"Oh, okay.~e/z\k!a/ns`.!c?o?m+"
Why do I have this feeling of... testing the waters before the college entrance exam?
Chapter 289 Dinner at the Hall Family
At 6 o'clock in the evening, the Hall family's luxurious villa was bustling with activity.
From time to time, carriages from different nobles of Backlund drove into the Hall family's manor.
Before Duke Negan was assassinated, this banquet was a place for Earl Hall to build relationships with everyone, but now it has a completely different meaning - the top nobles will use this banquet to discuss with Earl Hall about the future political situation in Loen, and the smaller nobles are more likely to come to take sides.
The worst hit were the small landowners. The repeal of the Corn Laws had caused many small landowners to go bankrupt overnight, their families broken up, and the remaining ones were still able to resist the wheel of the trend of the times under the leadership of Duke Negan, the largest landowner in Loen.
But with the assassination of Duke Negan, the conservatives are almost dead in name only. Even if these small landowners want to join the new party now, it is too late - because the land in their hands is bound to depreciate again in the coming time!
This is the trend of the times that the priest wants. It is indeed in line with the laws of social development and is beneficial to human society in the long run, but this process will definitely produce countless victims.
"It's a necessary sacrifice."
In order to attend the banquet tonight, Edward specially rented a luxury carriage and slowly came to the gate of the Hall family's manor from the small villa he rented.
He opened the car door and jumped out, looking at the brightly lit villa and the guests coming and going around, took out a mirror to check his hairstyle and makeup, and then walked over.
Edward was wearing a neat black tuxedo and a gentleman's hat today. He was holding a gold cane inlaid with diamonds and wearing a pair of glasses. He looked like a "gentlemanly villain".
As for his appearance, he used the face from his previous life, which can be considered a kind of "real".
As soon as he checked the invitation and walked into the garden, he saw two familiar figures, one tall and one short. One of them had a serious and solemn expression, while the other was yawning lazily. They were Xio and Fors.
Why are they here?
Seeing their attitude, he quickly realized that the two of them must have accepted a commission to be bodyguards for Earl Hall's party.
Edward's gaze immediately caught Xio's attention. She frowned and looked over, and found that it was a black-haired man in his twenties. When she looked over, the other party actually nodded and smiled. +Excellent, novel/in vain, ~First release?
Fors immediately whispered, "Xiu, that noble young master seems to be interested in you."
"…Shut up!"
"Hey, how old are you now? It's time for you to have a boyfriend. Isn't it great to have a boyfriend like this? " Fors lowered his voice. "When the time comes, you can spend his money to buy formulas and materials! I guarantee that you will be promoted super fast."
When Xio heard this, she really began to think seriously about this possibility, but she quickly reacted, "Why don't you find a man?"
"Me? Oh."
Fors sighed, "Who would like a lazy woman who is addicted to smoking, loves drinking, can't write 100 words a day, and lies down all day without wanting to move?"
"As far as I know, there are still quite a few people who like this."
At this time, a voice came from behind the two of them. It was Viscount Glint, "If you want to meet him, I can help introduce him to you."
"No thanks!"
Fors waved her hands quickly, then pushed Xio away, "Come on, Xio, it's time to go on patrol over there. I wish you a pleasant night, Viscount Greylint."
"You too."
Grellint smiled and turned away.
Edward followed the guests and soon arrived at the banquet hall. This was a huge house built specifically for banquets. The facilities and decoration style inside were also more suitable for social activities. Audrey said that she only came here a few times a year.
The banquet hall was already full of guests, and the air was filled with the strong smell of perfume. The band was playing soothing music on the stage, and servants and maids were either carrying trays to serve wine to the guests or preparing food at the long dining table.
Most of the guests gathered with people they knew, whispering about the recent events in Backlund. A few of them moved among the crowd with wine glasses in hand, trying to get to know more nobles and celebrities and expand their social relationships.
Edward picked up a glass of wine and found a deserted seat by the window. He quickly searched the crowd, trying to find some familiar faces.
He thought he would find nothing, but unexpectedly he actually saw one:
It was a green-haired girl wearing a sky-blue dress, with a distant smile on her face, mixed with a middle-aged man wearing an olive green army officer's uniform.
She was the girl I met briefly last night, Hazel.
Edward actually has no aversion to this girl who has quite a few roles in the later part of the original novel. Although she is arrogant and thinks she is superior to others after becoming an Extraordinary Person, she is still kind.
It's a pity that she met a deceitful teacher who wanted to take advantage of her "rebirth".
After I made my move last night, the thief demigod stopped moving. But after knowing that I was exposed, it was impossible for him to stay there any longer. But I couldn't escape in a short time, so would he parasitize Hazel in advance?
Thinking of this, Edward turned and walked towards the bathroom, and popped out the gold coin: Hazel was parasitized by the thief demigod.
Numbers facing up indicate a negative.
To be on the safe side, he tried other divination statements and was basically sure that Hazel was still herself.
But this is not difficult to understand. From the original book, the thief demigod of Jacob's family was seriously injured. After being forced to parasitize the mouse, she was unable to parasitize anything else for a long time - that is to say, she could only parasitize once in a short period of time.
But Hazel was exposed last night, and if she chose to parasitize Hazel, it would not solve the problem at all.
