Chapter 1517: Spring Outing

According to the original plan, after Xia De rested briefly, the group set off and left the camp. Dorothy was not skilled at riding horses, so Xia De rode a horse carrying her, while Miss Miss Difa and the other two young ladies rode the remaining three horses.

The group spent a quite leisurely afternoon in the countryside in early spring. Dorothy, who was not good at riding, pulled Xia De onto an empty country dirt road, invited him to a horse race, and agreed that the loser would have to grant the winner one request.

Even a fool from out of town would know, without "her" reminding them, that such a competition must absolutely not be won. Sure enough, when Dorothy crossed the finish line first, the wish she whispered in Xia De's ear was:

"Knight, I will stay at your house tonight."

Besides horse riding, they also found a forest nearby that belonged to no one, had a picnic near a stream, and drank afternoon tea. The young ladies accepted Xia De's invitation; after preparing the tea set and snacks, they all sat on the picnic blanket.

Dorothy was in high spirits, inviting them to chat about their respective stories and the occasions that led them to become Miss Jia Lin Na's maids and followers. As for herself, she also spoke of her past living alone after graduating from the girls' academy and before becoming a famous writer.

It was only then that Xia De learned that after Dorothy graduated and moved out of Miss Lu Yi Sha's house, she had gone through a somewhat difficult period due to having no income. If the current landlady had not been willing to lower the rent at that time, allowing her to continue living there, she would have likely moved out of the apartment on Quill Street long ago.

This was also the reason why Dorothy, even though she had now earned a great deal of money from "The Hamilton Detective Story Collection," still did not think of moving to a better place. In her own words:

"Unless I get married, I will not move away from there. Oh, even if I get married, I will continue to rent that place, have tea with friends on ordinary days, or store some not very essential items."

While saying this, she glanced at Xia De, and the young ladies all smiled with pursed lips.

The lazy cat was very unhappy about being taken out of the house and the tent, but with the afternoon tea snacks, it was willing to walk on the picnic blanket, yet it still resisted approaching the spot near the stream.

Xia De talked with the girls about his plan to visit Miss Mia Gao De, and Miss Miss Difa curiously asked:

"Speaking of which, what does that Miss Gao De look like?"

Although Xia De and that lady from afar had maintained correspondence for over half a year, he truly did not know Miss Gao De's appearance.

"I did mail a photo of myself and Little Mia to that lady."

He said, and Dorothy joked:

"Perhaps that lady saw your photo and decided to let Mia stay with you for a longer time. In that case, she would have a reason to continue developing her 'pen pal' relationship with you."

This joke pleased everyone except Xia De, but it also gave Xia De a great revelation. He had always suspected that the commission left by Detective Sparrow also had problems. Now that he was about to go to that remote small town in the distance, the answer would naturally come very soon. But if, for some reason, this trip failed, he could determine whether she was normal by demanding a photo of Miss Gao De.

"But without any reason, how can I ask for a photo of a single heir to an ancient family?"

Xia De fell into worry again.

Winter came quickly and left quickly; although it was still early spring, even the wind in the countryside outside the city had become very warm. Xia De and the girls chatted about their respective lives, and even the young ladies were willing to reveal their troubles to Xia De.

Dorothy seemed to intend to steer the topic toward Miss Miss Difa, so Miss Miss Difa also satisfied Dorothy's curiosity. While the five people and one cat were eating jam-filled cookies, the black-haired young lady said:

"The Young Lady knows about the matter between me and Xia De... most of it."

The blonde girl smiled with pursed lips, while the other two young ladies, Miss Rachel Draven and Miss Courtney Michelle, were giggling secretly.

"What exactly have you done?"

Dorothy asked again, pushed Xia De to move a bit further away, and then let Miss Miss Difa give her the answer in her ear; this was something even Princess Lei Lei Qianya did not know.

So, Miss Miss Difa whispered a few words in her ear with a red face. On Dorothy's lightly made-up face, a faint blush also appeared. She bit her own lip, looking at Xia De while letting Miss Miss Difa continue speaking, which made Xia De want to dive headfirst into the stream in front of him and hide under the water to avoid those gazes.

Leisurely time always passes quickly; when the sun set and the brilliant sunset glow illuminated the five people by the stream, each of them was enveloped in a layer of golden radiance.

Before leaving the house, Xia De brought out the camera from the basement, turning it into a toy. Seeing the scenery was just right, he invited the girls to take a group photo together.

Delayed photography technology already existed in this era, but the second-hand equipment Xia De bought from the "Steam Bird Daily" newspaper office did not have such a function. Fortunately, Ring Mages also had Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi techniques; Xia De had Miss Miss Difa hold Mia, the four girls stood in position together, and Xia De prepared alone behind the camera. At the same time he pressed the magnesium flash button, he pressed the camera's shutter.

Afterwards, he put down everything in his hands and then came to the middle of the girls:

"Get ready!"

