Iluna seemed to have truly come only to dance one dance with Xia De; when Xia De walked out of the hedge maze, the seventeen-year-old girl was already gone.
Xia De knew she was likely around Schluch Lake, but he currently had no reason to risk being discovered by the Church to go there, so he gave up on finding Iluna.
As night deepened, Xia De did not stay in the courtyard but returned to the mansion, wanting to retrieve his cat from the lounge.
At this time, snow was still falling, and most guests had returned indoors to continue the lively ball, but the topic of the first snow of this Winter was still being discussed. The ball continued, and Xia De walked along the edge of the hall, responding to people's greetings while moving forward, still recalling the dance he had just had.
Before he reached the corridor, he saw Princess Margaret Anjou approaching “aggressively” with her maid. Xia De stopped and greeted her respectfully; the Princess had indeed come to find him:
“Yes, Mr. Hamilton, I admit, I cannot answer the question you posed before the end of the banquet.”
The Princess, wearing a silver diadem, spoke, breathing heavily. This was certainly not due to the exertion of walking, but because admitting this fact put her under great pressure:
“Yes, I admit I couldn't figure it out. I spent several hours, locking myself in my room to think, then discussing it with people, and finally even asking your female companion. But I still couldn't figure it out. Yes, it's clearly just simple addition and subtraction, and the numbers involved are no more than five, but I just can't figure it out.”
Although her tone remained calm, Xia De felt that the other party seemed a bit frantic. He understood this feeling very well; during exams in his youth, when the deadline was approaching and he hadn't even solved the simplest first sub-problem of a high-scoring question, he would also become so frantic.
Not to mention Outsiders, people in this world, as long as they had taken exams, more or less had similar feelings.
“So, please tell me the answer.”
Margaret Anjou's light blue eyes looked into Xia De's eyes.
“This...”
Xia De hesitated for a moment, then, for the sake of her reputation, proposed a new suggestion:
“This banquet will probably last for a few more hours. You can actually try to think about it again.”
He feigned taking out his pocket watch and glanced at it:
“There's still an hour until midnight. How about I tell you the answer at midnight? All you need is a little inspiration, perhaps you can talk to more people.”
He was considering her self-esteem; this sentence was almost explicitly telling Princess Margaret Anjou to ask her math teacher, Miss Silvia the Great Witch, for the answer.
Princess Margaret Anjou clearly understood this “hint.” The corner of her mouth twitched, but she did not let Xia De leave:
“Knight, I originally wanted to enjoy the noble banquet of the Delarion Kingdom, but I didn't expect to spend most of the banquet time solving a simple math problem. Yes, I'm not sure what you did during these few hours, but I really spent most of my energy on your problem.”
Xia De had spent these few hours in his room with two girls reading handwritten copies, then playing cards with Tifa in the garden, followed by the Battle of Schluch Lake, and then dancing in the banquet hall and the snowy garden. It could be said to be rich and colorful, without wasting any time.
Princess Margaret Anjou gasped:
“So, to prevent me from wasting an entire evening, please tell me the answer now. I admit I lost the riddle game. Yes, I concede.”
Seeing her persistence, Xia De no longer put it off. He didn't want to give the answer in the noisy banquet hall, but planned to have the Princess and her maid follow him to a relatively quiet corridor. However, Princess Margaret Anjou insisted that Xia De answer on the spot, even having someone bring a small blackboard with pulleys—a tool used to record incoming goods in the manor's warehouse.
The question Xia De had just posed had already spread among the guests of Lakeview Manor. And just as Xia De expected, at least for now, the answer had not been fully explained.
Seeing that Xia De was willing to personally explain the “Missing 1 Penny,” people gradually gathered. Not only Princess Margaret Anjou, but even Mr. Leikins Prisha of the Guiding Moon appeared.
Xia De intended to leave a deeper impression to facilitate collecting the other party's aura later, so after picking up the chalk, he planned to explain clearly:
“Your Highness, you were truly just misled by the surface of the problem. In this problem, the three gentlemen spent a total of 27 pennies.”
“Yes.”
People holding wine glasses said one after another, also very much anticipating what Xia De would say.
Princess Margaret Anjou nodded slightly. Xia De, holding the chalk, then tapped on the small blackboard and wrote “30,” then drew a line to the lower right and wrote “27.”
“Where did these 27 pennies go?”
He circled “27.” Princess Margaret Anjou, while thinking, said:
“Of course, they were paid to Mrs. Sangmei of the Three Cats Inn.”
So far, Xia De's thinking was completely consistent with hers. She realized this was a thought trap, but she couldn't break free from it.
“No, no.”
Xia De shook his head:
“Mrs. Sangmei only received 25 pennies.”
The young gentleman used chalk to draw a diagonal line to the lower right of “27” and wrote “25.”
The Princess frowned slightly:
“Yes.”
