Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 863 - 863: Lecia's "Prank

That evening before leaving Huntington, Shard visited Mr. Benhart's estate and asked him to send someone to Professor Drake's house to transcribe those text materials.

Mr. Benhart was also pleased to learn that Shard's investigation had made progress, but he mentioned another matter, which was the farewell banquet to be held tomorrow night at the Rothschild Estate.

It was a farewell banquet for Princess Margaret Anjou, representing the Royal Family, visiting Tobesk, hence the event was of a very high standard. Not only were local nobles attending tomorrow's banquet, but also some Carsonrick nobles who came all the way from Velindale.

As a well-known local noble, Viscount Benhart had naturally received his invitation letter and he invited Shard to accompany him, to which Shard also agreed:

"Mr. Benhart, my Carsonrick language is not very good, so I might be staying close to you tomorrow night."

Shard said somewhat apologetically, but Mr. Benhart didn't mind at all:

"It's your first time attending a Carsonrick noble banquet; it will be quite interesting."

Saturday night was traditionally Shard's evening class time. Of course, since the beginning of this month, it had also turned into a time for his one-on-one dates with Lecia.

Shard, on Saturday morning, informed Lecia through a flower shop on Silver Cross Avenue that he had an engagement in Huntington tonight and thus couldn't meet her in the evening.

Lecia didn't respond to Shard immediately, but when Shard arrived at Dr. Schneider's clinic for this week's study group holding his cat, he almost instantly recognized the early-arrived Dorothy as actually being Lecia.

He couldn't sharply distinguish between the two souls, but from the displeased look "Dorothy" gave him, he could tell that it wasn't the Blonde Writer who felt that way.

Most of this week's study group time was spent with Dr. Schneider helping the group members calculate their individual credits in preparation for the upcoming year-end exams. When it came to Shard's situation, the doctor seemed somewhat troubled.

Shard was currently considering applying to skip from the second grade to the fourth grade, and recently borrowed a large number of books from the school library for "study". However, the problem was he still lacked many practical credits, and ideally, he needed to open a Time Key each week and encounter valuable events each time to barely meet the required credits.

But obviously, Shard couldn't possibly achieve such efficiency.

"Miss Danester, the librarian, said she would help me."

Shard quietly informed the doctor of the news, and the doctor, after pausing for a moment, nodded without asking anything, clearly understanding some of the Academy's channels, albeit not expecting Shard to have such a relationship with a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer.

After the study group ended, it was only four in the afternoon. "Dorothy" left Dr. Schneider's clinic with Shard and boarded a carriage in silence. Once the carriage started moving forward, she finally brought up Shard's plans for tonight:

"Huntington? Are you going to tell me, Knight, that you have already met Princess Margaret Anjou?"

The tone carried a hint of questioning.

"Yes, but she believes I'm Mr. Sherlock Holmes, not Rejed's Hamilton."

Shard honestly said, holding Mia in his arms, apologetically:

"I know I shouldn't be occupying tonight, but for some reasons, I have to attend that banquet."

"You don't need to explain these things to me. Do I seem like an unreasonable girl?"

Lecia swept her beautiful blond hair behind her ear, looked Shard up and down:

"I know you have more important matters, but I hope you haven't forgotten, the 'Day of the Red Butterfly' that happens every 22 days is approaching."

"Yes, this Sunday night."

The stormy night Shard vividly remembered was a Saturday, the 26th of the Month of Withered Leaves. So the first Day of the Red Butterfly ended on the 27th. Starting from the night of the 27th, the 21-day waiting period began again, thus reaching the second Day of the Red Butterfly on this Sunday night.

Both Dorothy and Lecia preferred to use this title for that special day.

"If you two have no other plans, I can prepare for Sunday night's and Monday's activities in advance."

Shard suggested, and Lecia shook her head:

"On Monday, I need to accompany my mother to welcome the visiting group of Margaret Anjou. I have already discussed with Dorothy to postpone the Day of the Red Butterfly to next Tuesday, the 19th of the Frostfall Moon."

"But there's also something on that day; Tuesday is your sister, Mona Cassandra's wedding."

Shard reminded, and Lecia nodded with a smile:

"Yes, so I can meet with Dorothy at the wedding reception. Isn't that more interesting than an ordinary day?"

"Oh, yes."

Shard suddenly realized, watching the street scene outside, Lecia then closed the carriage window. She adjusted the hair at her ear, her face blushing slightly, looking at Shard:

"Dorothy and I can meet you at the banquet, Shard... I've prepared a manuscript of Summer Night Collection ahead of time; would you be willing to read it with us at the banquet?"

Summer Night Collection was a famous essay collection that inspired Dorothy's award-winning work, Midsummer Night's Wish.

"Reading a manuscript of essays at the wedding banquet?"

Shard was stunned, then realized, seeing "Dorothy" slightly blushed face:

"Of course, yes, reading... Summer Night Collection with you both at the banquet."

