Chapter 2251: Verification, Letter, and Moonlight

Xia De glanced at the noble lady who was talking to Miss Belindell again:

"Why be careful with her? I don't even know her."

"Her reputation locally is not very good."

Mr. Bernhardt said in a low voice:

"I'm not the kind of person who likes to speak ill of others behind their backs, but her private life is really chaotic."

"Please rest assured, although I... but I am not that kind of playboy."

Xia De guaranteed, not expecting Mr. Bernhardt to shake his head:

"I'm not asking you to care about yourself, I'm asking you to care about Countess Belindell... That Miss Angri Rice likes girls."

Xia De suddenly realized. The vampire viscount raised his eyebrows:

"It's not uncommon for nobles to have some special hobbies. If she only liked one person, no one would say much. But she is not a dedicated person. Earl Rice has been worrying about this for a long time."

"I will be careful, but your relatives are really... the captain is a gambler, Mrs. Jude is a glutton, Baron Chandler is greedy, Miss Rice is trapped in lust... Can you remind me in advance what shortcomings Hou Jue Morsen has?"

Mr. Bernhardt thought carefully:

"That Hou Jue is a relatively normal person. He doesn't like playing cards, has a harmonious family, and there are no rumors of keeping a mistress. He is not keen on luxury goods, and doesn't have Mrs. Jude's hobbies."

"But?"

Xia De said, Mr. Bernhardt shook his head gently:

"Yes, but this Hou Jue likes hunting very much."

"This sounds very normal."

"Hunting is normal, but it is rumored that he likes to kill his prey with the most cruel means. The specimens and heads hanging in his house were all made by himself."

Relatively speaking, this is nothing, but I heard, yes, I heard, after all, I am not a Moon Bay person, I heard that anyone who has hunted with the Hou Jue and seen him handle the prey never dares to go hunting with him again."

"The Hou Jue is bloodthirsty."

Xia De thus reached a conclusion, and Mr. Bernhardt did not oppose his point of view.

It wasn't until 8:30 that Hou Jue Morsen finally appeared in the banquet hall.

However, it was difficult for Mr. Bernhardt to take the initiative to talk to him with his identity. So Xia De first introduced Miss Belindell to Mr. Bernhardt, and then when Hou Jue Morsen took the initiative to find the countess, Mr. Bernhardt logically shook hands with Hou Jue Morsen and reached a shocking conclusion.

"It's not him either."

Standing by the window, the panicked Armand Bernhardt's hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly. This was a manifestation of his inner panic:

"How is it possible? I have verified all the local kin with higher bloodlines, and only these five people are the most suspicious. How can none of them be suspicious?"

"Either there are other kin in the area you don't know about, or your detection method is unreliable."

Xia De stood with him looking at the night view of the manor. Moon Bay City hadn't rained or snowed for the past few days, and the night temperature was normal. At this time, many people were walking in the manor's courtyard:

"As for exactly how... try other methods. Please wait for me, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Saying this, he walked toward the corridor and quickly returned to the banquet hall as a "cousin." Amidst the ambiguous smiles of the noblewomen, he called Miss Belindell away alone, and ten minutes later changed back into the attire of a stranger at the banquet, and found Mr. Bernhardt again.

The two were still standing by the window looking at the night view of the manor courtyard:

"Among the five, one person has extremely strong anti-divination means. Although your way of detecting the source of blood is not divination, since there are anti-divination means, there should also be anti-bloodline tracing means, right?"

Xia De asked. Mr. Bernhardt didn't ask how Xia De reached the conclusion, but agreed and nodded:

"Then who is it? Captain Rudolf or Baron Chandler?"

Xia De glanced at him in surprise:

"You are really sharp. It's not Captain Rudolf; he is really afraid of getting involved in trouble. It's Baron Chandler. The diviner who helped me divine said that the anti-divination ritual on him was definitely not set up to hide his secrets of tax evasion.

Also, you don't have to rush to find him now. I heard from the manor maid that he had already left the manor twenty minutes ago."

"We disturbed him?"

"No, we were successfully deceived by him. He should be very proud now.

He left because of private matters. His factory caught fire. The person who came to report said it had something to do with 【Eternal Light】, probably because the organized workers finally couldn't bear it anymore. I think this shouldn't be something he did himself to get away. Look to the southwest, your dark vision shouldn't be worse than mine, do you see the fire?"

