Chapter 497: The Price of Eavesdropping

After bidding farewell to Old John, who always seemed to have such leisurely days, Xia De hurriedly took a carriage with his gift toward Quill Street. By the time he met Dorothy, Luvia had already arrived.

Dorothy was heading to Yodel Palace as a guest for the banquet, so she was wearing a formal ball gown. This sky-blue dress, which matched her long golden hair perfectly, was incredibly beautiful. Luvia, however, was heading to Yodel Palace as an employee of the Divination Society, so she wore the relatively plain black-and-silver-trimmed lady clerk uniform dress of the society.

After Xia De complimented them on how beautiful they looked, the two very happy ladies asked Xia De to wait in the living room for a while, as they still needed some time in the bedroom to tidy up their attire.

So, Xia De went to the kitchen to brew some tea himself and sat on the sofa to wait. Compared to when he arrived in the morning, Dorothy's apartment looked even messier. Clothes, dress ribbons, and shoes were scattered everywhere, and the coffee table was mostly occupied by a makeup case with a mirror.

Just happening to have nothing to do, he decided to formally learn 【Mind Blast】. Learning this miracle did not require complex ritual materials; as long as one had the Mind Crystal, then...

Xia De pinched the ring on the index finger of his right hand with his left hand, closed his eyes, and rotated it slightly, letting his fingertips rub against the Mind Crystal on top.

At the same time, he whispered the strangely pronounced incantation in his heart, using his spiritual power to perceive the scenery before him in the darkness.

Suddenly, he frowned, and his spirit surged toward the index finger of his right hand. Xia De extended his finger and pointed forward; an invisible spiritual power entered the air through the amplification of the ring.

"Old John really didn't lie to me."

He smiled, opened his eyes, and examined the ornament on his finger. Only by using the miracle could he perceive how smoothly his own spirit flowed through this ring:

"Alchemy craftsmanship really can make a lot of money."

Sighing in his heart, he reached out to pick up the teacup he had just placed on the coffee table, then leaned back comfortably on the sofa.

Holding the teacup and observing his surroundings, his ears could hear the golden-haired writer and the brown-haired female diviner whispering to each other, exchanging opinions on shoe styles and stocking patterns.

They thought Xia De couldn't hear, but 【Echoes of the Past】 had the effect of passively enhancing hearing, and coupled with the enhancement of his physical fitness, Xia De could hear these subtle sounds.

"Speaking of 【Echoes of the Past】, I wonder what sounds I could hear if I used this miracle here..."

Because he was too bored, Xia De, holding the teacup, suddenly had this idea. He certainly knew that eavesdropping in someone else's home was a very impolite behavior, and he also knew that this behavior was already close to a crime.

"Her" laughter came to his ears, probably mocking Xia De for this thought.

"That's right, better not be so impolite."

The outlander thought to himself, letting his center of gravity shift backward, his body leaning completely against the soft sofa. Dorothy's sofa was softer than the one left behind by Detective Sparrow; Mia would probably like the sofa here.

Xia De took a sip of tea and then heard the two ladies in the bedroom shift the topic from the choice of stockings to the choice of waist cinchers for their dresses, and from there, they began to discuss some content unsuitable for Xia De to hear.

"Hmm... I'd better use Echoes of the Past to listen to sounds from the past."

So, in order not to hear the current sounds, Xia De on the sofa decided to use that very impolite miracle after all.

He took another sip of tea, activated the miracle, and then heard Dorothy's voice very clearly:

"Luvia, once you're done with the card game matters later, you must dance with me."

Dorothy and Luvia had always had a very good relationship; this conversation must have taken place not long ago, which meant that although Xia De doing this was impolite, it didn't count as prying into other people's privacy.

Now he felt relieved, took another small sip of tea, and next came Luvia's voice:

"Of course, no problem, it's just a pity that even though I finally have a chance to attend such a banquet, I can't walk around as freely as you. Dorothy, your luck is really good; you actually got to know Princess Angelina through detective stories."

Although Dorothy's invitation was given by Princess Lei Qianya, it was in the name of the little princess. Hearing this, Xia De couldn't help but start guessing what the relationship between Princess Angelina and Lei Qianya was really like. When they were at the opera house a few days ago, Angelina Cavendish was clearly somewhat afraid of Lei Qianya.

Luvia was still speaking:

"Dorothy, this dress of yours is really not bad."

"Oh, this one? This is a handmade custom dress from Lady Rhine. Do you know how much gold this dress is worth?"

Dorothy's voice didn't say the number; she must have gestured with her hands.

"But this price is still acceptable; this dress is truly beautiful."

Luvia continued to praise, and Xia De also nodded while holding his teacup; the sky-blue dress he had seen earlier was indeed beautiful.

Luvia spoke again:

"However..."

She hesitated.

"What's wrong?"

Dorothy asked curiously, and Xia De heard the sound of her rummaging through the clothes rack.

