novelonline Chapter 3320: The Marchioness of Cholmondeley
Chapter 3320: The Marchioness of Cholmondeley
Chapter 3320: The Marchioness of Cholmondeley
Although it was impossible to detect the location of the First Fire immediately, confirming that the First Fire was indeed on this island was already a huge achievement.
Xia De didn't pay much attention to it. After all, it was normal to not be able to find it based on past experience. When Xia De and Emilia came to the town at the foot of the snowy mountain again, it was already completely dark.
Miss Reinhardt, dressed in her best clothes, was waiting for them in the Snow Mountain Hall. When Shade arrived, she took a closer look at his attire:
"Not bad, a handmade formal suit, right? It seems you often attend formal banquets like this."
Emilia had no interest in the noble banquet, so she and Miss Larson stayed in the town to take care of the unicorn Ellie. One had to admit that Emilia was indeed professional. In just three days, the unicorn's mental state had obviously returned to normal. Although its physical injuries had not yet fully healed, its size had become much stronger than when Shade saw it on Sunday night.
This also reminded Shade that he must never let Emilia manage Mia's meals.
Emilia agreed to help Shade check if there was any information left by the ancient witch on the unicorn. The carriage to the city had been prepared in advance. After the witch explained what to do if something happened to her apprentice at night, she and Shade took the carriage to the Wheel of Time City.
Grand Duke Lagson intended to mediate the relationship between Dralion and Carsenrick, so the welcome banquet on the island was also held for both parties. Grand Duke Lagson came all the way from the capital of the principality, Lomare City, and the venue for the banquet was also his private estate on the island.
It was a luxurious manor on the northern edge of the city of Fatumonster. However, unlike the noble manors in other cities which also owned nearby woodlands or farmland, even Grand Duke Lagersen only owned a small piece of forest next to his manor, because most of the woodlands on the island belonged to the Fatu people.
Shade and Miss Reinhardt arrived a little late. When they arrived at the gate of the manor, most of the guests had already arrived. Shade jumped off the carriage, then turned around and took the witch's hand and asked her to get off the carriage as well. Attending the banquet tonight was just for social needs. Without any major tasks, Shade was in a relatively relaxed mood.
The old butler stood in the cold wind at the gate of the manor and checked the invitation letter. However, Shade and the witch should be the least important guests. After all, neither the witch nor "John Watson" had a noble title, nor were they friends of important people.
Therefore, it was very novel for Xia De to participate in such a social event without being the focus of the banquet.
The manor opened the banquet hall on the second floor, which also had a terrace, from which one could overlook the Fatumonster snow-capped mountains under the starry sky. Representatives from Carsenrick and Delarion were all present, and one could roughly tell the stance of most of the guests just by their appearance.
Of course, there were also nobles from the Principality of Lagson who came to join in the fun, or rather, they were pleased to be a part of such a grand occasion. After all, the war between Draerion and Carsenrick was unlikely to extend to the Principality of Lagson, the southernmost of the Old World, so the local nobles seemed to regard the talks between the two countries as some kind of art exhibition or other novelty.
Miss Reinhart knew most of the locals present, and correspondingly, most of the representatives from Carsenrick and Delarion were known to Shade. Some of them were known to her during various meetings and negotiations, and others were seen in confidential documents of MI6.
Xia De even suspected that he saw the figure of his boss, Director Anros. When Director Anros was busy, he would go everywhere.
"What are you looking at?"
Miss Reinhardt, who was about to take Shade to meet her friend, asked curiously, and Shade evaded the question:
"It seems like I saw someone I knew before."
Claire Reinhardt, who was looking forward to deepening her relationship through this banquet, immediately became alert:
"Isn't it another woman you met unexpectedly?"
After asking the question, he realized that it was very inappropriate to ask the question this way, but Xia De didn't care and shook his head casually:
"Of course not. I don't know people everywhere I go. It's not a woman, it's a man, and an ordinary person."
Miss Reinhart nodded slightly, still feeling that her question was inappropriate.
Her former classmate was the wife of the Marquis of Cholmondeley of Willendel. Not only was the Marquis a former classmate of Miss Rhinehart, but they also had a very good relationship. When she saw the witch from a distance, the Marquis waved to her enthusiastically.
The person who was chatting with the Marchioness left consciously, and when the two of them approached, Shade saw that the Marchioness of Cholmondeley looked to be about 27 or 28 years old, with long light brown hair and emerald green eyes. Her appearance was quite outstanding, but after Miss Rhinehart approached, she seemed a little ordinary due to the contrast.
