In short, after meeting the bride and groom, the banquet officially began for Shade and Dorothy.
Dorothy temporarily separated from Shade to meet her friends in the literary world, and Lacia was likely with Princess Margaret, as she had to entertain the guest from the Southern Lands.
Therefore, Shade planned to visit the Great Witch first. Witches had always detested bustling banquets because they were filled with too many men, but they had to attend this one; only in this way could the two of them be introduced reasonably, allowing their relationship to gradually deepen.
Mr. Iceberg had prepared private lounges on one side of the third-floor corridor of the Lakeview Manor mansion for the guests of honor, particularly those from his wife's family. As Shade stepped onto the third floor while holding Mia, memories of a midsummer night flooded back. He paused on the final step of the stairs, looking at the banquet hall doors directly opposite the staircase.
The scene from a few months ago—where Dorothy had crashed through the doors and flown out, followed by the doctor risking his life to use the Words of Sublimation to heavily wound "Madam Lasora"—seemed to unfold right before his eyes.
"How nostalgic."
The last time he had come here, the corridor had been filled with a blood mist, and the exploding doors had left the hallway in shambles. But on this early winter night, peace had long since returned.
The doors to the banquet hall were open, revealing long tables laden with food. Various gold and silver vessels shimmered under the gas lamps, showcasing the wealth of the Iceberg family. Guests who had not yet eaten could help themselves here, but there were few people inside at the moment; after all, for such a grand wedding, dining tables had been placed throughout the mansion and the estate, and there were even dedicated tents for roasting legs of lamb in the back garden.
"Meow~"
Seeing that Shade had no intention of entering the banquet hall and was instead turning aside, Mia suddenly let out a cry, extending a small paw to pat his arm. This cat always displayed a peculiar kind of wisdom when it came to the matter of eating.
"I'll get you something to eat in a bit."
Shade patted the cat's small head, and it stopped meowing.
"Are you getting smarter and smarter?"
The lounge prepared by the Iceberg family for important guests was on the left side of the third-floor corridor. Naturally, it wasn't a place one could enter casually, but when Shade reached the top of the stairs, the guards on duty merely glanced at him and respectfully called out the name "Hamilton of Reged" before enthusiastically leading him to the door of Miss Galina's room.
The pendant on his chest grew burning hot; the two witches were indeed inside. When Shade entered, they were holding wine glasses, standing by the window and chatting while looking out at the lively courtyard.
In the night, the silhouettes of the two witches in their evening gowns firmly captured Shade's attention. Dorothy had just said that the most beautiful girl at the ball was the bride, but Shade knew very well that the most beautiful women should be these two ladies.
"Ahem."
Seeing Shade staring absentmindedly at the ladies by the window, little Princess Angelina coughed to let him know she was also there.
It was rare for Shade to see Angelina not with Lacia. At this moment, the little princess had changed out of her bridesmaid dress and was wearing the kind of elaborate princess gown she wore daily. She sat on the lounge sofa, looking somewhat unhappy as she stared at a document.
"Good evening, Miss Galina. Good evening, Your Highness Angelina. Good evening, Miss Sylvia."
He greeted them in order of status. A look of joy appeared on the sixteen-year-old princess's face, and she wanted to put down the document, but seeing Miss Galina turn away from the window, she bit her lip and obediently continued reading the pages in her hand.
"Good evening, Shade."
Because Miss Sylvia was "not yet familiar" with Shade, only Miss Galina greeted him. The witch, holding a glass of red wine, turned around. The color of the wine, resembling the purest ruby, made her look even more captivating.
"Would you like to taste this red wine? It was a private gift from Princess Margaret; the taste is excellent," the Duchess said with a smile. She could, of course, tell where the wine came from. After all, the raw materials for the brew were the flawed grapes from her own estate that couldn't be eaten.
"Thank you, but I don't wish to drink right now. Oh, what is Your Highness Angelina reading?"
Shade asked curiously. Miss Galina glanced at Tifa, and the black-haired maid explained softly
"Yesterday, at the dinner where His Majesty entertained Princess Margaret of Anjou, Her Highness Margaret recommended her mathematics teacher to His Majesty—the renowned scholar from the United Kingdom of Carsonrick, Miss Emma Sylvia. She hoped that Miss Sylvia could obtain access permits for the libraries of several schools in the Tobesk University district."
The young scholar, Miss Sylvia, stood by the window, her left arm across her chest and her right hand raising a glass in greeting to him.
"I am grateful for the generosity of His Majesty Lallus III."
"While waiting for the banquet to begin just now, the lady encountered Her Highness Angelina and asked Miss Sylvia to set some problems to test Her Highness's level of mathematics."
