know, the characteristic of location-based relics is that as long as you don't enter them, you generally won't be greatly affected. The Church has arranged a Ring術士 team to protect Margaret Anjou, who was attacked in Huntington City. If problems really arise, the two of us and the Church's Ring術士 can handle it."
Jialinna said, and Xia De felt much more relieved, handing back the wine glass Tifa had refilled. From her relaxed attitude earlier about Angelina playing in the manor, it was clear the Great Witch truly felt there would be no danger.
"Besides, even if an unsolvable problem arises, aren't you still here?"
The Duchess added playfully, wiggling her fingers as if intentionally showing Xia De her nails.
Silvia raised an eyebrow. She always felt that Jialinna Cavendish's words seemed to have a deeper meaning. Considering that Xia De could go to Huntington at any time, and he also had the flame from Sister Devlin of the Spiritual Cultivation Order, the young Great Witch felt it necessary to investigate what happened in the mountain City during the autumn.
"I'm only Four Ring, I don't have your power."
Xia De said casually, but still had some worries in his heart:
"What caused this anomaly? Is the appearance of a location-based relic really just this manor's continuous bad luck?"
"We don't know yet. If I have time later, I'll go to the Witch Council and see if I can find the Speaker; she has a lot of research on this phenomenon."
Jialinna shrugged, continuing to sip wine from the glass Xia De had already taken a drink from.
It proved that in the City where Iluna, the first Chosen One, resided, the probability of accidents was much higher than elsewhere.
The two Witches still had a lot to talk about, so Xia De didn't stay long and quickly left. After Xia De closed the door, Jialinna complained half-heartedly to Silvia:
"He didn't even compliment my nails! I specifically used the nail polish made with the formula you gave me. Isn't it pretty?"
Silvia didn't know how to answer. Even though she had known before that Xia De had a private relationship with this high-ranking lady, she hadn't expected their relationship to have reached this point:
"Hmm..."
"Madam, perhaps Mr. Hamilton was simply attracted to other parts of your body. Compared to your nails, you had too many attractive features today."
Tifa said softly, and the Duchess smiled with satisfaction, continuing to hold her wine glass and look out at the manor courtyard in the sunset:
"Tifa, I really don't know what kind of love potion the Knight gave you. But what you said also makes sense."
Silvia picked up her wine glass and took a sip to hide her expression, while inwardly re-evaluating what Xia De's appearance meant for the Witch Council. But thinking of the young gentleman's appearance just now, his strong methods when facing the Pantanal Evil statue in Huntington City, and the manuscript in her hand, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart:
"However, Xia De Hamilton indeed has the ability to attract Witches."
On the other side, Xia De had already left the third floor with Mia. Since the horse race Angelina invited him to hadn't started yet, Xia De took the opportunity to go to the courtyard to get some food for himself, wanting to fill his stomach first, as there was still a lot to do tonight.
The Eisberg family's banquet must have cost a lot of money; even though it was late frost descent month and winter, fresh Summer vegetable salads and seasonal fish transported from the West Coast could still be seen on the dining tables.
As for the five-tiered cake, it didn't seem like much when viewed from upstairs, but standing by the table and looking up, Xia De felt he wouldn't see a dessert of this scale again anytime soon.
But the large cake that firmly captivated Mia was not the most attractive thing in the long table area. At the end of the long table near the mansion's entrance, hundreds of red paper boxes were stacked into small mountains, filling the ground and a small section of the tabletop.
Guests in various attires—retro robes, ordinary formal wear, red wool sweaters with vests—were laughing and gathered there, watching people try to open the boxes.
This was a traditional item at Delarion wedding banquets called "Lucky Red Box." Guests attending the banquet could open the boxes at will, but no matter what they found inside, they had to carry it with them all night. While some boxes contained a small number of valuable souvenirs, most were prank toys.
Nobles enjoyed such "pranks" at wedding banquets, and people even competed to see whose family prepared the most unique "Lucky Red Boxes" for their wedding.
