Chapter 1671: Connecting Threads and the Banquet

Xia De rarely dragged things out, so in order to continue investigating the words Chloe had left for him from the Fifth Era, he went to Green Lake early Friday morning. At 7:30 AM, he waited at the entrance of the Kesenlike Embassy in Green Lake City and met the two Folen brothers.

He revealed his identity to the brothers, and the three of them entered the nearby "Green Moss Tavern." Even among the generally aged buildings of Green Lake City, this tavern was shockingly ancient. However, this was also the tavern's business appeal; entering it felt like returning to over two hundred years ago.

Early in the morning was when the tavern had the fewest customers, and even the bartender behind the counter looked sleepy. Servants were cleaning up the trash left by the last batch of all-night drinkers who had departed before dawn, while the cook and kitchen helpers were eating breakfast in the corner.

The three declined the "Green Moss Beer" pushed by the yawning bartender, ordered hot tea instead, and sat down at a table against the wall. Xia De did not waste time with small talk and took out their bloodline identification report first:

"Your great-uncle, Alphonse Edwards, was indeed not an adopted son."

"I feel that compared to whether our great-uncle was a family member, the family's bloodline is a more important matter."

The brothers looked at the results on the report in surprise:

"We are actually considered half-elves?"

Although the brothers' dominant elven bloodline was not as high as Megan's or Audrey's, it barely exceeded ten percent, so they were indeed considered half-elves. It was just that the elven blood of the Edwards line did not seem to manifest much in their appearance; at least from their looks, one could not see features like pointed ears:

"It should count. Keep this report yourselves; it might be useful for uncovering your own talents in the future. I came to find you this time, actually, because of another matter."

"Please, go ahead."

After Xia De introduced them to Megan, the brothers' attitude toward Xia De was clearly more than just respect and fear, so communication went much more smoothly:

"I know you are members of the 【Rose Cross Society】. Oh, don't be so surprised; that wasn't a difficult thing to investigate. I think the 【Rose Cross Society】 must have played a part in you not being discovered by the Church as descendants of the Edwards family until now. It's like this: I want to talk to the 【Rose Cross Society】, to talk about something related to a certain Old God."

"May I ask what matter it is?"

The older brother, Eric, who wore a monocle over his right eye, asked.

"I accidentally learned a prayer phrase related to the cult of the Old God 【God of Love】, and I hope to find a believer of this Old God to explain it... You aren't believers of His, are you?"

Although he had seen the brothers being very devout at the 【Church of War and Peace】 last time, Xia De still asked. Both Eric and Charles shook their heads:

"We are not; we believe in the 【Father of Peace】. Sir, you investigate very thoroughly. Nowadays, few people know the connection between that Old God's cult and us. Although we are relatively core members of the 【Rose Cross Society】, we don't know much about this. However, in order to protect and help the two of us, the 【Rose Cross Society】 plans to send someone to the local area. Whoever comes will certainly be a highly respected member of the organization..."

Xia De guessed this also had to do with the Chosen One; even if the 【Rose Cross Society】 didn't intend to control the Chosen One themselves, they certainly wouldn't be completely indifferent.

"Sir, I will introduce you next week. The time is not certain. If there is news, we will contact our aunt and inform you of this matter."

Eric said, and Xia De nodded:

"Then I will trouble you."

"It is no trouble. However, we actually also have a matter we would like to ask you."

The brothers said hesitantly again. They looked at each other, and Charles, who wore a monocle over his left eye, asked stammeringly:

"It's like this: what exactly is the relationship between you and our aunt...?"

They hadn't dared to ask Megan directly last time; that elder gave them more pressure than Xia De, this "High-Ring Sorcerer."

"Relationship? Hmm... it's hard to explain, but you can consider that your aunt and I trust each other completely, and there will be a more significant breakthrough in our relationship next week. A relationship closer than best friends."

When he said this, the brothers understood.

Xia De did not stay long in Green Lake City, as he still needed to prepare seriously for the banquet at Yodel Palace in the evening. Although the theme of the banquet was to bid farewell to the second negotiation delegation led by Miss Galina, for Xia De, the Day of the Red Butterfly was actually more important.

Attending such an important banquet required a female companion, and Xia De's companion was directly decided as Dorothy. He had also informed Luvia about this in advance and hoped she could help look after Little Mia tonight. The purple-eyed girl agreed and wished Xia De a pleasant time at the banquet.

