The surprise of the first snow had spread in the courtyard, and people sitting by the windows in the banquet hall also spread the news. People poured out of the building or stood at the windows, marveling at the first snow of the year.
For a princess's wedding, this is probably a very good gift.
Seeing that there were too many people watching the snow, Shade planned to go find his cat and let the cat, which had never seen snow since birth, see what snow looked like.
But before he could turn around, a murmur in his ear reminded him:
【Your dancing partner has arrived.】
"Shad!"
Someone tapped his right shoulder from behind. Shade turned from the right side and looked behind him, but didn't see anyone. Then he looked to the left again. Iluna smiled, standing in the crowd and looking at her hands behind her back.
he.
Although she appeared at this banquet, she was obviously not dressed for a banquet. The clothes were very close-fitting, and the whispering elements brought by various relics were easily detectable. There were also bulging spellcasting materials in her waist bag.
"Xia De, I knew it was you."
The seventeen-year-old girl said with a smile in that dimly lit place.
"Iluna? Why are you here?"
Shade asked in surprise, but with a smile on his face, he was also very happy to see Iluna here.
"Oh, it's not about Schluch Lake. I was originally going to rest at home, but I was urgently notified by the church that something was going to happen. After I arrived here in the carriage with the captain, Mr. Robinson, it was all over."
She lowered her voice and pointed in the direction of Schluch Lake behind the manor, but people were all looking at the snow, and no one actually cared about them:
"'Mr. Sunshine Sword' Rendall arrived dozens of minutes earlier than me. In addition to him, Miss Green, the church's tenth-ring warlock, has also arrived, so I am not needed at the lake.
She still had her hands behind her back and her shoes were rubbing on the ground. She looked away from Shade and her face turned slightly red:
"I knew you were here. Since I'm not needed by the lake, I was wondering if I could find you."
She pointed to the first floor of the mansion where dance music was playing:
"It's really lively here. I can't enter the house dressed like this, so I just thought of walking around in the courtyard and garden. It happened to snow, and I guess you would also come out to see the snow. Look, I really met
You... this dance music is really good, I thought you would dance with others in it."
When he said the second half of the sentence, his eyes moved to the side, as if he was interested in the masked children running in the snow holding a windmill.
[Look, I said your dance partner has arrived.]
"She" reminded again.
Although Iluna didn't say it, Shade already knew what he was going to do.
He stretched out his hand and asked softly:
"Ma'am, do you want to dance together?"
"Of course, yes, I happen to have time."
Iluna said, hiding her smile, but suddenly shaking her head:
"I'd better not go to the banquet hall. My clothes are inappropriate, and after all, I'm here to perform a mission."
After saying that, he looked at Xia De expectantly, and Xia De nodded:
"Then let's change the place and let me think about it... let's go to the hedge maze. There are fewer people there. We can choose a location near the mansion and we should be able to hear the music."
"OK."
Iluna nodded immediately.
So in the fine snow, they walked from the front courtyard of Lakeview Manor along the courtyard path to the rear garden. At this time, the night was getting darker, because there were no activities in the garden, and the lakeside was temporarily blocked by the church unreasonably.
So most of the guests gathered in the mansion and the front courtyard, and there were no people in the garden.
Entering the hedge maze, between the tall hedges on both sides, they found a location that was illuminated by the moonlight. The tiny snowflakes stood out in the light.
"Look, this is like the center of the stage!"
Iluna said with a smile.
"Wait a minute."
He held Iluna's hand and stopped, then raised his right index finger in a place where the light did not illuminate:
"Look!"
The red butterfly flew out from the fingertips, and while flying around Iluna, bright red silk threads were pulled out behind it. As the butterfly flew, the light blue ball dress was woven around Iluna inch by inch, until the butterfly
It flew to her head and turned into a red hair ornament.
"It's so beautiful! You can dance like this!"
Shade exclaimed in admiration and was quite satisfied with his [Red Butterfly Illusion]. Although this illusion can be easily seen through and is of little significance for camouflage in crowded situations, it is just right for the current situation.
Iluna bit her lip and looked at the skirt she was wearing, then touched the hair accessories in her hair, regretting that she didn't put on makeup before going out.
"Speaking of which, my illusions have never been used like this...and this."
Shade's right index finger moved slightly again, and dense red butterflies flew out of his sleeve and flew towards the falling snowy moonlight.
