It seemed that Miss Karina not only disliked such banquets but also had other worries on her mind today.
Miss Karina sensitively detected Shade's gaze from the crowd below; she gave him an imperceptible shake of her head, though it was unclear what she intended to convey.
Without delivering a speech on the stairs, Queen Diana—surrounded by the princes, princesses, and noblewomen of the Cavendish family—followed the cleared path to the large second-floor terrace amidst the sound of music. Standing there, she was visible not only to the guests on the second floor and in the courtyard, but even to the pedestrians on Silver Cross Avenue and the people on the second and third floors of nearby locations like St. Delan Square.
This terrace was the very spot where the King delivered formal addresses to the entire citizenry.
Because the crowd was simply too dense, Shade did not attempt to squeeze to the front to watch Queen Diana's speech. Supporting Dorothy, he carefully helped her sit back down on the sofa. Just now, when Lacia followed the Queen onto the second floor and entered the terrace, Dorothy had nearly collapsed forward onto Shade.
"Honestly, knowing it would be like this, you shouldn't have come to this banquet."
Shade helped Dorothy sit. He originally intended to use [Cynthia's Silver Moon Blessing] to treat her, but Dorothy waved him off in refusal.
"It's alright."
Her forehead was covered in cold sweat, her face was very pale, and her voice was almost entirely drowned out by the Queen's voice, which was amplified by a megaphone.
"It was just a moment of discomfort. I thought we were far enough away."
She wasn't lying; her complexion was indeed recovering at a visible rate. However, sweat still clung to her forehead, and the long, thin golden strands of hair she had intentionally left loose at her temples were stuck to her cheeks.
"Is Lacia alright?"
Shade was more worried that Lacia might suddenly collapse in full view of everyone.
"She's fine. She took a pain-relieving potion in advance."
"What?"
Shade frowned in surprise, but Dorothy pursed her lips and shook her head.
"It was the only way; there was no other choice. As long as we don't get close, this won't happen. I'm afraid we may never truly be able to look into each other's eyes in this lifetime."
Fortunately, Dorothy's writer friends were all standing on tiptoe at the back of the crowd, trying to get a direct view of Queen Diana's speech, so Dorothy's abnormality was not noticed by many.
Once the Queen finished her speech, the lively banquet officially began. Queen Diana did not leave; instead, she accepted interviews from reporters and chatted with noblewomen she was acquainted with. The young princes and princesses of the Cavendish family each chose their own activities. Shade counted carefully; there were more than ten of the King's children present today alone.
Larus III's reproductive capacity was truly the strongest of all the successive kings.
Marquis Glassley soon sent a servant to ask Shade to join them at the gambling tables by the wall on the second floor. However, before Shade could bid farewell to Dorothy's writer friends, another maid arrived from the third floor; Miss Karina wanted Shade to come up.
Thus, he had to temporarily bid farewell to Dorothy and ask the servant to apologize to Marquis Glassley, explaining that he would be arriving a bit late.
When he met Miss Karina on the third floor, the Duchess, who was dressed exceptionally beautifully tonight, looked somewhat troubled. She had Tifa confirm that no one was eavesdropping outside the door before whispering a slightly alarming fact to Shade
"There is a Thirteenth-Ring Warlock at this banquet."
"What?"
"Don't worry, it's a Thirteenth-Ring Warlock from the Church—Sari Pyrot, the 'Iron Right Hand' of the Creating Church."
Miss Karina sat before her dressing table, her chair facing Shade. She frowned with a hint of displeasure, but paired with the red ballroom gown trailing on the carpet and the shimmering hair ornaments, it only made her look more beautiful.
"I only heard about this at 7:40. The Iron Right Hand was originally stationed on the outskirts of the [Dark Realm] and only temporarily returned to the city after swapping shifts with the 'Sun Greatsword' a few days ago. It was Queen Diana who sent him the invitation, which is quite unexpected; the Royal Family rarely invites high-ring warlocks of the Orthodox Church."
"What did the Queen invite this gentleman for?"