"Just how much padding did you use? Why is it so big?"

"Cough, cough!"

Xia De on the sofa began to cough violently. He tremblingly placed the teacup on the coffee table, clutching his chest and lowering his head, because the tea had been inhaled into his trachea, and his whole body was trembling due to the discomfort.

"Xia De, what's wrong?"

Hearing the sound outside, the two ladies in the room immediately asked.

"Nothing, cough, cough, nothing, I choked."

He stood up while coughing violently:

"Borrowing the washroom for a moment."

Then he walked quickly toward the washroom; the sound of his coughing along the way showed that he really had choked.

"Honestly, how could you be so careless?"

Dorothy in the bedroom complained, while Xia De learned a simple, universal truth through this incident—

Eavesdropping on other people's conversations always comes with a price.

"Cough, cough!"

Listening to the laughter in his ears, he leaned against the washroom sink and patted his chest. But to be honest, Xia De was still very curious about the next sentence of that conversation, and how Dorothy had answered.

The young ladies finished tidying up after another half hour. Xia De went out a step early, found an available four-wheeled rental carriage at the intersection of Quill Street and Academy Avenue, had the driver wait at the entrance of 221B Quill Street, and then the three of them headed to Yodel Palace together.

Luvia needed to meet up with others from the society, so she got off the carriage early at the entrance of the Divination Society. Xia De jumped off the carriage first, and then, under the gaze of Dorothy peeking out from the carriage window, reached out to help Luvia down.

"Then we'll see each other at the banquet in a while!"

Luvia smiled and waved at Xia De and Dorothy; the black iron gas street lamp beside her made the made-up young lady look even more beautiful than usual.

The gas street lamps on Silver Cross Avenue were of a uniform style; the black lamp posts had complex, intricately patterned iron gas lamp casings at the top, arranged at varying heights. The glass covers of the three gas lamps were enclosed within the iron frames, and the interior of the gas lamps was connected to the gas pipes of the lamp posts. Although they couldn't compare to the styling of gas lamps in noble homes, their relatively simple and clean appearance did not detract from the reputation of the central street of the Steam Capital.

After bidding farewell to Luvia, Xia De and Dorothy couldn't continue forward in the carriage, because in the middle section of Silver Cross Avenue, where gas street lamps were gradually lighting up, private carriages were allowed to proceed, but rental carriages were not permitted to continue forward to prevent traffic jams.

So Xia De and Dorothy had to get off the carriage early. There were actually quite a few guests like them; after all, not every noble had a private carriage.

Just as he paid the fare, Xia De heard someone calling his name.

A four-wheeled carriage with a black cabin stopped slowly by the street, and Director Anluosi poked his head out from the carriage window;

"Good afternoon, Xia De. Come on up, let's go in together."

Director Anluosi had also groomed his hair today and was wearing formal attire, but the style was relatively simple, with no decorations. If one didn't know his identity, one would absolutely never connect this ordinary-looking man with no special features to the Director of MI6.

"Is it convenient?"

"What's inconvenient about it? Oh, and this lady is..."

"My female companion for tonight, Miss Dorothy Miss Lu Yi Sha."

Xia De introduced, and Director Anluosi suddenly realized:

"I know that name, the lady who serializes detective stories in the 'Steam Bird Daily'. Your stories are also very popular in our department. Oh, I knew it, Detective Hamilton is Xia De!"

"Dorothy, this is my friend, Mr. Dac Anluosi, who works in logistics management for the Royal Army."

Xia De introduced simply, winking at Director Anluosi, meaning he hadn't revealed his identity.

Director Anluosi smiled and nodded:

"Come on up together, I'll take you in. Entering Yodel Palace now requires handing over weapons, and even undergoing a simple search; it's too troublesome. I'll take you in, and you won't need to be offended by those unreasonable servants."

Besides Mr. Anluosi, there was also a noblewoman in the carriage who was about his age and slightly plump. This should be Director Anluosi's female companion, but not Mrs. Anluosi. Xia De had heard that his superior was still unmarried.

"Then do I need to hand over my weapon?"

The cautious search was probably because of the incident where Prince Saxe broke in with a gun not long ago. Xia De's normal revolver could turn into a toy, but the 【Gun of Kindness】 was still on him.

"No, no need, I'm carrying a weapon too, and we can all vouch for your loyalty."

Director Anluosi said. He sat beside his female companion, facing Xia De, and lowered his voice slightly:

"The opera house incident last Saturday has been closed. Her Highness Angelina has a very high opinion of you and praised you quite a bit in front of His Majesty and the Empress. If you're lucky tonight, you might even get another chance to be summoned by His Majesty."

"Then that really is my honor."

Although he said so, Xia De had no interest in meeting Larus III.

Compared to a boring middle-aged man, Xia De had more interest in the young lady beside him and the Tarot cards. ===== CHAPTER 498 =====