Chapter 498: Writer Friends

With Director Anluosi in the carriage, the group of four indeed wasn't searched for weapons. Director Anluosi had things to do, so he parted ways with Xia De after entering Yodel Palace. If there were no other matters, Xia De probably wouldn't see his superior again at the banquet tonight.

It was 6:50 PM. In late summer, Tobesk only showed the last traces of sunset at this time. The courtyard of Yodel Palace was hung with ribbons and decorations. Well-dressed men and women greeted each other, walking from the entrance along the red carpet laid on the central axis of the courtyard toward the main building of Yodel Palace under the illumination of the courtyard gas lamps.

The banquet was about to begin.

"Yodel Palace," belonging to the royal Cavendish family, was actually not a single palace, but a palace complex located in the city center. Its footprint was roughly four to six times that of St. Deran Square. It was not only the residence of the royal family but also served as the political center of the kingdom.

Today was the Wang Hou's birthday banquet, so the main building of Yodel Palace was opened as the banquet venue. Except for the birthdays of the King and Wang Hou, only when hosting a royal delegation from Kassenrik or during certain important conferrals could there be a banquet of this scale.

Xia De and Dorothy stepped onto the red carpet with the crowd, passed through the decorated courtyard, and entered the foyer of the three-story building.

Although it was called a foyer, its area was larger than the combined area of Xia De's three-story house, including the basement and attic. On both sides were corridors, and directly facing the main gate were two intersecting spiral staircases.

After the furniture was removed, the place was arranged to look like a banquet hall.

Today's banquet was held on the first and second floors. In addition to the long banquet tables, the cleaned floor was covered with red carpets. Under the light of gas lamps and the crystal chandeliers overhead, everything here seemed to be sparkling.

Gifts could be submitted at the entrance of the banquet hall, led by a butler-like person wearing a wig and a monocle, dressed in a red coat, who led servants to record them at the long table by the door. Dorothy whispered to Xia De that this man was the General Manager of the West Hall of Yodel Palace, one of the butlers of this palace.

And when Xia De asked her how many butlers there were here, Dorothy didn't know either.

"Lei Qianya spent a great deal of effort to remember everyone's name when she was little."

Gifts for the Wang Hou would certainly not be opened on the spot but would be piled together for the Wang Hou to check herself. Xia De handed over his box casually. Although the box packaging looked quite good individually, it seemed a bit plain when placed together with other gift boxes.

Dorothy naturally brought a gift too; she chose a silver makeup mirror. Although this was valuable, it had nothing special about it. Because the Wang Hou couldn't keep all the gifts everyone sent, Dorothy didn't bother to choose carefully at all.

After registering at the door, Xia De and Dorothy officially entered the main banquet venue.

The specific flow of the banquet had already been told to Xia De by Miss Galina. At eight o'clock, the Wang Hou would appear and thank the guests for coming. If King Larus III was free, he might also appear.

After eight o'clock, the courtyard would be fully opened, and people who wanted to breathe fresh air could walk outside. Bands and performers were also arranged in the courtyard.

At nine-thirty, the indoor ball would officially begin, but it would only be held on the second floor. If one wanted to dance, they could go up with their companion.

After ten o'clock, one could choose to leave, but at that time, beautiful fireworks would be set off in the courtyard, allowing half the city to enjoy them together. The banquet would disperse at twelve o'clock, but it would last until one o'clock before letting those who stayed for various reasons leave. So, there was still a long time left in this night. If Xia De wasn't worried about Dac Nisi, this would actually be a rare moment of relaxation for him.

It seemed everyone could find something to do at this banquet. Before Wang Hou Diana appeared, people gathered in twos and threes, whispering about the banquet or discussing Yodel Palace with acquaintances.

A few reporters also received invitations to the banquet. The cameras set up at the entrance of the first-floor banquet hall recorded this magnificent scene after the flashbulbs exploded. That photo probably represented what could be called the most prosperous scene of this era.

Xia De and Dorothy came to the second floor together. The two stood by the long dining table, and Xia De listened to Dorothy introduce the Yodel Palace guards and servants walking back and forth.

But even Lei Qianya couldn't recognize everyone here, so Dorothy could only briefly introduce those she had an impression of.

"You and Lei Qianya are both in Yodel Palace now; will you be affected?"

Xia De looked at the food on the table and asked in a low voice. Noble banquets in Tobesk mostly adopted a buffet-style food provision, and even the Wang Hou's birthday banquet was no exception.

"Don't worry, Lei Qianya is in the room at the corner of the west corridor on the second floor now."

Dorothy gave the answer.

