Chapter 3271: Showing Off and Tracking

Miss Jia Lin Na could hear the implication of this question. Everyone at the table was someone who could be trusted, and the one asking was her grandfather's great-granddaughter. Although that Duchess holding the peacock feather fan was a generation younger than her, she looked ten years older.

"Yes, my sleep quality has been very good recently, especially... after the Year-End Festival."

Miss Jia Lin Na answered in this way, and the ladies at the table all laughed.

"Also, I've been reading some of Atek's novels recently."

Miss Jia Lin Na picked up a cookie and dipped it in some jam, continuing to say this.

The City of Art, "Atek City," had many famous writers, and many of their books had particularly bold and avant-garde descriptions of erotic content or extramarital affairs, so she expressed in this way that she didn't mind them asking about her privacy like this.

Wang Hou Diana even spoke up:

"It seems Miss Jia Lin Na has also started to appreciate Master Midro's artworks like us."

This master sculptor was famous for the realistic and rich details of his nude depictions.

The ladies at the table then, under the cover of the loud singing on stage, laughed and joked about the rumor that the master had recently been stabbed with a carving knife by his apprentice and lover. Afterwards, someone warned Miss Jia Lin Na with the experience of someone who had been there to "be careful about the family doctor issue," which meant things like accidental pregnancy.

Then someone joked that "although the knight is handsome, looking at his appearance, Miss Jia Lin Na shouldn't have to worry about 'Wilndale Disease'." This was saying that Xia De wouldn't cheat and was very loyal to Miss Jia Lin Na. And "Wilndale Disease" was actually a venereal disease; blaming diseases on "foreign countries" to shift moral stigma was a very common saying.

They were all enthusiastic about imparting family life experience and lessons to Miss Jia Lin Na, who had finally become a "companion." In such private conversations, everyone was equal and united.

They were very careful to avoid sensitive topics when the performance sound was relatively low, and talked about various metaphors when the actors were singing loudly. Finally, someone asked such a question:

"Miss Jia Lin Na, although you aren't officially married yet, whether family life is harmonious is a very important issue. How are you and that knight getting along?"

It seemed to be asking whether their personalities and life details could tolerate each other, but it was actually asking about more private matters.

The red-haired Duchess took a handkerchief from Tifa behind her, smiled and thought for a moment, signaling everyone to look at the stage. Opera house performances sometimes used real animals, but in this VIP small lounge, real horses couldn't appear for the sake of the indoor scent.

So in this story involving the "groom's daughter," the performers used "mechanical horses" to replace real horses. Although the color and material were a bit out of place, thanks to the high-level mechanical and steam power technology of this era, these mechanical horses could not only make sounds and move their tails, heads, and limbs, but could also move on their own according to a certain trajectory.

"Xia De, I mean the knight and I get along very well. He is even wilder than the sturdiest horse... I mean his personality."

Many noblewomen at the table used fans or handkerchiefs to cover half their faces to hide their expressions. This sentence was indeed a bit explicit, but looking at Miss Jia Lin Na's expression when she said this, they, as "people who had been there," could all imagine the scene.

"I have heard from the servants that the champion of the 'Tobesk Ring Riding Competition' in previous years would receive many handkerchiefs after leaving the arena. Miss Jia Lin Na, it seems the champion of 1854 has been monopolized by you."

The wife of Miss Jia Lin Na's second uncle's youngest son, that blonde Marchioness, said with a smile, and then someone even said:

"Lei Jiede's Hamilton is the youngest winner of the Ring Riding Competition in the last twenty years. The sword of such a young knight must be very sharp, right?"

"Cough, cough."

Amidst the laughter, Wang Hou Diana coughed and looked at the ladies at the table with a warning gaze:

"Today's tea seems a bit too strong."

The Wang Hou's personal maid hurriedly went to change the tea. In fact, this meant the topic was a bit over the line, but this didn't destroy the atmosphere of the ladies' private conversation.

"The knight's sword..."

Lady Miss Jia Lin Na thought of those things from last night, and even she blushed slightly.

Because of Wang Hou Diana's warning, the topic was now shifting to whether gold bracelets matched rubies or diamonds better. So, although the witch knew she shouldn't say such things, she still suddenly interjected:

"I've also been considering changing bracelets recently, after all... the knight's wrist is thicker than mine."

This sentence had no logic at all, but after the ladies at the table blinked, they all cast their gazes toward Miss Jia Lin Na's slender wrist. After estimating it in their hearts, the table suddenly went quiet. Even Wang Hou Diana at this time raised her teacup to cover the lower half of her face, and those gazes that could definitely be called "envious" were all cast toward Miss Jia Lin Na after this silent moment.