She felt like she understood something, but also didn't.
“So, 25 pennies were taken by Mrs. Sangmei from the 27 pennies, and 2 pennies were kept by the Boy.”
Below “27,” a diagonal line was drawn to the lower left, and “2” was written. Princess Margaret Anjou's mouth slightly opened, and the onlookers also discussed in low voices; they too saw the clue.
“So...”
Xia De drew a diagonal line from below the initial “30” to the lower left and wrote “3”:
“You shouldn't add 2 to 27, because the 2 pennies are already included in the 27 pennies. You should add 3 pennies to 27 pennies. 27 pennies were spent, and the three gentlemen kept 3 pennies, totaling 30 pennies.”
He said simply, already thinking about his cat. Leaving Mia with Miss Jialinna, Xia De was always worried that the Great Witch would harm his cat:
“Yes, that's it.”
He nodded gently, finally writing “25+2 + 3 = 30” at the bottom of the blackboard, then placed the chalk in the small groove below. Just as he was about to clap his hands, a servant immediately offered a wet towel.
Xia De glanced at the small blackboard again. Bringing a blackboard specifically to solve such a problem was truly making a mountain out of a molehill.
“Mr. Hamilton, splendid!”
“Hamilton of Thunder Jeed, truly excellent!”
The crowd applauded, which made Xia De a bit embarrassed. This kind of elementary school math problem was nothing to him; he felt he didn't deserve the applause.
“That's it.”
Princess Margaret Anjou bit her lip, looking at the blackboard. After understanding, she felt how simple the problem was.
“This is actually just a thought trap, using the problem statement to mislead the solver, and has nothing to do with wisdom.”
Xia De defended the Princess for not being able to give the answer, but Princess Margaret Anjou shook her head:
“I fell into the trap. I admit I lost this time.”
“In matters of wisdom, how can there be winning or losing? I just happen to have read more books.”
Xia De sighed softly. The Princess let out a long breath and looked at him with a strange gaze:
“I probably know now what kind of student my teacher is looking for. If you weren't a male...”
She took out her personal handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to Xia De:
“Knight, I acknowledge your wisdom. During these few weeks I'm staying in Tobesk, I hope to have more opportunities to discuss math problems with you.”
She almost forcefully shoved the handkerchief into Xia De's hand:
“Princess Leia invited me to a reading salon next week; I hope you can also attend. Also, if you have time, you are welcome to visit the manor where I'm staying anytime. Hamilton, I acknowledge your wisdom, but next time I won't lose.”
Taking a deep breath, she turned and left with her maids. The laughing people around were very interested in this scene, but because the topic might be sensitive, they dispersed before discussing it in low voices.
Xia De could already guess what news would appear in tomorrow's tabloids. He could even guess that more outrageous rumors would spread among the citizens a few weeks later.
【Outsider, you successfully proved your wisdom at the banquet.】
“It's that simple? It was just a brain teaser? What was this for again? Is Margaret Anjou a Chosen One?”
【Because this topic will spread from the banquet and become a story known by most people in the city within a few weeks.】
Xia De slapped his forehead with his right hand:
“Ha~ Proving one's wisdom, turns out a famous brain teaser is enough. If I had known this, why would I have gone through so much trouble?”
He tucked the handkerchief into his pocket, placing it with the previous two scarves. Then, after politely bidding farewell to the people by the small blackboard, he prepared to go upstairs to find Mia.
But on the stairs, he met another person waiting for him:
“Well done, Xia De.”
Chief Dak Anlos of MI6 stood high on the stairs, holding a glass.
Xia De quickly looked around, and Chief Anlos smiled as he walked down and patted his shoulder:
“No need to be so nervous. This is a wedding banquet; you could run into anyone. You did very well, Xia De. I didn't expect you to connect so successfully with Margaret Anjou at just one banquet.”
“I'm not...”
“No need to explain, you are indeed excellent. When The Lady introduced you to me in the Summer, I thought you were truly just nominally employed. Very good, keep up the hard work. The Lady and His Majesty both value you greatly.”
As the two crossed paths on the stairs, Chief Anlos's hand slipped a bulging small envelope into Xia De's palm:
“Your application for reimbursement of the gemstone expenses has been approved. Enjoy this evening, and don't overthink the mission too much. Margaret Anjou will be staying in Tobesk for a long time; we will have many more opportunities in the future.”
After speaking, he continued to walk down, never looking back.
Xia De, meanwhile, continued to walk up, putting the envelope containing 280 pounds into his pocket, then patted his pocket:
“Did I overthink the mission tonight?”
He ascended the steps and turned to look downstairs, no longer seeing Chief Anlos.
“Future... Next time, should I use the excuse of learning a foreign language to approach Princess Margaret Anjou?”
- - - - - - Extra - - - - - -
ps: Inter-comments have been restored. Unfortunately, comments from the past two days are still not showing.
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