"Long time no see, Molly, did you receive your year-end gifts?"
"Long time no see, Claire. Of course I received it, and I hope you like the gift I gave you."
The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and then the Marquise looked at her with admiration:
"It's been so many years since we graduated, and you haven't changed at all, you're still so young and pretty. I heard that your mineral exploration business is doing well? I didn't expect that among so many people in the same grade as us, you're the only one still doing this business.
Does running around outside really help you stay young? Look at me, I have wrinkles around my eyes after giving birth, but you are still a 20-year-old girl. "
The platinum-haired girl smiled at the compliment:
"Jasmine, you are just under too much pressure. You were like this when you were in school. Now that you are in my hometown, I can take you around."
The Marquise, who looked rather sentimental, smiled and nodded:
"I've heard you talk about the scenery of Fatumonster Island a long time ago. Oh, I haven't asked who this handsome man is."
She looked at Shade curiously again, and Miss Reinhart introduced her:
"This is Mr. John Watson, a friend I met in another city. When I returned to my hometown this time, he said he wanted to come here to take a look, so we came back together. He even came to my house a few days ago."
Then the Marchioness hid her face behind her fan and laughed:
"I was thinking of asking you about your personal affairs, but it seems you have already arranged them yourself. You are really young."
This sentence was said to Xia De, and after finishing it, she took the initiative to extend her right hand to Xia De, with her palm facing down and her fingers hanging naturally. Xia De then slightly leaned forward, gently supported the back of her hand with his right hand, lowered his head and symbolically touched the air on the back of her hand with his lips.
This is the standard hand-kissing gesture. Generally speaking, direct contact with a woman's skin is absolutely forbidden.
Seeing Xia De's standard movements, the Marquise asked curiously:
"I wonder what Mr. Watson does?"
Miss Reinhart wanted to explain, but Shade spoke first:
"I received a gift and became a shareholder in a small gold mine. I also run some small businesses with my friends in Willendal City. I also have partners in the Yuewan area. I have some superficial friendships with the seven major families in Yuewan."
If it were fifty years ago, such people who had no title and were just doing business would not be in the eyes of the nobles; but after the beginning of the steam revolution, a large number of new nobles and tycoons continued to emerge, making such simple and very wealthy businessmen qualified to stand on the same side as the nobles.
The Marchioness's eyes lit up;
"Are you familiar with the nobles of Yuewan? Do you know Countess Belindel of Yuewan? I saw her when the Marquis and I passed by Yuewan before the end of the year. The Countess also looked very young and quite elegant."
Xia De immediately felt the witch's eyes on him. He smiled reservedly:
"I have met Countess Bellindel, but I am not very familiar with her. I have only seen her from a distance at social banquets. However, I am very familiar with the local Marquis of Mossen. I have even raced horses with him."
Marquis Mossen is a high-level vampire in Moon Bay. When Shade, Mr. Bernhardt and the coroner sought help from the vampire forces in Moon Bay, they played a joke on him with a horse's heart.
Claire Reinhart found that she seemed to have recognized a new side of the man around her. Her past interactions made her believe that the man with the fake name "John Watson" was a bohemian but very powerful mysterious man who roamed the Old Continent.
But today he behaved like a veteran at aristocratic banquets. Not only was his clothing and etiquette very appropriate, but even just standing there he looked as if he was born to be at such an occasion.
The Marquise, who was sentimental because she saw her old classmate as bright and charming as ever, smiled at Shade after just a few words. It was obvious that she had a good impression of the unfamiliar young man from the North. But Claire Reinhart knew that her old classmate was not the kind of person who could be deceived by a man's words.
The explanation that Shade gave about his identity at this time was something the witch had never heard of before. However, what he mentioned were only the things of ordinary people. It was not difficult for a high-level warlock like Shade to start a business, so she did not realize what was behind what Shade said.
Miss Rhinehart and the Marchioness of Cholmondeley had not seen each other for a year, and they had a lot to talk about. Shad was curious about where the Marquis of Cholmondeley had gone, but unfortunately he did not know the Marquis.
As for the representatives of Carsenrick and Delarion, they got along very well at the banquet. There were only two human kingdoms in the Old World, so the diplomatic and military representatives of the two countries were mostly familiar with each other. The two countries had not yet gone to war, and if a war broke out, most people here would not go directly to the battlefield, so there was no need to make the mood tense at the banquet.
If one didn't know the background of this banquet, one might think that everyone here was a friend.