Xia De saw his friend Baron Lavende in the crowd. The last time he saw him was last week when they played rhode cards at the Prophet Association to thank him for introducing business. The Baron opened a box and took out a small, palm-sized doll wearing a dress. Amidst roaring laughter, he somewhat dejectedly put it into the breast pocket of his formal suit.
People laughed even more joyfully.
"Xia De!"
Baron Lavende also noticed Xia De, who was eating, waved and walked over, then encouraged him to try it too:
"Only truly brave people do this!"
He urged, and Xia De, suppressing a laugh as he looked at the doll's head peeking out of his chest pocket, handed him a glass of red wine:
"How come I heard that some unlucky fellow opened a box and got a donkey ear hairpin, and actually wore it all night?"
"That donkey ear is now a unique souvenir that can sell for 50 pounds. Oh, Xia De, as the champion of the Great City Player, you should believe in your luck."
Baron Lavende continued to entice him, and Xia De, thinking he had nothing to do for the time being, actually walked over. The busybodies saw Xia De and cheered "Hamilton of Thunder Jeed," exaggeratedly talking about the "expensive" souvenirs the Eisberg family might have prepared.
"Are there donkey ear hairpins this time?"
He casually picked a box to open, and Baron Lavende, who was with Xia De, answered with a smile:
"I heard there are cat ears."
"If I really get a cat ear hairpin, I'll put it on my cat."
Saying that, he stroked Mia, who was still tilting her head and looking at the big cake. The cat completely ignored Xia De.
Xia De's luck was pretty good; the box contained a pink gauze scarf. Although it was a bit inappropriate for a man to wear this, Xia De still put it into his breast pocket, leaving a corner exposed, which greatly disappointed Baron Lavende, who had a doll in his chest pocket:
"Look, the rhode cards game hasn't even started, and I'm already having bad luck."
Calculating that the horse race would officially start in ten minutes, Xia De and the Baron agreed to meet again when they played rhode cards, and then Xia De walked towards the manor's main gate.
Bright, warm lights had already lit up in the erected tents, illuminating the world under the last rays of the sunset. Ropes with colorful small flags were connected to almost all the buildings in the courtyard and garden.
After taking over this manor, the Eisberg family renovated the courtyard, creating interconnected ground channels that were not very dense. The channels were about a quarter of an adult's step in width, and although very shallow, only deep enough to submerge small animals like Mia, stone slabs covered them for easy walking.
Under the still unclear moonlight, outside the bright tents, were channels floating with green leaves and petals from unknown sources. The water in the channels was even flowing water, directly connected to the fountains and Schluch Lake behind the manor.
Although Xia De had never seen a similar decoration style in this world, he had to admit that while it would greatly increase the manor's maintenance costs, it indeed enhanced the overall landscape of the manor.
"Speaking of which, can you swim?"
He asked while looking at the lively tents. Different musical sounds intertwined, and the Bards who were invited played cheerful tunes in the tents. Gas pipes laid horizontally outside the tents lit up gas lamps, illuminating the various ribbon decorations hanging at the tent entrances. Guests dressed in various outfits laughed and enjoyed the night's revelry under the colorful flags.
This wedding banquet would surely be talked about for many years.
"Meow?"
The cat stood on Xia De's shoulder, meowing softly, not knowing what it meant.
"Mia's last bath was almost two months ago. Although it's already winter, the temperature isn't particularly cold yet, so maybe it's necessary to give her another one."
Xia De muttered to himself, while "she" by his ear chuckled without responding.
"It's really lively~"
Looking up at the surroundings, extravagant enjoyment and the brilliant light of civilization were vividly displayed before his eyes. Although it was just a wedding banquet, in Xia De's view, it fully showcased the most flourishing small cluster of civilization in this world, in this era.
"Civilization~"
Thinking of the possibility of the end of the world, he couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. Looking up at the manor's entrance, Princess Angelina Cavendish was already smiling and waving at him under the last glow of the sunset.
---Extras---
PS: Attending a banquet indeed requires describing some everyday scenes like this. It shouldn't be too boring, right? ...I won't describe every banquet game in detail; the author knows how to balance detail and brevity.
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