Chapter 3646: Moon Song and Early Morning Accident

This trip was just to watch the performance, so the maids of the two princesses didn't follow, and the three took a taxi carriage from the street corner of the square to the north of the city.

The nightlife in the core urban area of Tobesk is not rich. If you walk around randomly on the road at night, you might be targeted by patrolling police. But the night in the northern part of the city in the lower city is much livelier. Centered on St. Deran Square, the north district of the city, even after the gas street lamps have been lit, pedestrians can still be seen on the main road.

As for the Three Cats Hotel, because of the troupe performance tonight, it is even livelier than during the day.

Because he was busy with the snowy mountain, Xia De hadn't patronized here since the Year-End Festival. At the entrance, he paid 5 pence for each person to buy a ticket. Seeing Xia De's arrival, Mrs. Sangmei, the hotel owner, even personally sent drinks.

She didn't recognize Ajelina and Leisia, but she was still as enthusiastic as usual toward Xia De:

"Detective Hamilton, why haven't you patronized my business since the Year-End Festival?"

"My detective agency doesn't have any business either. After the heavy snow before the year, it seems that even the criminals were buried in the snow."

Xia De said with a smile, and Mrs. Sangmei then teased Xia De for bringing pretty girls every time he appeared, before turning and leaving. Leisia of course knew this woman who operated a hotel in the core area of the lower city and had quite a means:

"Mrs. Sangmei is not an ordinary hotel owner."

She reminded in a low voice, and Xia De nodded:

"I know. Operating such a large business in this kind of place, if there is no background at all, that would be the strange thing."

Leisia then asked with a smile:

"Then guess, what is Mrs. Sangmei's background? If you guess right..."

She lowered her voice, but Ajelina at the same table could still hear:

"I'

Xia De certainly wouldn't rack his brains for the sake of so-called "rewards," but he was quite willing to guess a riddle. He recalled his interactions with the Three Cats Inn and Madame Sangmei, attempting to find some clues from this very resourceful innkeeper that could be used for deduction.

Then Xia De discovered that his deepest impression of her seemed to be that she had once lost a special card to him—【King's Secret Order: Substitute】 (Chapter 473).

"Hmm, does she have an official background?"

Xia De asked in a low voice while holding his wine glass. The performance was about to begin, and he and the two princesses were sitting by the wall on the right side of the stage. Although this spot wasn't very good, at least there was no need to worry about being disturbed by others.

The corners of Lei Qianya's mouth curled into a smile:

"You can really guess it? Then guess in more detail; what specific official background does Madame Sangmei have? If you guess correctly..."

She didn't continue, instead looking at Xia De with a meaningful and charming gaze. Beside her, Angelina felt her palms sweating because of this.

Xia De then said casually:

"Could it be that she is my colleague?"

The red-haired princess revealed a brilliant smile:

"Alright, it seems I must give out that reward tonight. Yes, I once heard Miss Jia Lin Na mention that your department has dedicated channels for gathering information in the Lower City. I happened to see a few documents later; although I didn't see the specific file, there is a high probability that Madame Sangmei is your colleague."

As she spoke, Xia De felt a leg brush against him under the table.

He turned his head slightly, looking toward the counter with some surprise:

"I want to say I'm surprised, but thinking about it carefully, this is the only thing that makes sense. The position of this nail is very appropriate."

"Alright, don't look at other women. Tonight's performance is about to start; let's focus on watching the play."

Lei Qianya reminded him again, then grabbed Xia De's right hand; she liked this kind of dating atmosphere. As for Angelina on the side, the little princess suspected that she had already disappeared in her sister's eyes, but when she subconsciously went to pick up her wine glass, Lei Qianya glanced at her, and Angelina understood again that her sister still cared about her very much.

The play performed by the Jasmine Opera Troupe tonight was "Song of the Moon," a title quite literary in nature; it was a play adapted from a very ancient legend of the Northern Kingdom.

The story roughly tells of a young girl born from moonlight who was worshipped and venerated by the people living on the earth, but who eventually left them due to people's greed and returned to the moon. The core of the story is "the fallen moon rises again," which contains both the meaning of satirizing people's greed and the meaning of praising the nobility of the moon maiden.

Although the story's subject matter had quite a mythological flavor, such long-standing stories were very popular.

Especially when the actress playing the "Moon Maiden" appeared barefoot and softly chanted the ancient ritual song, all the audience in the entire tavern held their breath. The actress's timbre was quite outstanding; that kind of ethereal grace was like a cold spring in winter splashing onto solid ice, and even an Outlander would find such singing quite enjoyable.

"Duo Luo Xi recently shared a piece of sheet music with me; she said it was given to her by the Countess of Moon Bay when she went to the snowy mountains last time."