"Nothing in particular, just a simple invitation. It's normal to send invitations to the prominent figures of the city for one's own birthday. But my nephew, Larus III, is somewhat angry because of this. He had planned to make an appearance just now, but he didn't show up because of this... He has always opposed royal members bypassing him to contact the high-ranking officials of the Church privately."
"But the Queen was just..."
Shade narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Did she really invite him on a mere whim?"
"I'm glad you don't view Diana as a simple person," Miss Karina smiled, then signaled Tifa to massage her shoulders. Shade then mentioned the matter of Darkness; since both had been in a rush during their meeting this afternoon, he hadn't had the chance to bring it up.
"Darkness has entered Tobesk. At the very least, as of last night, he has entered the city limits."
"You ran into him again?"
Miss Karina tilted her head slightly.
"Could it be that he really came to seek revenge against you? Oh, now this is interesting."
With her slender fingers, she tapped the back of the armchair engraved with the Cavendish family crest.
"I thought I could have a few more days of leisure, but now it seems I can't. Honestly, the Council wants me to kill Darkness personally... Shade, once this is over, I will thank you for the intelligence. If you have any other information, remember to tell me immediately. Whatever you do, do not try to capture him yourself. You don't know the power of ancient evil spirits and demons; even a Thirteenth-Ring Warlock might not easily win if they rashly fought him."
"No problem, Miss Karina."
The Duchess suddenly arched an eyebrow, a smile appearing on her face.
"Why not let me thank you now? Tifa, take the detective to find little Lacia. When I came back from the second floor just now, I saw her enter the east corridor; she probably went to her private lounge."
Although part of the main building of Yodel Palace served as living quarters for royal members, it also functioned strongly as an administrative hub. As a princess already participating in government affairs, Lacia had her own study, or rather, a lounge. Among Larus III's unmarried daughters, few enjoyed such a privilege.
"Remember not to pass through the banquet hall to avoid being seen by those with ulterior motives. Take the east stairs. If you encounter anyone, just say I sent the detective downstairs to retrieve something."
As she made the arrangements, the maid nodded, and Shade stood up from the chair.
"Miss Karina, I should be staying at Yodel Palace until around eleven. If there's anything else tonight, you can find me on the second floor at any time."
"I know, you have an appointment with others to play Rhode cards. Speaking of Rhode cards, Queen Diana will probably give you a surprise tonight; you can look forward to it a little."
She smiled, resting her face on her hand.
Led by Tifa, Shade took a long detour around the east side of the third floor before finding the narrow stairs used by the servants. Navigating through the labyrinthine interior of the building, he didn't encounter anyone along the way.
After stopping in front of the door with the nameplate "Lacia Cavendish," Tifa signaled for Shade to knock himself.
"Her Highness Lacia probably wouldn't like seeing me."
The black-haired maid gave Shade a playful wink. If such a gesture from the younger Iluna was cute, then Tifa's was playful and slightly flirtatious. After that stint as a detective's assistant, she seemed to have a different perception of Shade.
"Then I'll head back. Shade, the Miss might have other things for me to do," she said in a lowered voice.
"Alright then, goodbye, Tifa."
"I hope you have a pleasant evening."
With a smile, the maid turned and left, her footsteps fading into the carpet.
Shade waited until her figure disappeared around the corner of the corridor before reaching out to knock gently on the door.
"Who is it?"
Lacia's voice came from inside. Although it sounded muffled through the door, it still brought a smile to Shade's face.
"It's me."
He believed his voice was recognizable to Lacia.
However, after he spoke, there were no immediate footsteps. Instead, after a short wait, footsteps that clearly did not belong to Lacia approached the door.
When the door opened, Shade saw a young man with reddish-brown hair, slightly shorter than him, wearing a black tailcoat and a white shirt, with a pocket watch chain extending from his chest pocket and fastened to a button. His skin was somewhat dull, his eyebrows were thick, and he asked Shade at the door with some confusion
"Sir, who are you?"
"He is my friend."
Before Shade could speak, Princess Angelina's voice rang out from inside the room.
