Chapter four hundred and ninety seventh writer friend
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 wouldn't be here tonight.
I will see my boss again at the banquet.
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.
The "Jodel Palace" belonging to the royal Cavendish family is actually not 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 royal family
residence and also serves as the political center of the kingdom.
Today is the Queen's birthday banquet, so the main building of Yodel Palace has been opened as a banquet venue. Except for the birthdays of the King and Queen, it can only be held when entertaining the royal delegation from Kasenlik or when carrying out certain important awards.
A banquet of this size.
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 directly opposite the door are two intersecting spiral staircases.
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 this
The singing man is the steward of the west hall of Yodel Palace and one of the stewards of this palace.
And when Shade asked her how many housekeepers there were here, 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 together for the queen to check. Shade casually handed over his own box. Although the packaging of the box was very good when viewed individually, it was different from the others.
The gift box looks a little ordinary when put together.
Dorothy naturally brought a gift, and she chose a silver cosmetic mirror. Although this was valuable, it was nothing special. Because the queen could not keep all the gifts given by everyone, so Dorothy simply
Didn't bother to choose.
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. If King Larus III is fine, she may also appear.
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 ends at twelve o'clock, but it will not last until one o'clock for those who stayed for various reasons.
People left. Therefore, there was still a long time left in the night. If Shade wasn't thinking about Darkness, this would actually be 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 twos and threes 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 door of the banquet hall on the first floor recorded this magnificent scene after the flash went off. What that photo represents may be regarded as the most important event of this era.
A bustling scene.
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 Lesia 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 in a low voice. Most of Tobesk's noble banquets use self-service food provision, even the queen's birthday banquet is no exception.
"Don't worry, Lecia is in the room at the corner of the west corridor on the second floor."
Dorothy gave the answer.
At the beginning of the design of this palace-style building, the foyer on the first floor and the hall on the second floor were planned as banquet halls. Although the two areas are quite large, they are not very large compared with the building itself. You know, about
The main building of the Del 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, looking at the cooked meat inside. The Marquis smiled and informed Shade that the Rhodes game at the banquet would start at 8:30, and the venue 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.
Although they are called "friends", they are actually just colleagues. 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. Prossie Newman whom he had met once before at the opera house after the exam week. Because it was the Queen's birthday party, he was not as scary as last time.
Woman dress up.
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 librettist who looks to be in his thirties is very famous. The play "The Revenge of the Prince" that Shade and Miss Carina went to the opera house a few days ago was written by
He adapted the chivalric novel into an opera.
"Look, here comes Louisa."
Probably because of Professor Louisa, many people here know Dorothy. As a new novel genre, detective novels should not have been accepted by peers so quickly, but looking at the way they warmly welcomed Dorothy,
The influence of Professor Louisa is probably greater than Shade thought.
"This is Reggie's Hamilton, the prototype of 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 rumor that "Shad Hamilton got his current status because of being close to the Duchess". And Shad is trying hard to remember who everyone is here to prevent others from doing so.
The first time I met him on the street I couldn't name him.
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, she relied on her own
Literary achievement; Mr. Human-Francois, who has published thirteen best-selling novels and specializes in adventure novels and travel novels, holds the record for the highest number of contemporary popular novels published in the Delarian language; and finally
The forty-one-year-old prose writer Professor Mulder Goethe teaches in the Tobesk University District and 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 thanks to "Hamilton Detective Stories", is not impressive at all.
After Shade and Dorothy sat down on the sofa together, Shade received more welcome. People were very keen to chat with Shade, talk about his detective career, or have 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.