He said, then touched the 【Ring of Immortality】 on his finger:

"Breath of Time!"

Accompanied by gray airflow being inhaled into the nostrils, the state of the camera and the magnesium flash was precisely restored to the moment of taking the photo several tens of seconds ago.

As the light flashed again, the five people and one cat were thus captured together on the film.

Afterwards, they first returned to the "Edward III Arena" to meet the other young ladies, then took a carriage back to the Jia Lin Na Manor.

The Duchess had already returned by then; originally she was somewhat dissatisfied that Miss Miss Difa returned so late, but seeing that she had brought Xia De along, this dissatisfaction vanished.

Xia De and Dorothy had dinner in the Duke's manor. After the meal, Xia De talked with the Witch in the study about the future negotiations between the two countries. Although the Witch wanted Xia De to stay the night so that it would be convenient to go directly to the arena the next morning, Xia De still preferred to return home to live.

By the time the carriage brought the two to St. Dren Square, it was already eight o'clock that evening. Considering that the horse race, a physically demanding event, would take place the next day, Xia De did not arrange any evening activities. Although Dorothy did not participate in the race today, she was also somewhat tired. Therefore, after washing up, the two locked Mia in the wardrobe and then returned to the bedroom to prepare for rest.

Just one hour later, which was past nine o'clock at night, Xia De, lying flat on the bed and holding the blonde girl's slender waist, actually heard the sound of a door opening downstairs. Soon, the girl with purple eyes appeared at the bedroom door.

She obviously did not expect that Dorothy would be there tonight; she thought Dorothy would consider that Xia De had a race the next day and thus would not stay overnight. When looking at the scene in the unlit bedroom, she happened to make eye contact with Dorothy, whose golden long hair was messily draped over her snow-white shoulders.

"G-Good evening, Lu-Luvia!"

The young writer felt a bit drained but still greeted politely in a halting manner.

"Hmm... do you need help?"

The girl with purple eyes asked with a slightly flushed face; after receiving a definite answer, she also walked into the bedroom and joined the two intertwined figures.

(Little Mia is running...)

"So, you also know that Xia De has a full day of races today?"

At the breakfast table on Tuesday morning, the Duchess, who had gone into the city early for a meeting, spoke in a very stern tone to the two girls who looked quite well-rested.

A sumptuous breakfast was prepared by the maids; Xia De and Mia sat opposite the Witch.

"I thought he rested as soon as he went home yesterday."

The Witch said again; actually, what truly made her angry was that Xia De refused to stay at her manor last night, and what she saw this morning after arriving at Number 6 St. Dren Square was a bed full of surprises.

"This should have no effect on Xia De; Jia Lin Na, you should trust our Knight."

Luvia said, and patted Xia De's shoulder:

"When you got up this morning, didn't you also see that he is still quite energetic?"

So the Witch, whose face turned red with shame, did not continue to "scold":

"Even if there is no effect, you cannot... Do you know, Xia De, about the assassination attempt on Count Lewis today? Speaking of which, could that not be you..."

Today's event was a horse race, and the schedule was still divided into morning and afternoon. The morning event had all riders start together, beginning at the "Edward III Arena," following a pre-planned route for a long-distance cross-country horse race. It was estimated that completing the full course would take at least one hour, and the finish line was also within the Edward III Arena.

Because it was a horse race circling the surrounding area, one could observe the race from a high point in the arena with a telescope to know the leading rider at every moment. For participants like Xia De, this event tested not only their own riding skills but also the horse's endurance and their own ability to navigate.

Although the track was a country dirt road rather than the complete wilderness, and at every fork in the road along the way, road signs and ribbons were placed for guidance, riders still went in the wrong direction every year. Last year, someone even rushed all the way directly toward the Tobesk city district; by the time they were reminded, they were almost at Silver Cross Avenue.

Because horses were involved, some incidents occurred even before the race began.

During the preparation phase, while Xia De was checking the tack in the stable outside the tent, he heard that Baron Audu of Leon County's horse had suddenly come down with diarrhea and could no longer move.

"It happens every year. Right before the race, all sorts of accidents befall the horses of certain favored competitors. Last year, before the horse race, one horse was walking down the road and suddenly foamed at the mouth and died."

A middle-aged stable hand with a scar over his left eye said beside Xia De, and Xia De asked:

"Is there no one who manages this sort of thing?"

"Of course there will be an investigation afterward, but by then the race is already over, isn't it?"

The stable hand said, continuing to groom the chestnut-colored draft horse—said to have the bloodline of the "Audurian Mountain Wild Ma Pi"—that Miss Jia Lin Na had specially prepared for Xia De:

"But you needn't worry about such matters. With the Duke, my lord, behind you, no one dares use such tricks against you."

The middle-aged stable hand said with a chuckle, then lowered his voice slightly:

"Usually only out-of-towners have bad luck—it's practically a 'tradition' of the festival and the race."