The rhode cards match at Lakeview Manor was one of the most important games of the banquet, especially since Xia De, the champion of Great City Player 1853, had promised to participate in advance.
The rhode cards match would be held at ten o'clock in the evening, so the three people reading in the room only continued until around nine-thirty before finishing.
After tidying up, the room door, which had been closed for over an hour, was opened, and Dorothy, her face flushed, left the room first, clutching a book.
She bumped into Tifa, but because she was walking with her head down shyly, she didn't even look to see who was wearing the maid's dress.
The Writer brushed past Tifa in the corridor, and the Black-haired maid stopped curiously to look at Dorothy's back. When she turned around again, the door that had just been closed opened once more, and Leia, looking refreshed with skin as lustrous as milk, also walked out.
The maids waiting at the door nodded to Leia, who straightened the silver tiara on her head and smiled as she thanked her personal maids. Turning around, she saw Tifa looking in their direction, and the latter respectfully greeted her:
"Good evening, Your Highness Leia."
She noticed that Leia's hairstyle had changed.
"Oh, it's Miss Servite. What are you doing? Did Miss Jialinna not ask you to wander around the banquet?"
It was clear that Leia was in a good mood; she usually wouldn't initiate conversation with Tifa.
"Your Highness, Miss asked me to find Mr. Hamilton; there are some important matters to inform him."
Leia's lips curved into a smile, and she pointed to the room she had just exited:
"He's in there; you can go straight in."
Saying that, she was about to leave the third floor with her maids, but after taking two steps, she turned back and asked Tifa:
"How do I look now? Are my clothes and expression normal?"
Tifa's expression remained unchanged:
"Your Highness, you look radiant. Although you haven't put on makeup, you are even more charming than those who have."
"Is that so?"
Leia smiled and touched her face, then truly left the third floor. Tifa stood there, watching the princess leave, and then entered the room.
"Meow~"
In Leia's lounge, a man's shadow covered the black coat lying on the carpet. Then a hand reached out, picked up the coat, patted it lightly, and draped it over a chair.
Xia De, wearing only a white shirt on his upper body, adjusted his collar before opening the bedroom wardrobe door and releasing Mia from inside.
As soon as the wardrobe door opened, the cat darted out. It meowed plaintively, expressing its dissatisfaction with its voice after Xia De picked it up.
However, before Xia De could comfort his cat, he heard laughter coming from the bedroom door.
Turning to look, the Black-haired maid stood at the bedroom door, her face wreathed in smiles. Although she was just a maid, she had applied light makeup to accompany her mistress to the banquet, making her lipstick-covered lips particularly full, and her eyes beneath her black lashes were brimming with laughter.
The bedroom window was open, and the night wind blew over the two of them. Tifa smiled as she looked at the embarrassed Xia De:
"Miss and Miss Sylvia are looking for you."
"Hmm, did you meet Leia in the corridor?"
"Yes, Your Highness seems to be in a very good mood."
Tifa said with a smile, as if she hadn't thought much of it, but Xia De didn't believe she couldn't guess anything:
"The three of us were reading together just now."
"Yes, reading must be very tiring, isn't it? Two Sorceresses..."
Tifa's smile deepened. Seeing Xia De's awkward expression, she then said:
"Miss and Miss Sylvia are both waiting for you. Don't worry, I won't say where I found you."
After speaking, she took out a thumb-sized metal vial from her dress pocket. Because it was kept close to her body, the vial still had the warmth of her body temperature:
"Perfume. I think it would be better for Miss to smell my perfume on you, rather than the perfume of Her Highness Leia and another lady."
She handed the small vial to Xia De, and as Xia De took it, she scratched his palm.
Xia De was a bit at a loss for words:
"Tifa, you really..."
The maid suddenly reached out and pressed her right index finger against his lips, then brushed aside a few strands of black hair by her ear with her left hand, and winked her left eye at Xia De. The two were very close at this moment, and Xia De could see the smile in her eyes and his own reflection in them:
"No need to thank me."
"She, is she the most resourceful Witch by your side?"
"Her" voice always managed to sound at the most opportune moment.
When Tifa knocked on the door and led Xia De into Miss Jialinna's lounge, the two Witches sitting on the sofa were discussing the topic of the Chosen One.
Miss Jialinna sat on the fabric sofa, and Miss Sylvia sat on the short sofa with her back to the window, so Xia De sat opposite Miss Sylvia. The room was brightly lit. Xia De handed Mia to Tifa, then observed Miss Jialinna's expression.
The Duchess suddenly sniffed, then turned to look at her maid:
"Tifa, I asked you to find Xia De, and it seems you really made full use of your time."
The Black-haired maid lowered her head without a word, gently placed Mia on the back of the sofa, and then prepared a teacup and poured tea for Xia De.
Miss Jialinna was only teasing, so she didn't pursue it. However, when Miss Sylvia looked at Xia De, the young Detective defended himself:
"Everyone has the freedom to enjoy the banquet."