Mr. Bernhardt squinted for a while, then slowly exhaled and drank the red wine in his glass:

"So it's him. I'll take people to find him tomorrow. No, you don't need to help. Counting Ptolemy, there are quite a few kin in the area who want to find this guy who broke the rules, and now I have the sect's warrant, so there is absolutely no shortage of manpower.

This is our own business, we will solve it ourselves. Of course, the information you need will definitely be helped to get."

The lively banquet should have been a very attractive place, but Mr. Bernhardt left in a hurry after drinking that glass of red wine. Xia De thought he probably wouldn't need to sleep tonight. Wanting to contact vampires all over Moon Bay and preparing for a battle that might occur with the 【Dragon Feast Sect】 was definitely not an easy thing.

Of course, although Mr. Bernhardt didn't intend to let him participate, Xia De still wanted to join in the fun. Since it was an attack tomorrow morning, it would likely happen near Baron Chandler's manor or factory.

Xia De didn't know the specific time, but arriving early was no problem.

Mr. Bernhardt's departure meant that Xia De's task at this banquet had been completed. After seeing Mr. Bernhardt off, Xia De changed back into his "cousin" attire and found Miss Belindell again.

Walking through the ladies in evening gowns and gentlemen in suits, Xia De didn't feel the fear and anxiety about "Dragon and Disaster" in the whole city at all. The soothing piano music had been echoing throughout the banquet hall. It seemed that even if Moon Bay were really destroyed by disaster, the people here would be the first to escape.

At this time, the countess was sitting and talking with Margaret in the rest area of the banquet hall, surrounded by noblewomen and a few noble girls as usual.

Such a welcome banquet was not a formal political banquet, so Margaret would sit down, otherwise she would generally have to maintain a smile and standing posture for several hours to deal with those boring conversations.

Of course, Lei Qianya rarely had such troubles, after all, she had too many brothers and sisters.

"You really went to the washroom for a long time."

When Xia De sat down beside his partner, she said with a smile, covering her mouth with a fan. The married women around all laughed, and Xia De explained:

"I met a friend and talked for a few words. Ladies, what are you talking about? Do you mind if I join?"

They were naturally not talking about this summer's dressing style. Those who were qualified to sit beside Margaret at this banquet were mostly ladies like Miss Belindell who participated in politics or at least represented certain figures.

Just now, Margaret was listening to the eldest daughter of Earl Hawthorne talk about the current construction progress of the Moon Bay Bridge. If everything went well, this bridge should be completed before this winter, and then royal members would be invited to attend the completion ceremony.

After Xia De sat down, he actually had no chance to speak. He just sat there holding a wine glass, looking at the people in the banquet hall with his peripheral vision.

And before the dance started at nine o'clock, a manor maid finally walked toward Xia De with a letter:

"Sir, a black-haired lady asked me to give this letter to you."

There was no text on the white envelope, only a red lipstick mark where the wax seal should have been. After opening it, there was only one line on the letter paper:

【I am waiting for you in the garden.】

Xia De held his breath, then tilted his body slightly to the side, showing the content on the letter paper to Miss Belindell. The latter patted him reproachfully:

"If you want to go, can I still stop you? Men only know how to mess around. When rejecting that girl, don't say things too hurtfully."

So, amidst the ladies' laughter again, Xia De took the letter and bid farewell.

Passing through the crowd lingering at the banquet, he walked out of the main entrance and walked around to the back of the manor along the gravel path illuminated by gas lamps. He carefully avoided disturbing the men and women dating in the flowers, and also avoided the men who were obviously talking secretly.

Finally, in front of the angel-shaped fountain statue in the back garden of Margaret Manor, Xia De slowed down and saw the black-haired girl standing with her hands behind her back, with her back to him.

She didn't style her hair in a complicated way like most ladies attending the banquet today, but just tied it up with a hair band. The blue and white long dress, which was relatively not gorgeous, looked quite appropriate in the summer flowers, and the posture of looking up at the moon made Xia De feel a little sad for no reason.

He gradually stopped, and he also knew that she felt his arrival. Xia De just looked at Miss Ilayse's back, and she also let his eyes stay behind her.

Moonlight sprinkled some brilliance on the black-haired girl from above the mist and clouds. Xia De sometimes thought about whether the moon seen by Chloe, Miss Feilian, and Miss Violet in the Fifth Era was the same as the moon he saw in the Sixth Era.

This question could only be answered by Grace and Helen in the past, but now, there was another girl who could solve Xia De's doubts. ===== CHAPTER 2252 =====