The Duchess used the action of wiping the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief to cover her expression, but she was actually very proud in her heart. Miss Jia Lin Na Cavendish had always had the best things since she was a child, and this point was the same even after she grew up—her lover was the youngest and most handsome.

The result of this afternoon tea party was that Miss Jia Lin Na Cavendish was never suspected by the church of being a witch of the 【Witch Council】 again.

Of course, it was another matter that Xia De found out shortly after that he would always receive inexplicable letters or even invitations when attending banquets in Tobesk.

At this time, Xia De didn't know what the Duchess was saying. When he stood up and left the small VIP lounge, he found that the element traces didn't come from inside the door but outside the door.

The "Tobesk Grand Opera House" was the only one of the three largest opera houses in the city with a courtyard. The VIP lounge was on the first floor, outside the door was a corridor, and outside the corridor was the opera house's small garden. In summer, there would also be performances here.

At a position diagonal to the entrance, a strange blonde girl leaning against a corridor pillar was talking to a black-haired man. The former looked about twenty years old, while the latter looked close to thirty.

The two of them were talking very enthusiastically, and Xia De just glanced at them and walked toward the washroom:

"That ring."

The element traces of the strange pink magic came from the ruby ring on the man's finger. That ring had obviously been carved with a rune ritual. Because Xia De was very familiar with the "Book of Pink," even though he only took one look, he roughly guessed that the ring's effect was to greatly increase attraction to the opposite sex.

However, that should be an active effect rather than a passive effect. Xia De guessed that the trigger method was probably "lifting the ring and shaking it in front of someone" or "rubbing the ring face twice."

However, the black-haired man wearing the ring was obviously just an ordinary person. This matter looked the same as Xia De's speculation: an ordinary person who had obtained an alchemical item couldn't control his desires and tried to benefit himself with supernatural power.

This kind of thing was more common than relic loss of control. Generally, encountering this kind of thing didn't require an elite team like the one Iluna belonged to; just sending a low-level ring mage could solve it.

And since Xia De had already come out, he naturally wanted to handle this matter well. He walked along the corridor, wanting to go to the washroom first, and then talk to the two of them when he came back. But he didn't expect that after just turning the corner along the corridor surrounding the courtyard, his peripheral vision saw someone dressed as an actor hurriedly walking toward the two.

After the stranger said a few words to the black-haired man, the black-haired man left with the stranger dressed as an actor.

"What's the situation with this?"

There was basically no one inside the opera house building in the afternoon. A few troupes or theater staff borrowing the performance hall wouldn't care about a beautiful silver cat walking around—it looked like a pet left behind by noblewomen who had come to watch the performance.

Therefore, Xia De followed the two from a distance until he saw them walk into a utility warehouse in the corner of the first floor of the opera house, which stored replacement supplies used by the theater and various sundries used for performances.

Xia De waited outside for a while without hearing any sound, looked left and right, and then turned back into human form. Of course, during this process, his appearance and height changed slightly. After confirming that the illusion was fine, he tapped the door with his finger.

Knock, knock, knock~

He waited for a few more seconds, but there was still no sound, so he pushed lightly with his right hand, and the door opened by itself. Xia De stepped sideways into the warehouse, and his eyes were filled with darkness. He groped backward, but couldn't find the position of the door.

This wasn't pure darkness, but was filled with rolling black mist. These black mists had no toxins or mental harm, but were purely blocking detection capabilities in all aspects.

Seeing that he couldn't find the door, Xia De stopped looking and stood still. A few seconds later, a metallic luster appeared from behind him, and then a small dagger stabbed toward his back. But as the golden light expanded, the Hilton Seal directly bounced off the figure that appeared behind him.

After the attacker rolled into the black mist and wanted to hide again, it was too late since he had already been discovered by Xia De. The black chain slid along the ground, and in the process of the man holding the dagger rolling silently and neatly, the chain directly entangled him with the help of his rolling action.

Thus, the battle ended. With both body and spirit restricted by the 【Chain of Sin】, there was no way for a fourth-level ring mage to break free from Xia De's restraint.

The black mist summoned by the miracle in the warehouse gradually dissipated. Before the ring mage saw the chain, the yellow moonlight ring flying from Xia De's hand bound his hands and feet, and then the chain disappeared.

It was precisely because he had just confirmed that this strange male actor's level was only fourth-level that Xia De had followed so rashly.

The interruption of the miracle made the black mist dissipate quickly. The fourth-level ring mage couldn't break free from the restraint, and the black-haired man wearing the alchemical ring was now unconscious in the corner of the warehouse, covered by a pile of suit costumes.

Xia De then walked over, wanting to take off the ring, but the ring mage controlled by the "Moonlight Ring" behind him hurriedly stopped him:

"Don't touch that ring!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3272 =====