Shade looked into the room; there were quite a few people inside. Besides the servants, there were Princess Angelina, Lacia, and several other young men and women Shade didn't recognize.
Among them were a few girls Shade had seen at the Diviner's Association, but because he hadn't remembered their names, he treated them as strangers.
"Mr. Hamilton is my friend. I had the servants bring him here to wait for the ball to start with us," Princess Angelina said again. The young man at the door stepped aside to let Shade in. He looked at Shade suspiciously, and only as Shade brushed past him did he suddenly realize
"Hamilton of Reiged!"
"Yes, that's me," Shade nodded in acknowledgment.
"You're the one from the rumors—Miss Karina's lover?"
Shade stopped in his tracks and frowned at him.
"Sir, that is impolite. Please do not slander Miss Karina's reputation."
Not only he, but even Lacia and Angelina frowned. Although the rumors were flying wildly, such things could not be spoken so bluntly.
This noble youth, whose name was unknown, clearly held a hostile attitude toward Shade. While Shade didn't know where this hostility came from, he wasn't the type to suffer in silence. Moreover, being slandered while having done nothing was the most irritating part.
"Sir, please apologize to Miss Karina."
"Yes, I misspoke."
Dealing with a Duchess who held actual power in the country, the other party clearly realized that the words he had blurted out in emotion were inappropriate. However, after a very insincere apology, he looked Shade up and down, arched an eyebrow, and said with his head slightly tilted
"Mr. Hamilton, I heard you are the detective of St. Delan Square? Look at you; you certainly look the part."
The tone was extremely flippant—in other words, rude.
"Then, Detective, why don't you try to deduce what we were doing just now?" he said with a smile. "The detective of St. Delan Square should have such a skill."
Shade looked at the others. Most felt that speaking this way was very impolite, while a few of the girls tried to tell Shade through their expressions what had just happened.
"I see..."
Shade turned and walked toward the maid by the wall. With his back to the group, he reached out to Lacia's head maid, Ms. Hulse, and said
"Madam, lend me a gun."
As he spoke, he drew the [Gun of Kindness] from his waist. Although this scene was witnessed by two other maids besides Ms. Hulse, no one dared to make a sound.
"This gentleman, besides being a detective, is actually a knight."
Shade lowered his head and deftly flicked open the cylinder.
Because the [Gun of Kindness] could generate bullets using a warlock's spirit, he usually didn't keep bullets in it; currently, all six chambers were empty.
Shade reached into his pocket, took out a single bullet, showed it to the astonished crowd, and pressed it into the cylinder.
"And the most important thing for a knight and a detective is, in fact, courage."
Flicking the cylinder back into place, he showed the handgun to the thick-browed noble youth at the door.
"Since you are questioning my detective abilities, why don't we place a bet? No, betting with Rhode cards is far too boring. Let's bet on this."
With a flick of his finger, the cylinder began to spin. Once the cylinder was locked again, Shade raised the gun toward the other man.
"Do you want to go first, or shall I? I think you understand what I mean."
"You... you lunatic!"
The youth in the black tailcoat looked at Shade in disbelief. Shade shook his head.
"This is a bet of honor. In the old days, knights were very fond of using this method to maintain their reputation."
"Mr. Hamilton, you don't need to take a risk for this person. This is the youngest son of Earl Dimock, Mr. Jason Dimock," Princess Angelina's voice came from the side, but Shade had no interest in knowing who the other was.
"Then, little Mr. Dimock, do you want to go first, or shall I?"
"You..."
"Fine, I'll go first."
Shade pointed the [Gun of Kindness]—which was absolutely incapable of being used for suicide—at his own temple and pulled the trigger before anyone could react.
*Click*—as expected, no bullet was fired.
"Your turn."
Shade took a few quick steps and offered the gun forward, but Mr. Dimock clearly didn't dare take it.
"You..."
"Oh, two turns each, is it?"
As he prepared to raise the gun again, the youth in the tailcoat immediately stopped him.
"No, no, I meant..."
