Whispering Verse

With Director Anlos on the carriage, the four of them were not searched for weapons. Director Anlos still had things to do. After entering the Yodel Palace, he separated from Shade. If there were no other things, Shade probably would not see his boss again at the banquet tonight.

It was 6:50 at night. At this time in Tobesk in late summer, only the last rays of the setting sun could be seen. The courtyard of Yodel Palace was filled with colorful ribbons and decorations, and well-dressed men and women were greeting each other. , under the illumination of the courtyard gas lamp, walking on the red carpet spread on the central axis of the courtyard from the entrance, towards the main building of Yodel Palace.

The party is about to begin.

"Yordle Palace", which belongs to the royal Cavendish family, is not actually a palace, but a palace complex located in the city center. Its area itself is about four to six Saint Teresa Square. It is not only the residence of the royal family, but also serves as the political center of the kingdom.

Today is the Queen's birthday party, so the main building of Yodel Palace has been opened as a banquet venue. Except for the birthdays of the king and queen, banquets of this size can only be held when entertaining the royal delegation from Kasenrik, or when certain important awards are being given.

Shade and Dorothy followed the flow of people onto the red carpet, walked through the decorated courtyard and entered the foyer of the three-story building.

Although it is a foyer, its area is larger than the combined area of ​​the three floors of Shade's house and the basement attic. There are corridors on both sides and two intersecting spiral staircases facing the door.

After removing the furniture, the place was decorated like a banquet hall.

Today's banquet was held on the first and second floors. Except for the long banquet table, the clean floor was covered with a red carpet. Under the light of the gas lamp and the crystal chandelier overhead, everything here seemed to be sparkling.

Gifts can be handed over at the entrance of the banquet hall, and a man who looks like a butler wearing a wig, a monocle, and a red coat will lead the servants to record them at the long table at the door. Dorothy whispered to Shade that the singing man was the steward of the west hall of Yodel Palace and one of the stewards of the palace.

And when Shade asked her how many housekeepers there were, Dorothy actually didn't know.

"Lecia spent a lot of time remembering everyone's names when she was little."

Of course, the gifts given to the queen will not be opened on the spot, but the gift boxes will be piled up for the queen to check by herself. Shade casually handed over his box. Although the packaging of the box looked very good on its own, when put together with other gift boxes, it looked a little ordinary.

Dorothy naturally brought a gift, and she chose a silver cosmetic mirror. Although this is valuable, there is nothing special about it. Since the queen could not keep all the gifts given by everyone, Dorothy did not bother to choose at all.

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

Miss Carina has already told Shade about the specific process of the banquet. At eight o'clock, the Queen will appear and thank the guests for coming, and King Larousse III may also appear if he is okay.

After eight o'clock, the courtyard is fully open. People who want to breathe fresh air can go outside for a walk. Bands and performers are also arranged in the courtyard.

At 9:30, the indoor dance officially starts, but it is only held on the second floor. If you want to dance, you can go up with your companions.

You can choose to leave after ten o'clock, but at that time, some beautiful fireworks will be set off in the courtyard for half the city to enjoy. The banquet ended at twelve o'clock, but it lasted until one o'clock before letting those who stayed for various reasons leave. Therefore, there is still a long time in the night. If Shade is not thinking about Darkness, this is actually a rare moment of relaxation for him.

It seemed that everyone could find something to do at this banquet. Before Queen Diana appeared, people gathered in small groups and whispered about the banquet, or talked about Yodel Palace with acquaintances.

A few reporters also received the invitation letter to the banquet. The camera set up at the entrance of the banquet hall on the first floor recorded this magnificent scene after the flash exploded. What that photo represents can probably be called the most prosperous scene of this era.

Shade and Dorothy came to the second floor together. The two stood at the long dining table. Shade listened to Dorothy introducing the guards and servants of Yodel Palace who were walking around.

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

"You and Lesia are both in Yodel Palace now, will you be affected?"

Shade looked at the food on the table and asked softly. Most of Tobesk's noble banquets use buffet-style food provision, even the Queen's birthday banquet is no exception.

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

Dorothy answered.