The red butterfly danced under the moonlit night and starry sky, dragging red light spots high into the sky, leaving behind pieces of red light spots and drag marks.
"I'm still very confident in illusions."
Shade said with a smile, then bowed slightly to Iluna and stretched out his right hand, and the seventeen-year-old girl put her hand on it.
The two of them came together under the quiet moonlight of falling snow, and the chosen one and the stranger prepared to dance to the faint dance music.
Iluna looked at Shade's face who was close at hand, and reminded her with a slightly red face:
"Don't tell Luvia about this."
"Why?"
"She might think that I took on this task just to come and dance with you."
Iluna argued, looked at the dark hedges around her, and then signaled to Shade to start.
But Xia De did not take steps immediately, but thought for a while and said:
"I came into contact with power again tonight, so maybe I can try to activate the illusion with all my strength. You see, this place is really too small."
"You want to rearrange the stage?"
Iluna asked.
"Yes, rearrange. Now, Iluna, please close your eyes and rotate with me~"
He hugged the seventeen-year-old girl, who also smiled and closed her eyes, feeling the cold snow touching her forehead. After the two of them spun three times, she heard Shade whisper:
"Please open your eyes."
"oh!"
What comes into view is the endless wilderness under the moonlight, and above Luoxue's head is the huge moon disk that looks like it is about to fall. The two of them are standing on the ridge of the field, with red butterflies under the moon surrounding them, and the red light spots make this quiet place
The wilderness under the moon is filled with more brilliant colors.
This is Shade using the spell [Red Butterfly Illusion] with all his strength, because the illusion targets only him and Iluna, so there is no need to worry about being discovered. Of course, this scene can be so real, because it is Shade whoever
The scene in the dream that I will never forget.
He didn't know how many nights he had watched this scene alone in his dreams.
"Xia De..."
Iluna looked at everything around her with a flushed face, and Shade asked:
"its not bad, right?"
With a strong right hand, Iluna walked out of his arms. Then, accompanied by dance music, the two of them began to dance with red butterflies on the field ridge under the moonlight in the snowy wilderness.
Iluna's face was always blushing during this period, and she actually seemed a little afraid to look into Shade's eyes. When the song ended, the afterglow of the piano sound had not dissipated, and the two of them looked up and saw a group of red butterflies flying into the sky.
The silver moon shed its last glory in the snow.
"How about it?"
Shade intentionally wanted to show off his improvement in dancing skills, but Iluna probably got it wrong and suddenly stood up on tiptoes and kissed the side of Shade's face.
She kissed Shade's left cheek, not the right cheek that Tifa had kissed.
Iluna jumped back with a blushing face, separated from Shade, and then put her hands behind her back, turning her back to Shade and looking at the scene of the realistic hedge maze that gradually faded away in the distance:
"Very good, knight."
She said softly, then turned to look at Shade:
"Don't tell Luvia about this... If there is a 'Prom Queen' at this ball, you will definitely be elected. Although I was not invited, this is the most perfect ball I have ever experienced.
.”
After saying that, she touched her pocket and found nothing suitable, so she could only take off the silk scarf she was wearing and threw it to Shade:
"What a pity, I don't need garters for this dress."
He lowered his head and regretfully saw that the long illusion dress on his body was also disappearing. Then he waved to Shade, then briskly left the edge of the illusion and disappeared around the corner of the hedge maze.
"Prom Queen, isn't that a title given to girls?"
The moonlit wilderness in Shade's field of vision collapsed, and a scene of a hedge maze appeared in the garden. The snow fell on his shoulders and melted quickly. It was not yet the season for snow to form.
[Outlander, you successfully proved your charm at the banquet. 】
"She" reminded softly.
Xia De looked at the silk scarf in front of him suspiciously:
"Why? I didn't prove my charm in front of so many people and invited beautiful girls to dance together, but I danced alone with Iluna and..."
【Because you invited the real protagonist on the most gorgeous stage.】
"Protagonist?"
Shade nodded, folded the scarf and put it in his pocket, together with the pink scarf that Miss Carina just threw over.
He looked up at the moon, sighed and shook his head, then walked towards the lake view manor house in the light.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
ps: There is still one chapter to finish this banquet. Although the banquet is very long, it basically describes the style of the aristocratic banquet in this era, the main and branch plots, the changes in the girls' favorability, and the story of the banquet.
Shade's harvest. Although it takes up a lot of chapters in this volume, it is all worth it.