The Whispering Verses Chapter 1556: The banquet of knights
Facing the sunset in the early spring evening, the carriages departing from the city finally gathered at the gate of the manor outside the city. When the "knights" wearing various armors appeared, the reporters who came for tonight's news excitedly lit up the spotlights of their cameras, letting the white light flash at the entrance of the manor.
Shad was originally worried whether his golden armor would be too fancy, but when he entered the manor holding Dorothy's hand, he realized that he was overthinking it.
This is no longer the old era of knights. The invention of firearms has made cold weapons and armor backward products. Therefore, swords and armor, which originally showed the spirit of chivalry, became decorations and even showoffs in such an era.
The armor and stomach, which should be clean and cold, are painted with various fashionable paints, and the helmet is decorated with fancy feather decorations. When Shade and Dorothy entered the manor banquet hall together, they even saw a young man on the right side of the door of the banquet hall, showing off his sword skills to a group of young girls.
The armor on his body was painted dark gold, and a crossed sword and pistol logo was painted on the chest and back. The slender tubular sword in his hand, or the back end of the hilt connected to the slender pipe, is connected to the steam bladder in the corner.
Every time he waved the "sword", scorching steam would spurt out from the densely packed holes in the sword, causing the onlookers to exclaim.
Xia De feels that the other party is more suitable to perform in the circus than to participate in the riding competition.
"Although I have seen similar scenes in Lesia's memory, this is the first time I have participated in it in person."
Dorothy was very interested in this.
Neither Miss Carina nor Lesia will appear at this banquet. The former does not need to attend, and the latter plans to wait until the banquet at the end of the competition.
As usual in previous years, His Majesty the King and Queen Diana both appeared. Shade learned about Queen Diana's pregnancy earlier this year. Now two months have passed. Although her belly is not particularly bulging, she can still see the appearance of a pregnant woman in her dress.
A total of 36 knights who signed up for the competition this year, all dressed in armor, appeared at the banquet and knelt down together to promise the king that they would use chivalry to win honors for themselves.
Larus III, Lesia's father, seemed to be in a good mood today. Not only did he encourage the contestants, he even personally announced the rules of this year's competition.
When His Majesty the King's speech ended, Dorothy informed Shade that the negotiations with Kasenrick on the border line had gone smoothly. The negotiations would start in the middle of next month, so His Majesty the King was in a good mood. So good.
This year's "Spring City Riding Competition" has a total schedule of four days. The first three days of the competition are "Archery", "Horse Racing" and "Horse Duel". The first two are regular events, while the "horse duel" requires contestants to ride their own horses and attack each other with wooden swords stained with white ash within the specified time.
This is a new project this year and a more difficult one. There are still many people who can ride horses in this era, but there are basically no people who know how to duel while riding horses.
The first two races take up one day each, and the final race takes up one and a half days, and the first three races will each receive points. The two players with the highest final scores advance to Thursday afternoon's exhibition game. That is to say, wearing armor and holding a real sword, they dueled in front of the king and the audience. The winner was the champion of the 1854 spring riding competition around the city.
“The tickets for the last day’s exhibition match will definitely sell out like crazy.”
This was Shade's first thought after hearing about the rules. In previous years, only the top scorer would win the championship, and then a grand ceremony would be held to award the prizes on the last day of the game. There would be no final duel.
But Dorothy was quite excited about this, and the writer had a wonderful expectation for Shad:
"In the name of Lesia, knight, you will definitely defeat all enemies, right?"
When asked this question, there seemed to be a light in Dorothy's eyes.
After His Majesty the King's speech to the "knights" ended, this grand banquet really started. Since it was quite uncomfortable to attend a banquet wearing armor, the manor also opened some rooms so that the "knights" could temporarily change out of their heavy clothes.
Compared with the complicated way of putting on the armor, taking it off is much simpler. Even Dorothy can help Shade take it off by herself. Because the clothes were prepared in advance, Shade didn't have to return to the banquet hall wearing a white shirt after taking off his armor.
However, when Dorothy was helping Shade adjust his tie in front of the mirror in the lounge, and talking with Shade about the dance repertoire for a while, there was a knock on the door of the room.
No need to ask who is knocking, because the voice is familiar:
"Mr. Hamilton, may I come in?"
It's Agelina's voice.
"Come in."