Xia De did not know if this was truly her blessing.

At this Friday's banquet, nothing very interesting happened. Miss Galina, as the core figure of social interaction, was quite busy and didn't have much time to spend with Xia De. Except for the beginning of the banquet, when she introduced several important members of the negotiation delegation to Xia De, Xia De did not speak to her again until the dance began after nine o'clock.

Not only Miss Galina, but even the King and Wang Hou Diana participated in this important banquet from start to finish. This should be the highest-spec banquet in Tobesk City since 1854, and every participant was a big shot who could directly influence the order of the entire kingdom.

Xia De even thought to himself with amusement that, apart from reporters and royal servants, perhaps his status was the lowest here.

The Outsider had little experience with such banquets. Seeing that the atmosphere was formal and serious, he had originally thought Lixia's "date" plan could not proceed smoothly, because he really couldn't figure out how he could leave the banquet hall without being noticed.

As it turned out, Lixia was one step ahead. Around 7:30, Dorothy was called away by Lixia, while Xia De was watching the tense and exciting Lode card competition at the Lode card table behind the crowd. Suddenly, someone called him from behind, and then the maid informed Xia De that Wang Hou Diana wanted to see him.

When he followed the maid to the lounge in the southeast corner of the banquet hall, the area around Wang Hou Diana was already full of people. The pregnant Wang Hou's condition was slightly visible at this time, and she was holding the hand of Angelina, who was sitting on her right, smiling and praising the intelligence and beauty of this daughter to those duchesses.

Lixia had said that her mother, Wang Hou Diana, treated almost all her children equally, except that she liked Angelina the most. As the originally scheduled royal princess for marriage, the fact that Angelina could remain unengaged until seventeen also had the meaning of the Wang Hou's favoritism.

"Look who's here? It's our Knight."

Seeing Xia De being brought over, Wang Hou Diana smiled and introduced Xia De's identity to those noble ladies whom Xia De did not know. Nowadays, the matter between Xia De and Miss Galina was not known to everyone in the city, but at least everyone had heard of it. And after Xia De was forced to greet those women smeared with various powders and perfumes, Wang Hou Diana finally stated the reason for finding Xia De:

"Angelina has always admired you."

She said happily, patting the back of the hand of Angelina, who was shyly lowering her head:

"Since you are also here for the banquet, why not take a walk in the garden with Angelina and tell her your stories? Young ladies always admire young gentlemen with stories, and I noticed your companion is temporarily away, and Duke Galina still has some things to do, so it's just right for Angelina to introduce Yodel Palace to you."

The noble ladies around also didn't feel there was any problem with such an arrangement. After all, the relationship between Xia De and Miss Galina was already a fact, and most people here also knew the King's arrangement for Angelina, only thinking that Wang Hou Diana wanted to bring the two sides closer and help her daughter fulfill a wish.

Thus, Xia De left the banquet hall with Angelina as a matter of course. After arriving at the Yodel Palace garden, which was quiet and deserted but quite beautiful under the moonlight, Dorothy, wearing a red evening gown, and Lixia, wearing a golden evening gown, were indeed already waiting for Xia De.

The writer and the Princess stood side by side, with rose bushes in full bloom beside them. The red and blue roses planted alternately made them look even more charming than usual.

"Sister."

Angelina pursed her lips and greeted the two standing together under the moonlight, only feeling that their figures were so tall. Dorothy smiled and pushed Lixia, and Lixia took a step forward:

"You did well, Angelina."

Inviting Xia De to take a walk in the garden was indeed a method Lixia had come up with.

"As long as I could help you."

Angelina said softly, her two hands clasped behind her back. She glanced at Xia De and wanted to say goodbye, but Lixia stopped her:

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

She took out a very small golden pocket watch from the belt of her dress and glanced at it:

"It is 7:40 now. I want to see Xia De in my bedroom at 8:20."

She stuffed the pocket watch into Angelina's hand and then winked at Xia De:

"The dance starts at 9:40, and none of us want to miss it. If Great-Aunt Galina doesn't see you then, she will punish all of us."

She smiled and patted Angelina on the shoulder, then kissed Xia De on the side of his face.

The writer also smiled and said:

"Xia De, I have prepared some interesting activities, so don't forget the time while walking."

Then the two walked toward the other side of the garden, hand in hand. The maids were waiting for them, and the two of them would wait for the Knight's arrival in Lixia's bedroom.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1672 =====