When Edward returned to the hall, he saw a crowd of people at the door. A young man with a round face, narrow eyes and a smile walked in. Behind him followed a middle-aged gentleman with a broad forehead and shiny black hair. This man should be Walter, Klein's future butler.
Many nobles around immediately came forward and greeted him.
Earl Hall smiled and walked forward to receive them personally. After a conversation with Prince Edessak, he went to find other people with a glass of wine. His face was flushed and he talked to the guests with a smile.
Audrey followed closely behind her father. She was wearing a long dress that had never been seen before and had delicate makeup on. She looked much better than usual. As soon as she appeared in the hall, she immediately attracted the attention of many men around her - regardless of age.
She followed her father obediently, toasting and greeting the elders. Almost everyone who saw her would compliment her beauty, and she would thank them with a smile.
When all the distinguished guests arrived, Earl Hall led his wife and Audrey to the stairs and went up to the second floor. At the fence facing the gate, he raised a glass of red wine and said:
"Thank you all for participating in this dance. First of all, let us praise the gods, which are the source of all good things."
They then tapped their chests four times and praised the goddess in a low voice. The guests also praised the gods they believed in in their own ways.
Earl Hall continued with a smile:
"Secondly, the Kingdom of Praise is the cornerstone of Loen's prosperity and stability for many years. Without it, we would not be able to gather here peacefully and enjoy fine wine and delicious food."
"Praise the Kingdom."
Then, Earl Hall looked around, his eyes focusing on a few of them:
"Finally, let us observe a moment of silence for the Duke's misfortune. Although we have different political views, I admire and appreciate the Duke very much. I admire his character and appreciate his contributions to Loen."
"May he rest in peace under the protection of the gods."
After saying that, he drank the red wine in the glass.
The guests responded enthusiastically and drank the alcoholic drinks in their hands.
"Well, then please enjoy the banquet tonight."
After saying this, Earl Hall took his wife's hand and went down to the first floor hall, where they danced the opening dance to a soft melody. The gentlemen present began to look for the first dance partner they wanted to invite.
As expected, as soon as Audrey followed him to the first floor, she was immediately surrounded by various young men, all of whom wanted to take this opportunity to win the favor of Backlund's most shining gem.
Prince Edsak also came over, but he did not invite Audrey. Instead, he smiled and nodded to her, and then invited another lady nearby.
This action immediately made everyone relax a lot, otherwise it would be difficult for them to compete with the prince.
At this time, Hibbert quickly stepped forward, took his sister's hand and walked into the dance floor together, which undoubtedly resolved everyone's embarrassment - it is reasonable for a brother to dance the first dance with his sister, right?
"Edward!"
Lilith, who had transformed into a Persian cat, jumped into Edward's arms. She was also wearing a small light-colored cat princess dress today, which matched her Persian cat appearance and made her look particularly cute and beautiful.
"Did Audrey prepare this for you?"
"Yes. Susie wore it too, but hers wasn't as pretty as mine."
She whispered proudly into Edward's ear: "Ms. Lilith is so beautiful tonight!"
"Yes, yes, yes! You are the most beautiful one at the banquet tonight!"
"Yes!"
Edward rubbed her head and suddenly felt a pair of eyes looking at him. He turned around and saw Hazel.
She turned her eyes away in a hurry, but turned back after a few seconds, her eyes full of speculation and doubt, as if she was guessing Edward's identity.
But it was pitch black in the sewer last night, and they had only met briefly. Even if Edward hadn't changed his appearance, Hazel would not have recognized him. So the reason she doubted herself was...
Oh, Lilith.
But now she has also become a Persian cat.
Edward simply pretended he knew nothing and quietly walked aside, watching Audrey and Hibbert on the dance floor. Audrey would occasionally glance over with a smile in her eyes.
Da da da.
What Edward didn't expect was that Hazel actually came over with a wine glass in hand, "Sir, have we met before?"
Girl, who taught you to be so fierce in the mysterious world?
Oh, her teacher probably didn't teach her anything other than potions and acting. Her knowledge of the mystical world and Beyonders is basically zero.
"Oh yeah?"
Edward looked surprised. "I thought this was an excuse that men would use to flirt with women."
She glanced at Lilith and said seriously, "Although this cat has changed its appearance, I can feel that it is her."
Tsk, is it necessary to be so sensitive?
"What on earth happened last night?"
Hazel was very panicked. Last night her teacher suddenly told her that place was not safe and asked her to dig through the wall quickly - but this was obviously impossible unless she used explosives.
But explosives with sufficient power would cause the teacher more serious injuries.
She dug until the early morning, when the teacher suddenly asked her to go back. In the morning, she recalled the teacher's tone and felt that something was wrong, so she hurriedly looked for him, and then she found that...the teacher was gone.
Hazel has become accustomed to transforming herself into an ordinary person little by little through her teacher's guidance. She cannot accept herself "falling" into an ordinary person again.
"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you're talking about."
Edward turned around and was about to leave. It wasn't that he was pretending, but... was it appropriate to talk about Extraordinary People in front of so many people?
Besides, Edward wanted to use her to find the location of Jacob's demigod and hunt him down. If he told her too much now, wouldn't it alert the enemy?
Hazel was obviously used to being arrogant. Normally, she was the only one who rejected others, so how could others reject her? So she quickly chased after him.
But at this moment, a beautiful figure walked over.