"Oh, one turn each then, but you want me to fire?"
Shade suddenly raised the muzzle. Mr. Dimock immediately raised both hands.
"Knight, calm down, please listen to me. Why should I bet with you?"
"Because you offended Miss Karina and my reputation."
Although Shade lowered the revolver with a smile, he continued to stare at the other man.
"Or perhaps you'd prefer I pull the trigger three times first, and then you try the last three?"
Because he was confident that this gun could absolutely not kill him, the expression on Shade's face showed that he was definitely not joking.
"No, I..."
Jason Dimock looked at the others in the room, trying to seek help, but no one spoke up at this moment. This was not only because Shade was holding a gun, but also because what Shade said actually made sense.
Even if they really played a dangerous gambling game here and someone died, the survivors would not be severely punished.
"I... I'm feeling a bit unwell. My apologies."
Seeing that no one would help him, the noble youth in the tailcoat backed toward the door, pulled it open, and slipped out, regardless of what his friends in the room thought.
"Tsk."
Shade shook his head and turned back to the group on the sofa. Seeing that no one was speaking, he flicked the cylinder open again and removed the single bullet.
Judging by the position of the bullet, the sixth trigger pull would have aligned it with the barrel.
"You really are too impulsive," Princess Angelina said immediately from the sofa, adding a playful wink.
"I'm so sorry this happened. Please, you all head to the banquet hall first," Lacia, the true owner of the room, said to her friends. Thus, the guests bypassed Shade and left the room, though most gave him a smiling nod. It seemed that what had just happened would certainly spread throughout the banquet.
After the guests left, Lacia looked at the servants standing by the wall. With a slight nod, Ms. Hulse led the servants out first.
Once everyone had left, only Angelina Cavendish remained on the sofa, besides Lacia and Shade.
The little princess had been holding a porcelain teacup, but seeing her sister stand up from behind the desk and walk quickly toward Shade—who was standing in the center of the room and tucking the gun back into his waist—she subconsciously placed the cup on the coffee table and craned her neck to watch them.
Lacia reached out her right hand and tilted the head of the bowing Shade upward. The red-haired girl wrapped her left arm around him, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him.
"Oh~"
The little princess whispered, her face flushing, her eyes wide and unblinking.
"Just what is the relationship between you two?"
After a long while, she picked up her teacup again and asked in a low voice, leaning to the side.
Lacia pushed Shade away, breathing heavily, and brushed back a few stray red hairs from her ear. The blush on her cheeks could not be hidden even by her rouge.
Her breath was unsteady as she spoke, but the smile on her face was very evident.
"Shade saved me. This is a thank you."
Not one of the three people present believed those words, but Angelina didn't ask further.
"I've wanted to do that since last time," Lacia said to Shade with a smile. She looked at him closely, her eyes bright. "After our hurried parting in the west, I've always wanted to thank you. I wanted to kiss you on Saturday, but I was delayed by those damned affairs. Now I've finally done it; it feels quite wonderful."
"Sister Lacia, that last sentence should be a line for a male character," the little princess immediately reminded her, but Lacia ignored her sister.
"Shade, Angelina doesn't want to be married off to someone she doesn't like for political reasons by our father, so she sought my help. She is a trustworthy person, so it's fine that she saw us just now," Lacia added. "I sometimes leave Tobesk. If you can't find me but encounter trouble in the city, you can seek help from Angelina. She is always at Yodel Palace, but her maid can enter and exit relatively freely. I'll have her give you her contact information in a moment."
"I don't encounter much trouble in this city; it's very peaceful," Shade said, carefully wiping the lipstick from his lips with the back of his hand. "So, Lacia, were you alright when you went to the second floor just now?"
He was still worried about that.
"I'm fine. Sit down quickly, let's have a proper chat. I know you're anxious to play Rhode cards, but delaying it by an hour or two shouldn't be a problem."
"Actually, whether I play cards or not doesn't matter," Shade said lightly. Lacia covered her mouth and giggled, and Angelina seemed to want to say something, but at that moment, there was actually another knock at the door.