Dorothy said on behalf of Shade. Although her voice was hers, her tone of voice was unexpectedly like Lesia's, and Shade was very sure that the current soul was Miss Writer.
[The intensification of soul fusion has caused this phenomenon. In addition to your carnival on the Red Butterfly Day, you also need to make them feel that they are indeed two people from time to time in order to slightly prevent this fusion phenomenon from further intensifying. 】
The little princess outside the door obviously felt the familiarity of the tone, and opened the door carefully. After seeing the blonde girl arranging Shade's formal clothes, she asked the maids behind her to put away the removed armor.
She also walked into the room, looked around to make sure there was no one else in the room except Shade and Dorothy, and then said softly:
"Mr. Hamilton, mother asked me to find you."
Queen Diana has always been very friendly to Shade. According to Lesia, this is also related to the relationship between Shade and Miss Carina. Shade often spoke to Queen Diana at various banquets, especially banquets attended by Miss Carina, so he was not surprised at all by the invitation:
"Is there something going on? If it's nothing important, I'll take Dorothy with me."
The blonde girl pursed her lips and smiled, and Agelina replied softly:
"It's not a very important thing. Mother has met several Kasenlik people who are related to my grandmother's family and wants to introduce you to them."
Although Carsonric and Delarion once had conflicts that spread throughout the Old Continent, the kinship between the nobles of the two countries has never been broken. Even the Anjou royal family of Carsonric and the Cavendish royal family of Delarion might be able to find a kinship if they go back more than a dozen generations.
"Okay, I'll be there right away."
Xia De nodded, and the little princess hesitated and said:
"Actually, there is another thing. The eldest son of Marquis Dulahan is participating in the city riding competition this year. That is..."
"Marquis Dullahan is a candidate for the next minister of finance of the Kingdom. This term will retire after completing this year's financial reforms."
Dorothy said casually:
"Although His Majesty the King may not really like the son of the Marquis, if he can win this year's championship, it may give the King some new ideas. After all, Agelina is already 17 years old, and It’s not like Lesia who can still be useful if she stays in Yodel Palace, so..."
Now Shade understood:
"This year's champion must be me."
Agelina immediately smiled and was about to give her blessing when Dorothy said again:
"Lecia has prepared a wonderful celebration for Shade."
The smile on the little princess's face disappeared. Dorothy turned around and continued to arrange Shade's clothes, with an imperceptible smile on her face.
She does look more and more like Lesia.
After Shade packed up his clothes, he took Dorothy and followed Agelina back to the lively banquet hall.
Different banquets have different processes and atmospheres due to different participants. And tonight's banquet can undoubtedly be more relaxed, without too many rules. Because the weather is getting warmer, in addition to the banquet hall, the manor's courtyard is also open to guests.
Not all "knights" took off their armor. Shade saw that many of them were still wearing cumbersome clothes, but that could also attract more girls.
Queen Diana did not go to the lounge, but was on the sofa in the seating area on the side of the banquet hall. When Agelina led Shade and Dorothy over, Shade realized that he had actually met the so-called Kasenlik relatives of Queen Diana's mother's family.
"Mr. Eric Foran, Mr. Charles Foran."
"Good evening, Mr. Hamilton."
The ones who stood up to greet Shade were the two five-ring warlocks he had met at the Queen Maria Opera House.
The two gentlemen from Kasenlik also signed up for the riding competition around the city, but they had already taken off their armor first and were now wearing similar black formal suits.
They still wear monocles. The one wearing glasses on the right eye is the elder brother of the twins, Mr. Eric Foran, and the one wearing glasses on the left eye is the younger brother of the twins, Mr. Charles Foran. Although the whispering elements on the two monocles were subtle, Shade could still tell that they were relics. They often wear it, just like the sage-grade ruby earrings that Lesia often wears.
"Have you seen it?"
The queen, wearing an opal pearl necklace around her neck and a silver crown on her head, asked with a smile.
Shad and Dorothy sat down together and said:
"Yes, I met these two gentlemen when I was watching an opera at the opera house with Miss Carina a few days ago."
Hearing Shade mention "Miss Carina", the queen looked at the blonde writer next to Shade, but the latter's expression did not change.
While being surprised by the knight's methods, the queen continued:
"The Fullan family is distantly related to my mother's family, and my maternal grandmother and Mr. Fullan's great-grandmother are cousins."