Tifa's hand trembled as she poured the tea, and the elegant maid almost couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.
"Yes, a young gentleman and a maid having an affair. If you had sprinkled the perfume more evenly, I might have actually believed you."
Miss Jialinna smiled and shook her head at Xia De, very satisfied to see the surprised expression on his face. She did not answer Miss Sylvia's current curiosity but instead said to Xia De:
"Let's get back to the main topic. Just now, Sylvia and I contacted the council to ask if there was a reasonable explanation for the abnormal phenomena at Lakeview Manor tonight. The situation is very interesting; His Excellency the Speaker performed a divination and believes that this matter is related to Apner Library."
Apner Library is a small-scale Ring術士 group friendly with the Five Gods Church. Because they suspect the Three Great Academies of prying into their collection of Knowledge, their relationship with the Three Great Academies is quite poor. Xia De had heard of them in the Natural Church in the Gap during the Battle of Middlesburg, and he also suspected that one-third of the "Time Perception" tablet, which was divided into three parts, was in their hands.
"What does this have to do with Apner Library?"
Xia De asked suspiciously.
At this point, most of the maids in the room had left, leaving only Tifa and Miss Sylvia's servant.
Miss Jialinna weighed her words:
"His Excellency the Speaker used some special methods to confirm that Apner Library possesses a fragment of the Chosen One's poem related to 'knowledge and wisdom,' and it is a very important fragment. Tonight's events are related to a certain ritual corresponding to that poem fragment."
"Chosen One Ritual?"
Xia De's eyes suddenly widened. He hadn't expected that someone had already reached the final step before he even encountered the Chosen One.
"Of course, it's not the final ritual. What is about to happen tonight is related to the 'Keeper' who gives five trials, as recorded in 'The Undying Secret Arts.'"
Miss Sylvia said.
Xia De frowned slightly, unable to imagine how the wedding banquet at Lakeview Manor could be linked to such matters.
"Currently, this is all the information the council has. His Excellency the Speaker has left it to the two of us to decide our next course of action."
Miss Jialinna also said. She grew up in Tobesk and knew the area well:
"Schluch Lake has no Lake Heart Island, but I think it will soon. Since it's related to the Chosen One, once that relic officially appears in the center of the lake, Sylvia and I will go to investigate personally."
"Did Apner Library inform the Church of the intelligence? They are just a small-scale Ring術士 group; do they intend to control the Chosen One themselves?"
"Apner Library's actions this time absolutely did not notify the Five Gods Church in advance."
Miss Sylvia was very certain about this:
"So far, although there is a Church Ring術士 team in Lakeview Manor, they are here to protect Margaret, and there are only two High Rings among them. If the Church knew that something related to the Chosen One was about to happen here, there would definitely not be just these people. But since His Excellency the Speaker was able to obtain the current intelligence, it's possible that others may also obtain this intelligence. I think there are probably many dangerous individuals mixed into the banquet."
Xia De resisted the urge to nod, as Doctor Schneider clearly belonged to the category of "dangerous individuals":
"What do I need to do?"
"This matter has nothing to do with you. Just enjoy the banquet."
Miss Jialinna said, then pointed to Miss Sylvia:
"With Emma and me here, there's no reason for you to solve everything. You don't need to do anything; just ensure your own safety."
"Do I really not need to do anything?"
Xia De confirmed again, and the Witch nodded:
"Most of the past matters have been handled by you; sometimes I even feel that I've been too harsh on you. I'll tell you what happens in the center of the lake later; you just wait in the manor."
After speaking, she looked at Tifa again:
"Tifa, you go and play rhode cards with the knight. He was right; everyone has the right to enjoy the banquet. Don't say I'm too harsh on you. No need to refuse; Sylvia and I will be going to the center of Schluch Lake to investigate later, so I won't need you to follow."
Tifa only hesitated for a moment before nodding:
"Yes, Miss."
So Xia De also got up to take his leave, taking Tifa with him as they left.
Once the door was closed, Miss Sylvia asked:
"From what you're saying, has Mr. Hamilton always played a significant role in past Chosen One incidents?"
"Significant?"
Miss Jialinna raised an eyebrow.
On the night of the Battle of Middlesburg, after meeting Luvia at Saint Delan Square Six, she learned that when Yiluna performed the ritual to kill the "Silver Child," it was Xia De who fought against the Vampire's Sublimation Words with his Moonlight Greatsword; after the Darkness Chosen One, Darkness, broke into the Darkness Domain, she personally witnessed Xia De's long-distance rush, fighting his way from the city into the relic, and somehow eventually summoning a demigod-level Witch from the previous era; in the Battle of Middlesburg last month, Xia De even sliced open a door with his sword to enter death, confronting the Chosen One, Joy Barton, in a special state beneath the Nether Moon.
"His stories..."
Even the Great Witch found these stories unbelievable whenever she recalled them. After all, when she first met Xia De at the Lucky Southern Cross Club on a midsummer night, he was a genuine First Ring Ring術士.