The little princess peeked from behind the pages, showing Shade a miserable expression; she had clearly been sitting there for more than an hour. Now that the banquet had started, she still hadn't received permission to leave, and her mood was written all over her face.
Miss Galina smiled and said, "Since obtaining my title, I have rarely interfered in the education of family members. Looking at this now, the royal family's level of mathematics has indeed regressed quite a bit over the years."
Angelina, stealing glances at Shade, practically had "save me" written on her face.
"May I see these problems?"
Shade asked, then walked to the sofa and took the handwritten scrap papers.
"Oh, these are indeed very professional questions. However, I think Her Highness should go back and ponder them slowly. After all, this is a wedding banquet; it is a bit too noisy, which is not conducive to concentration."
The sixteen-year-old princess nodded immediately and looked expectantly at her great-aunt. The smile on Miss Galina's face remained
"Very well, Angelina. Remember to send the answers to my estate by tomorrow evening."
"Yes, no problem!"
The little princess spoke loudly, then realized her behavior was not very ladylike. Blushing, she tidied the papers on the table and prepared to leave with her maid, but she stopped and asked Shade
"Knight, in twenty minutes, the Lakeview Estate riding competition will begin. Are you interested in participating? I heard from my mother that your performance at the stables last time was very good."
Shade naturally nodded in agreement. Dorothy had just mentioned that Lacia wanted him to be told to accept Angelina's invitation.
"I will certainly participate; that sounds very interesting."
"Then I shall go prepare a horse for you now. I'll see you later—I'm going to change my clothes!"
With that, she left the room in high spirits.
"Change clothes?"
Shade looked at Miss Galina in surprise. The latter placed her wine glass on the windowsill, her red nail polish reflecting an eerie color under the gas lamps.
"Since it is a wedding game, it is naturally a paired horse-riding race. If you wish to participate, you must have a female partner. I believe Angelina has taken it for granted that you will choose her as your partner."
Miss Sylvia, standing to the side, also smiled. "I heard Miss Galina mention that you had an affair with her grand-niece. Is it this one? But looking at her, clearly..."
"No, no, no, of course not her! Her Highness Angelina is only sixteen!"
Shade hurriedly defended himself in alarm. Although the age of adulthood in this world was sixteen, outsiders had the rules of outsiders.
"Ladies, please stop making fun of me. Today's banquet is very lively; do you not intend to go down and take a look?"
He also walked to the window, looking out at the illuminated courtyard together with the two witches. More and more guests were arriving, and laughter and clamor occasionally drifted from the erected tents. It was a pity the sun had not fully set; otherwise, the courtyard lit by lamps at night would appear even more splendid.
When Shade and Dorothy had walked in earlier, the walkway in the center of the courtyard had been somewhat empty, but now a long table had appeared. Besides various delicacies, there was a cream cake five stories high.
Shade immediately felt Mia, whom he was holding, becoming restless again.
"You know, we have never liked such bustling occasions," Miss Galina said, then glanced at Miss Sylvia. "Shade, didn't you have something to say?"
"Oh, yes."
Shade took out the draft of the paper he had written.
"Miss Sylvia, if you have time, please help me look over this in the next two days."
"A paper?"
The young Great Witch was somewhat surprised, but she still nodded.
"No problem. But if you want me to help you proofread the details, you had better bring me the final draft... Imaginary numbers? You actually have research on this? Very interesting. You really should consider my previous proposal."
She was referring to becoming her apprentice, but she didn't dare say it in front of Miss Galina.
Following Miss Galina's example, Miss Sylvia placed her glass on the windowsill and skimmed through the manuscript, her attention completely captured.
"Shade, Sylvia and I will likely stay here. If you encounter any unsolvable trouble during the banquet, you can come here to find me."
"What kind of trouble would there be at a banquet?"
Shade asked curiously, then thought for a moment. "Could it be that MI6 or the Grey Gloves have some plan?"
"Why would you think that?"
Miss Galina asked curiously. Shade nodded; he indeed had not received any orders from either side regarding this banquet.
"Could it be that a thief has appeared here?"
Thefts had been frequent in the city over the past few weeks—frequent to an abnormal degree.
"Oh, I do suspect that some kind of humanoid relic related to theft has appeared in the city, but Lakeview Estate has nothing to do with that," the witch added. No longer giving Shade a chance to guess, she narrowed her eyes and looked out the window, speaking softly
"A small problem has arisen in Lake Schluche, between Lakeview Estate and the Lemel Stables."
"What small problem?"
"To put it simply, it seems some big fellow is about to emerge from the center of the lake."