Chapter 153

In the summer without cooling tools, the feeling of being stifled in the house is not good.

Today is another good day; the heat of midsummer can already be felt in the first ten days of the Thunder Moon. Although the area outside the house is open, even opening the windows cannot let the wind pass through, and one must also worry about the city's fog affecting health. The outsider is not accustomed to this kind of life, and his efficiency in reading has decreased due to his restlessness.

But fortunately, having mastered a new miracle, as the temperature continued to climb toward noon, Xia De finally decided to try actively cooling the room.

Seeing Little Mia lying on the desk in the study not wanting to move, he got up to fetch the water basin and bucket from the house, placing newspapers under these containers. Then he closed the study door and closed the curtains on the windows.

As his spirit drove the elements and the elements influenced reality, snowflakes fell in succession from the ceiling, then landed in the water basin and bucket. A small portion slid off the edges, but because of the newspapers, they would not leave marks on the study floor.

Even though it had just started snowing, seeing this scene made him feel much cooler already.

"Meow~"

The cat squinted its eyes at the snowy study, and while Xia De wasn't paying attention, the whole cat suddenly darted off the desk and landed right into the water bucket. It had probably just wanted to play in the snow.

Little Mia let out a "wail," bumping around in the bucket. By the time Xia De rescued the cat from the bucket, it had no more interest in those white things. Probably, at least for a few dozen minutes.

Because his spirit was poor, he only read books off and on all day, or checked the detective reports left behind by Detective Schluch Lake. He treated those past investigation reports like detective novels.

He went out for lunch at noon and took a rare nap after returning home. After waking up, his head felt much clearer, and the headache he had when waking up in the morning had almost completely disappeared.

Returning to the study, he flipped through books while it snowed, preparing for the exams at the end of July. It wasn't until three in the afternoon that the sound of a bell finally came from downstairs.

Xia De looked out from the living room window and saw a carriage stopped in front of his house, so he knew the servant arranged by Miss Jia Lin Na to teach him had arrived.

It was, of course, impossible for Duchess Jia Lin Na's personal maid, Miss Difa, to come specifically to do this. Therefore, the people who arrived at 6 St. Deran Square by carriage were an old tailor and a female apprentice carrying a metal toolbox, and an etiquette teacher wearing a white wig and old-fashioned court attire with his young attendant.

The old tailor and the apprentice came to measure Xia De for clothes and then simply tailored the formal wear that had already been made. The etiquette teacher was there to teach him some speaking techniques to prevent him from doing things he shouldn't.

The clothing matter was fine, but the conversations and rules among the nobility were truly cumbersome. When Xia De was in his hometown, he knew how cumbersome and boring this set of things was, but he only learned this afternoon that he had still greatly underestimated the annoying degree of noble etiquette.

By the time the sun set, Xia De had barely escaped that cumbersome etiquette training and put on the black formal suit that the tailor and apprentice had made together.

Another carriage stopped at the entrance of 6 St. Deran Square; this time it was Miss Jia Lin Na's personal maid, Miss Difa Schluch Lake.

"Miss Schluch Lake."

Xia De walked out the door and stood on the steps to greet the maid, adjusting his somewhat constricting collar as he spoke. He rarely wore such tight clothes in his hometown; he had just complained a little to the old tailor, and the old tailor had "threatened" him that it was the fashion for men to wear silk stockings nowadays. So he shut up.

The black-haired maid was a bit surprised:

"You actually know my surname; it seems this detective of yours still has some skills."

Actually, Xia De had heard it mentioned by Miss Lu Yi Sha.

"The young lady asked me to pick you up; you get in the carriage behind."

It was, of course, impossible for a single Duchess's personal maid to share a carriage with a strange man. Miss Difa Schluch Lake pointed out the carriage's location to Xia De, while she saw the orange cat peeking out from behind Xia De.

Usually, Little Mia would not take the initiative to walk out of the house, nor had it ever darted out when Xia De opened the door. It noticed the woman in the carriage was paying attention to it, so it let out a "meow~" roar, then quickly hid behind Xia De's legs.

This made the black-haired maid smile, and then she asked the detective who was taking out his keys to lock the door:

"Confirming, have you brought that card?"

"Yes."

Xia De patted his chest, waved goodbye to the cat in the house, and then closed the door.

"Very well, let's set off now. After the Rod card match, there is a salon hosted by the Duchess. You don't need to worry about going hungry, Detective Hamilton; get in the carriage. I hope you can help the young lady win tonight's bet."

The location for this match was not the noble club in Tobesk or the old Duke Lu Kasi's manor outside the city; the match was arranged in Duke Lu Kasi's mansion in the South District of Tobesk.

Tobesk's nobles and wealthy people usually lived in the south and east of the city, and the nobles preferred the south. Therefore, the Nancheng and the central urban area were generally considered the most prosperous areas of the Pearl of the North, while Tobesk's university district was sandwiched between the Nancheng and the central urban area in a curved ring.

After passing an uphill road, the carriage slowed down and finally stopped at the entrance of Duke Lu Kasi's residence in the city. The mansion was surrounded by a courtyard, and a middle-aged man dressed as a butler had long been waiting with servants in the hazy night.

The maid got off the carriage first and began to exchange pleasantries with the butler. When Xia De got off wearing a black bowler hat, the maid Difa Schluch Lake happened to be introducing the protagonist of the night to the butler. That butler, who had a very thick Tobesk accent, expressed his respect to Xia De.

Followed by a team of servants, he walked behind the old butler and the maid through the not-very-large courtyard toward the mansion. He had thought he would meet Miss Jia Lin Na first, but he didn't expect that after passing through the slightly deserted mansion foyer, he would actually head directly to the second floor and meet the group from the Astrologer Society.

"The guests have already arrived and are waiting in the banquet hall on the third floor. Oh, Mr. Dawn, it hasn't been this lively here for a long time."

The old butler sighed and opened the door for Xia De. The people inside turned to look outside. Xia De had not seen most of the group from the Astrologer Society, but he saw Vice President Cynthia Mark at a glance. Mr. Mark shook hands with Xia De with a smile, then took Xia De's deck to appraise it, ensuring that all the cards used in tonight's match were genuine.

"Oh, 【Ancient Fairy Tale · Match Girl】 and 【Northern City · Coldwater Port City】? In just a few days, Mr. Hamilton, you actually obtained so many new cards?"

Mr. Mark said happily; enthusiasts are always this excited when seeing Rod cards they haven't seen before.