This palace-style building, at the beginning of its design, had planned the first-floor foyer and the second-floor hall as banquet halls. Although both were quite large, they were not very large compared to the building itself. One must know that this main building of Yodel Palace was once the largest palace in the entire Old Continent.

This record was only surpassed twenty years ago by the newly built Royal Palace in Kassenrik.

Hou Jue Glassley, who had issued a Tarot card invitation to Xia De at the opera house, found Xia De on the second floor at 7:40 PM.

At that time, Xia De was holding a plate, examining the meat that had been boiled white. The Hou Jue smiled and came to inform Xia De that the Tarot card tournament at the banquet would start at 8:30 PM, and the location would be the second floor.

He didn't know where he heard that Xia De had won the 【King's Order: Substitute】 at the Three Cats Tavern in St. Chant Square in the Lower City using the Demon series Tarot cards last week, and he excitedly asked Xia De if he had brought these two cards.

"Of course."

Xia De took the cards out of his formal wear pocket and shook them.

"That's good. I heard that quite a few people are waiting to gamble with you on Tarot cards at the banquet."

The Hou Jue reminded in a low voice, and Xia De felt that this "quite a few people" should also include him.

"It doesn't matter, I'm also looking forward to seeing more special cards."

After Hou Jue Glassley, who was in high spirits tonight, left, Xia De originally wanted to exchange views with Dorothy on the topic of banquet drinks, but Dorothy was probably tired of hearing Xia De complain about how hard it was to find fruit juice here, so she pulled him to meet her friends.

Calling them "friends," they were actually just peers. Those people occupied a corner of the sofa area in the southwest corner of the second-floor banquet hall. Besides writers, there were also some pretentious nobles chatting with them.

Just as they approached, Xia De saw Mr. Playwright Prosi Newman, whom he had met once at the opera house after exam week. Because it was the Wang Hou's birthday banquet, he wasn't dressed as a terrifying woman like last time.

But even so, the makeup on this gentleman's face still leaned toward the ladies' style, because Xia De had never seen such a conspicuous pink lipstick color on any man's lips in this era.

But Mr. Newman had the most people around him. This playwright, who looked to be in his thirties, had a very high reputation. The "Hamlet" that Xia De and Miss Galina went to see at the opera house a few days ago was adapted into an opera by him from a knight novel.

"Look, Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha is here."

Probably because of Professor Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha, many people here knew Dorothy. Detective novels, as an emerging novel genre, shouldn't have been accepted by peers so quickly, but looking at how enthusiastically they welcomed Dorothy, the influence of that Professor Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha was probably even greater than Xia De thought.

"This is Hamilton from Lei Jiede, the prototype for the protagonist of my novel."

Dorothy also introduced Xia De's identity to her friends, and as expected, the writers in Tobesk who could be invited to this banquet all knew who Xia De was.

There was no one here who refused to shake his hand because of the rumor that "Xia De Hamilton only has his current status because he latched onto the Duchess." Xia De was trying hard to remember who everyone present was, to prevent not being able to call their names when meeting them on the street next time.

Besides the playwright Prosi Newman, who looked somewhat effeminate, other famous people here included the 39-year-old poet Mr. Miles Garov, who won the kingdom's highest literary award last year with his collection of poems "Fallen Leaves"; Ms. Eva Swift, who came from Kassenrik and lived in Tobesk, hoping to gain new inspiration from Delarion; she had a Baroness title from Kassenrik, and it wasn't inherited, but earned through her own literary achievements; Mr. Human Francois, who had published thirteen best-selling novel collections and was good at adventure and travel novels, holding the record for the highest circulation of contemporary Delarion-language popular novels; and finally, the 41-year-old prose writer Professor Mulder Goethe, who taught in the Tobesk university district and was also hired to serve as the royal literature and grammar teacher at Yodel Palace.

Compared to these few, Dorothy, whose career had just had a new turn for the better because of "The Hamilton Detective Story Collection," was not conspicuous at all.

After Xia De and Dorothy sat down on the sofa together, it was Xia De who received more welcome. People were very keen to talk to Xia De, discussing his detective profession or talking a few words about Tarot cards.

Later, the topic somehow turned to the creation of popular novels. Only then did Dorothy have a chance to say a few words, and Xia De was also dragged into the conversation by Dorothy.

He certainly didn't understand any literary creation, but thanks to the many literary works and masterpieces he had read in his hometown, as long as it didn't involve the principles of literary creation and poetry, he could say a few words no matter what was discussed.

After all, exams in his hometown didn't allow for writing poetry. ===== CHAPTER 499 =====