During the play, Lei Qianya said as if unintentionally:

"The meaning of that piece is very similar to this one; they both mean the fallen moon rising again... Xia De, you won't go off to do dangerous things again, will you?"

Claire had only mentioned this to Xia De once today, and Xia De knew their worries:

"I promised, I won't."

He looked at the stage and said, and Lei Qianya did not continue to discuss this topic. Just as Xia De believed her promise not to do that kind of thing again after she and Duo Luo Xi made a mistake trying "soul fusion" last time, they also believed in Xia De's promise.

The theatrical performance at the Three Cats Inn ended at ten-ten in the evening. On the way back, Angelina was still happily discussing tonight's performance with Xia De and Lei Qianya. Unlike Lei Qianya, the little princess didn't have many opportunities to participate in such "commoner activities," so all of this seemed very interesting to her.

And after returning home, Xia De didn't immediately start his "nightlife" for the evening. He first comforted Little Mia, who was at home with the maids, and then went to the basement to take out the 【War Ring】.

The cat, who liked all kinds of rings, was unexpectedly uninterested in this ring; it seemed it didn't have the potential to become a "War Cat." And when Xia De handed the ring to Angelina, the little princess admitted that for a moment, she had indeed thought a bit too much.

"A ring forged by the Ring of Fate, is it?"

"I can't stand up anymore. My ankle is swollen, and I think it might be broken."

"Let Angelina wear it and try it out to see what the difference is compared to directly contacting the Ring of Fate before."

Only then did Angelina take the ring and carefully put it on the middle finger of her right hand—meaning she was in love.

Although her Ring of Fate didn't directly emerge this time, in the perception of Xia De and Lei Qianya, Angelina had indeed become much stronger:

"The amplification of power, spirit, mental strength, and other aspects is about the same as last time. And the other me also told me that this ring has granted me several additional abilities:

When participating in battle, the more people on the battlefield, the stronger I am; the range and effect of the group buffs or debuffs I release have been enhanced; after wearing the ring, I have gained the ability to overlook a certain area similar to 'Eagle Eye'; and when entering a 'battlefield' area, the luck of people in the same camp as me will become slightly better.

However, there is also a negative effect... I can easily incite people to start wars."

She said this, and Lei Qianya raised her eyebrows, looking at Xia De as if wanting to say something, but finally held back and said nothing.

Xia De nodded:

"This ring was made for you, but it is still a bit dangerous for you at the moment. Holding the 【Soul Gem】 and the 【King of Promise】 is enough for now, so it will stay with me for the time being. Angelina, when you are strong enough, I will hand it to you."

Angelina then obediently took off the ring and returned it to Xia De. She didn't care much about the power of the ring; she was just thinking that if her sister wasn't there next time, perhaps she could ask Xia De to personally put the ring on her hand... this was a treatment her sister didn't even have.

Lei Qianya clearly had no intention of giving Xia De a lesson that night; she didn't even let Xia De continue practicing the silver flute, and at ten-something, she pulled Xia De and closed the bedroom door:

"I said I would give you a reward; I'm not the kind of girl who lies."

But three hours later, at one o'clock on Sunday morning, Angelina, who was sleeping alone in the side bedroom next door, was awakened by a sound in her sleep. But this was not a sound from the room next door, but a sound coming from the direction of the square.

Subsequently, she even perceived a strong reaction of elements. Angelina, feeling a bit scared and worried, left the room wearing her pajamas and holding her pillow. The night-watch maid had already looked toward the window vigilantly, and the other two maids living on the first floor had also come upstairs, so Angelina boldly knocked on the door of the master bedroom next door.

Angelina could be awakened, so Xia De and Lei Qianya, who hadn't slept yet, naturally wouldn't have failed to notice anything.

Lei Qianya, who had hurriedly put on her pajamas and still had some flushed marks on her skin, opened the door for Angelina. Xia De, wearing pajama pants but bare-chested, was cautiously standing on the side of the curtain, hooking the curtain with his finger to look outside. The faint moonlight shone on his side profile through layers of mist, and Xia De narrowed his eyes.

There were no lights on in the bedroom, but Angelina also had the ability of dark vision. She could see the hickey on Xia De's neck, could see Little Mia standing in the cat bed on the table also looking toward the window, and she could even see her own sister's underwear scattered on the floor...

She subconsciously looked at Lei Qianya, who was talking to the maids at the bedroom door. When she came to her sister's side, she found that her sister had only buttoned two buttons of her pajamas; clearly, she had also been in a hurry when getting dressed.

?? PS: This chapter's illustration "Lei Qianya: Pajamas"