The blonde girl bit her lip lightly, her eyes shining as she looked at Shard:

"I am really looking forward to Tuesday... oh goodness, today was supposed to be our date time."

"After Princess Margaret Anjou arrives in Tobesk, there should be many large parties and balls in the city... at that time..."

Shard lowered his voice slightly and took Lecia's right hand with his left hand:

"You can even meet me with your body, do you want to dance together? Attending banquets and balls is our reasonable chance to meet."

Lecia showed a smile:

"Yes, speaking of it this way, Margaret Anjou's visit is actually a good thing. Knight, I'm glad that while you are thinking about the blonde, blue-eyed girl in front of you, you also think about my body."

She reached out to touch the cat in Shard's arms. The sleeping cat made a displeased sound, wriggling as it tried to avoid the hand.

"Since you are attending the banquet tonight, why not play a prank on the Princess of the Anjou family."

As she spoke, Lecia took out Dorothy's notebook from her handbag, hurriedly wrote a line, and handed it to Shard:

"Put this by Margaret Anjou's side, but don't reveal that it was you who placed it. I remember this princess is even older than me? During this summer's visit to Carsonrick, I also dealt with her. She is a very interesting lady."

Lecia wrote in the Carsonrick Language, controlling the writing style so that it didn't look like her handwriting at all——

[Greetings to you, Your Highness. The purple cabbage at the banquet is still as delicious as it was back then.]

Shard looked over the message several times, making sure it didn't have any hidden meanings he couldn't understand:

"What does this sentence mean? Purple cabbage, is it a metaphor?"

"No, it's just purple cabbage."

Dorothy's face showed a rare expression. It was a smile, a malicious smile:

"You probably don't know the Velindale purple cabbage incident from eight years ago. The then teenage Margaret Anjou, disliking the taste of purple cabbage, falsely accused her maid of adding sand to the vegetable salad during an autumn dinner in 1845 to avoid eating it.

The poor maid, who did nothing wrong, was almost immediately dismissed. A few weeks later, the maid self-immolated at home; only partial remains were found. In a letter she sent to a friend before her death, she wrote that she hadn't done anything wrong but was still treated so badly, her reputation was immensely damaged, and she no longer wished to live."

The blonde girl narrated the story, but her face showed no regret, and Shard understood, his mouth slightly agape:

"You wouldn't say this has anything to do with MI6, would you? The kingdom's political struggle? Or a silent battle between spies?"

Lecia laughed:

"Yes, Shard, you are always this perceptive. I only learned the truth from Galina three years ago.

That maid was actually a spy planted by MI6 within the Anjou Royal Family. The abrupt dismissal led MI6 to misjudge, thinking she was discovered. They urgently relocated her and replaced her with a similarly built corpse."

The carriage wheels ground over the road, moving smoothly towards Saint Delan Square. Listening to the old spy secret, Shard cautiously noted:

"This must have caused quite a psychological shadow for Princess Margaret Anjou, right?"

After all, it was just because she hated purple cabbage that the maid "self-immolated."

"Yes, tonight you can also try serving a dish with purple cabbage to the princess."

Lecia suggested, and Shard shook the note in confusion:

"Then, the purpose of giving her this note is...?"

"To play a little joke on her and also to revenge for her taking up my date time tonight."

Lecia's face still wore a smile, but Shard knew very well that the latter reason was the real one.

The young outlander wisely did not point this out. Considering giving her the note would only ruin the princess's mood for the night without causing bigger troubles, Shard agreed.

"Is MI6 always planting spies around the Anjou Royal Family?"

He curiously asked again.

"I do not handle those matters."

Lecia shook her head but then confidently said:

"However, at tonight's banquet in Huntington City, there will definitely be MI6 operatives... and no, I'm not referring to you. Even if the Circle Sorcerer from the Pantanal Voodoo Society doesn't show up, there will surely be intrigues and schemes surrounding the banquet."

"In times of peace, agents are still so busy."

Shard sighed as he turned to look at the winter streets of Tobesk from the carriage window. The streets were bustling with people who had been busy all year long, not relaxing even at the year's end. In such a prosperous era, undercurrents were always surging.

Lecia did not continue the topic:

"I helped you replace that bed a while ago... Dorothy was too excited that night, so I also replaced the old furniture in the master bedroom and confirmed that the fireplace is usable. Do you need me to prepare firewood for winter in advance? If needed, I can send someone to waterproof the basement in a few days; otherwise, the firewood will get damp, and the smoke will be too much."

Her Highness the Princess covered Shard's mouth, her green eyes "glaring" at him:

"I have plenty of gold pounds. If I don't handle these trivial matters for you, wouldn't Galina? Are you refusing my help to accept her goodwill instead?"

At that moment, Shard could almost see Lecia's soul through those beautiful eyes.

She released her hand, tossed the cat aside, then directly hugged Shard's neck and kissed him, not giving him any chance to refuse.