At the beginning of the design of this palace-style building, the foyer on the first floor and the lobby on the second floor were planned to be banquet halls. Although the two areas are quite large, they are not very large compared to the building itself. You know, the main building of Yodel Palace was once the largest palace in the entire Old World.

This record was not surpassed until twenty years ago by the newly built Royal Palace in Kasenlik.

Marquis Grassley, who had extended a Rhodes invitation to Shade in the opera house, found Shade on the second floor at 7:40.

At that time, Shade was holding a plate and looking at the cooked meat inside. The Marquis smiled and came to inform Shade that the Rhodes game at the banquet would start at 8:30, and the location would be on the second floor.

He didn't know where he heard that last week, Shade used the Demon series of Rhodes cards to win the [King's Quest - Substitute] at the Three Cats Hotel in the Anthem Square in the lower city. He was also very excited to ask Shade if he had brought these two cards. card.

"certainly."

Shade took out the cards from his dress pocket and shook them.

"That's good. I heard that there are many people waiting to play Rhodes with you at the banquet."

The Marquis reminded in a low voice, and Shade felt that this "many people" should also include him.

"It's okay, I'm also looking forward to seeing more special cards."

After Marquis Grassley, who was in high spirits tonight, left, Shad originally wanted to exchange views with Dorothy on the topic of drinks at the banquet, but Dorothy was probably tired of hearing Shad complain that it was difficult to find juice here. So he took him to meet his friends.

They say they are "friends", but in fact they are just peers. Those people occupied a corner of the sofa area in the southwest corner of the banquet hall on the second floor. In addition to the writers, there were also some arty nobles chatting with them here.

As soon as he got close, Shade saw the playwright Mr. Prosy Newman whom he had met once before at the opera house after the exam week. Because it was the queen's birthday party, he didn't dress up like a scary woman like last time.

But even so, the makeup on this gentleman's face still favored a lady's style, because Shade had never seen such a conspicuous pink lipstick color on any man's lips in this era.

But Mr. Newman also has the most people around him. This script writer who looks to be in his thirties has a very high reputation. The "The Revenge of the Prince" that Shade and Miss Carina went to the opera house to watch a few days ago was adapted from a knight's novel into an opera by him.

"Look, here comes Louisa."

Probably because of Professor Louisa, many people here know Dorothy. As an emerging novel genre, detective novels should not have been accepted by peers so quickly, but judging from the way they warmly welcomed Dorothy, Professor Louisa's influence may be greater than Shade thought.

"This is Ray Jade's Hamilton, the prototype for the protagonist of my novel."

Dorothy also introduced Shad's identity to her friends, and as expected, all the writers in Tobesk who were invited to the banquet knew who Shad was.

There is no one here who refuses to shake hands with him because of the rumors that "Shadow Hamilton got his current status because he fell in love with the duchess." Shade, on the other hand, is trying hard to remember who everyone is so that he won't be unable to name them the next time they meet on the street.

In addition to the somewhat feminine-looking playwright Prossie Newman, the more famous here is the 39-year-old poet Mr. Miles Garoff, who won the Kingdom's highest literary award last year for his poem "Collection of Fallen Leaves"; Ms. Eva Swift, who came from Carsonlik and lived in Tobesk, hopes to get new inspiration from Delrayon. She has the baronetcy of Carsonlik, and she did not inherit it, but relied on her own Literary achievement; Mr. Humain-Francois, who has published thirteen best-selling novels and specializes in adventure novels and travel novels. He holds the record for the highest number of contemporary popular novels published in the Delarian language; and finally Forty-one-year-old prose writer Professor Muld Goethe, who teaches in the Tobesk University District, is also employed as a literature and grammar teacher for the royal family at the Jodel Palace.

Compared with these others, Dorothy, whose career has just taken a new turn because of "Hamilton Detective Stories", is not impressive at all.

After Shade and Dorothy sat down on the sofa together, Shade received more welcome. People were eager to strike up a conversation with Shade, talk about his career as a detective, or exchange a few words on Rhodes cards.

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

Of course he doesn't know anything about literary creation, but thanks to the many literary works and classics he read in his hometown, he can say a few words about anything that doesn't involve the fundamental details of literary creation or poetry.

After all, poetry is not allowed in exams in my hometown.